The Land of Rivers, inside Sand's controlled territory.
Team Taiichi tore through the Sand defensive zone like a deadly whirlwind.
In just five days they swept from south to north, then north to south again, covering the entire Sand front line twice. They wiped out eight full Sand squads along the way.
The only downside was that none of the enemies were jonin—just chunin-led genin teams.
Meanwhile, word of this rogue Leaf squad rampaging through their territory finally reached the Sand forward base. The team's arrogance made them impossible to miss—they never bothered cleaning up after a fight, leaving behind nothing but Sand corpses and burning wreckage.
Inside the largest tent at the Sand forward camp, the air was thick and tense. Flickering lantern light cast harsh shadows across several weathered, sand-blasted faces.
A large map of the Land of Rivers lay spread across the central table, dotted with red and yellow flags. Yellow clearly dominated the board.
A jonin with fresh burn scars across his face tapped the map with a thin pointer, his voice dripping with vengeful glee as he looked toward the commander seated at the head of the table.
"Lord Shamon, that's the situation. There is no doubt—Konoha's defensive line has a critical weakness. Our new poison is working beautifully. Their old antidote pills are almost completely ineffective!"
Shamon remained silent, eyes fixed on the map, carefully studying the current balance of power.
The scarred jonin kept talking, excitement building. "According to our scouts, Konoha has been shipping their poisoned shinobi back to the Land of Fire for days. Their forward medical camp has no answer for our new toxin."
He slammed his fist on the table. "That's created a serious manpower shortage on their front line. Patrols in many sectors are basically nonexistent. They're barely holding the key areas together."
His words drew a wave of approving murmurs. Several shinobi leaned in, whispering eagerly, clearly itching to strike.
Not everyone was so eager. A young jonin seated on the other side raised an objection.
"Everyone, please don't be fooled by appearances! Konoha may look like they're contracting and taking heavy losses, but in the past two days alone, multiple elite Leaf squads have slipped into our territory."
"Their strikes are precise, efficient, and lightning-fast. Our teams are being wiped out in minutes. We still know almost nothing about these squads, but we estimate there are at least three of them operating right now."
He grew more heated. "Does this look like a village running out of manpower to you? They're slapping us across the face—and not just once or twice. They're doing it over and over!"
The young jonin's voice rose with every word, his face flushed with anger as if the humiliation were personal.
"Jonin Aokawa, calm down," Shamon cut in. "This is a strategy meeting. Everyone is simply sharing their views."
Aokawa took a deep breath and bowed slightly to the group. "My apologies. The recent losses in our rear have been… difficult."
At that moment, another jonin with cold, calculating eyes stood up beside the scarred one.
"Aokawa, you're being too cautious. I believe the opposite is true. This is exactly why we should strike now. Konoha is clearly at its limit. That's why they're forced to send out these elite squads to harass us and buy time."
He scanned the room, voice full of confidence. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We can deliver a devastating blow to Konoha—maybe even drive them completely out of the Land of Rivers."
The tent quickly split into two opposing factions, arguments flying back and forth with no one willing to back down.
Eventually the shouting died out. Every eye turned toward the supreme commander seated at the head of the table.
Shamon had stayed completely silent the entire time, except for the one moment he'd calmed Aokawa. Now, under the weight of every gaze, he finally spoke. His raspy voice carried absolute authority.
"Jonin Shazuo is correct. Aokawa's concerns are valid, but Konoha's current weakness is also very real."
"Those active elite squads look more like desperate, last-ditch efforts from a side that's running out of bodies."
He rose to his feet and stabbed a finger down on the map, directly onto the wide stretch of territory still held by Leaf.
"Pass down these orders!"
Every Sand jonin in the tent snapped to attention.
"First—increase the pressure! All units currently resting, including the reserves, move to the front line immediately! Drive deep into Leaf's territory like wedges. Primary objective: inflict maximum casualties and keep them bleeding."
"Second—pull elite puppeteers from their units. Aokawa, select your own team and form a dedicated hunter-killer squad."
"Your mission is to hunt down and destroy those annoying Leaf rats. Show them that nothing survives under the desert sand!"
His eyes flashed with cold light. "Since Leaf has unsheathed their blades, we will snap every last one of them! The scales of victory always tip toward the side that keeps pushing!"
The orders rang out with iron resolve. Morale in the tent surged. The Sand war machine, under its commander's direction, was about to slam even harder into the seemingly crumbling Leaf defenses.
Only time would tell who would have the last laugh.
---
While the Sand held their strategy meeting, Team Taiichi finished their latest mission and returned to camp for rest.
"Taiichi, are we taking another mission right away?" Yohei asked the moment they turned in the report scroll, already itching for more action.
"Let's rest for a day first," Taiichi said. "I need to check in at the medical camp. We can pick up a new mission the day after tomorrow—"
He paused, eyeing Yohei suspiciously. "You got something personal going on?"
Yohei scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "It's just Obito. After I trained him last time, the kid got hooked. Since we've got some free time, I figured I'd give him another lesson."
"I see." Taiichi nodded, suddenly realizing this was actually a great idea. With Minato gone and Rin working in the medical camp, Obito and Kakashi had nothing to do. They might as well train with Yohei and Saori.
"Yohei, take Saori with you when you go. Bring Kakashi along too. He's Lightning-style and pretty strong. It'd be good for him and Saori to compare notes on Lightning Release."
"Oh? Is he that good?" Yohei's eyes lit up with interest.
In his mind, Kakashi looked even younger than Taiichi. If Taiichi was calling him "pretty strong," the kid had to be a real talent.
