One Wave After Another

Orange-red flames leaped and danced, searing the massive bear paws, releasing waves of sweet aroma.

"Gulp!"

Katsuki couldn't help but swallow. The smell was too tempting.

This black bear was undoubtedly one of the overlords of this forest. Who knew how many beehives it had raided. Its two paws were so soaked in honey that they didn't need any other seasoning; just roasting them like this was incredibly enticing.

Kushina and Minato were busy roasting the meat, while Katsuki, Otoha, and Otome found some firewood to help out. None of them knew how to cook. Only Kushina and Minato were skilled in the culinary arts. Katsuki's palate had become so discerning since Kushina raised him, and the Uchiha siblings were also the type who never lifted a finger in the kitchen, never having to worry about cooking.

The enormous black bear, after being skinned, deboned, and gutted, still weighed three to four hundred pounds. However, by the end of the meal, the five of them had eaten about half of it. Katsuki ate the most, his stomach seemingly a bottomless pit. Still, the others were long accustomed to Katsuki's appetite.

"Today is the fourth day, three more days to go," Otoha said, lying on his back on the grass. The surrounding area had already been cleared by the group using smoke, driving away all the insects and ants.

"Three days? Even with thirty more days, we still wouldn't be able to beat Aunt Tsunade," Kushina squatted by the campfire, resting her chin on her hands, a look of melancholy on her face. Just one Jonin's shadow clone had sent them scattering. When would she ever become Hokage?

Perhaps it was the warmth of the flames that made her drowsy. Kushina's thoughts drifted as she spoke, but fortunately, the others didn't notice, except for one blonde boy.

Katsuki was doing push-ups with one hand. Even in this training ground, he didn't neglect his exercise routine, training every day. Speaking of which, it was precisely because of this guy's appetite that their team was always on the verge of starvation. High consumption meant eating a lot.

Otome leaned against Kushina and had fallen asleep sweetly. Minato sat cross-legged not far away, his hands weaving through hand seals like lightning, constantly honing his speed.

A week felt both long and short. Regardless, the week-long special training finally came to an end.

The only teams that managed to persevere until the end were Katsuki's and Hyuga Tenzan's.

Stepping out of the iron gate and leaving the eerie training ground, they felt as if they had been freed from a prison. Looking up at the bright sun in the sky, it was dazzling enough to hurt their eyes.

"Damn it, we're finally out," Otoha let out a long sigh, his footsteps becoming much lighter.

Otome, unusually, didn't complain. It was just a simple wire fence separating them, but the feeling inside and outside was completely different.

"Alright, little ones, it's time to announce the results," Tsunade said, clapping her hands to draw the attention of the eight students.

Tsunade coughed lightly, squinting as she scanned the students, whose expressions varied. "The final result... all eight of you did very well. You all passed this assessment."

There was no cheering, no elation. Although they were children, they all remembered that passing the assessment meant they would be involved in transporting supplies, meaning they would be participating in the war, even if only as logistical support personnel.

Tsunade and the others didn't care. The ninja world never knew innocence, only the cruelest iron and blood. If these kids were celebrating like it was a festival, she would be worried. Sending students with such a mindset into battle would be no different than murder.

Although sending students into battle in the first place had already caused controversy.

"One last thing, gather at Training Ground 19 at 8 AM tomorrow morning. Be prepared," Tsunade said and disappeared with a Shunshin. As for Jiraiya and Orochimaru, they didn't even show their faces, leaving the entire matter to Tsunade.

If, before entering Training Ground 44, the students had held great enthusiasm for joining the war, fighting for the village, dedicating themselves to the village, and felt their blood boil at the thought, then after spending a week in this damned forest, their feverish heads had cooled down.

Going to the battlefield meant people would die.

However, whether they were willing or not, things had been decided. They were powerless to resist this predetermined fate. Even with powerful families behind them, they were merely insignificant specks to their clans.

On the way, the five of them parted ways successively and headed home.

Kushina and Katsuki ate a meal outside before ambling home. They found servants of the Senju Clan waiting at the door. They were sent by Tsunade to deliver something: two sets of black combat uniforms, knee pads, and elbow pads. Since they weren't ninjas yet, they didn't have headbands, but this time, they were given headbands as an exception, albeit temporary ones.

Opening the ninja tool bag, it was packed full of shuriken, kunai, explosive tags, flash bombs, and so on. It was quite complete. If the siblings had to prepare it themselves, it would have taken a lot of effort. Now, having ready-made items delivered saved them a lot of trouble.

Back home, although it wasn't dark yet, after showering and setting their alarms, the siblings went to their rooms to rest. Their nerves had been on edge for a week, and now they could finally get a good night's sleep.

The alarm clock rang with a steady drip, drip, drip. Katsuki struggled to get out of bed. He pulled open the curtains; the sky was just beginning to lighten.

Training Ground 19.

As the name suggested, it was the nineteenth training ground built by Konohagakure. Since the village's founding, it had expanded outwards with the Hokage Building as its core. The number of ninjas also increased year by year. To meet the training needs of the vast number of ninjas, training grounds were built one after another, especially as the number of civilian ninjas surged, increasing the demand for training facilities.

Training Ground 19 was one of the earlier ones built. Before dawn, figures of various heights were already entering the training ground.

Kushina and Katsuki were dressed neatly, with headbands tied on their foreheads and ninja tool bags at their waists. Kushina had tied up her hair, her red ponytail swaying like a beautiful scenic line. The moment they appeared at the edge of the training ground, they attracted many gazes.

Especially a certain blonde boy, who quickly ran over to greet the siblings.

"Minato, who are these people?" Katsuki squinted slightly. There were already about twenty people in the training ground, most of them teenagers around fourteen or fifteen years old.

"The main force for this mission, all Genin," Minato shrugged. "We guys are probably just extras for this mission."

Alright!

Katsuki clicked his tongue. It made sense. It was already outrageous enough to send them, students, to war. If they were also assigned the task of transporting supplies, then the higher-ups of Konoha must have collectively lost their minds.

"By the way, it's almost time. Why aren't Otoha and Otome here yet?"