Beneath a rocky mountain deep within the Land of Fire, a seemingly solid hill had been hollowed out from within.
At the moment, a ginger-haired kunoichi stood proudly in the cavern. In front of her was a map of Konoha, covered with markings.
Seven different routes were drawn on it in blue paint. Each route started and ended at the same two locations—Konoha Village and Mount Kikyo, near the border.
These blue lines represented Konoha's supply routes to the front lines.
Scattered across the map were several red Xs.
They marked the supply teams either captured or destroyed by the Demon Cat Troops since the beginning of the operation.
Or they marked secret Konoha strongholds that had been exposed.
The Demon Cat Army was like a dagger driven into the belly of the Land of Fire—causing it to bleed continuously.
If that dagger wasn't removed soon, the Konoha Shinobi at the front lines wouldn't be able to receive proper support.
Sooner or later, they would be crushed by the Cloud Shinobi forces led by the AB Combo.
And the proud kunoichi leading the Demon Cat Troops was none other than the Two-Tails Jinchūriki—Yugito Nii.
She had clashed with Simu several times in the past.
More than a year ago, Simu gave her a brutal beating during the Jōnin Joint Exam. In fact, his presence alone had disrupted Cloud Shinobi's entire performance in the knockout rounds.
Not a single one of them had advanced.
It was an utter humiliation for someone like Yugito Nii, who had been gifted and proud since childhood.
So this time, she had volunteered to infiltrate the Land of Fire with her Demon Cat Troops—
To get revenge on Simu!
"Hmph. Konoha... This time, I'll show you who the real overlord of the ninja world is!"
Her eyes burned with cold determination.
For years, the Hidden Cloud had been conserving strength and building power, waiting for the perfect moment to strike at the Land of Fire.
Now, that time had finally come.
Originally, the plan was to ally with the Land of Wind, wipe out Konoha's border defense, and eliminate Akamichi Torifu.
That would force Konoha into a two-front war.
But Simu had appeared out of nowhere.
Not only had he wiped out the Sand Shinobi unit, but he had also killed the Third Kazekage.
The entire Wind Country had backed off in fear, leaving the Cloud Shinobi to face Konoha alone.
Fortunately, they had the powerful AB Combo leading the charge from the front, while behind them, Yugito's Demon Cat Troops worked in the shadows—cutting supply lines, launching ambushes, and constantly bleeding the enemy dry.
Slowly but surely, Cloud Shinobi had gained the upper hand in the battle around Mount Kikyo.
This would be the battle of revenge—Cloud's great counterattack against Konoha!
Just as Yugito was reviewing the map, another squad returned.
"Captain! We've successfully taken down one of Konoha's supply teams."
"But... we lost two comrades."
Only four Cloud Shinobi had returned, and each was bloodied and injured—it was clear they had faced a difficult battle.
Yugito patted them on the shoulder.
"All of this is worth it—for the glory of the Land of Lightning!"
"For the glory of the Land of Lightning!" the four of them echoed, nodding heavily.
Then one of them continued, "Captain Yugito, we heard from the squad on recon... Hanyu Simu has been dispatched. The Third Hokage sent him to support the battlefield."
Yugito's expression darkened immediately.
Inside her, the Two-Tails—Matatabi—let out a low growl upon hearing Simu's name.
A chill surged through the cave.
Her teammates glanced at her nervously.
Even though Yugito hadn't lost control or had a tailed beast rampage in over a year, their instinctual fear of a Jinchūriki remained.
Fortunately, she managed to suppress her emotions, though her voice was cold as ice.
"Other units might fear Hanyu Simu... but the Demon Cat Troops do not."
"Even if he personally killed the Third Kazekage."
After all, none of them had ever faced the Kazekage themselves.
What if he wasn't as strong as the legends said?
What if Simu had gotten lucky?
In the ninja world, anything could happen.
As long as you survived, you hadn't truly failed.
Suddenly, a thought struck her.
"Where's the Fourth Squad? Why haven't they reported back?"
By now, they should have completed their ambush in the valley and returned.
BEEP—
Recalling what the last squad had just reported, Yugito's heart sank.
Could it be... they really ran into him?
Just then—
BOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the entire mountain.
The cavern trembled violently, sending rubble raining from the ceiling.
A gaping hole was blasted open overhead.
"Enemy attack!"
A huge blue tail covered in black flame markings shot out from Yugito's back.
The tail whipped upward, shielding her comrades from falling debris.
Moonlight spilled into the hidden stronghold through the hole in the mountain.
And then, a golden beam of light descended.
"Moshi moshi! Good evening, Demon Cat Troops!"
Simu landed gracefully, one hand raised as if answering a phone call through a wrist-mounted den-den mushi.
"I have successfully arrived at the Demon Cat Troop's base."
"You bastard, Hanyu!"
Yugito roared when she saw his face.
There was something monstrous in her voice—likely the influence of the Two-Tails.
"Oh, you're called... Hope, right? Nice to meet you," Simu said with a grin.
Hearing him casually butcher her name, Yugito completely lost her temper.
"DIE!"
Blue flames exploded around her as the enormous tail lashed down with terrifying force.
