Overdrafting the Future, Starting in Naruto

Chapter 52: The A-B Combo

In the dark of night, a fiery light shot into the sky.

On the surface of the sea, the speeding Kinoshita Genichi could see it clearly.

It's good that the fight has started. As long as his and Sakumo-sensei's shadow clones weren't destroyed, the Cloud ninja wouldn't know that they were performing a feint while secretly crossing to their location. And since the Cloud ninja were also using shadow clones, it was nearly impossible for their own clones to be broken.

They traveled continuously east across the sea, then turned south, landing on a smooth stone cliff. The three Cloud ninja were on the mountain.

After silently climbing to the top of the cliff, Sakumo did not immediately give the order to act. Instead, they hid in the bushes. It wasn't until dawn that Sakumo finally gave Genichi a series of hand signals.

Split up. One in front, one behind.

Genichi raised his hand in response, then moved east, while Sakumo went in the other direction. He was going to launch a surprise attack from the Cloud ninjas' front.

The sky began to brighten.

Genichi had already crept up behind the Cloud ninja. Through the sparse vegetation, he saw the three of them under a large tree. Two were resting against the tree, while the other was on guard.

Genichi did not act rashly, quietly waiting for his master to make a move.

"Who's there?!" the Cloud ninja on guard suddenly shouted.

But Sakumo had already launched his surprise attack, his speed incredibly fast.

"Enemy attack!"

"It's Konoha's White Fang!" the sentry roared in shock and anger.

At his first warning, the resting Katōya and his other subordinate had already woken up. Seeing the charging White Fang, Katōya immediately drew his sword to meet him, simultaneously shouting, "Watch your back!"

His rich combat experience told him that if Sakumo chose a frontal assault, then there must be someone else in the shadows.

As expected, his words had not fully fallen when his vision went black.

Not good, a vision-stealing genjutsu! It's that guy Lutfi mentioned, the one proficient in genjutsu and Water Release!

Katōya immediately stopped, holding his sword at the ready. He tried to capture any movement with his ears while shouting, "Break the genjutsu, quickly!"

The sentry reacted the fastest, immediately forming a hand seal.

Light returned to Katōya's vision. Sakumo was already right in front of him. He hurriedly swung his sword to block. But the next moment, his sword hit empty air, and a line of blood appeared on his neck.

"A genjutsu... damn it!" Katōya clutched his neck with his left hand, but blood seeped out from between his fingers. His eyes widened, the strength rapidly draining from his body. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground.

His sword had missed just now not because he had slipped, but because he had been caught in a genjutsu. The trajectory of Sakumo's blade that he had seen was fake. So, his sword missed, and Sakumo slit his throat with a single strike.

A simple Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique (Genjutsu: Koko ni Arazu no Jutsu) had allowed the Jonin Katōya to be killed in an instant.

The second Cloud ninja was also dispatched by Sakumo with a single blow. He thought he had broken the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique (Genjutsu: Kokuangyō no Jutsu), but in reality, Genichi had also cast the False Surroundings Technique (Genjutsu: Koko ni Arazu no Jutsu) on him, making him mistakenly believe he had broken the illusion and regained his sight. But everything he saw was an illusion.

The third Cloud ninja remained trapped in darkness, holding his ninja blade, listening in terror to the screams of his comrades. Without a teammate to help him, he couldn't break the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique (Genjutsu: Kokuangyō no Jutsu) he was under. He was then knocked unconscious by Sakumo.

One Jonin and two Chunin, all taken care of in less than a minute. A perfect surprise attack.

"Genichi, your use of genjutsu is getting better and better," Sakumo praised with a smile. He felt that in terms of talent, his disciple's gift for genjutsu was far greater than for swordsmanship.

Faced with the praise, Genichi quickly said, "I still have many shortcomings. My application of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique (Genjutsu: Kokuangyō no Jutsu) is not deep enough. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to break it."

