Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

It wasn't just Kinoshita Genichi who wasn't on the main battlefield. Minato Namikaze was in the same position. War wasn't just fought on the front lines; there was also intelligence, the enemy's rear supply lines, and all the other intense clashes that revolved around the main battle.

Of course, Genichi did seem rather idle. After returning from the Land of Earth, he had entered a state of seclusion, while Minato and his teacher, Sakumo Hatake, were flying all over the place.

Time passed, bit by bit. Sunagakure pushed forward, little by little, into the Land of Fire. In December, they suddenly withdrew their troops from the Land of Rain and threw them into the battle in the Land of Fire. They then captured the important border town of Kikyō Castle in one fell swoop, occupying Kikyō Mountain as a strategic point.

When the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, heard the news, his face turned grim, and he even had the urge to invade the Land of Wind again. But he held back, stared at the map, and decided to continue to wait for an opportunity.

The Hidden Leaf Village.

At eight o'clock at night, in a lab at the Konoha Hospital, Genichi was dissecting the body of the Third Raikage. Beside him, shadow clones were observing the Raikage's cells with microscopes and other instruments, while others were analyzing his genes. He was a one-man whirlwind of activity. It couldn't be helped; Tsunade and the others were still on the battlefield.

"Lord Genichi, the Hokage summons you!" Suddenly, an Anbu ninja appeared at the door.

"I know. I'll be right there," Genichi replied without looking up.

The Anbu nodded and vanished. Genichi created another clone to take his place, then took off his protective suit and left the lab.

In the Hokage's office.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi saw Genichi, he dispensed with the pleasantries. "Genichi, Jiraiya's side is ready for a counter-attack. You and Minato will lead a team to launch a surprise attack on the Mist's rear. You must crush them in one fell swoop!"

"Understood," Genichi accepted. This was a repeat of their previous plan. Of course, the situation was different now.

Kirigakure had learned its lesson. This time, they hadn't placed their supplies on distant islands. Instead, their depots were positioned right behind the front lines, heavily guarded. And as the front line moved forward, so did the supply points. Although this increased the logistical pressure, they had more troops to spare after ending the war with Suna, so the effect was actually better. And while Konoha's harassment of their supply lines was a constant annoyance, it hadn't led to a situation like last time, where everything was destroyed at once.

After explaining his plan in detail, Hiruzen asked, "Genichi, can it be done?"

Genichi thought for a moment. "Pinpointing the location of their logistical bases is simple. Breaking in from the air is also not a problem. However, we will definitely be discovered immediately, so there won't be much time for preparation and setup."

"That's right," Hiruzen nodded. "So the tactical objective this time isn't to destroy their supplies, but to shake their front line from the rear and create an opportunity for Jiraiya's forces. I have already secretly sent reinforcements. As long as we break their defensive line, it will be difficult for the Mist to retreat in an orderly fashion like last time."

Last time, the Mist had seen their logistics destroyed and had chosen to withdraw proactively and in an organized manner. This time, Hiruzen had secretly sent reinforcements and had kept them hidden, not allowing them to appear on the battlefield where the Mist could detect them. The goal was to crush the enemy on the front line and cause a total collapse.

This was, in a sense, a decisive, phase-ending battle. Hiruzen was holding his breath, aiming to temporarily end the war with the Mist this year, and then, after the New Year, gather his forces to deal with the Sand, who were occupying Kikyō Mountain.

"It can be done," Genichi said, having understood the plan. He thought for a moment and added, "We can take Pakura on this mission."

"Scorch Release?" Hiruzen considered it, then nodded. "Alright." It was both for the power of her jutsu and to reawaken the Mist-nin's fear of Scorch Release, to strike at them psychologically and break their morale.

"Go and prepare. You and Minato will set out tomorrow," Hiruzen said finally.

Back in the lab, Genichi had just put on his protective suit and was about to continue his research on the Third Raikage's body when the memories from a shadow clone flooded his mind.

