My Kekkei Genkai Is Kinda Weird?!

Typically, a standard ninja squad consists of three to five members. During wartime, two to three squads form a platoon, and ten platoons make up a company, totaling around 100 to 200 people.

This time, the Third Hokage reallocated an entire battalion from the Sunagakure front and dispatched several companies from the village to reinforce that battlefield. Rin's company, which was transporting a batch of military supplies, was the first to depart due to their slower speed.

Because both Obito and Nohara Rin were injured, Rin and Kakashi temporarily formed a team. Their new teammates included Hyūga Yumeko and a civilian genin named Jin Go, with Kakashi acting as squad leader.

That night, after a full day of marching, Hiashi's company stopped to rest in a dense forest.

Hyūga Yumeko's fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of her ninja tool pouch. The coarse fabric made a faint rasping sound against her palm. Beside her were the new teammates for this mission.

"Act natural..." Yumeko silently repeated Hiashi-sama's instructions to herself and turned toward Rin.

"R-Rin-chan!" Yumeko's voice caught in her throat, emerging as a strange trembling sound. Even she was startled by the sudden spike in her tone and quickly covered her mouth.

Not only Rin but also Kakashi and Jin Go turned to look at her in confusion, as if to ask, "What was that all about?"

Cold sweat trickled down Yumeko's back. In a panic, she untied the water flask at her waist. "W-Would you like some water? I brought plum tea..."

But even before finishing the sentence, she realized how clumsy the excuse was. Every ninja carries their own water.

Sure enough, Rin raised an eyebrow slightly. That tiny expression reminded Yumeko of the scrutinizing gaze clan elders gave branch family members—a look that seemed to pierce through all surface-level disguises.

"No, thank you," Rin declined politely, growing more convinced that Yumeko harbored ulterior motives. People often act overly polite when they're hiding something, and Yumeko was displaying that behavior perfectly.

"Oh..." Yumeko dropped her head in disappointment, burying her face between her knees, filled with self-reproach and frustration.

The leaves of the dense forest rustled softly in the night wind. Suddenly, Hiashi raised a hand and formed a seal, veins bulging at his temples. In his Byakugan vision, chakra signals in the shape of pincers were approaching from three kilometers away.

"Chakra reaction at three o'clock. They're closing in," Hiashi said, his Byakugan narrowing. "It's Sunagakure's puppet brigade. They've already infiltrated this deep?"

Before anyone could respond, Hiashi had already issued commands: "First platoon with me for a frontal assault. Second platoon flanks and cuts off retreat. Remaining platoons stay back and guard the supplies. Be extremely cautious—puppet weapons are poisoned."

Rin focused chakra to her fingertips, soft blue light flickering faintly in the dark. Her hand rested on the hilt of her short blade.

Kakashi had already drawn his blade silently, lightning-style chakra crackling across the edge. Behind them, Jin Go readied his kunai, while Yumeko kept her Byakugan active, though her pupils trembled violently.

"They're here!" Hiashi suddenly called out.

Twelve red-lacquered puppets burst from the ground, spewing violet poison gas from their joints. The lead puppet opened its mouth mechanism, launching a storm of senbon infused with wind-style chakra.

"Eight Trigrams: Rotation!" Hiashi's chakra exploded from his tenketsu, forming a spinning sphere of blue chakra that deflected all the poisoned needles. The resulting vortex tore a gap in the puppet formation.

Rin seized the opportunity and charged into enemy lines. Her chakra scalpel sliced precisely through the chakra threads controlling the puppets. As she cut through the third puppet's strings, she heard Yumeko cry out.

A spider-shaped puppet hidden underground suddenly emerged, its eight metal limbs stabbing toward her back.

A clash of metal rang out—Kakashi's short blade intercepted the strike. Lightning chakra surged into the puppet's joints. The puppeteer groaned and severed the chakra threads, but too late—a short blade had already slashed his throat.

It was Rin, who had used "Gutsuei Shunpo" to blink behind him and deliver a fatal blow.

For Rin, since "Gutsuei Shunpo" had already been made public and the Third Hokage hadn't expressed suspicion, she could now use it openly. The more a technique was used, the more proficient it became.

Once again, a chakra scalpel materialized in her hand.

Crack!

Wooden joints shattered, metal crashed to the ground. Rin twisted away from a volley of poisoned needles and drove the scalpel into the second puppet's chest node. A pained hiss came from a bush fifty meters away—another puppeteer. The third puppet's claw was already sweeping toward her neck.

"Lightning Style: Flash!"

Kakashi accelerated his cellular activity using lightning-style chakra, transforming into a bolt of light. His blade sliced through the puppet's arm with a piercing hum. The lightning chakra traveled backward along the puppet's inner pathways, and a distant scream from a Suna-nin echoed.

"Southwest, thirty meters! Three chakra sources!" Yumeko's Byakugan shone like icy stars in the dark. "They're manipulating a poison fog formation!"

Rin's pupils contracted sharply. Her afterimage from "Gutsuei Shunpo" had yet to dissipate, while her real body had already appeared before the nearest puppeteer. Her chakra scalpel severed the kunai blocking her path and cut cleanly through the man's right-hand tendons.

But instead of blood, thick sand poured out—a sand clone!

"Watch out!" Kakashi's warning arrived alongside a whooshing sound.

Seven puppets, each embedded with explosive tags, rained down from above in a kill formation.

Hiashi expanded his Rotation to maximum range, repelling the blast wave with a sphere of blue chakra. Amid the flying debris, Rin vanished again.

When she reappeared, several enemy puppeteers had already fallen to her blade.

With the Hyūga's Byakugan revealing enemy movements, Suna's ambush was preempted. The tide turned swiftly. Under Hiashi's precise command, Konoha's forces eliminated the attackers one by one.

Hiashi scanned the battlefield with his Byakugan, confirming that all enemy chakra signatures were gone. He raised his hand, signaling his troops to stand down. "Check for wounded. Recover usable supplies."

Rin flicked the blood from her blade and surveyed the surroundings. Puppet wreckage lay strewn across scorched earth. Several Suna-nin corpses remained frozen in their final battle stances. One puppeteer clutched a scroll in his death grip—the runes on it were unlike any ordinary puppet technique.

"Kakashi senpai," Rin said quietly, her gaze signaling toward the scroll.

Kakashi understood and carefully lifted it open with the tip of his blade. Their expressions darkened simultaneously—the scroll contained detailed maps of Konoha's defensive outposts along the border.

"There's a mole," Kakashi muttered under his breath, audible only to Rin.

"Hiashi-sama!" a jōnin rushed over, holding a secret letter taken from one of the Suna-nin. "They seemed prepared in advance. They knew our route."

Hiashi clenched the note tightly, a glint of cold light in his eyes. "Just an attempt to sow discord. I'll report this to Hokage-sama. You are not to breathe a word about it, understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the jōnin responded respectfully.

On the third day of their march, Rin's unit finally crossed the border of the Fire Country and arrived at Konoha's base in the Land of Rivers. Other companies, having traveled lighter and faster, had already arrived. Though Hiashi's unit was the last to reach the base, they merged seamlessly into a battalion.

At that moment, Rin stood outside the command tent, holding a letter from the Third Hokage.

The tent flap lifted, and a tall figure stepped out slowly.

Pale skin. Golden, slit-pupiled eyes. Long black hair cascading to his waist.

It was Orochimaru.

Rin's breath hitched. She had no desire to meet his eyes. The way he looked at people made her skin crawl.

"Oh my, what a rare guest," his gaze locked onto her. "The little disciple of Sarutobi-sensei."

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