Madara was indeed quite a troublesome figure.
But it seemed like Ryouma had gotten into even bigger trouble now.
As he was deep in thought, he suddenly felt the air around him turn colder. Turning his head, he saw Shiori toying with a kunai in a rather dangerous manner, occasionally gesturing it toward his thigh.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"
"Oh, you wanted to go to the rear division, right? I have an idea—let me slash you once. That way, you can stay in the medical unit at the rear as long as you want."
Ryouma suddenly found himself missing the days when he was by himself. Living with her under the same roof felt truly risky.
Of course, in the literal sense.
The next morning, as Shiori mentioned the night before, the camp's ninjas were gathered together.
Tsunade was delivering a pre-battle speech.
"... Even though on the surface, our numbers appear to be at a disadvantage, do not forget: at this very moment, it is we, Konoha, who stand on this battlefield in the Land of Rivers with an absolute advantage!"
Tsunade's voice echoed in everyone's ears, instilling an unparalleled sense of confidence and determination in all present.
"... Without a doubt, the final victor of this brutal and intense war will be Konoha!"
At this moment, Tsunade exuded an overwhelming aura of dominance, inspiring awe and reverence.
In that instant, everyone firmly believed: victory would belong to Konoha!
Although she was reading a script written by Shikaku, her commanding presence during this critical moment was undeniably impressive.
As a pre-battle rally, it was undoubtedly effective.
Ryouma glanced at the reactions of those around him—yep, everyone was pumped up.
"Ah, this is amazing! I knew Konoha would win!"
"Yeah, we'll win for sure!"
Hearing the surrounding ninjas' discussions, he felt a bit uneasy. Raising a flag before a decisive battle was never a good idea.
"When this war ends, I'm going back to Konoha to get married!"
"That's great! Don't forget to send me an invitation!"
"Of course not—we're all going back to the village alive!"
This… Ryouma felt he should be in his tent, not here listening to a bunch of idiots talk about going home to get married.
Next to him, Shiori, having listened to Tsunade's speech, made a face of disdain.
"Big words for what's basically just a turtle strategy."
"How dare you! This strategy was devised by Ryouma, Minato-sensei, and the others—you actually dare to call it that?"
A familiar voice came from behind.
When she turned around, oh, it was none other than Obito, the most infamous underachiever of the Uchiha clan.
A mocking smile played on Shiori's lips. "No wonder you're fine with being a turtle—you can't even awaken your Sharingan."
The thing Obito was most sensitive about was his inability to awaken the Sharingan. Being called out by Shiori hit a nerve, instantly firing up his anger.
Ryouma decided not to intervene—Obito and Shiori arguing was their default state.
"Rin? Isn't Minato-sensei with you?" Ryouma habitually moved next to Rin.
Seeing Ryouma's headband slightly askew, Rin tiptoed and reached out to adjust it for him.
She responded, "Minato-sensei went to consult Shikaku-senpai. It seems they're reassigning battle squads."
Ryouma instinctively lowered his head, making it easier for Rin to adjust his headband. After fiddling for a bit, seemingly satisfied with the angle, she clapped her hands together with a bright smile.
Shiori glanced at their interaction, then at Obito, who was still rambling. Suddenly, she lost interest. She didn't feel like playing anymore.
But Obito, noticing her sudden silence, seemed puzzled.
"This violent girl must be feeling guilty." Feeling confident, he declared, "I'll awaken my Sharingan soon and surpass you, becoming the future Hokage!"
Shiori felt like Obito's words were lowering her IQ just by listening to them.
"Go drown in a river with your dreams, you idiot," she retorted before turning to leave.
Such a strong sense of hostility. Ryouma couldn't help but reflect on that.
"Idiot," Kakashi commented bluntly.
"See? Even you think she has a weird brain, don't you?" Obito said earnestly, patting Kakashi's shoulder.
"Idiot, I was talking about you," Kakashi explained with his usual deadpan expression, his fish-like eyes staring straight at Obito.
A few days after Tsunade's pre-battle rally, Jiraiya led the intelligence team to uncover new developments.
Suna had amassed a large number of ninjas and was advancing aggressively toward Konoha's frontline base.
This was one of the reasons Konoha had decided to wait for Suna to make the first move. Compared to the minor skirmishes prior to a decisive battle, a true large-scale conflict was difficult to hide from the enemy's intelligence agencies.