Hmm? He froze. "A Kekkei Genkai? Mirror Flower, Water Moon?" A jolt of excitement went through him. "Mirror Flower, Water Moon has become a Kekkei Genkai?"

He quickly walked to the side and sat down. After lowering his eyes, he began to refine his chakra. A new nature transformation was formed from the combination of Yin and Water Release.

What kind of release is this? He was a bit bewildered. Mirror Flower, Water Moon was originally a genjutsu, but not a pure Yin Release one; it was cast with the help of Water Release. It was a combination-type illusion. Later, after being unable to change the terrible cost of Izanagi, he had come up with the idea of further modifying and improving this genjutsu. He had never expected to create a Kekkei Genkai out of it.

In fact, after being inspired by Pakura, when he had decided to try developing a Kekkei Genkai with a jutsu as a guide, his target hadn't been Mirror Flower, Water Moon.

But after the bewilderment came immense joy. As the new nature-transformed chakra appeared, his cells, which were already highly active under the enhancement of the Art of Pyo, proactively accepted this new power. The change in his body was far greater than when he had first mastered Ice Release.

Feeling the change, Genichi was even more certain that he was on the right path. Cell activity, maintaining the powerful life force of his cells, possessing a strong instinct for growth and evolution. And developing a Kekkei Genkai with a jutsu as a guide—Mirror Flower, Water Moon seemed to be an even better example of this than Heaven's Eye.

As for what to call this release… I'll just call it Kyōka Suigetsu, he thought. Just like controlling the five senses. And like Kaguya's numerous Kekkei Mōra, which only have the names of their moves.

Kekkei Genkai: Kyōka Suigetsu. As for its effect, it was more or less what he had envisioned before.

I'll test its effect in battle tomorrow… Genichi stood up and continued his work, feeling more motivated than ever.

The next day, at 8 a.m., Genichi and Pakura met Minato's team at the village gate. Besides them, Sarutobi Shinnosuke was also there; he was part of Genichi's team for this mission.

"Genichi, I didn't expect to be on a mission with you," Obito Uchiha said, surprised.

"Everyone, long time no see. You've all changed quite a bit," Genichi greeted them with a smile.

Obito looked him up and down and grumbled, "Hey, are you talking about yourself? What on earth have you been eating? Why are you growing so fast?" As peers, he and Kakashi were about the same height. But Genichi? He was over 1.7 meters tall now, not much different from a young adult like Minato.

Genichi spread his hands and smiled. "What can I say? I'm a big eater."

Rin Nohara couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.

"Rin, you're getting more and more beautiful," Genichi teased. "I wonder which guy will be lucky enough to get you in the future."

Rin blushed but smiled gracefully. "That's still a long time from now!" As she said this, she glanced at the expressionless Kakashi. Genichi, however, also noticed Obito secretly looking at Rin.

As for Minato and Shinnosuke, their gazes were on the masked Pakura. Even Shinnosuke didn't know her identity. Noticing their gazes, Genichi didn't introduce her. They could recognize her identity, but it couldn't be brought out into the open. Some things could be done, but not said.

"Minato-san, Shinnosuke-senpai, let's set out," Genichi said, the teasing over.

Minato and Shinnosuke nodded, and they all set off. On the way, Genichi chatted with Kakashi. Obito, seeing them talking so animatedly, also joined in. "Genichi, what kind of missions have you been on? We never see you around."

"Idiot," Kakashi said coolly. "Genichi is in the Anbu. His missions are confidential."

Obito, knowing he was in the wrong, quickly tried to recover. "Then can you tell us about this mission?"

"I can tell you a little about it," Genichi smiled. "This mission is very important. It's the key to winning the war against the Mist."

Obito's eyes lit up. He loved missions like this. "Then what are the details?" he asked eagerly. "Are we launching a decapitation strike against the Mist's command?"

"In a war like this," Kakashi's sharp tongue activated, "the command post is important, but not that important. A simple decapitation strike certainly can't decide the outcome of a large-scale war."

"Cocky Kakashi, what do you think it is then?" Obito retorted.

