Master and Disciple Reunite

"Eh! That's surprising. I didn't expect you to be the first to take on a disciple. I always thought Tsunade be either Orochimaru or Orochimaru, one of them. Honestly, I can't imagine how you, a lazy and irresponsible guy like you, would teach a disciple, haha."

After hearing Jiraiya's account, Sakumo felt much more relieved. He suddenly remembered that it wasn't just Jiraiya's student who had arrived this time; his disciple had also come along, and it seemed that he was now Chunin.

"Hey, Sakumo- senpai, am I really as bad as you say?"

"Haha, sorry, sorry, I couldn't help myself." Sakumo burst into laughter.

Jiraiya sighed helplessly. It was only because of Sakumo that he was so easily offended. If anyone else had criticized him like that, he wouldn't have let it go so easily. But it was rare to see Sakumo talk to people like that.

My previous impression of Sakumo was that he always had a gentle and mild temperament and would never tease someone to their face like this.

"Sakumo- senpai, what were you thinking about earlier? Standing in the rain in front of the tent isn't your style." Jiraiya rolled his eyes and decided to change the subject.

"Ah... well, I was thinking about the recent war, and also, my apprentice has come..."

We've arrived!

"Is this the front-line camp? It occupies a huge area, with so many tents."

"After all, there are over a thousand people; a small place wouldn't be enough to accommodate them all."

Katsuki lifted his straw hat and stood atop the mountain, looking down at the undulating mountains below. Large and small camps were scattered like stars, and the distant plains stretched as far as the eye could see in the dark.

"Huh? There seems to be a light over there!"

Nawaki stretched out his right hand, pointing to the distant sky. A flash of orange-red light appeared and disappeared in the drizzling rain, followed by a muffled thunderous boom.

One point, two points, three points...

Brilliant light burst forth in the rain, and the sky seemed to tremble, emitting a distant humming sound that became chaotic and disordered amidst the continuous patter of rain.

"Enemy attack... It's an enemy attack! The Sand Ninja have launched another attack!"

"Damn it, don't these turban-wearing bastards know what fear of death is?"

The Konoha Ninja guarding the mountaintop cursed and swore, using every imaginable vicious curse to scorn the Sand Ninja. At the same time, they dutifully sounded the alarm, though it was actually unnecessary, as squads of ninja from the camp were already pouring onto the plains like a flood to meet the attacking Sand Ninja.

The earth-shattering explosions rang out one after another, and even the continuous rain could not extinguish the rising flames. The orange-red light kept flashing on the plain, and the swaying figures were suddenly thrown into the air like beans.

That unlucky guy who flew up was clearly not going to live long; he was riddled with Shuriken by a series of shurikens before he even landed.

"He died so quickly."

Katsuki closed his eyes, expanding his senses to their limit as he observed the battle on the plain. Waves of Chakra disappeared, each disappearance signifying the death of a person—some Konoha Chakra, others were Sunagakure ninjas.

"That's right, death happens very quickly. That's what the battlefield is like. On the battlefield, people die in droves."

Dan Katō stood at the front of the group with his arms crossed, gazing at the rolling flames and storms on the plain.

"You must also be careful, the pace of the battlefield is very fast, a small mistake can drag you into danger, and death can come at any time."

Dan Katō's expression was very serious when he said this, especially when he looked at Katsuki and Nawaki.

Looking at the boys' short stature, he sighed. He had sighed countless times along the way, almost enough to exhaust all the emotions he had accumulated in his life. Whenever he thought of the entrustment of Third Hokage, he could feel the heavy pressure on his shoulders.

Therefore, he would teach Katsuki and Nawaki whenever he could find an opportunity.

After giving the two a few words of earnest instruction, Dan was called away. After all, he was Jonin and one of the team leaders, and his responsibilities extended far beyond just the three of them, including Katsuki.

Once Duan's figure disappeared from sight, Otome raised her delicate eyebrows and looked at Katsuki and Nawaki with an ambiguous gaze.

"Ah! I said, Otome, please don't look at us with such a scary gaze, okay? I don't know why Teacher Dan keeps paying attention to us." Katsuki couldn't stand the strange look and felt uncomfortable all over.

"Hmph!"

A soft laugh escaped her nose, but Otome's face remained impassive as she responded in her usual flat voice, "I didn't say anything."

"Haha, hurry up and go, Katsuki and Otome are lagging behind."

Nawaki forced a smile, but the twitching in her eyes betrayed her near-collapse.

"It's been a long time, Katsuki."

As they were talking, a tall figure suddenly burst into everyone's line of sight, moving with the speed of a silver lightning bolt, arriving in an instant, leaving no one in the crowd able to react.

"What······"

A Genin his mouth, but before he could utter the word "human," he was quickly pushed back down by Dan Katō, who arrived at the scene.

"Lord Sakumo."

Dan Katō quelled the slight disturbance in the group and nodded to the newcomers.

Upon hearing Duan's address, the group immediately stirred again. Sakumo was very famous, but only a limited number of people actually knew him, especially the large number of Genin, who rarely saw Sakumo, let alone knew him.

It would be strange if anyone remained silent upon hearing Sakumo's name at this moment!

"It's you, Duan. Your skills have improved again."

Sakumo pushed up his straw hat, smiled at Dan Katō, and revealed his white teeth.

"You flatter me. I'm far from being as good as you."

Duan laughed, displaying the appropriate humility of a junior and respect for a senior. In short, Duan was a very polite person.

"You go ahead with your work. I only came to see my apprentice. Goodbye for now."

Sakumo reached out and grabbed Katsuki's shoulder, Teuchi a greeting, and without another word, carried Katsuki away. Otome and the others only saw a flash of white light before Sakumo and Katsuki disappeared.

"Wow, that's amazing! Is that the legendary White Fang?"

Nawaki praised him sincerely, his face full of longing. He was no exception in admiring a top-tier expert like White Fang.

"It's so fast... I couldn't react at all!"

Otome lowered her voice, a ripple appearing in her dark eyes.

"Wow! That red-haired guy is actually Lord White Fang's apprentice! I've never heard of him before!"

"That's right. I never expected Lord White Fang to take on a disciple. How envious I am! I wish I could be chosen too."

"Keep dreaming, you idiot. You might actually dream that the Lord Hokage will take you as his disciple while you're asleep... Haha!"