Upon receiving accurate intel at Konoha's command center, they immediately executed their prearranged strategy. Apart from the units assigned to defend the rear, all other battle squads were deployed to intercept the Suna forces.
Minato's team was among those tasked with rear defense.
It wasn't just Minato's team; most newly graduated genin teams weren't reassigned to the frontlines either. Instead, they were retained at the rear as part of the defense force, tasked with protecting the medical unit.
It wasn't worth noting that despite Konoha being outnumbered, they managed to maintain a three-front defense strategy thanks to Tsunade's establishment of a robust medical system.
While officially tasked with protecting the medical unit, in truth, these young ninjas were being protected themselves.
In a decisive battle, the medical unit in the rear was unlikely to face attacks. For Suna to bypass Konoha's main force and attack the medical unit, they would first need to send enough ninjas to hold off Konoha's main forces. Then, they would require a highly mobile elite squad for a quick strike.
Even with these efforts, if they failed to swiftly eliminate the medical unit, they would risk encountering Konoha's main forces returning to defend. A single misstep could result in being surrounded and annihilated.
Moreover, Suna had limited high-level combat power. Diverting their main force to attack the rear would leave their frontline vulnerable to Konoha's elites, potentially shattering their main battle line instantly.
Not to mention, Tsunade was stationed at the rear herself.
For these reasons, an attack on the medical unit was almost impossible, ensuring that Konoha's younger generation could be protected in the rear, growing stronger to eventually safeguard the next generation of budding leaves.
This was the essence of Konoha's Will of Fire.
However, as Minato explained the arrangements to his team, Obito's brow furrowed in confusion.
"So why is Ryouma and that violent girl heading to the frontlines?"
This region lay at a lower elevation, receiving massive amounts of rainfall from the Land of Rain every year. These waters, with no fixed source, flowed endlessly toward the sea.
Over time, they had shaped the Land of Rivers into a landscape of deep ravines and winding gorges.
All of a sudden, Ryouma recalled learning about this in his past life—something about karst landscapes.
He remembered, but not completely.
Regardless, this war-torn land, ravaged by years of conflict, was finally approaching its ultimate battle.
At this moment, his Rikugan could already perceive the Suna ninjas.
Both Konoha and Suna had each deployed thousands of ninjas here.
Konoha, including a recent reinforcement of 1,000 battle-ready ninjas, had committed approximately 3,000 troops to this battlefield, excluding those left behind for defense.
As for Suna, he wasn't sure of their exact numbers, but they were certainly no fewer than Konoha's forces.
The balance of power was still uneven.
To maximize Konoha's advantage in balanced combat capabilities, strategist Shikaku reorganized the forces into five battle formations.
Ryouma was assigned to the first charge unit—not as cannon fodder, but because of his overwhelming large-scale ninjutsu.
The plan was to let him strike preemptively before the battle fully began, delivering a devastating blow to the Suna forces.
And that was exactly what he hoped for.
Once the main forces clashed head-on, the battlefield would devolve into pure chaos. At that point, it would be far harder for him to unleash large-scale destructive jutsu.
"Prepare for battle!"
The surrounding ninjas reminded one another.
Ryouma, seeing that the Suna ninjas had entered his attack range, didn't hesitate.
He immediately extended his hand, forming a massive the Rasenshuriken.
A strong gust of wind swept past, pricking the skin of those charging beside him. The newer reinforcements, fresh from the village, gazed in awe at the enormous chakra shuriken.
An older, battle-worn ninja who had been fighting in the Land of Rivers for years kindly explained to the newcomers. "That's right. Don't blink. You're about to witness the technique that secured Konoha's dominance in the Land of Rivers!"
All around, gazes filled with shock, fear, and admiration fixated on the Rasenshuriken.
Many had heard rumors, but only a handful had seen it firsthand. Most people only knew of Ryouma, Konoha's prodigy, who had developed an S-rank jutsu right after graduating. A jutsu that had granted Konoha a massive advantage in the war against Suna.
The shinobi world was ultimately a place where strength ruled.
Even if he was just a recent graduate, as long as he was powerful enough, he would earn respect from those around him.
"Wind Release: Rasenshuriken."