"If it were that easy to figure out, I'd be a jonin," Kakashi said flatly. "You're a genin. Just follow orders properly. Don't drag us down when the time comes."

Obito's fists clenched again. Watching them bicker, Genichi found it quite amusing. It made the journey less boring.

At one in the afternoon, Genichi's group arrived at the battlefield and met with the commander, Jiraiya. However, the operation didn't begin immediately. After an exchange of information, they began to rest.

After nightfall, they all gathered together, minus Rin. She was not participating in this operation; she was helping out in the medical corps. So, there were six people on this mission: Genichi, Pakura, Shinnosuke, Minato, Kakashi, and Obito.

Compared to the last team, this lineup seemed a bit lacking. But Pakura was a Kekkei Genkai-wielding jonin who had been the bane of the Mist. Shinnosuke was an Anbu jonin, sixteen or seventeen this year. Minato was twenty-one, the Yellow Flash, a jonin of the Leaf. Kakashi was a chūnin, but with the strength of a jonin. Obito was a genin, the weakest, but when he got serious, he had the strength of a chūnin.

Alright, it really didn't compare. But it couldn't be helped. Orochimaru and Fugaku were both in the Land of Rain, fighting Iwa. Mokume Kuno was commanding the border defense force, guarding against a possible attack from the Land of Grass. Of course, Konoha had more than just these elites, but with a war on four fronts, there weren't many people to choose from. Genichi felt it was enough.

Under the dim light, he spread out a simple map. There were four red 'X's on it. "These four places are the Mist's logistical nodes," he pointed. "All their supplies go here first, then are transported to the front line. And in fact, these places are very close to the front, less than five kilometers away. Their command post is actually further back."

"In other words," Shinnosuke said, "their logistical depots are currently surrounded by their own forces."

"That's right. Our first objective is these two nodes." Genichi pointed to the two middle 'X's. "These two are about twenty kilometers apart. Besides the at least twenty guards at the nodes themselves, there are also rotating reinforcement units stationed in between." This was all information he had gathered with his Heaven's Eye that afternoon.

Under normal circumstances, this information wouldn't be of much use. Konoha didn't have an air force. Or rather, for ordinary ninja, being airdropped in would be a suicide mission.

"That's a lot of guards," Minato said with a grave expression. "And once we make a move, the Mist-nin from the front and rear will react quickly. The ones on the flanks, and even further back, will also react."

"So, simply destroying their logistics won't have that great of an impact," Genichi nodded. "Because we can't destroy them all at once. These two points are the first objective, and they serve the second objective. Destroying them is just to attract the enemy's attention and cause a certain amount of panic. The key to victory lies in the chaos and destruction we cause in their rear. And once we attack, Master Jiraiya, who will receive the signal, will immediately launch an all-out offensive."

Genichi slapped his hand on the map. "Our ultimate mission is actually to shake the enemy's battle line from the rear, so that our forces on the main front can quickly break through, leading to a total collapse of the Mist's forces."

"That will be very difficult, won't it?" Obito couldn't help but ask. "After all, there are only six of us. Our influence is limited."

"Don't underestimate our power, Obito," Genichi chuckled. "Alright, next is the specific tactical plan. I will lead the attack on Point A. Once we make a move, we will immediately draw the attention of the surrounding Mist-nin. Then, Minato-san, your team will launch a surprise attack on Point B. After you succeed, don't stop. Immediately come and rendezvous with us at Point A. After that, we need to hold Point A for a period of time, continuously drawing the enemy over."

"What if the effect is not as expected?" Kakashi asked. "For example, it's possible the Mist on the front line will choose to ignore the commotion in their rear."

"Kakashi makes a good point," Minato nodded in praise. "After the last incident, the Mist should have countermeasures for this."

"So," Genichi nodded, "if it's not as effective as we expect, then we will proactively attack the Mist's front line."

"That's… that's too crazy!" Obito was dumbfounded.

"If you're scared, then don't go," Kakashi said with his sharp tongue.

