War Approaches!

"Obito, there are enemy ninja ahead. Let's hurry and report to Teacher Masayuki," Hyuga Bin thought to himself while simultaneously informing Uchiha Obito of the situation.

Immediately, the two of them rushed towards the team's temporary encampment.

They were only five hundred meters away from the temporary encampment at this time.

After running back to the temporary encampment, Hyuga Bin woke up Hyuga Masayuki, who was resting, and hurriedly said:

"Teacher Masayuki, there are two enemy ninja squads four kilometers ahead. I scouted them with my Byakugan, and their chakra fluctuations are very strong. The weakest among them is a Chunin."

"Huh? How did you detect enemy ninja four kilometers away?" Hyuga Masayuki was a bit stunned at first after hearing Hyuga Bin's words, as four kilometers was an incredibly long distance.

Even the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan's patriarch couldn't see four kilometers, and he estimated that at Hyuga Bin's current age, even with the full use of his Byakugan, being able to see five hundred meters would be considered good.

"I discovered them while I was patrolling ahead, so I rushed back immediately to report," Hyuga Bin replied.

He was unaware that Hyuga Masayuki was questioning the range of his Byakugan, nor did he consider his own range of "too far."

Because in the Naruto fanfiction novels he had read, male protagonists born into the Hyuga Clan generally had a Byakugan perspective range of over ten kilometers.

Then, because he couldn't clearly recall whether Hyuga Neji in the original work could see 800 meters or 8 kilometers, he combined his own limit vision of less than 4 kilometers to judge that Hyuga Neji could see 8 kilometers.

Compared to that, his less than four kilometers was completely insignificant.

Uchiha Obito, standing beside them, didn't overthink things. Not understanding the Byakugan well, he didn't realize that Hyuga Bin's detection of enemy ninja 3.5 kilometers away with his Byakugan was an incredibly terrifying feat.

"Which direction are they advancing?" Hyuga Masayuki continued to inquire.

"Southwest."

"They've infiltrated our defenses. Rin, fire a signal flare to call for other squads, and let's go immediately."

Being only four kilometers away meant the enemy ninja had already infiltrated Konohagakure's defensive line.

If they continued to advance southwest, in another two kilometers, they would encounter their on-duty mission squad, so they needed to provide immediate support and also alert other squads to avoid being picked off one by one.

Within this range, they had six on-duty squads. Even if the enemy ninja were all elites, facing a four-to-one numerical advantage, Hyuga Masayuki was absolutely confident in taking them down.

"Boom!"

Just as the four of them left the camp for a few hundred meters, they heard the explosion of explosive tags from ahead.

"Damn it, they've already engaged?" Hyuga Masayuki couldn't help but speed up towards the battlefield upon seeing this.

When Hyuga Masayuki and the other three arrived at the battlefield, they saw that one ninja from the Konoha squad was seriously injured, and another was lightly injured.

The Cloud Ninja hunting squad, however, had already fled.

The Cloud Ninja had immediately chosen to disengage from this Konoha squad after seeing Nohara Rin fire the signal flare.

This scene signaled the failure of Hyuga Bin's optional mission.

Hyuga Bin and Nohara Rin stayed behind to treat the two injured Konoha ninja, while Hyuga Masayuki and Uchiha Obito, along with two other Konoha ninja, continued to pursue the Cloud Ninja hunting squad.

However, this Cloud Ninja hunting squad clearly had a special method of concealment.

Even Hyuga Masayuki, who possessed the Byakugan kekkei genkai, couldn't find any trace of the Cloud Ninja hunting squad.

This time, they could only suffer such a significant loss for nothing.

The following two months of duty passed without any further incidents.

At the beginning of the New Year in Konoha's 43rd year, Team 22 concluded their frontline duty mission and returned to Konohagakure.

Hyuga Bin knew he wouldn't be home for long, as the Third Shinobi World War was about to begin, and he would have to rush to the front lines again.

For the next month, Hyuga Bin diligently practiced Creation Rebirth at home every day.

Combined with the training he had done in his free time over the previous few months, Hyuga Bin had managed to master it to a passable degree.

However, without the Yin Seal, which was a prerequisite for Creation Rebirth, Hyuga Bin didn't dare to try it lightly.

After all, each use of Creation Rebirth came at the cost of one's life.

Life was precious.

Hyuga Bin didn't want to live a short life of only twenty to thirty years due to excessively rapid cell division.

Indeed, things unfolded as Hyuga Bin had predicted. Half a month after he mastered Creation Rebirth, Konoha convened a Jonin meeting to prepare for the war against Sunagakure.

The Jonin meeting lasted for an entire day, concluding at dusk.

As the team's supervising teacher, Hyuga Masayuki wasted no time and immediately gathered Team 22, briefly explaining the situation.

Facing a war that could break out at any moment, Hyuga Masayuki naturally wanted Hyuga Bin and the other two to be fully prepared, both physiologically, psychologically, and physically.

Based on past data, the mortality rate for newly graduated Genin on the front lines was as high as 70%.

In other words, out of every ten Genin who graduated, only three would survive.

As the teacher of Hyuga Bin and the other two, Hyuga Masayuki did not want them to sacrifice their lives, but he couldn't prevent them from going to the front lines.

After all, it was all for Konoha, their shared home.

"Within half a month, the village will dispatch ninja to the border to prevent sneak attacks from Sunagakure. During this time, you should prepare your supplies and be ready to depart for the front lines at any time."

Supplies were scarce on the front lines, so "stocking up" was essential for going to the front to fight. Hyuga Masayuki was looking out for the three of them.

"If I can achieve something on the battlefield this time, I'll be promoted to Chunin." Facing Hyuga Masayuki's seriousness, Uchiha Obito remained blindly confident about the upcoming war.

Ever since Hatake Kakashi was promoted to Chunin with merit in his second year after graduation, Uchiha Obito had never thought he was inferior to Hatake Kakashi, so he also wanted to be promoted to Chunin to prove himself.

"Obito, if you go to the battlefield with that kind of mindset, you will surely die." Facing Uchiha Obito's expectations, Hyuga Masayuki was angry for the first time and said something very harsh.

"Teacher Masayuki, I'm sorry." Uchiha Obito apologized at lightning speed.

The Hyuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan had always been at odds, but that didn't prevent some ninjas from the two clans from having good relationships.

During his ninja career this year, Uchiha Obito had been very respectful of Hyuga Masayuki.

He wasn't an idiot; he knew Hyuga Masayuki meant well for him, so he wouldn't get angry just because Hyuga Masayuki scolded him.

"Obito, I want you to clearly recognize the dangers of war, not to be blindly confident. I hope our Team 22 returns just as we went to the front lines."

"Teacher Masayuki, I understand." Uchiha Obito responded obediently.

Seeing Uchiha Obito's docility, Hyuga Masayuki patted his shoulder and addressed the three of them, "Alright, that's all for today. It's getting late, you can all go home. Let's meet at the food street tomorrow at 5 PM sharp, my treat for barbecue."

"Yes, Teacher Masayuki." Upon hearing about barbecue, the eyes of the three instantly lit up.