With all his might, Ryouma hurled the massive, glowing blue chakra shuriken forward. The compressed, raging wind-chakra blade spun violently, shredding everything in its path as it hurtled toward the Suna forces.
As it turned out, when you thought everything was going according to plan… that's exactly when something went wrong.
The Suna ninjas at the forefront, recognizing that terrifying, familiar chakra shuriken, were instantly gripped by fear.
And who could blame them?
Ever since Ryouma and Minato formed their squad, they had been launching relentless surprise attacks on Suna's camps and supply bases—again and again.
Though the squad's name had not spread widely, their signature colossal chakra shuriken wind jutsu had left a deep psychological scar on many Suna ninjas.
At this moment, the Suna ninjas at the front lines felt as if they were already doomed before the battle had even begun.
Suddenly, three white-clad puppets shot out from the Suna army's ranks.
They stacked together in a triangular formation.
"Three Jewels Suction Crushing."
A massive vortex of wind formed in front of them, generating an overwhelming pulling force. The Rasenshuriken, which had been hurtling forward, was instantly sucked into the vortex.
A series of sharp, grinding noises echoed from within the wind field, grating on everyone's nerves.
Seeing that his attack had been intercepted, Ryouma immediately abandoned his original plan of steering the Rasenshuriken deep into the enemy formation for maximum destruction.
Instead, he swiftly formed a single-hand seal, preparing to detonate the shuriken on the spot.
However… the expected explosion did not happen.
Activating his Rikugan, he observed the vortex's outer layer and noticed faint, black tadpole-like patterns etched across its surface.
He sighed inwardly—as expected, none of the Five Great Ninja Villages were easy to deal with.
His technique was straightforward, its strength lay in its sheer power rather than any complex structure.
Given how long Suna had been preparing for this battle, it was impossible that they hadn't developed countermeasures against his attack.
Just then, an elderly woman suddenly stepped forward ahead of the formation.
From her ten fingers, ten chakra threads extended outward, each connecting to a puppet—including the three that had just used Three Jewels Suction Crushing.
"White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets!"
This was an extremely advanced puppet technique, considered the pinnacle of puppet mastery. It consisted of ten legendary puppets designed by Monzaemon, the first puppet master.
Each puppet possessed unique weapons and attack methods.
Moreover, they could combine to form various formations, exponentially increasing their combat power beyond that of a single puppet.
"It's Chiyo-sama! She stopped that damned jutsu!"
Many Suna ninjas erupted in cheers. Seeing the terrifying jutsu that had haunted their nightmares finally being neutralized, their morale soared.
After all, Ryouma's attack had traumatized the Suna forces time and time again.
Chiyo flicked her right hand, further manipulating her puppets.
The Three Jewels Suction Crushing vortex compressed even more, and the sealing technique was pushed to its limit. Before their eyes, the once-massive Rasenshuriken was forcibly broken down, compressed into a highly condensed chakra sphere.
"Here is my gift for Konoha."
As soon as Chiyo finished speaking, the compressed chakra sphere was launched like a bullet back in the direction it had come from.
Fortune's wheel turned.
Now, Konoha's vanguard ninjas felt a growing sense of dread.
Although this returned chakra sphere did not have the same overwhelming pressure as the original Rasenshuriken, if it exploded, it would still be a major disaster.
I feel the need to remind you again, that MC is not Naruto. He has above average chakra. The Rikugan does not give him more chakra, it gives him cheat-like chakra control. Let's say Naruto's Rasenshuriken has 20 chakra units, MC's would be 1 CU.
Why is it still dangerous with less chakra? Think of it like chemical reactions. A small amount of precisely controlled catalyst can create a powerful reaction without requiring large amounts of raw material. For example, in the real world, just a tiny amount of platinum can catalyze hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen with explosive force. So it's not about quantity but efficiency and application.
In Naruto terms, consider how Sasuke's Chidori uses Lightning Release to increase penetration by concentrating chakra to a fine point. MC uses his superior chakra control of the Rikugan to maximize wind chakra's cutting properties. While Naruto's Rasenshuriken might create thousands of microscopic blades in a large area with brute force (20 CU), MC's version (1 CU) creates fewer, but perfectly formed blades that target the organism.
So his Rasenshuriken isn't as destructive as Naruto's in terms of raw power or area effect.