Whether the Cloud ninja were suffering or not, Nawaki didn't know.
But he was definitely suffering right now.
He sat on a rock, bored out of his mind, while Aburame Mushihime rested her chin in her hands beside him, eyes unblinking as she stared at Hyuga Arin.
Arin had his Byakugan activated, gazing into the distance while continuously throwing kunai forward.
The moment each kunai left his hand, it transformed into a fireball and vanished from sight.
Yet the scorch marks—holes burned clean through rocks and trees in the distance—clearly traced the path of the flames.
"Damn it, missed again," Arin muttered under his breath, already turning another kunai into a blue fireball and hurling it out.
It looked like a fierce battle.
But over the past several days, Nawaki hadn't seen a single Cloud ninja with his own eyes!!!
They never even reached this position—
they were all killed by Arin from afar.
What kind of absurd combat style was this?!
You don't even see the enemy, and the killing already starts!
It left Nawaki with zero room to contribute!!
He had never imagined that frontline duty could be this safe.
He came here to fight—not to sit around doing nothing!!!
"Big Bro Arin," Nawaki finally couldn't take it anymore and interrupted Arin's rhythm,
"Can you… let a couple through? Just one or two, so Mushihime and I can fight too?"
"…What did you say?"
Arin's smile vanished instantly.
His expression went blank, and the kunai in his hand ignited into blue flames.
That was a threat, right?!
That was absolutely a threat!!!
"N-no, nothing!" Nawaki shrank back immediately.
He had a strong feeling that once Arin stepped onto the battlefield, he became a completely different person—
much harder to approach.
Only then did Arin smile again and continue lobbing fireballs into the distance.
Sniper Mode · Guess-the-Answer Time!!
Nawaki wanted to talk with Mushihime about how they were supposed to fight when there were no enemies at all—
—but when he turned, he saw Mushihime wearing a lovestruck expression, murmuring softly:
"So handsome…"
…This one's done for.
Nawaki slumped back onto the rock in frustration, rubbing his head hard.
This was not how his battlefield life was supposed to be!!
Arin, meanwhile, had no idea what kind of mental torment Nawaki was going through.
He was having the time of his life.
It had been almost a full week since arriving here, and his experience pool had finally surpassed six figures.
[Experience: 124,578]
This was way faster than the Iwagakure front.
If he kept this up for a few more weeks, he'd have enough experience to fuse Fire Release.
Of course, Kumogakure ninja were far more mobile than Iwa ninja.
Fireball hit rates had dropped sharply.
Techniques like Great Fire Dragon and Nine-Headed Dragon now required follow-up—
the flames had to become active, living fire dragons to complete the kill.
To kill a single jōnin, he often needed to throw at least two Nine-Headed Dragon fireballs—sometimes even more.
Some didn't land at all.
Their movement speed and reaction time were downright ridiculous.
This had started to take a toll on him.
In just a few days, he'd spent over 5,000 essence restoring chakra.
More importantly—
Kumogakure hadn't been frightened off by his fireballs.
On the contrary, they were sending more and more troops his way.
It felt like they were deliberately locking onto his position.
"…This is getting hard to sustain," Arin muttered.
If he'd known earlier, he should've had Nawaki do some advance prediction so they could plan countermeasures.
Sure, other Konoha units were actively providing cover, intercepting Cloud ninja trying to push forward.
At this point, the entire mountain defense line was cooperating with Arin.
His kill efficiency was obvious to everyone.
But once Kumogakure stopped caring about losses—
they had already pinpointed his general location.
If he stayed any longer, they'd swarm him directly.
"Nawaki, Mushihime," Arin said calmly,
"Get ready. We're changing positions."
"Huh?" Nawaki was completely lost.
He didn't understand the battlefield situation at all—why move now?
Three fireballs infused with Fire Dragon techniques flew out and killed a jōnin.
[Experience: 15,837]
"If we keep staying here, we're going to get surrounded."
Arin's sniper mode was powerful, but it had limits.
He couldn't completely block Kumogakure's advance alone.
And these guys—
they were far more reckless than Iwa ninja.
On a mountain occupied by Kumogakure.
B was studying the battle map laid out before him.
Among the five peaks controlled by Konoha, one mountain was marked with a circular zone.
He continuously redrew the circle, shrinking it bit by bit.
"Found you… 'Mysterious Fireball.'"
Information from the Iwagakure front had already reached them.
Konoha had someone capable of ultra-long-range ninjutsu attacks.
Identity unknown.
Age unknown.
Even the nature of the fireballs was unknown.
But his battlefield control was terrifying.
The moment fireballs appeared on the Kumogakure front, they knew—
the one codenamed Mysterious Fireball had arrived.
And his techniques truly did dominate the battlefield.
If things continued like this, Kumogakure would be suppressed indefinitely.
So B made a decision.
No matter the cost, they had to lock down his approximate position.
He increased troop numbers gradually, step by step—
so subtly that Konoha never realized how seriously he was prioritizing this single target.
"If we want to completely crush Konoha,"
"we absolutely cannot let him live."
In just these few days, he had personally witnessed Arin's combat power.
The locking ability was insane.
Six jōnin had already died to him.
Jōnin were the backbone of a village.
As for chūnin and genin—far more had already fallen.
B stepped out of the command room.
"Lord B," several ninja looked toward him.
"I'll handle this next."
He raised his head toward the distant mountain.
Crimson chakra began to coil around his body.
"That should be about the right position."
The red chakra surged, swallowing his clothes, his face, his hair.
A crimson chakra tail formed behind him.
Then a second.
A third.
A fourth.
By the sixth tail, white, bone-like structures began forming over the Tailed Beast cloak.
"…This is the limit," B's voice came from within the crimson silhouette.
The surrounding ninja stared at him in fear.
Yes—
this look.
B suddenly dropped to one knee.
"L-Lord B…!"
"I'm fine." He shook his head slightly.
He still couldn't perfectly control this power.
A black sphere of energy condensed in front of him—
a technique only a Jinchūriki could use.
The exclusive skill of a Tailed Beast.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!!"
The black sphere shot toward the distant mountains.
Eight tails extended forward as B slowly opened his mouth, aiming at the same location.
Just as Arin was preparing to withdraw, he abruptly turned his head.
A black mass of energy was flying straight toward them.
Slower than his fireballs—
but the power behind it…
…was on a completely different level.
"Are you kidding me?!" Arin cursed.
"They're actually firing a Tailed Beast Bomb?!!"
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