The attack was so strong it shattered part of the rocky mountain.
More debris crashed down from above.
"Scary girl," Simu muttered with a smirk.
A glowing cross-shaped sword appeared in his hand.
He met the attacking tail head-on, slashing through it.
The resulting impact flung Simu into the air, and he vanished in a flash of light.
In the distance, he reappeared mid-air.
But even as he recovered his footing, four Cloud Shinobi surrounded him from both sides.
"Lightning Style: Quadruple Thunder Gate!"
The four of them extended their arms, arcs of lightning flashing between them—
Surround Simu like a net of heaven and earth.
"It's really scary, Cloud Shinobi, but compared to Kazekage-sama's words, it seems to be a lot worse."
They hadn't reacted yet.
Simu had already stepped on one of their faces.
The lightning iron lock instantly shattered.
The other three Cloud Shinobi were surrounded by lightning.
They unanimously used the Body Flicker Technique to come to Simu's side.
Slash from three directions!
Simu had nowhere to go.
Simu perceived the actions of these three with his knowledge.
They were all fast, fueled by Lightning Style Chakra.
It was impossible for ordinary Jōnin to react to this speed of attack.
But Simu was faster than them.
Not only that, but his strength was stronger than theirs!
A cross-shaped lightsaber instantly condensed in his hand.
Simu turned around in a circle, and the long sword in his hand slashed out!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
There was a crisp iron strike.
The three ninja swords slashing toward Simu were shattered into two pieces under the slash of the lightsaber!
It wasn't just the ninja swords that were cut in two.
It was their bodies too!
"Damn it."
The flames on Doshi's body grew stronger when they saw this scene.
The features of a demon cat emerged on her face.
Two huge blue ears floated up and down in the air.
"Rat Tail Ball Jade!"
She opened her mouth and spit out a large dark blue fireball from her mouth.
In the center of the sphere was a black flame shaped like a mouse.
Dozens of dense fireballs flew toward Simu in an instant.
"Oh, are you serious?"
Simu tilted his head and used Observation Haki to lock onto all these fireballs.
Since these fireballs could be directly controlled by Doshi, dodging was useless. The only way was to destroy them.
A large amount of light condensed on his raised finger.
"Shhhhhh!"
Countless lasers pierced through the air and struck the fireballs.
"Boom!"
The laser and fireballs collided and exploded instantly.
Raging flames filled the entire stronghold.
Due to the protection of Erwei, Doshi was not afraid of the flames at all.
She moved swiftly through the fire.
The huge blue tail behind her stuck out from the flames like a titan's hand.
Simu hastily turned into a flash and disappeared from the spot.
The tail made of blue flames hit the mountain of rocks heavily.
The massive impact caused the mountain to shatter suddenly.
Numerous cracks spread across the mountain.
Then, with a loud bang, the entire hill was pierced by Doshi.
A flash of light escaped from the sea of flames.
Simu blinked directly into mid-air.
He put his hands in his pockets and murmured:
"It's scary, violent girl. This one has been like menopause.
It broke the defense directly... several times scarier than Kushina."
Below, the orange-red flames were suddenly pushed aside.
In the center of the fire field, a faint blue flame rose.
A huge and ferocious flame demon cat appeared there.
It was like an emissary from hell.
The golden pupils stared at Simu in the sky, and it let out a sharp roar:
"Damn boy, come down for me!"
The faint blue flames raged in the area.
A terrifying blue pillar of fire shot up into the sky.
Simu slowly put his hands in front of him.
"Yata Mirror."
His whole body turned into a flash and flew out, successfully avoiding Erwei's attack.
This dazzling flash of light kept refracting in the air.
He appeared by Erwei's side when she was caught off guard.
"Tail beast, have you ever been kicked by light?"
A kick at the speed of light landed heavily on Erwei's head.
Erwei flew upside down, completely smashing the hill into pieces.
Seeing this, the rest of the Cloud Shinobi rushed forward to help.
Simu slowly folded his hands together.
A pale golden ripple spread out in an instant.
"Immortal Technique: Light Water Pattern!"
Seeing Simu's move, the Cloud Shinobi hurriedly shouted:
"It's that trick again, jump up quickly!"
Because of the lessons learned last time, the method of dealing with Simu had been popularized among the Cloud Shinobi troops.
Lightning flashed on them.
They leaped high as fast as they could.
The corner of Simu's mouth curled up, and he stepped into the middle of the Cloud Shinobi.
The golden light lit up.
In the astonished eyes of many Cloud Shinobi, golden ripples slowly spread out.
They were split in two without a trace of pain.
Thirteen Cloud Shinobi, killed.
Simu stood where he was, his coat rattling behind him.
"Hanyu Simu!"
Erwei let out a roar.
A powerful airflow rushed toward him.
Simu was unmoved and even covered his nose with his palm.
"Do you have bad breath and just yell like that?"
Hearing Simu's words, Doshi couldn't bear it anymore.
All the seals on her body were lifted.
Another huge faint blue tail soared into the sky.
The fearsome tail beast chakra filled the air.
"The breath of the tailed beast is really scary."
Simu put his hands in his pockets, completely free of the tension and fear that one would expect when facing a tailed beast.
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