CHAPTER 9

Chapter Summary: Suzuki Hiroshi is on a mission to rescue comrades being held as captives by enemy shinobi. He proves his strength and intelligence as he supports his team and battles against higher-levelled enemies. He continues with training and included genjutsu to the long list. Team Taida is thankful for his work. Medics cause him trouble.

Confirmation through a hardly noticeable chakra flare by the others of the team indicated the completion of Phase 1 of the plan. I created four clones through [Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu] and they dispersed to where the others were.

Another hardly noticeable chakra flare for confirmation of the clones' arrival at their position came and I brought in mist throughout the camp.

My clones have my capabilities so they will be able to guide the others through the mist. It would have been nice if Hyuga Susumu could have used his Byakugan to guide himself but apparently, he has problems seeing through my mist so a clone was provided to him.

My [Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu] is just too powerful. #Hiroshi!Supremacy

In the current phase of the plan, we slowly pick off the ten Iwa-nin that was spread throughout the camp. There was a little worry about the Iwa-nin inside the tent being alerted so we needed to do it as silently and stealthily as possible.

I could sense the Iwa-nin's chakra signatures go out one by one while I kill my own targets. After the disposing of the Iwa-nin's, we proceeded to slowly approach the tent but before we could do so, the flap of the tent opened with a bang.

Nara Kenichi ordered us. "Hiroshi-kun, lift the mist and rescue the captives. Everyone else, engage the enemy."

The enemy that I thought had high-chunin strength suddenly flared up chakra that easily reached high-jonin so the four were forced to engage him while I alone dealt with the other one with high-chunin reserves.

He was an ugly man in probably his mid-twenties and he had a feral smile on his face. "Aweee. Did they leave the baby behind? And with a toy stick at that."

I saw the eyes of the captive Konoha-nin widen. Nara Taida's was comically larger than the others'.

I turned to them, ignoring the Iwa-nin. "Are you guys okay? Is anyone hurt?", I asked in my most innocent voice. While I was saying this, though, I was already grabbing hold of leaves from the distance. I then willed them to sharpen and slowly approach as to not alarm the enemy.

The Konoha-nin were gob smacked at what I just said. I mean there is a big scary man in front of me and I paid them more attention.

The Iwa-nin was pissed at my words. "Hey! I'm talking to you, kid!"

I turned towards him. "Hmm? Oh, sorry. Were you saying something?", I asked in my innocent voice. My leaves were already within close proximity.

He was now royally pissed and angry. "You tree-huggers think you're all so special and strong! Well too bad, kid! You won't be growing up any longer because your head's going to roll over the floor!", he then readied to rush towards me.

"You rock-shitters probably should learn that a kid being in a place of violence usually means they are not to be underestimated.", At that, I willed the hundreds of Sharp Leaves to attack him. I predicted that where he would dodge so I prepared a highly-compressed water bullet to shoot at him. He dodged as predicted and I willed the leaves to nick his tendons. Realizing he wasn't able to move his limbs anymore, his face filled with horror.

I approached where he laid. "You know I would have taught you a lesson about being prepared for anything but too bad, you won't be using it on your way to the Pure Lands so what's the point?, I was satisfied when he was crying tears already. I shot my water bullet at the center of his head and it drilled right through the other end.

Who's the baby now?

I went to where the captive Konoha-nin were and untied them while looking for injuries.

Nara Taida immediately spoke to me. "Hiroshi-kun, you were deployed?"

"Yeah. I mean at some point, I had to be, right?" I went straight to business. "We received reports about a team that was able to infiltrate the enemy. May I know who you are?"

A man raised his hand. "That would be us. When we were going back to the outpost, we were ambushed. Two of us died while we were captured."

I nodded. "Good job. The Commander of the Front will need everything you have on the enemy so stay alive for a while longer."

The man smiled. "I'll stay alive until I grow old, don't worry."

I nodded at that. I finished examining them and deemed their injuries to be minor and mild. The only real problem was their very weakened state. I proceeded to use my jutsu.

"[Medical Art, Water Release: Water Jellyfish]!", small blobs of glowing jellyfishes covered all their wounds and healed them. "I'll close your wounds for now but when we get back to camp, have yourself checked by official medics to be sure."

I nodded in satisfaction when all of them looked devoid of any more injuries. I sensed the others still going on with their battle and decided to help them a bit. I created three water clones to stand guard with the now free Konoha-nin while I went to battle.

By the time I reached them, the enemy was about to hit them with a large Explosion Release ninjutsu but I was able to conjure up a [Water Release: Water Formation Wall] to protect the team. After the explosion, the four went back to engaging the enemy in close quarter combat while I searched for gaps and chances to harass the enemy with dense water bullets.

Annoyed at my attacks, he stopped fighting my teammates and rushed towards me. I shot out a water wall to hinder him but he was still able to avoid it and go through. He reached me and grabbed my neck to lift and choke me. I flailed a bit but sadly for him, I had a plan. I took out a leaf from my sleeves and put it between my fingers. I held it to his face and showed him how I willed the leaf to sharpen. His eyes went wide and was about to let go of me but it was already too late as I willed the leaf to hit his eye.

