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Main command tent, Konoha camp.
The atmosphere inside was heavy and stifling. Tsunade sat at the head of the table, face cold and unreadable, while the jonin below her all wore grim, worried expressions.
"Three pursuit teams sent out, and only one jonin made it back. Since this war started, we've never taken a hit like this. You people were doing fine before. Don't start disappointing me now."
Tsunade's index finger tapped steadily against the armrest, the dull thud-thud-thud loud in the tense silence.
No one had a real answer. The jonin shifted uncomfortably, none of them willing to speak up. Taiichi watched for a moment, then stood.
This idea wasn't new. Plenty of them had thought of it. They just didn't want to be the one to say it out loud and take the blame.
"There are too many coastal villages. Just counting the ones within thirty kilometers of the shoreline, we're looking at over five hundred. We can't guard them all by sitting back and reacting. We can't keep letting Mist drag us around by the nose. We need to go on the offensive again, the same way we did before. Cut them off at sea before they ever reach land."
Once Taiichi broke the ice, the others finally started talking. Suggestions came fast—better patrol patterns, mobile strike teams, forward outposts on the islands. Within fifteen minutes they had a workable plan.
No one mentioned the obvious cost: pulling scouts and defenders away from the coast would leave even more villages exposed.
When the meeting ended, everyone filed out. Only Taiichi stayed behind.
The tent went quiet. The silence stretched until Tsunade finally broke it, clearly annoyed.
"Why aren't you saying anything? You were quick enough to speak up earlier. Got nothing now?"
She stared at him, fingers flexing like she was fighting the urge to smack him.
"Sensei, no need to get worked up," Taiichi said, keeping his tone light. "You couldn't have suggested that plan yourself. The clan jonin sure as hell weren't going to take the heat for it. So it had to be me. Just testing the waters."
"Bullshit!" Tsunade slammed her palm down. The wooden armrest cracked and split in two. "You think I need you to take the fall for me? If the old man has a problem with it, he can fire me. Let's see who he finds to replace me. You've gotten too bold lately, charging in without thinking about consequences—"
She kept going, tearing into him without mercy. Taiichi stood there and took it until she finally ran out of steam. Then he produced a cup of tea from somewhere and offered it to her with both hands, the picture of a dutiful student.
"Sensei, you must be thirsty. Drink something."
Tsunade looked at his careful expression and snorted a laugh before she could stop herself. She caught herself quickly, schooled her face back into a scowl, and took the tea. She downed it in one long pull, the move pure battlefield commander.
Once she'd calmed down, Taiichi spoke again, voice steady.
"Sensei, this isn't actually a bad thing for me. I don't have a clan name to protect. I'm just one person. Worst case, my reputation takes a hit. The village isn't going to punish me over something like this."
He straightened, confidence rising.
"We're shinobi. Strength is what matters. With the power I have now, as long as I don't betray the village, even the Hokage has to speak to me nicely. A little bad press doesn't mean anything to me."
Tsunade watched him, something complicated flickering across her face. For a moment she saw echoes of her grandfather—Hashirama— in the way Taiichi carried himself. That same quiet certainty.
Maybe this really was what it looked like when someone reached the top. Taiichi wasn't there yet, but the mindset was already there.
Taiichi kept talking, then realized she wasn't responding. He looked over and caught her staring at him in a daze. He gave her a flat, speechless look.
Tsunade snapped out of it, cleared her throat, and picked up where he left off.
"Fine. If you've got the nerve for it, then I won't worry. You're right—shinobi live by strength. If you don't care, then to hell with what anyone thinks."
They had reached an understanding. Taiichi finally left the tent and got to work.
Over the next few days, Mist quickly noticed the change. Village defenses along the coast were noticeably lighter. But out at sea, Leaf sweeps had become several times more aggressive. They had even started setting up rough outposts on the islands to extend their reach farther from shore.
Under that kind of pressure, Mist lost a lot of people. Their hidden camp was eventually located again.
Taiichi had been keeping shadow clones circling the Mist camp around the clock. The moment they tried to move in force, he alerted the main camp so they could prepare.
After losing too many shinobi, Mist finally spotted the clones keeping watch outside their perimeter.
They couldn't fight them. They couldn't catch them. All they could do was curse and watch.
In the end, even though they'd taken heavier losses early on, once Taiichi locked onto their camp, the village raids stopped completely. No more reports came in.
Mist camp.
Now it was their turn to sit in a heavy, miserable silence. The tent was full of people, but no one spoke. Some stared at their hands. Others kept their eyes closed, thinking.
New supplies had arrived from the rear. They weren't short on anything anymore. That should have been good news. Instead, they had a brand-new problem.
One man had effectively blockaded their entire camp. And they had no good way to deal with him.
"Everyone gone mute? Now's when you decide to shut up?"
The Third Mizukage sat at the head, barely holding back his temper. His fingers drummed hard against the armrest.
Yagura, even though he'd been stripped of command, still had enough history with the Mizukage that he couldn't just sit there and let his old boss take all the heat alone.
"Matsushita Taiichi is strong, but he's still just one man. We have numbers. Worst case we split our forces and create false trails. We can mislead him."
The Mizukage glanced at him, understood what he was doing, and gave a short nod of acknowledgment without commenting on the weak suggestion.
The others took that as their cue. They started offering ideas.
"Why are we even staying out at sea? Why not just move the camp onto land? Out here we're too far from shore. There's nowhere to hide on open water. That's exactly why one man can watch our whole camp."
