Hatake Sakumo was traveling through the forests of the Land of Fire with his three students, including Namikaze Minato, and his three subordinates: Yamashiro-dera, Hayama, and Shinma.
Shinma lagged at the back, occasionally looking dazed. When he glanced at Sakumo's back, a flicker of guilt passed deep in his eyes.
Danzo had ordered him to sabotage Hatake Sakumo's mission.
However, this mission involved the Land of Grass's mission allocation share. If it failed, the village would lose 10% of its total missions, and it might lead to other small nations losing trust in Konoha, triggering a terrible chain reaction.
By then, the losses might far exceed several times that 10%.
Hatake Sakumo and his group arrived at the capital of the Land of Grass. Among the scattered tents, they met the new Captain of the Daimyō's Guardian Ninja, Shimura Kōko.
For a major clan like the Shimura, their elites had been successively killed by the rogue ninja Sarutobi Kanenosuke, leaving only their last elite Jōnin, Shimura Kōko.
Shimura Kōko said, "Lord Sakumo, you've finally arrived. There is a troublesome mission now, issued personally by the Daimyō, urgently requiring Konoha's experts to complete it.
The Daimyō wants to send his eldest son to the Evergreen Sacred Mountain to perform rites to the Evergreen Heaven, deity of the Daimyō's family.
This isn't just a simple ritual mission; it's also a test from the Daimyō.
The journey is long, and we might encounter Iwa-nin attacks during the rites.
The Daimyō's patience with Konoha is wearing thin. If this ritual fails, the Daimyō of the Land of Grass will completely align with the Land of Earth and Iwagakure."
Hatake Sakumo nodded, understanding the severity of the situation.
The Daimyō of the Land of Grass had lost three consecutive Guardian Ninja Captains. Who could accept such a standard from their protectors?
Shimura Kōko continued, "With Konoha's Guardian Ninja being killed one after another, the Daimyō has hired his own protectors.
Among the current 12 Guardian Ninja, only 4 are from Konoha. After the Second Shinobi World War, the agreement with the Daimyō was for Konoha to provide 8 Guardian Ninja. The number has been halved.
This time, I will take one Guardian Ninja with me to the Evergreen Sacred Mountain. Hyūga Shin and another Guardian Ninja will remain in the capital to protect the Daimyō.
The Iwa-nin are also watching this mission closely. We must prove that Konoha is stronger than Iwa!"
Hatake Sakumo took the scroll handed to him by Shimura Kōko and carefully reviewed the situation in the Land of Grass.
He hadn't expected the situation here to be so dire, with the Daimyō trusting Konoha's Guardian Ninja less and less.
The key point was that Konoha couldn't easily protest, because it was Konoha's Guardian Ninja who were killed first.
"Let's go. We absolutely cannot let the Iwa-nin succeed in this mission."
The Crown Prince's procession left the capital and slowly made its way towards the Evergreen Sacred Mountain.
Many flags fluttered in the procession. From time to time, herdsmen approached the convoy, kneeling and bowing towards the various flags.
These flags depicted myths of the Evergreen Heaven protecting the grassland tribes.
The Crown Prince frequently glanced at the samurai and shinobi around him, wondering if this ritual could proceed smoothly.
His father had said this was the final test of the Konoha Guardian Ninja's strength.
The Crown Prince thought to himself, 'I hope the poor strength of the Konoha Guardian Ninja doesn't affect me, doesn't get me killed.'
Yamashiro-dera and the others scouted the area hundreds of meters around the convoy, guarding against possible Iwa-nin attacks at any moment.
During a rest, Hayama asked Yamashiro-dera, "Brother Yamashiro-dera, leaving Hyūga Shin in the capital really lowers our scouting efficiency here. Do you think Shimura Kōko is doing this on purpose?"
Yamashiro-dera thought to himself that Hayama was clever, already learning to consider the worst-case scenarios regarding opponents.