Blood spurted out of his eye and he instinctively let go of me to hold his injury. I immediately weaved hand signs while I was still coughing and released a small water dragon bullet to hit him on his torso, blowing him back. My other teammates took it as a chance to hit him with finishing blows of their own. And at that, the enemy laid down on the ground dead.

Nara-taichou immediately went to me to see if I was fine. "Are you okay? It looked like he was holding you pretty tightly.", I just nodded at his question while rubbing the parts that the Iwa-nin held.

"Thanks for the assist. It was very hard to go near him because his Explosion Release kept us away, making me and Susumu-san unable to properly hit him. He also just blew away any fire ninjutsu that Katsu-san fired at him and well, Kenichi-taichou is more of our brains.", Inuzuka Namie said as she held Namimaru's head.

Having nothing else to say, I just said the sentence that came to my head. "All's well that ends well."

We proceeded to collect the bodies of the Iwa-nin and seal them into scrolls. They can be studied back at the village.

When we came back to our rescue targets, we made sure that they were ready for travel. With all mission objectives cleared, we moved towards the outpost.

All's well that ends well, indeed.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right?" Uchiha Fugaku asked us. Well, he asked Nara-taichou.

"Yes, Uchiha-sama. In the captured forward camp, there were thirteen enemy Iwa-nin. We took out the five Iwa-nin lookouts first. Then with the help of Suzuki Hiroshi's mist, we heavily relied on assassination tactics to kill off the eleven that were inside the camp. The remaining two was dealt with through direct confrontation. The enemy that was thought to be low-jonin was actually of high-jonin and a user of Explosion Release so I, together with Inuzuka Namie, Hyuga Susumu, and Uchiha Katsu engaged in battle. Suzuki Hiroshi had to engage the other enemy with high-chunin strength alone. Suzuki Hiroshi easily dealt with his adversary as he underestimated him so, he went to free the prisoners and check on their condition. After making sure that they were not in any danger, he went to help us deal with the high-jonin. We were unable to kill him on our own because of his Explosion Release keeping all of us in check. Once Suzuki Hiroshi joined in, though, we were able to gain some ground as he provided support with his ninjutsu. We were then able to kill him after a few minutes. End of report."

Uchiha Fugaku sighed. "It's too eventful that I can't really grasp every detail through your words. I'll be expecting detailed written reports from all of you. Nevertheless, it was a job well done and I have to commend you on that. Not only did you save your comrades, you were also vital in obtaining significant information through it. We should turn the tides of the war finally in our favor on this front. You are dismissed."

We bowed and went out of the tent. We said our goodbyes to each other and I went to rest, filling my belly full and going to sleep.

The next few days were rather uneventful. I went back to helping with operations of recapturing the forward camps. I was thinking it would be easy but the Iwa-nin had defended with solid ground against our attempts.

I wasn't being idle with my training. Although I can't really go through my usual rigorous training due to being on standby, I was contented with perfecting my [Water Release: Leaf Manipulation Jutsu]. I still lacked accuracy and I noticed that my sharpening was less effective the more leaves I manipulated.

I also made sure to not slack on my kenjutsu training. I was slowly going through the intermediate level of the Flowing Torrent style but it was too slow going. Thankfully, Uchiha Katsu approached me and asked for a kenjutsu spar every time we were free. Since then, my proficiency was steadily rising.

Everything was going well for me.

One night, I snuck out of my barracks and into the forest. The patrol saw me and asked what I was going to do. I claimed I was going to train since I couldn't sleep. They easily believed me as they remembered previously seeing me training religiously even in the middle of war.

Once I was out of sight and reach, I summoned Tsurutatsu.

"Do you need anything of me?", he asked immediately.

I bobbed my head up and down. "Yes. You see, I need to go into the Vault to get some reading material and to take a proper shower. Can you perhaps watch the vicinity while I'm doing my thing and make sure that no one comes near to see me get out of the Vault?"

He nodded a yes. "Of course, Hiro-kun. You may go in now. I'll make sure nothing comes near here." He took out privacy seals while saying that. I should really start learning to make those. They're quite useful.

The shower in the Vault may not be the most comfortable but I am thankful it exists. That wasn't my only agenda in coming in the Vault of Scrolls, though.

I walked through the main library and picked up materials related to genjutsu. I discovered its potential and benefits after experiencing some very creative use of it from an Iwa-nin.

FLASHBACK

I was travelling through the forest to a captured forward camp when I noticed my team was nowhere to be seen. I tried sensing for them and I could still feel them around. So why am I not seeing them, then?

In an instant, I saw them again but now, they were at the mercy of the Iwa-nin. The enemies were clawing into their guts, exploding them to bits, and even hanging them by the neck onl to see them struggle for their lives.

I would've been tricked if it wasn't for my sensing that showed me they were only standing and scattered around me. I realized what it was.

