Departure, a New Combat Mission

(This chapter is a bit uneventful.)

"Lightning Style: Earth Running!"

For the third time, intense blue currents spread from Yueguang Long’s hands onto Yueguang Han’s body. Yet the electricity that landed on Yueguang Han was like a gentle stream flowing into a vast ocean. It caused no ripples at all and vanished without even the slightest visual effect, its impact not even matching that of a handful of dust.

Twenty Energy Points. Yueguang Han closed his eyes with an expression of enjoyment. Watching his stored Energy Points rise by another twenty, he was filled with excitement.

Yueguang Long truly was an elite among Chunin. The Lightning Style: Earth Running he cast was far stronger than Yueguang Han’s, providing twice as many Energy Points as Yueguang Han could generate himself.

Beside them, Yueguang Xingye grew even more excited as he watched Yueguang Han remain completely unharmed after enduring several D-rank Lightning Style techniques from Yueguang Long and three rounds of Lightning Style: Earth Running. Even his breathing became hurried. His originally firm stance against letting Yueguang Han use Lightning Style to train had changed into a determination to support it with the full strength of the clan.

It was not just Yueguang Xingye. Even Yueguang Long and Yueguang Shiye looked at Yueguang Han with burning eyes.

After testing him with seven D-rank Lightning Style techniques and three C-rank Lightning Style: Earth Running techniques, they had confirmed that Yueguang Han was completely immune to ordinary Lightning Style damage and could absorb Lightning Style. With such powerful killing potential, along with the ability to resist and absorb ordinary Lightning Style for his own use, Yueguang Han’s Kekkei Genkai immediately rose to an entirely new level in their minds. It was a powerful Kekkei Genkai fully comparable to the Sharingan and Byakugan, perhaps even surpassing both and approaching the level of Wood Style.

In their eyes, as long as Yueguang Han could grow safely into adulthood and then work hard to produce heirs, the day of the Hayate Clan’s rise would not be far off. The three of them had even begun considering young girls from the clan and from civilian shinobi families.

"Uncle Xingye, can people use Lightning Style to help me train now?" After the experiment, Yueguang Han’s somewhat cold electronic voice interrupted the excited trio’s wandering thoughts. Yet at that moment, their excitement made them overlook the fact that Yueguang Han’s voice had not always sounded like this. His former voice had been full of cheerfulness, laughter, and liveliness.

"Of course!" Yueguang Xingye said with an excited laugh. "But you must still pay attention to safety and secrecy. From now on, Long and Shiye will use Lightning Style to assist your training. Remember, you cannot use Lightning Style ninjutsu above C-rank to aid your training, and you absolutely must not use Lightning Style to train in front of anyone else."

"I understand, Uncle Xingye." Yueguang Han nodded.

Yueguang Long and Yueguang Shiye stood nearby, grinning from ear to ear. They were excited not only because the clan had produced a super genius like Yueguang Han, but also because they had been chosen to assist his training. Yueguang Han’s rise was inevitable, and this would become a great favor in the future.

At dusk, the setting sunlight poured into the forest, dyeing the entire woodland in a layer of golden radiance.

"Clan Head, Han, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t we head back?" Yueguang Long suggested as he watched the sun gradually sink. After an entire afternoon of constantly refining Chakra and releasing ninjutsu, he and Yueguang Shiye had cast Lightning Style: Earth Running nearly eighty times. They felt as though their bodies had been completely drained and desperately wanted to return for a proper rest.

"Let’s go back." Seeing how exhausted the two were, Yueguang Xingye nodded in agreement. "You’ve worked hard."

"Thank you, Uncles." Yueguang Han thanked them. After an afternoon of charging with Lightning Style, added to his original reserves, his stored Energy Points had reached two thousand.

"This is what we should do." Yueguang Long and Yueguang Shiye smiled. Assisting Yueguang Han’s training was exhausting, but it was all worth it.

Afterward, Yueguang Xingye called over the Gekko Clan members who had been standing guard nearby, and everyone headed toward the camp together.

"Lord Yueguang Xingye." Just after returning to the Konoha camp and reaching the Gekko Clan’s encampment, an Anbu suddenly appeared before Yueguang Xingye. "Lord Orochimaru requests that you come to headquarters."

"Alright, let’s go." Yueguang Xingye nodded and left under the Anbu’s escort.

"Looks like we have another combat mission. Sigh." Watching Yueguang Xingye leave with the Anbu, Yueguang Long spoke helplessly and let out a sigh.

"Sigh." Aside from Yueguang Han, nearly every member of the Gekko Clan sighed as well.

Every mission meant deaths. No one knew when this war would finally end. Since the war began, nearly all of the Gekko Clan’s Chunin and higher-ranking shinobi had come to the battlefield against the Sand Shinobi. Of the original fifty-plus people, only a little over thirty remained.

"Sigh." Seeing everyone fall silent, Yueguang Han sighed as well. He entered Yueguang Xingye’s tent and went to rest early. (To protect Yueguang Han, Yueguang Xingye had arranged for him to share a tent with him.)

The next day, before the sun had risen and while the sky was still dark, Yueguang Han was awakened by Yueguang Xingye.

After quickly getting ready, he followed Yueguang Xingye out of the tent. By then, the other clan members were already emerging from their tents in groups of two and three.

"Move out." Once all the clan members had gathered, Yueguang Xingye gave the order without any unnecessary words and took the lead in running out of the camp.

"Keep up." Everyone followed Yueguang Xingye toward the main camp’s exit. Not one of them asked any questions.

Not long after leaving the camp, Yueguang Xingye led everyone in catching up to a Konoha Shinobi unit of around sixty people. Without exchanging a word, Yueguang Xingye simply led his clansmen into the shinobi unit and continued onward.

They’re all shinobi from the Mitarashi and Kurama clans! As he traveled with the group, Yueguang Han carefully observed every person in the roughly sixty-man shinobi unit.

After the sun rose and slanting rays lit up the forest, the group of more than a hundred people finally stopped at a valley after traveling roughly twenty to thirty li.

"Our objective this time is to destroy a Sand Hidden outpost and hold it."

After gathering everyone together, Yueguang Xingye, the commander of this combat unit, finally revealed the details of their mission. The reason he had waited until they had left the main camp was that he feared enemy spies hidden within the camp might learn of the plan.

Everyone’s expressions turned solemn at once. This was no ordinary outpost. It had to be an important strategic location for Sand Hidden, and its terrain must also be highly significant. Capturing it would greatly affect the course of the war. Otherwise, Konoha would not have sent only shinobi from its clans to carry out this operation.

Everyone knew that the Sand Shinobi would never allow them to occupy the outpost so easily. Once they captured it, they would certainly face fierce attacks from the Sand Shinobi. This was unquestionably an extremely difficult combat mission.

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