Taking up position

After setting out from Konoha, they encountered no mishaps along the way. They were still close to Konoha, after all, and no one dared cause trouble on the land around it.

But as time passed, they reached the western border of the Land of Fire. Far from the heart of Konoha, public safety began to deteriorate, and they started encountering enemies in the form of bandits.

But these were only minor thugs. The Konoha Chunin leading the group didn't even need to lift a finger; the students could deal with them. After all, beneath Konoha's prosperity, even students like these generally possessed a certain degree of combat ability.

On the third day, they finally reached the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

The terrain had changed noticeably along the way. The closer they drew to the border, the thinner the forest vegetation became. Now, looking west, they could clearly see the desert.

It was no wonder that in the Shinobi World wars of the past, Konoha, known as the foremost ninja village, had so often found itself on the defensive, holding high the righteous banner of resisting foreign invaders. The reason was that Konoha had a monopoly on the world's best geographical resources. The Land of Wind across the border, for instance, was desert everywhere, with little worth invading for.

The Sand ninja, who lived in a harsh and barren land, often crossed the border to invade in search of a way to survive. This had become the norm, and unless it was a large-scale war, Konoha would not react strongly, merely sending a patrol to guard the border.

Likewise, the Ninja Academy brought groups to the border each year for survival exercises in order to plant the idea of protecting home and country in the next generation of ninja.

"All right, we've reached our destination. Set up camp here!" At the Konoha teacher's instruction, the students began pitching their tents. Having received a formal ninja education, they had developed good practical skills from childhood. This posed no problem for them.

Shunren surveyed the area and found that they were halfway up a mountain. Above them, on the summit, a standing Konoha force tasked with guarding the border was stationed. The view was unobstructed, allowing them to look down from their high ground and survey every direction. They were also on the sheltered slope, out of the wind, and the wild beasts and such in the surrounding woods had been cleared out beforehand. At night, the place would be silent, allowing any unusual movement to be detected at once.

From this, it was clear that Konoha's arrangements were very sound.

Even so, Shunren would not let his guard down in the slightest. He knew they were on the eve of an outbreak of war, and at such a sensitive time, anything could happen.

"Shizune, set up some extra traps around the tent."

"Got it."

Besides preparing medicines, Shizune knew a little about setting traps, so the security preparations were left to her.

Shunren and Kurenai began pitching the tent.

The students pitched their tents in groups, with no more than roughly a li between tents, so they could alert one another if anything happened.

The six hundred or so students, divided into over two hundred groups, were spread across the mountainside in a dotted network.

Shunren's group happened to be positioned at the upper left of the network, though not at the very edge. Two groups were stationed farther out than they were. The Konoha teachers, who were Chunin, were also responsible for guarding the outer perimeter.

Above them, the combat troops guarding the border held the advantage of high ground, keeping a close watch on the western side near the Land of Wind, beyond the mountain. Chunin watched the rear. The students were in the middle of the camp. All in all, the safety of an exercise like this was fairly reliable.

It was already evening when they reached their destination, so after setting up camp, they turned in early.

Of course, ninja protocol made it impossible to rest unguarded in the wild. Shunren and his teammates took turns in three shifts,

with two resting while one kept watch outside the tent. He didn't know whether the others would obediently follow such a rule, but his group did, at any rate.

Everyone was tired after a full day on the road. Compared with boys, girls were naturally a little weaker in physical stamina, so Shunren took the first watch and let Kurenai and Shizune rest first.

As the sky darkened, Shunren sat cross-legged alone outside the tent. Looking around, he noticed another group not far away. Uh... they sure got along well. The three of them were sitting shoulder to shoulder, drinking tea and chatting.

From the relaxed way they laughed and talked, it was clear their vigilance was absolutely zero. It was as if they were on a picnic.

Shunren shook his head. Whatever the others did, he would simply do his own part.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, though he wasn't dozing. He was concentrating, extending his perception outward. At school, Shunren had no opportunity to learn a sensory technique, so he could only rely on controlling his spiritual energy to achieve a degree of perception. Both its range and accuracy were quite limited, however. With his current spiritual energy, Shunren could only detect Chakra within a radius of a hundred meters at most. A hundred meters was practically a chicken rib; at such a short distance, he could see things with his own eyes. Moreover, the margin of error in its accuracy exceeded two meters.

Shunren suddenly picked up a Kunai and hurled it into the grass nearby.

"Swish, swish!" A startled little animal ran off into the distance.

"A rabbit?" Shunren glanced toward the woods and said calmly, "Of course not. A low-grade disguise. A Konoha teacher?"

In the nearby woods, the fleeing rabbit suddenly stopped and glanced back with a remarkably human look in its eyes. Then, with a puff, the rabbit turned into a human figure.

Transformation Technique!

The one disguised as a rabbit was none other than the Konoha teacher Feimu. Holding a small booklet, he quickly made a note in it.

On the list of names inside, more than half had red crosses beside them, though quite a few had check marks.

Feimu's expression was fairly positive. He was evidently quite satisfied with his class's performance.

After putting the list away, Feimu prepared to assess the next group.

A numb sensation struck his waist, and Feimu instinctively reached for it.

"Puchi!" Something pierced him from behind!

"So easily defeated. Does this count as a Konoha Chunin?" A cold voice came from behind him.

Feimu's body stiffened. He struggled to turn his head, and when he saw the other's face, his eyes widened involuntarily, as though he had seen something unbelievable.

"You... why..."

"Puchi!" The sharp short blade used for assassinations was viciously pulled from his body. The blood that sprayed out had a strange purplish-black color. The weapon had been poisoned; no wonder Feimu had been unable to cry out as he died.

The person deftly collected Feimu's corpse and meticulously cleaned up every drop of blood that had spilled on the ground. Once he had done all this, he cast a meaningful glance in Shunren's direction.