"I'm not scared!" Obito immediately stuck his neck out. "It's just… it's just that a plan like this is too shocking."

"Obito, it may seem crazy," Minato smiled, "but it's actually very feasible. Because if we proactively attack their rear, we will only be facing a small number of enemies in a short period of time. As long as we don't stay in one place for too long, it won't be a big problem."

Genichi nodded. This battlefield was not like the Iwa encirclement of the Third Raikage, where seven or eight thousand men formed a tight circle in a small area. Here, the battlefield was vast. This could be seen from the fact that the Mist's logistical points were so far apart, and there were four of them.

"Alright, that's the situation. It's time to move." Genichi stood up and walked out of the tent first. The others followed.

Forming a hand seal, he summoned the tiger-headed eagle, Toratou. Its body was even larger now. Obito stood there, not even as tall as its leg. He looked up and exclaimed, "So… so amazing!"

"Everyone, get on," Genichi said, leaping onto its back.

"Obito, let's go!" Minato called out and leaped up.

Once everyone was on, Genichi said, "Toratou!"

The eagle let out a roar, then, with a powerful flap of its wings, it took to the sky, climbing at a 45-degree angle into the dark night. Obito lost his footing and was almost blown off by the wind. Luckily, Minato caught him. He quickly used chakra to stick to the eagle's back.

At an altitude of eight hundred meters, Toratou flew toward the target area. Because the battlefield was in a vast forest, the Mist had not deployed any flying ninja beasts for aerial patrol. The logistical points had cleared the nearby trees, giving them a good view of the sky, and guards on the treetops were sufficient.

Arriving above Point A, Genichi first created a shadow clone, then left a Flying Thunder God marker on Pakura and Shinnosuke. Then, under Obito's shocked gaze, he leaped from Toratou's back and dived toward the ground below.

The wind howled in his ears, his waist-length hair flying wildly.

When he was a hundred meters from the ground, the Mist-nin on watch finally sensed the whistling sound from above. They looked up, and their faces immediately changed.

"Enemy attack! In the air!" several of them shouted in succession, alerting the other dozen or so ninja.

When he was less than a hundred meters from the ground, and less than fifty meters from the ninja in the treetops, Genichi clapped his hands together and spat out a blast of violent wind.

RUMBLE!

The air rolled and churned. From the treetops, the Mist-nin also launched their attacks. Some used Water Release, spitting out jets of water. Some used Fire Release, or Wind Release. More threw shuriken and kunai with explosive tags. But they were all blown back by Genichi's Great Breakthrough.

Boom!

The swirling air current shook the great trees, then slammed into the ground, kicking up a rolling cloud of dust. Fortunately, the warehouses were built with thick logs and were quite sturdy, so they weren't breached. But this attack had robbed the Mist-nin of their vision.

After using the wind jutsu, Genichi immediately threw a kunai. Under the cover of the wind and dust, it stuck into the roof of a warehouse. When the Mist-nin who had torn through the dust were looking for him, he had already appeared silently on the roof. He then formed hand seals.

Flying Thunder God: Summoning Jutsu!

Poof! Poof!

Pakura and Shinnosuke, who had been on Toratou's back, were directly summoned to the roof. The moment they appeared, they vanished from the spot.

"Aaargh!" A Mist-nin screamed. Shinnosuke had appeared and killed one with his sword. At the same time, he threw a kunai with an explosive tag through a window and into the warehouse.

"He's here!" The scream alerted the other Mist-nin, and they immediately spotted Genichi on the roof.

Four of them were about to charge him, but their bodies stiffened, their faces contorting in pain. They looked down and saw a fireball spinning in their chests.

Genichi vanished from the roof. As his figure flickered, a series of piercing screams rang out, and the bodies of the Mist-nin fell to the ground. He held a sword in each hand, wind chakra flowing over them, glowing with a brilliant white light that was exceptionally dazzling in the night.

"It's the White Fang of the Leaf!"

"Aaargh!"

Cries of terror and screams of pain rang out one after another.

