Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

"Ahem! Kid, we're on a mission right now, don't get sidetracked."

Before the two women could answer, one of the ANBU members who had been following Kakashi coughed and spoke up.

Upon hearing the voice, Uzuki Yugao turned around in surprise, "Moonlight Hayate?"

Ok?

Gengetsu Shimura paused for a moment, then looked at the ANBU member wearing the cat-face mask.

The group didn't exchange any words on the way, and he had no idea that the ANBU member following Kakashi was the true protagonist of Shippuden.

"Xi Yan, don't let this brat lead you astray." Moonlight Gale spoke very rudely.

He and Uzuki Yugao had been classmates for many years, but along the way, Uzuki Yugao only had eyes for this brat and didn't even notice his presence.

“Moonlight Gale.” Uzuki Yugao frowned immediately. “Show some respect to my captain. So what if you’re young? He can kill you without a second strike.”

"I...cough cough cough!" Hayate Gekko was so angry that he started coughing again, and even Kakashi and another teammate quietly moved away from him.

Uzuki Yugao quickly pulled Shimura Gengetsu away, "Gengetsu, be careful. Gekko Hayate has had lung disease since he was a child, it seems to be a sequela of the Gekko family's bloodline limit."

Xuan Yue nodded silently, then looked at Kakashi with disdain, "You brought a sickly person here on a mission, are you trying to poison us all?"

Kakashi was also a little embarrassed, "His strength is still quite good, and his Bloodstained Release technique is suitable for sneak attacks."

Gengetsu Shimura pouted, "Now that we've completed our mission, let's part ways as soon as possible. If I get sick, you'll pay ten times the medical bills."

After saying that, he led Uzuki Yugao and Yuhi Kurenai to the next mountain.

They noticed the problem as soon as they arrived at the foot of the mountain.

There were traces of a fire here, and the smell of gunpowder from burning explosive tags.

The fact that the smell hadn't completely dissipated indicates that the time spent away from home was not long.

After advancing for a while, Shimura Gengetsu finally spotted the enemy's trail. There were exactly six of them, and it seemed to be a patrol team from Kumogakure.

Kakashi wanted to devise a strategy, but then he thought that this was a good opportunity to understand the strength of Xuan Yue and the other two, so he simply charged in without bothering with stealth.

With a single command, he shouted, "Charge! Let's see who kills the fastest!"

Seeing the six ninjas suddenly emerge from the reverse slope, the Cloud Village ninjas remained calm. This was a battlefield, and anything could happen, so they remained vigilant.

The three quickly formed hand seals and threw ninja tools to disrupt the charge.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Strike Wave!"

Several laser beams shot towards Shimura Gengetsu and the others.

Kakashi had already revealed his Sharingan, ready to risk his reputation as a Konoha technician by retaliating with the same ninjutsu, but Shimura Gengetsu, wielding a sword with one hand and forming hand seals with the other, was even faster than him.

"Wind Release: Crush!"

With the wind-based attack and Shimura Gengetsu's almost abnormal mastery of wind-attribute nature transformation, even his area-of-effect attacks displayed unparalleled power, shattering the laser beams with a single strike and blowing away the incoming explosive tags and kunai.

"This kid has amazing Wind Release skills, let's fight him in close combat!" The Cloud Village ninja leader quickly made a judgment—this is a ninjutsu-type ninja, definitely not good at close combat.

So he led his men and charged forward, and the two sides clashed in close combat.

But he didn't even glance at the Kusanagi that Gengetsu Shimura was holding.

Close?

That's better!

"A fleeting scene!"

The Body Flicker Technique was activated; a Cloud Ninja saw only a blur before his eyes, and then he was plunged into eternal darkness. (Wang Nuo Zhao)

Before his teammates could even grieve, they swung their kunai at him, but the Shimura Gengetsu in front of them had already turned into the image of his fallen teammates.

He quickly realized it was an illusion, but his body's instincts still made him pause for a moment.

In that instant, Shimura Gengetsu's Kusanagi sword severed his head, while his other hand completed a hand seal.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Ball!"

An air cannon the size of a pebble pierced the skull of another Cloud Ninja, leaving a bloody hole.

Kakashi, who was locked in combat with his opponent, was twitching uncontrollably. He hadn't even finished off one of his opponents yet, while Shimura Gengetsu had already killed three.

"You dare to lose focus while fighting me?"

"go to hell!"

The Cloud Ninja fighting him plunged a kunai into Kakashi's heart. Instead of the expected scream, Kakashi's body began to go numb.

"Zi la——!"

Kakashi in front of him transformed into a ball of lightning, enveloping his body.

Pfft——!

The real Kakashi pierced his heart from behind.