Now, that's some very interesting and powerful genjutsu.

Before doing anything else, I tried sensing for the perpetrator. The genjustsu caster was slowly walking towards our way. That could work.

I let him near us as much as possible. When he was near enough, I dispelled the genjutsu in me by silently shifting my disturbed chakra. "Kai!", I whispered forcefully.

Sadly for me, the Iwa-nin saw me dispel his genjutsu. We went into battle that ended with him dead as my other teammates were able to get out of his genjutsu. Honestly, what kind of genjutsu specialist fights alone and upfront?

He was even taking his time at killing us off. These rock-shitters are just too arrogant.

We continued on our way but my thoughts were still in the genjutsu and its possible applications.

END OF FLASHBACK

I once again realized just how many books and scrolls there were in the Vault, spanning all types of subjects. Genjutsu alone already had hundreds of books and it was even complete; from the basics all the way to the advanced ones.

The Vault of Scrolls would have been a great help to the village. If only an old war hawk just dropped dead.

I shook my thoughts off my head and continued looking for genjutsu material before going back.

A few days passed by again and we have already recaptured most of our forward camps. There were only a few left that were still occupied by enemies but hopefully, they could be taken out as soon as possible so we could reorganize the camps and transfer them to other locations. The previous locations would have still worked but command was worried the enemies already reported the previous locations of our camps to their higher-ups.

I was currently training in a secluded area near the barracks. My [Water Release: Leaf Manipulation Jutsu] was coming along well although still a little lacking. I think I'd need to rework the whole jutsu as I couldn't get any more improvement for how it performed.

While I was absorbed on how to go about my jutsu, my sensing (which was currently shortened to a range that only covered my vicinity as to not accidently spy on my allies) picked up familiar chakra signatures coming my way.

I turned my head to see Nara Taida and his team approaching me. Nara Taida smiled and waved lazily. "Hey, Hiroshi-kun. We were looking for you and the others from the barracks said we could find you here."

I decided to engage in some small talk. "Yeah. I was trying to train my jutsu. I've been dissatisfied with it lately."

Nara Taida nodded. "We just wanted to see you and thank you for saving us back at the camp."

I shook my head at his thanks. "Nah. No thanks are needed. I was given a mission and the mission was to save you. That's all."

"Still, I felt obligated to say my thanks. And my students also wanted to say it themselves."

The Aburame boy bowed his head slightly while the other two were a little hesitant at bowing to someone they thought was trash. It must have been humiliating for them. Hehe.

"Thank you for the save. I shall never forget this grace.", the Aburame boy started.

"Hmph. I guess you're not that useless and weak after all.", The Hyuga refused to say thanks which earned him a glare from Taida-san. Is it so hard to say thanks? Hyuga Susume was an okay-Hyuga. I guess it's just him, then?

The shrieking banshee bowed her head just so very slightly. "Thanks, I guess. But that's only because we were weakened. If you didn't come, Taisetsu-kun would have thought of something either way.", she pouted ridiculously after and Taida-san could only sigh exasperatedly. How did she even survive this long if all she talks about is the Hyuga? Shriek at the enemies to their deaths, I guess?

That scene ended with Taida-san scolding the two and promising them punishment.

Thank Kami I avoided that team. They seem to scream #RedFlag every time I see them.

Eventually, all forward camps were taken back. The border outpost then became busy with reorganization of said forward camps and relocating some of them to new strategic locations. It was delayed, though, due to the Iwa-nin trying to be mosquitoes that needed swatting but it was nothing serious.

One day, I was approached by a kunoichi that asked me to go to the medic tents.

"May I know why I'm needed there? I don't think I have anything I could help with there."

The kunoichi chuckled darkly. "Oh, boy. You're in for a surprise that would trouble you a lot. And when I say a lot, I say a whole lot. You better prepare yourself as best as you could."

Very ominous.

The Head Medic of the Front was standing across from me. We were surrounding a kunoichi lying down on a bed. I remember her being held captive by the enemies together with Team Taida.

"Do you know what you did?", the head medic, Ono Seina, asked me with narrowed eyes.

The kunoichi on the bed was startled. "Wait- what? What did he do? I just told you he healed my wounds back then."

"What exactly did I do?"

"This lovely kunoichi right here just told me that you did an unfamiliar jutsu on her. Does that jog up your memory?", Ono Seina said.

I remembered healing them to close their wounds and alleviate their pain that time so I nodded. "Yeah? I used a personal jutsu. Was it ineffective or are there any side effects of some sort? If so-", my mind spiraled as I thought of the possible problems that my jutsu may have caused. Was there something I neglected to check? Maybe an almost undetectable poison? Or maybe the inside didn't heal as properly as I hoped?

The head medic turned to the kunoichi on the bed. "You're free to go. Nothing's wrong with you. I just need a little chat with our little medic friend here."

The kunoichi breathed a sigh of relief. She stood up and before she went out, she whispered to me. "Good luck. I think you may need it."

Just what did I do wrong if she was fine?!

A/N: Carry on to the next.