That one landed hard. Everyone looked at each other, then slowly turned toward Yagura and Hiyori. Their expressions were a mix of sympathy and quiet judgment.
Those two had been the ones who pushed for putting the camp at sea in the first place—said it would keep them safe from Leaf's main force while they regrouped after the losses.
Now it was clear the decision had backfired. It kept the big Leaf army away, sure, but it also left them completely exposed to one man who could fly, teleport, and use shadow clones.
The Third Mizukage took a slow breath and forced his anger down. Times changed. No one could have predicted Taiichi would be able to monitor an entire camp by himself with flight, Flying Thunder God, and shadow clones.
"What do the rest of you think?" he asked, scanning the room.
They looked at each other. In the end they all gave the same answer.
"We follow the Mizukage's orders."
"Fine. Then we're moving camp." The Mizukage stood and walked over to the large map hanging in the tent. He pointed at a spot far to the west. "We'll do it tonight while Taiichi's not watching. New location is here."
Everyone followed his finger. Surprise flashed across their faces.
The spot was past the old ruins of Whirlpool Country—over a thousand kilometers away. They were basically picking an entirely new battlefield.
The Mizukage saw their confusion and explained before anyone could ask.
"This whole area is crawling with Leaf eyes now. We can't land and set up without being noticed. This new spot is also closer to Wind Country. We can let them pull some of Leaf's attention for us."
It wasn't the strongest reasoning, but it wasn't completely wrong either. And the leader had already decided. No one pushed back.
Taiichi had no way of knowing what Mist was planning. His shadow clone just kept circling their camp. As long as they didn't make any big moves, he wasn't going to waste energy doing more than watching.
He was only a shadow clone. Keeping up long flights already burned through his chakra fast enough. He wasn't about to do anything extra.
Meanwhile, Taiichi's real body was still in camp, grinding through training day after day.
The only real change was that Guy, Ebisu, and Genma had started showing up whenever they had free time, thick-skinned and ready to train with him again.
Taiichi didn't mind. Helping these three grow stronger was useful no matter how you looked at it.
Out on the training ground, occasional pained shouts drifted over from where Guy and the others were working. They were clearly pushing themselves hard.
Taiichi stayed focused on his own practice.
Shoulders relaxed, elbows down, hips and stance locked together. He moved within a tiny space but carried an overwhelming presence.
Mind and breath aligned. Breath and intent aligned. Body, energy, and spirit moving as one. He had sunk completely into advanced taijutsu training.
Every punch, every kick was an extension of will and focus. Every muscle worked in perfect coordination.
Then, at one moment, he threw a full-power punch. His entire body seemed to click into unity. A strange, comfortable rush spread from deep inside and rolled through him like electricity.
His whole frame trembled with a pleasant numbness. When it faded, he noticed a thin layer of oily residue had seeped out across his skin.
He lifted his hand, sniffed it, and caught a faint, unpleasant smell.
This… is this supposed to be cleansing the body? It looked like a very watered-down version of the legends.
Even so, it was impressive. He clenched his fists and felt the clear increase in strength. A genuine smile crossed his face.
The smile didn't last long. The greasy feeling was unpleasant.
He formed a quick seal. A spinning column of water rose from his feet and swept up over his body. The high-speed current acted like countless invisible hands, scrubbing every bit of oil and grime away.
With a flick of his wrist he sent the dirty water flying to the side. Another seal brought fire chakra swirling around him. In less than a minute he was completely dry again.
Only then did he check his panel.
[Through advanced taijutsu practice, your comprehension has increased!]
[Advanced Taijutsu has gained experience +1]
[Congratulations! Advanced Taijutsu has reached Lv8 (1/9000)]
[Congratulations! Through long-term training, your Strength has increased by +1 and Agility has increased by +1]
Solid gains. He hadn't slipped back into that special state where he could observe natural energy this time, but he was still satisfied.
Every point added to his physical stats was building a stronger foundation. He was sure that once his body reached a certain level, mastering natural energy would come naturally.
The next day, when Taiichi's shadow clone appeared above the Mist camp again, he immediately saw the island below was completely empty.
Did Mist actually give up and retreat?
The thought felt unrealistic, but it crossed his mind anyway.
He folded his wings and dove straight down. At the last second he spread them again, wind chakra cushioning his landing as he touched down on the abandoned ground.
He moved through the empty camp, checking what was left behind—cold fire pits, scattered footprints, half-eaten rations.
Everything told the same story. Mist had pulled out shortly after his clone left yesterday. Roughly nine hours ago.
Taiichi didn't waste time. The shadow clone used Flying Thunder God to return to the main camp and headed straight for the command tent without slowing down.
Inside the tent, the usual organized chaos was in full swing. With only a few people on rest rotation, almost everyone else was working nonstop under Tsunade's orders.
The staff officers were especially busy—intelligence reports coming in, getting analyzed, turned into new orders, and sent back out. This was the real backbone that let Konoha keep hitting Mist so precisely. It wasn't just Taiichi doing all the work out front.
Their commander, Tsunade, sat relaxed in her chair, watching her people hustle with obvious amusement. She called it "giving them space to show what they could do."
Whatever she was doing, it worked. The staff were running on pure adrenaline, putting out twice the effort. Even Taiichi found it impressive.
The moment Taiichi came charging in, Tsunade's eyes locked onto him.
"Lady Tsunade—Mist's camp is empty. We don't know where they went."