In general, battles between genin were simple and brutish. With limited chakra and only one or two learned jutsu, most of the time they just repeated the same moves over and over again.
As for Arata, his arsenal, at least the ones he could openly use, was pitifully limited. His main offensive method remained the self-destructing corpse zombies.
"Good thing I ran into a Chunin without much combat discipline… Kirigakure may be a great ninja village, but under the brutal regime of the Third Mizukage, it also churned out a fair number of elite shinobi. I'm lucky not to have run into one of those top dogs."
Arata calculated the timeline. In about two more years, the Third Mizukage would officially begin the "Bloody Mist" policy, where every graduate would have to kill a close comrade just to pass.
Was it overpopulation? Or dissatisfaction with average performance?
If Konoha adopted that system, the young hotheads of the Uchiha clan would probably all awaken their Sharingan in no time.
This point in time was fascinating. The Kaguya clan in Kirigakure was still alive, a notoriously bloodthirsty family suspected of inheriting the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline.
They were still a major force in the Hidden Mist.
Meanwhile in Konoha, the Senju clan hadn't yet disbanded, yes, during the Second Great Ninja War, many Senju were still active on the battlefield.
Take Senju Nawaki, for instance.
At the outbreak of the war, perhaps stirred by emotion, he'd charge in at the slightest sign of danger, screaming at the top of his lungs.
In one such instance, before Orochimaru even had time to react, Nawaki triggered a paper bomb trap and was blown to pieces.
A boy with a Senju body, under the protection of a survival expert like Orochimaru, still died to an explosion, that kind of reckless hot-bloodedness made him prone to overestimating himself and underestimating the enemy.
On a battlefield that was dangerous, an early death was all but guaranteed.
But by the time of the Third Great Ninja War, the Senju clan had mysteriously vanished.
A clan that powerful, with such large numbers… to claim they just disbanded after the Second War, with every named clan member quietly fading from the village's center stage, sounded absurd.
It wasn't like all the Senju Jonin and Chunin collectively fell under the illusion of Kotoamatsukami.
Yet the clan did indeed vanish quietly before the Third War. For that to happen, only one explanation remained.
"A major event must've occurred… something significant enough to make the Senju clan disappear in name only."
Arata had been quietly observing for years, listening to names like Senju Nawaki and Senju Toka, gradually piecing together the puzzle behind the clan's disappearance.
One thing was certain, there was no way the Senju simply disbanded themselves. That theory was far too ridiculous.
"If it really is that event… then it might intersect with my own plan to replace this body. Maybe I can make use of it."
Arata didn't particularly care whether the Senju survived or not.
That "clan of love", no matter how weak it got, wouldn't fall to the level of the Uchiha, obsessed with hatred. It had no real bearing on him.
But if it could create an opportunity for him to replace his body, then he had no choice but to pay closer attention.
"First, I need to return to Konoha safely… This operation has exposed my powers, but that was inevitable.
If I want to change bodies, I have to first show off my abilities, that'll make the next phase easier. But corpse-based jutsu are far too… unique. It could stir up a huge reaction…"
Arata found himself in a deadlock. His current body had reached its limit, less than 40 trillion cells wasn't enough to let him progress further down the path of the shinobi, let alone master the Zombie release to its full potential.
That forced him to act. To change his fate, he had to replace his body.
But the moment he acted, he risked exposure. And exposure would lead to complications.
So he needed a cover story, something that could reasonably explain his abilities and help him weather the storm once the truth came out.
'I need to think this through carefully… Maybe this is a non-opportunity that's actually an opportunity,' Arata thought, lifting his gaze toward the direction the Hidden Mist ninja had fled.
….
Ao was chasing Takano.
Only ten minutes had passed since Ao sent Kenzo out to the flank.
"You're probably a Chunin. Killing a medical-nin like you is as valuable as eliminating a Jonin."
Ao cornered the blood-soaked Takano, hurling kunai and other tools to keep the man bleeding out.
"At this point, your comrades are likely all dead. This infiltration mission has been a resounding success."
Kirigakure and Kumogakure hadn't engaged in full-scale battles during the Second War.
Instead, they opted for infiltration, sending small squads into enemy territory to slowly bleed Konoha dry.
But by now, the situation was clear, Konoha had weathered every attack and kept the Land of Fire intact.
Considering Konoha's size, its deep reserves, and Hiruzen's nature, as long as they didn't lose, they'd essentially win.
Of course, no other village would admit this. Konoha didn't lose, but that didn't mean the others had lost.
As long as they could spin the narrative, it was still a win for them. They had inflicted heavy losses on Konoha's forces, paving the way for the next Great Ninja War.
Takano leaned against a boulder, minimizing his profile. His chakra was nearly depleted. Even healing himself was becoming impossible, let alone fighting a Jonin like Ao.
"Don't flatter yourself," Takano gasped. "Our deaths bought time for the others to surround you. You'll die here too."
Ao shook his head slowly.
"Your beliefs differ from ours. To us, the lives of comrades don't matter. Even our own lives aren't that important.
Completing the mission is all that matters. You did well, but you could've done better."
The shinobi of the Mist couldn't comprehend the contradictions of Konoha's ideology.
They valued the mission too, yet muddied the waters by weighing 'comradeship,' making simple things unnecessarily complex.
Takano sighed deeply. A look of despair spread across his face. He knew it was over. What a shame, he had really hoped to live to see the day peace arrived…
Shff..Shff….
"When I kill you, I'll leave the Land of Fire immediately. Next time I come back… I hope I'll run into a member of the Hyuga clan, hmm?"
Ao's brows furrowed. "Kenzo? That was fast, wait, no. Who are you?"
A figure staggered toward him, bloodied and mangled, charred black in large patches. Most facial features were gone, only a pair of eyes remained, the rest of the face a ruined mess.
But what truly shook Ao wasn't the injuries, it was those eyes.
Those eyes… the sclera and pupils had nearly merged into one, a stark, almost blinding shade of white. They looked… unnatural.
Ao stared, thinking he must be mistaken. He locked eyes with the figure.
"…Byakugan?"