From Joy of Life, the Tian Gang is reversed

Chapter 401 Asma is back
A day later, Asuma left the Land of Hot Springs with a bountiful harvest, heading to the border battlefield between Kumogakure and Konoha.

At this time, the Third Shinobi World War had already begun, but it seemed to have little to do with Konoha, because Kumogakure was currently engaged in a fierce battle with Sunagakure. These muscle-bound men took advantage of the Third Kazekage's disappearance and the instability within Sunagakure to launch a sneak attack without any regard for martial ethics. Now, in this critical moment, the newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, stepped forward and led the Sunagakure ninja in a fierce battle against the Kumogakure ninja. For the time being, it was impossible to determine a victor.

Therefore, there was no fighting on the western front.

The absence of war does not mean that all is well.

On the border between Konoha and Kumogakure, the most brutal squad-level battles are underway.

After Asma arrived at the front, the two sides had moved beyond the probing phase and began small-scale clashes.

Don't ask how the conflict happened; the answer is Yun Yin's rudeness.

"Teacher Sakumo, how is it?"

Upon arriving at the camp, he saw that Sakumo Hatake, who was engrossed in files and documents, looked somewhat haggard, and couldn't help but ask him with concern.

"Asuma, you've come. Please have a seat..."

Upon seeing Asuma's arrival, Sakumo appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly he felt much relieved. Although Asuma was young, his strength was formidable, and now that he was a Jonin, his presence on the battlefield could alleviate a lot of the pressure on him.

"The situation at the border isn't too tense right now, but the Hidden Cloud Village is putting a lot of pressure on us. They're probably using offense as a form of defense, afraid that we'll attack them while they're fighting the Hidden Sand Village. After all, they're quite vulnerable right now."

"Since their ranks are empty, why don't we attack?" Asuma asked curiously. "Isn't this too conservative? Even if we want to see them and Sunagakure both weakened, it wouldn't hurt to put pressure on them!"

"The new generation of the A-B combination in the Cloud Village has stepped up. If it weren't for Jonin Minato, I would have to go to the battlefield to deal with them by now. After all, with the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki around, we still need to be careful with many actions."

"The Eight-Tails?!" Asuma chuckled. "Can this thing hurt people?"

"Hmm?" Sakumo Hatake raised his head and looked at Asuma, saying, "Don't look down on tailed beasts just because you killed the Two-Tails. The Eight-Tails is second only to the Nine-Tails among the tailed beasts. It is very strong. Moreover, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki of Kumogakure has always been a perfect Jinchuriki. The power exerted by the combination of the two exceeds the power of a single tailed beast."

"The current situation is that I am absolutely confident that I can take down the Eight-Tails. With Minato-senpai's help, we can kill the AB duo and even advance directly into Kumogakure. So, Sakumo-senpai, do we need to eliminate the Kumogakure ninja and destroy the village?"

"What did you say?" Sakumo Hatake's expression suddenly turned serious. He had only just returned to the village, yet he had such great confidence. Or was he hiding his strength all along?

But he's only nine years old!
"Are you really that confident in your abilities?" Sakumo asked.

"As you've probably heard, my old man has developed a new bloodline limit, and its characteristics are very effective against tailed beasts," Asuma said with a smile.

"So, what are you really thinking?" Sakumo frowned and said, "It's the early stages of the war now. After World War II, Kumogakure, like Konoha, recovered very quickly. Apart from the Raikage and his son, there are many elite Jonin in the village. Even if you defeat the Eight-Tails, it will be difficult to truly defeat Kumogakure."

“However, this constant fighting on the border is not beneficial to either side, except for losses,” Asuma said. “My suggestion is to withdraw all the squads and stop playing this piecemeal tactic. Minato and I will wipe out all these squads, force the AB combination out, and then kill them, pushing the front line forward…”

"Even if you succeed, it will change the course of the war. The Raikage in Sunagakure will definitely withdraw his troops and transfer all his forces here to fight us to the death." Sakumo Hatake shook his head, rejecting Asuma's radical proposal. "This is not in Konoha's interest."

Indeed, it's not in Konoha's interest. The war hasn't reached Konoha yet; isn't it a good thing to watch Kumogakure and Sunagakure fight to the death? Why invite trouble upon ourselves?
That makes some sense. After all, he's only nine years old now, far from being able to sweep through like Madara Uchiha in Six Paths. Since he doesn't have the strength to sweep through the other four villages, getting involved in the war too early wouldn't be a wise move. But he's also very unhappy with the state of things on the border right now.

"We still need to push them a bit, make them understand the gap between the two villages. I still suggest that we first recall the squad, then force the A and B teams out, defeat them, and that will make them quiet down."

"That's fine, if you're confident."

"Of course I am confident."

Asma laughed.

"Alright, I'll withdraw all the squads now."

Just as Asuma had confidence in himself, Hatake Sakumo also had great confidence in him; his apprentice had never let him down.

With Sakumo's order, the Konoha reconnaissance teams withdrew completely. Within a day, the Konoha teams could no longer be seen on the border. On the other side, the Kumogakure teams' advance speed increased significantly. At first, they did not notice, but as several teams quickly lost contact, these teams realized that they had infiltrated too deeply. When they tried to retreat, they were intercepted and killed.

Although only two people intercepted them, their efficiency was astonishing.

With Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, he could easily wipe out any ordinary reconnaissance squad. As for Asuma, just look at the occasional flashes of thunder on the border front; you can tell that his efficiency is no less than Minato's.

The Lightning Release: Railgun is activated so fast that even Jonin can't react in time. Often, they only hear the explosion of the Lightning Release after their bodies have been blasted open.

Yes, the speed of sound is much slower than the speed of lightning. Although the speed of the Railgun is not as fast as the speed of light, it is still several times faster than the speed of sound. Not to mention these fragile ninjas, even a Silver Saint might not be able to dodge it.

The most critical thing was that these two never left any survivors, so although the Cloud Village team sensed something was wrong, they couldn't get any information. Finally, a day later, the Cloud Village team realized something was wrong. A large number of infiltration teams seemed to have disappeared without a trace, losing contact as soon as they went out. There were no more reports of ninja teams fighting on the border. No, no news came back at all. They knew something had happened.

"Lord Ai, this is intelligence from the Konoha camp."

At the border, in the Cloud Village camp, Xi, holding a scroll, quickly entered Ai's tent. "Sarutobi Asuma is back. They withdrew all their squads. Asuma and Namikaze Minato teamed up to intercept and kill our squads on the front lines."

"What, Asuma?" Upon hearing the name Asuma, Ai felt a dull ache throughout his body, and a sense of gravity flashed through his mind. After all, he had personally experienced Asuma's strength.

“Withdraw all our squads. Asuma is neither Sakumo Hatake nor Minato Namikaze.”

"Yes!"

As for A, he would rather deal with Sakumo and Minato working together than face Asuma, because Sakumo and Minato are both people with a big picture perspective and are good at handling situations. They would consider the consequences of their actions and would not go too far.

Asuma is different. This guy is only nine years old. He doesn't care about the big picture or the consequences. He'll kill you if he wants to. In peacetime, he would dare to kill other villagers' jinchūriki and tailed beasts on the spot. Now that it's wartime, there's nothing he wouldn't dare to do.

(End of this chapter)