The difficulty of learning a ninjutsu was not directly linked to its power, although the higher the rank of a jutsu, the more profound it was, and the higher its potential power ceiling. But in reality, the power of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique (Genjutsu: Kokuangyō no Jutsu) that Genichi cast now was vastly different from the one cast by the reincarnated Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. Hiruzen was also proficient in genjutsu, but even he could not directly break Tobirama's version, which was a testament to its power.

So, learning a ninjutsu did not mean you could bring out its full potential.

Of course, Genichi had indeed gained a lot of insight into using genjutsu recently. Just now, by layering the C-rank False Surroundings Technique (Genjutsu: Koko ni Arazu no Jutsu) on top of the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique (Genjutsu: Kokuangyō no Jutsu) to slightly deceive the Jonin Katōya, he had achieved a critical result.

Genjutsu Insight #1: As much as possible, make the enemy not realize they are in a genjutsu!

Genjutsu Insight #2: As much as possible, make it impossible for the enemy to break the genjutsu they are in!

...

Faced with his disciple's humility, Sakumo was very satisfied in his heart, but he said aloud, "Humility is a very good attitude, but you must also clearly recognize your own strength. Only then can you better discern the situation in battle, quickly formulate a battle plan, and seize opportunities."

Genichi obediently said, "Yes, Sensei!"

Sakumo picked up the unconscious Cloud ninja and said, "Let's go!"

Genichi quickly collected the two Cloud ninja corpses, and then they returned to the town together.

At the inn, seeing Sakumo return with a captive, Mui was deeply shocked. "As expected of the renowned White Fang of Konoha!"

"Such strength... I'm afraid I'll never be able to reach that level in my entire life!"

After placing a seal on the Cloud ninja captive and leaving him to be guarded by the Grass genin, the group gathered again for a meeting.

Sakumo said, "The island where Hōzuki Castle is located is actually not far from here. We don't need a ship; we can go there directly."

Hidemi and Mui were both taken aback. So urgent? Now that the Cloud ninja had been dealt with, even if reinforcements were coming, they wouldn't be that fast.

"This... isn't this a bit too rushed?" Hidemi said.

Sakumo replied, "Since we can complete the mission as quickly as possible, of course that should be the priority."

"Delaying for too long can easily lead to accidents."

Hidemi thought for a moment and nodded. "Since that's the case, then let's proceed according to your plan, Sakumo-san!"

"However, the genin will probably have a hard time keeping up."

Sakumo smiled. "Tomorrow morning, we can have them return to the Grass Village first. The six of us can take the prisoner."

Mui quickly asked, "What about the Cloud ninja captive?"

Genichi immediately said, "I can leave a shadow clone behind to guard him!"

The reason Sakumo hadn't killed that Cloud ninja was mainly to bring him back for En to extract some information. After getting the intel, he could be killed. Of course, it was best to take him back to Konoha, where they could get more information about the Cloud Village from his mind.

If Cloud reinforcements arrived before Sakumo's group returned from Hōzuki Castle, Genichi's shadow clone would decisively eliminate the prisoner. At the same time, when the clone was dispelled, it would serve as a warning to his real body—two birds with one stone.

Since he didn't have to get his hands dirty, Hidemi naturally had no objections. And so, the plan was set.

Early the next morning, Genichi left a shadow clone to guard the Cloud ninja captive, the four Grass genin returned to the Village Hidden in the Grass, and the others took the high-profile prisoner and set off across the sea, heading straight for Hōzuki Castle.

At the same time, a ship from the Land of Lightning set sail, heading west. On its bow stood two figures, one tall and one short.

"Brother, let's team up this time, take out that Konoha White Fang, and make the name of our A-B Combo famous, oh yeah!" Killer Bee waved his fist, full of fighting spirit.

A smacked him on the head with his fist. "Don't underestimate the White Fang of Konoha, or you'll die a horrible death, you fool!"

(End of Chapter)

❃❃❃

⤑ Show your support with Power Stones! 

⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!

❃❃❃

♕ Get early access to 20+ advanced chapters on Patreon!

🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn

(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)

💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!

Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!