"Of course he's good," Taiichi said, deliberately goading him. "He's the son of the White Fang of the Leaf. His family sword style is no joke, and he's got solid Lightning and Earth Release too. If you don't use your Sharingan, you might not even beat him!"
That lit a fire under Yohei. There was no way he was letting some eight- or nine-year-old punk show him up.
"Saori, let's go find them right now!" Without waiting, Yohei grabbed Saori and headed off to track down Obito and Kakashi.
Saori glanced back at Taiichi, who gave her an encouraging nod. "Go on. Kakashi created a Lightning technique called Chidori. It's got a lot of potential. You two can learn from each other."
Watching them leave, Taiichi turned and headed for the medical camp.
---
Because of the manpower shortage, Leaf shinobi on missions were under much heavier pressure than usual.
That meant injuries were becoming more and more frequent. Just looking around the medical camp right now, Taiichi realized this was already the second time in a few days he'd treated the same shinobi.
It was a good thing this was Konoha. Their medical ninja training and techniques were the best in the ninja world. In any other village, casualties at this rate would have already caused the front line to collapse.
The medical camp was packed. Everywhere you looked, wounded shinobi were groaning in pain. And these were all trained ninja with far higher pain tolerance than normal people—if not, the place would have felt like a literal hell.
Taiichi split off four Shadow Clones to help with treatment. Compared to regular medical ninjas, his chakra reserves were massive—over fifty thousand points, equal to five average jonin. Combined with his vastly superior medical ninjutsu, one Taiichi could carry the workload of half the medical staff by himself.
It wasn't that the other medics were weak. Most of them spent their time studying medicine and practicing healing techniques. Very few could split their focus the way he and Tsunade did.
With Taiichi and his clones pitching in, the number of patients dropped visibly. By the second day of his rest period, the camp was finally starting to clear out.
The moment his Shadow Clones dispelled, the accumulated exhaustion slammed into him. Even someone as tough as Taiichi staggered on his feet.
Rin caught his arm just in time, keeping him from falling.
"You okay, Taiichi?" Director Fujita noticed immediately and hurried over, face full of concern. He was the backbone of their medical camp—they couldn't afford to lose him.
"I'm fine. The backlash from the Shadow Clones just hit all at once. I'll be okay after some rest."
Fujita clearly didn't buy it. Plenty of medical ninjas here knew the Shadow Clone technique, but they rarely used it for this exact reason. Their chakra reserves were only average jonin-level, and the side effects were brutal. If any of them tried what Taiichi had just done—four clones working nonstop for a full day—they'd probably be foaming at the mouth on the floor.
"There aren't many patients left. Go rest right now!"
Seeing Taiichi hesitate, Fujita's voice grew stern. "Immediately. Right now. Go rest!"
"Rin, take him back to his tent and make sure he actually sleeps!"
"Alright, alright, I'm going." Taiichi gave in. A woman in her later years could be terrifying, especially when she was only trying to help.
Fujita watched Taiichi and Rin leave the medical camp, then looked around at the now half-empty tents and the equally exhausted medical staff. She let out a quiet sigh.
She had no idea how many more days this would last. She could only hope Lord Jiraiya's plan worked soon. Otherwise their medical camp would be the first to break.
---
Taiichi and Rin had barely reached his tent when they heard a familiar, cheerful laugh.
When they lifted the flap, sure enough—there was Minato.
Obito was in the middle of dramatically retelling the "hilarious" things that had happened while training with Yohei the past couple of days. Minato listened with wide eyes, clearly entertained.
The moment Taiichi stepped inside, everyone's attention turned to him.
Well, everyone except Obito. His focus was glued to Rin the second she appeared.
Before anyone else could speak, Obito shoved past Taiichi and was already at Rin's side, fussing over her.
Taiichi ignored the lovesick idiot and sat down next to Minato. "Sensei, you just got back from your mission?"
"Yeah." Minato smiled, his warm presence instantly making everyone feel at ease. "Thanks for looking after my team while I was gone, Taiichi."
"It was nothing. They're my friends—I was happy to help. Besides, they've got a pair of cousins here too."
Taiichi glanced at Yohei, who currently had Obito in a headlock and was roughing him up. The two of them were a real comedy duo. Ever since they started training together, Yohei kept finding excuses to "educate" Obito.
Minato looked at them and smiled even wider, but then he sighed. "In the end, it's still my fault as their jonin-sensei. I only led them on low-rank missions for a single month before I had to leave them completely on their own."
Taiichi stayed quiet. Deep down, he agreed—Minato hadn't done a great job on that front.
"Taiichi…" Minato hesitated, looking a little awkward as his gaze flicked between Taiichi and the others.
Taiichi had a bad feeling, but he forced himself to ask. "Sensei, is there something you need?"
Minato gave an embarrassed laugh and leaned in. "Your squad is short a member right now. How about letting Kakashi and the others join your team for a while?"
Taiichi's eyes went wide. He stared at Minato, completely speechless.
Look at this guy! Was that even a sentence a responsible teacher should say? Dumping his own students on someone else?
You think you're Tsunade? You think I'm Jiraiya?
Taiichi screamed internally… but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn't actually a bad idea.
First, they already knew each other well—no chance of spies. Second, their strength wasn't bad. Especially Kakashi—he was already operating at special jonin level. If anything, Taiichi might be getting the better end of the deal.
The only real concern was their lack of experience, but that was something they could work on.
Minato waited anxiously for an answer.
Taiichi finally let out a long sigh. "Fine. But they'll have to follow my rules. No exceptions."
Minato's face lit up with relief and gratitude. "Of course! I'll talk to them right away. Thank you, Taiichi!"
As Minato left the tent, Taiichi rubbed his temples.
Looks like my squad just got a lot more lively.