From the time he had cast the wind jutsu, in less than two short minutes, the twenty Mist-nin had been slaughtered by the three of them. Immediately after, several warehouses were blown up and set on fire, becoming blazing torches under the night sky.

In the air, after seeing the soaring flames below, Genichi's shadow clone immediately had Toratou head for Point B.

The huge commotion alerted the Mist-nin on either side of Point A, and reinforcements quickly moved out. At the same time, the command post in the rear was also alerted. But they didn't immediately send reinforcements, instead dispatching scout teams. Similarly, the Mist-nin on the eastern front were also alerted, but they did not turn back to deal with it. This was a pre-arranged contingency plan.

Sensing this, Genichi couldn't help but smile. "It seems the Mist are very cautious."

The soaring flames flickered. After searching and making sure no one was left alive, and delivering a finishing blow to everyone, Pakura and Shinnosuke came to his side.

"Next, we wait for their reinforcements. As long as we deal with them, the front line will be in an uproar, and there will be a reaction in the rear," Shinnosuke said.

"Actually, we could just charge their front line directly," Pakura said, looking to the east.

"We first need to apply enough psychological pressure," Genichi shook his head. "Only then will an attack on their front line have a sufficiently large effect."

Psychological warfare was also very important. If the commotion in the rear was big enough, the Mist on the front line might think there was a large-scale attack behind them. Under suspicion and doubt, their entire battle line could be shaken. Then, when Jiraiya and his secretly reinforced troops charged, the Mist could easily collapse.

Ten kilometers was not a very long distance for ninja on a forced march. After waiting for a moment, Genichi suddenly said, "They're here. The closest are less than three miles away."

Shinnosuke and Pakura immediately vanished, hiding in the darkness of the forest where the firelight did not reach.

Soon, the sound of movement was heard. From the left and right, Mist-nin arrived almost simultaneously.

In the firelight, Genichi clapped his hands together. Water droplets quickly condensed around him, forming a current that spiraled upwards, then crashed down on the incoming Mist-nin like a tidal wave. The Mist-nin countered with either Fire Release or jets of water.

With a roar, water splashed everywhere, and steam hissed. In the firelight, Genichi's figure seemed to be distorted.

An assassin skilled in the Silent Killing technique took the opportunity to appear behind him and plunge his sword into his body. However, to the assassin's shock, Genichi turned around, his body completely unaffected by the blow, as if the sword had passed through a phantom. But the sensation of stabbing him had been of real flesh.

Genjutsu? The assassin reacted extremely quickly and was about to retreat.

But Genichi reached out and clamped his hand over his face. With a boom, the water's surface exploded. The assassin's head hit the ground, and with a muffled grunt, his skull cracked, and blood poured from his orifices. It wasn't a genjutsu… his consciousness faded.

Just then, attacks of fire and water arrived from the left and right, striking Genichi's body simultaneously. Steam hissed into the air. When it cleared, Genichi was standing in the same spot, unharmed.

"What happened?"

"Did he use a substitution jutsu?"

"That guy seems to be… Kinoshita Genichi!"

The Mist-nin were shocked. After recognizing him, fear grew in their hearts.

And from the forest, screams rang out. It was the ambushing Shinnosuke and Pakura. They had let the first group of Mist-nin pass and had ambushed the ones who arrived later.

And Genichi, who had just tested the effect of his new Kekkei Genkai, Mirror Flower, Water Moon, was very satisfied.

Swoosh!

He vanished from his spot and suddenly appeared in front of a stunned Mist-nin. He grabbed his neck and snapped it with a crack, then threw the body at another ninja. Seeing his comrade flying toward him, the ninja knew that death was lurking behind. He gritted his teeth and dodged, ignoring his comrade. But while he was in the air, Genichi descended from above and stomped him into the water.

Suddenly, a stream of water surged up from behind Genichi, wrapping around him like a whip. From the left and right, two other Mist-nin appeared and stabbed their swords into his body from both sides.

(End of Chapter)

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