He said, "On the surface, there's nothing wrong with what Shimura Kōko is doing.
The most important duty of the Guardian Ninja is to protect the Daimyō's safety. Leaving Hyūga Shin in the capital is perfectly justifiable.
Therefore, our scouting must be even more careful and thorough."
Their conversation didn't avoid Namikaze Minato, who was nearby.
Namikaze Minato was thoughtful, realizing that the placement of the Hyūga Guardian Ninja involved so many considerations.
Shinma felt somewhat anxious. For several days in a row, they hadn't gathered any clues about the Iwa-nin.
Several days later, the group reached the Evergreen Sacred Mountain.
The Crown Prince's attendants set up camp at the foot of the mountain, while the Konoha ninja stood guard around the perimeter.
Near the Evergreen Sacred Mountain, on the grassland, there was a conspicuous bald patch. Within a diameter of over a hundred meters, not a single blade of grass grew.
Yamashiro-dera walked up to this patch and said, "This should be the place mentioned in the intelligence, where Sarutobi Kanenosuke used the Five Elements Unrivalled Attack to kill the Anbu Vice-Commander, Lynx."
Due to the spread by 'interested parties', the news of the Shimura clan's Lynx's death was everywhere. Normally, which clan Lynx belonged to shouldn't have been leaked.
Danzo had been searching for the source of the rumors but couldn't find it.
There was a faction within the village dissatisfied with Danzo that was actually kicking him while he was down.
Seeing the large scale of the rogue ninja's jutsu, Hayama said with lingering fear:
"An Anbu Vice-Commander... I also know a Vice-Commander. I heard Fox from Anbu was recently promoted to Vice-Commander.
A figure of the Anbu Vice-Commander level can't withstand such a forbidden technique either?"
During the Land of Whirlpools conflict in the Second Shinobi World War, Fox had left a deep impression on Hayama.
Over the past year, several S-Class rogue ninja had appeared consecutively in Konoha, casting a dark cloud over the village.
Ordinary rogue ninja were dealt with by the Anbu, but against these S-Class rogue ninja, even the Anbu had limited options.
Led by the priest, the Crown Prince began the grand ritual.
Herdsmen, bare-chested with sheepskin wrapped around their waists, danced around a bonfire.
The priest had people bring out 5 lines of prisoners. Each rope bound 10 prisoners, totaling 50 captives.
The prisoners were brought beside the bonfire, entering the main phase of the ritual: offering live sacrifices to the Evergreen Heaven.
Namikaze Minato stood with his back to the ritual, vigilant of the distant grasslands.
Hearing the screams behind him, he couldn't help but turn his head to look.
The 50 sacrificial offerings had their heads cut off in front of the bonfire.
For thousands of years, the Daimyō's family of the Land of Grass had used such bloody and barbaric sacrificial methods.
Minato turned his head back, concentrating on using his telescope to observe the far reaches of the grassland.
In his field of view, he suddenly spotted a red dot.
It was a ninja wearing a bamboo hat and dark red armor!
He walked slowly towards the Evergreen Sacred Mountain, steam rising from the gaps in his armor.
"Enemy attack!"
At Minato's shout, all the Konoha ninja looked in the direction he pointed.
Yamashiro-dera saw the figure in red armor and shouted, "It's Iwagakure's Five-Tails Jinchūriki! The Steam Ninja, Han!"
Behind the Steam Ninja Han, many Iwa-nin appeared.
Hatake Sakumo drew his White Fang Short Sword and said, "Minato, you follow me to deal with the Steam Ninja, Han.
Everyone else, handle Han's subordinates!"
Shinma's heartbeat quickened. They were here; the provocation from Iwagakure had arrived.
At the same time, he also glanced at Namikaze Minato.
He felt somewhat dissatisfied that Sakumo favored Minato so much, even though he and his brother Shinna had been Sakumo's subordinates for the longest time.