Having lost four teammates, the remaining two Cloud Ninja also met their demise. One was torn to pieces by Shimura Gengetsu's Wind Release: Thousand Cuts, while the other was pierced through the body by Kakashi's Lightning Blade.

After the fight, Kakashi was completely out of breath.

"Kakashi, I already told you, your body is too weak. Why don't you take off your eyes and give them to me?"

"No, you don't need to worry about it," Kakashi said, panting. "Collect their headbands; we'll need them to tally their merits when we get back. Let's get out of this area as soon as possible."

Yugao and the others quickly buried the body, took the headbands, and found a cave to hide in, waiting for their chakra to recover.

Shimura Gengetsu suddenly shook his head regretfully, "What a pity, White Fang is gone. In this vast Konoha, there is no one left who is qualified to discuss swordsmanship with me."

Kakashi, who was resting, suddenly focused his gaze.

Chapter 75 The ancestral graves of the Shimura family are emitting green smoke, Flying Thunder God?! Flying Thunder God!

Hearing this name that hadn't been mentioned in a long time, Kakashi's feelings were indescribably complicated.

A new generation replaces the old.

In Konoha these days, fewer and fewer people remember the name "White Fang of Konoha".

After a moment of silence, Kakashi said slowly, "Your style is different from his. He uses a short sword and combines it with the extreme speed after activating his Lightning Release to cut his opponent at close range."

"And you... possess the kingly way of killing swordsmanship, with powerful sword energy and ultimate wind-style chakra. Whether in ranged or melee combat, your potential is higher than his."

"The only thing you're missing is that you haven't pushed yourself to the limit yet."

As Kakashi spoke, Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate listened intently. Don't let Kakashi's current status as a technician fool you; back when they hadn't even graduated, they'd heard that Kakashi had risen to Jonin status through his formidable swordsmanship.

"Then why don't you use a knife anymore?" Shimura Gengetsu asked a question that showed a complete lack of emotional intelligence.

"Because my sword broke." Kakashi lowered his head, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes.

"I was too vulnerable back then, unable to even protect my companions, so my white teeth were broken."

Gengetsu Shimura sighed, "What a spendthrift..."

Kakashi: "......"

It's not like it was your money that was wasted, so why do you seem more distressed than I am?

"Alright, let's recover our chakra as soon as possible." Kakashi, somewhat speechless from the teasing, changed the subject and popped a soldier's ration into his mouth. "We'll continue our operation in half an hour. The battlefield is too dangerous; try to minimize the time spent in the same place."

Everyone nodded silently, deciding to remain quiet and rest.

Only Moonlight Gale, with his eyes behind the cat-face mask looking at Shimura Gengetsu, had very complicated feelings.

Just now, when Uzuki Yugao said that Shimura Gengetsu killed him without using a second sword, he scoffed at it.

But now he understands that Uzuki Yugao was not exaggerating at all.

Even the strength that Uzuki Yugao herself just displayed was stronger than his, and she didn't rely on the Crescent Moon Dance, but rather a new sword technique.

Moonlight Gale sighed inwardly, realizing that his old classmate was drifting further and further away from him, and the last bit of hope in his heart was completely extinguished.

Soon, the half-hour break was over.

With everyone's chakra nearly restored, they continued their task of clearing the battlefield.

While the Cloud Village isn't exactly a mindless brute in their use of stratagems, their fighting style... is certainly quite reckless.

The entire Hidden Cloud Village has very few sensory ninjas; they basically fight as soon as they meet, mostly charging straight in without resorting to sneak attacks or ambushes.

Otherwise... there were a full eight thousand ninjas! So many of them went undetected by the sensory ninjas, and they managed to completely overwhelm the Third Raikage and his subordinates, forcing the Kage to stay behind to cover their retreat.

Therefore, the perception of ninjas became a perpetual source of pain for the Hidden Cloud Village.

This is why they are so determined to seize the Hyuga Byakugan.

This time, Shimura Gengetsu once again used his sensory ninjutsu to deliver a devastating blow.

His bond with Karin and her daughter had already reached the second stage. Karin's reward was the Adamantine Lock, while Misa Uzumaki received the excellent-level Uzumaki Physique.

In fact, Gengetsu had long been able to awaken the true Kagura Mind's Eye, but he used Minato Namikaze's technique as a cover.

As they ventured deeper into the edge of the battlefield, the six-man squad wiped out one Cloud Ninja squad after another.

Kakashi also acknowledged Shimura Gengetsu's strength, stating that they could launch an attack as long as the number of enemies did not exceed twice their size and there were no more than three Jonin.

In just two days, they had killed nearly a hundred Cloud Village ninjas, attracting the attention of the main force, which sent groups of people to search for them.