A Sudden First Taste of the Battlefield (1)

Although he was heading to the front lines, Hagoromo was traveling light.

To begin with, he did not have much to bring.

First, he replenished some ninja tools, including kunai, shuriken, and the like.

Second, he brought a bag of Soldier Pills, an essential remedy for staying home, traveling, murder, and arson.

Third, he bought a black cloak. It was not for looking cool or stylish; on the battlefield, being able to conceal one's hands was crucial for a ninja. Most of the time, a ninja's first move when attacking was forming hand seals. Hiding one's hands could, to some extent, conceal one's intent to attack.

Fourth, he prepared a white mask for himself. This had nothing to do with the Anbu. He was not living like those Anbu ninjas; he simply felt that, when necessary, a ninja ought to hide his face. Kakashi Hatake did this especially well. Even ninjas from the same village did not know what he looked like, okay?

One early morning, the group of roughly forty people began leaving Konoha and heading toward the front lines against Sunagakure.

By the standards of ordinary ninja deployments, forty people was already a considerable number. After all, ninjas usually operated in four-man teams.

Because there were Medical Ninjas with relatively weak stamina among them, the group did not travel quickly. It took them nearly six days to reach the border of the Land of Fire.

"Lady Kushina, we need to raise our guard from here on out. Geographically speaking, we have already entered the war zone. We may encounter small groups of Sand Ninja that have infiltrated at any time."

That evening, while the group was busy setting up camp, the Anbu leader approached Kushina and reminded her.

Kushina nodded without saying anything. Just because she was usually carefree did not mean she knew nothing about war. In fact, she had personally experienced the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools as a child, and she understood the brutality of war all too well.

They were still two hundred kilometers from their destination, Konoha's Frontline Command Post and main camp, which had been established along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. This place was also only about two hundred and fifty kilometers from the foremost battlefront. Small Sand Ninja units could easily bypass Konoha's defenses and infiltrate the Land of Fire to carry out sabotage.

Logically, they should have hurried to the command post, but due to the stamina issues of some of the ninjas, they had to rest here for the night.

That was why the Anbu ninja had reminded Kushina to remain vigilant.

As they drew closer and closer to the intense combat zone, most of the group began to grow tense, but Hagoromo was not among them.

Even he himself did not know why he displayed such extraordinary adaptability toward war.

Although he was standing beside Kushina and listening to the Anbu ninja's warning, his face wore an unconcerned expression.

The tent Kushina occupied was a special privilege of hers. As her disciple, Hagoromo also benefited from it, so at night he did not have to squeeze in with the Anbu ninjas.

After the Anbu ninja left the tent, he took out a small scroll and began writing and drawing on it.

Kushina glanced at it curiously, then asked, "Is this an improvement to the Reverse Four Symbols Seal?"

Yes, Hagoromo was someone whose mind could never stay idle. At this moment, he was trying to improve the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique once again.

"Yes." Hagoromo nodded, then continued, "The Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique is undoubtedly one of the most powerful Sealing Techniques, but the problem is that it is too powerful and consumes too much chakra. That is secondary, though. Its greatest flaw is—its area of effect is too wide. It can easily kill the caster along with everyone else. So I want to reduce its range."

How long had it even been since Hagoromo began studying Sealing Techniques? Yet he was already attempting to modify an S-rank forbidden technique!

Kushina's first reaction was to forbid it. Developing and improving ninjutsu was an extremely dangerous task in itself, let alone Sealing Techniques, the most complicated of all techniques. One mistake could very well get not only Hagoromo killed, but the dozens of people here with him as well.

But after seeing the detailed demonstrations and methods for improving the technique on the scroll, she hesitated. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, Kushina herself was an expert in Sealing Techniques. Hagoromo had already completed part of the work, and she could not find any errors or omissions in it. That meant he was on the correct path to success, making it difficult for her to make up her mind.

Seeing Kushina's hesitant expression, Hagoromo naturally knew what she was considering, so he quickly said, "Don't worry, Teacher Kushina. I'm only working through the theory. I won't conduct experiments casually. I'm not that unafraid of death."

Hearing Hagoromo say that, Kushina immediately felt much more at ease. Still, she said sternly, "I agree to let you conduct research, but before testing any modified technique, you must obtain my approval. I must be present at that time. Otherwise, you are not to conduct any experiments. Understood?"

"Understood. Absolutely understood."

Hagoromo hurriedly replied. He knew what was good for him. After all, there was a saying in the ninja world: cherish life, stay away from lunatics who liked developing forbidden techniques...

As the night deepened, the campfires in the camp went out. The Medical Ninjas had already gone to sleep, and the Anbu had left only Team One on watch.

Yet even without any bright light source, Hagoromo walked out of the tent and continued working through Sealing Technique formulas beneath the moonlight.

The moonlight was exceptionally bright that night.

As time passed, Kushina had already fallen asleep.

Then suddenly, the pen in Hagoromo's hand stopped, and his brows furrowed unconsciously... It was not because he had encountered some difficulty in his calculations, but because he had discovered someone quietly approaching the camp.

Enemy!

He had not expected enemies to appear just after nightfall.

Since they were still within the Land of Fire, Hagoromo's group had not gone to great lengths to conceal their camp. If the enemy had discovered it, that was not particularly surprising.

Hagoromo stood up and put the pen and scroll back into his Ninja Tool Pouch.

The Anbu ninja on duty noticed Hagoromo's movement.

He did not speak. Instead, he made a hand signal toward Hagoromo.

"What is it? Did something happen?"

One of Hagoromo's hands emerged from beneath his cloak, then swiftly formed hand signs. "Six o'clock direction. In the woods four hundred meters away, I've detected four enemy targets."

PS: Thanks to reader Lazy Bug 21 for the 500 Qidian Coin tip.