"Minato, observe carefully from the rear," Hatake Sakumo said:
"The Steam Secret Technique developed by the Steam Ninja Han shares some similarities with your Wind Release Chakra Condensation."
Minato nodded and followed behind Hatake Sakumo.
Hatake Sakumo moved forward, his speed increasing until he was running at high speed.
Minato immediately understood why his teacher wanted him to observe the Steam Ninja Han closely.
Han's armor had many exhaust ports.
Scorching steam jets from these ports, providing him with powerful propulsion.
He was like a red locomotive, plowing through the grassland.
The gleam of the White Fang's blade flashed past!
Minato was surprised to find that the Steam Ninja Han had actually dodged the blade's gleam!
A large amount of steam jet from Han's left shoulder, forcibly altering his position, allowing him to shift sideways in an eerie manner and evade the White Fang's gleam.
Having followed his teacher for a year, this was the first time Minato had seen someone dodge the White Fang's blade gleam.
Could steam be used like this?
Could he use condensed chakra as propulsion to drive his own body's movement?
Under Minato's feet was a layer of condensed Wind Release chakra.
The burst of condensed Wind Release chakra could give Minato exceptionally strong explosive power.
His Body Flicker Technique, his speed, were far ahead of his peers. Because of this, he had easily passed the Chūnin Exams and was the first in his team to become a Chūnin.
Continuously watching the battle between the Steam Ninja Han and his teacher, Minato kept learning from Han's application of steam.
Steam from the elbow joints could make punches more powerful.
Steam from the shoulders and hips could allow the body to shift sideways eerily without needing to push off with the feet.
Steam from the chest could allow the body to retreat rapidly.
Steam from the legs could increase the speed of the Body Flicker Technique.
By condensing Wind Release chakra at different parts of the body, and then utilizing that Wind Release chakra, he could develop a unique taijutsu similar to the Steam Ninja Han's.
The probing battle lasted for a minute before Hatake Sakumo suddenly increased his efforts, his speed becoming even faster.
The White Fang's blade gleam cut through the Steam Ninja Han's left shoulder.
A large piece of iron armor was sliced off; the armor turned out to be double-layered.
The cavity structure of the double-layered armor was special; steam was compressed and accelerated within the cavity before ejection from the nozzles, providing kinetic energy.
With the left shoulder armor cavity destroyed, Han couldn't move freely to the right.
This made his movements more predictable and clumsier.
After a few more exchanges, sparks of residual lightning flickered on Han's armor. The armor cavities on his left shoulder, right hip, and right leg were all damaged.
Han panted heavily inside his armor, thinking, 'As expected of Konoha's White Fang. Ordinary methods are simply useless against him.'
Using all his strength, he jumped backward, dodging the White Fang's blade gleam aimed at his waist.
Upon landing from his retreat, Han pressed a mechanism on his armor.
With a clattering sound, all the iron armor fell away, revealing Han's figure.
Hatake Sakumo grew more serious.
The Five-Tails' chakra seeped out from Han's skin.
A moment later, Han crouched on the ground, entering a Partial Tailed Beast Transformation state.
Dark red chakra flowed over his skin, and three tails appeared behind him.
His hands and feet were no longer shaped like five digits but resembled horse-like hooves.
Pushing off with his four hooves, steam billowing from his body, Han charged fiercely towards Hatake Sakumo.
Boil Release Steam was the Five-Tails' special ability.
The Five-Tails' chakra vaporized into large amounts of steam, which could erupt anywhere, anytime, without the need for armor cavities.
Han was extremely fast, his four hooves cracking the ground beneath him.
Hatake Sakumo slashed out three consecutive White Fang blade gleams.
The dazzling white blade gleams interwove, covering most of the area in front of him.
Han dodged two of the blade gleams but was struck by the final one.
The Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak split open, revealing a one-centimeter deep cut in the flesh beneath.
Han roared in agony.
The Tailed Beast Chakra Cloak actually couldn't block the White Fang's blade gleam?
***
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