Secret Art of the Survivalist Path

Soon, the four of them had sprinted three kilometers, arriving behind the Aoba Defense Zone at a river no more than ten zhang wide.

They immediately spread chakra to the soles of their feet, stepped onto the river's surface, and continued forward without slowing down.

Tap! Tap! Tap!...

Kicking up layers of spray, they sped across the river.

After crossing, however, they did not press on.

"Tejudo, you need to lose some weight."

Umino Sasuke halted, turning to check how the three youngsters behind him had fared crossing the river on water. Inuzuka Ryo and Xiao Xiao had both performed well.

Only Tejudo, with his massive bulk and the heavy load of blades hanging from him, struggled to keep his balance—his chakra control wavering a bit.

"Tejudo, stop obsessing over your blade girlfriends all day. Don't neglect your chakra control either, or I'll put you on a diet and make you shed that weight."

Though Sasuke's words were harsh, a wave of relief rose in his heart.

Back then, of these three youngsters, only Inuzuka Ryo—born into a ninja clan—had known the basics of chakra tree climbing, barely passing in chakra control.

Tejudo and Xiao Xiao were complete novices in that area. They couldn't even manage simple tree climbing with chakra, let alone water walking.

Typical civilian ninja—two clueless, low-level cannon-fodder genin.

Now, after his guidance, they had undergone a dramatic transformation.

His painstaking training back then hadn't been in vain.

The battlefield changed in an instant, demanding adaptation to all kinds of environments. Tree climbing and water walking might seem like effective ways to train chakra control, but on the battlefield, they were survival skills that had to be mastered.

Since they were both essential survival skills and a means to improve chakra control, his instruction for these three youngsters had naturally been extremely strict.

A strict master produces outstanding students.

Under his harsh tutelage, the three youngsters' chakra control had already surpassed that of most chunin.

Xiao Xiao, in particular—perhaps due to a girl's attention to detail, or maybe genuine talent in this area—had the strongest chakra control of the three.

He had even pushed her further, having her attempt waterfall walking training. Though she had never succeeded, she had already built the foundation to become a medical ninja.

In the future, as long as she completed a few more missions and saved enough Mission Merit Points to exchange for Medical Ninjutsu, unlocking her Yang Release potential, becoming a qualified Medical Ninja shouldn't be difficult.

As for Inuzuka Ryo, born into a ninja clan, he already had a foundation in chakra control training. After Sasuke's further intensive training, while he still couldn't match Xiao Xiao's medical-nin level of chakra control, simple water walking came naturally to him.

Tejudo, on the other hand, had long completed his water walking training and even practiced waterfall walking for a while. His chakra control was now on par with Inuzuka Ryo's.

But he couldn't resist the temptation of good food—feasting on meat and fish every day, gaining weight even from drinking water. His physique changed by the day, and with his entire body hung with all kinds of blades—his big and little wives—just managing to cross the river on water was already impressive.

"Captain, you taught us that mastering one art is better than dabbling in ten. Chakra control just needs to be good enough—blade handling is my specialty."

Tejudo halted, his hands unconsciously caressing the various blades—his big and little wives—hanging from his body, his eyes filled with infatuation and intoxication.

"Then why aren't you setting up traps already? Waiting to hand over your head?"

Sasuke shuddered with disgust and kicked Tejudo's fat rear in irritation.

"Coming right up, my dear Captain."

Tejudo put on a fawning expression and hurried into action.

Seeing Tejudo start setting traps, Sasuke began imparting battlefield experience forged in blood and fire, especially to Inuzuka Ryo and Xiao Xiao, the two greenhorns.

"Sand Ninja's innate chakra natures are mostly Wind and Earth. Innate Water natures are extremely rare—they basically have no Water Release ninja worth mentioning."

Then, Sasuke pointed at the river behind them and continued, "This river behind us may not look big, but it's a natural barrier against the Sand Ninja."

Unlike the fertile Land of Fire, the Land of Wind was mostly desert, with only a few oases. Sand Ninja were mostly Wind Release users, followed by Earth Release and Puppet Masters. Water-nature ninja were very rare.

If the battlefield were open ground, it would clearly favor the Sand Ninja. But if it were a river or lake, the opposite was true—extremely disadvantageous for them.

"Captain, then why did we come to the opposite bank to block the enemy? Wouldn't it be better to wait on that side and ambush them as they cross?"

Inuzuka Ryo's clear yet foolish eyes finally showed a glimmer of wisdom.

It had to be said, the ninja clan's education was decent—his question hit the tactical crux.

Meanwhile, Xiao Xiao beside him still looked clueless, which showed that the gap in clan heritage wasn't just about ninjutsu—it extended to many other aspects as well.

Still, while the clan's education was good, Inuzuka Ryo's wisdom, though present, wasn't abundant.

Sasuke flicked his finger against Inuzuka Ryo's forehead with a bong.

"Idiot. Before asking a question, can't you think it through a little more?"

Then, pointing at Tejudo busily moving through the underbrush, Sasuke pressed on, "What is Tejudo doing right now? What is the primary tactical objective of this mission? And what is the secondary?"

Inuzuka Ryo rubbed his forehead where the flick had landed, utterly bewildered, but his brain CPU was spinning at full speed.

Xiao Xiao, with no extra thoughts and only the original plan in mind, jumped in to answer: "Our tactical objective is first to set traps and aim to wipe out the Sand Ninja puppet squad.

Second, to hold the enemy back until the Mobile Patrol Unit arrives for reinforcements."

Sasuke nodded approvingly at Xiao Xiao, then turned back to stare at Inuzuka Ryo like he was an idiot.

"Ryo, even Xiao Xiao understands such a simple tactic. You, the super genius ninja of the Inuzuka Clan, don't even know this? Looks like you still have a lot to learn."

Sasuke unleashed his PUA secret technique once more, bombarding Inuzuka Ryo with a relentless mental assault.

But in reality, the tactical arrangement—aside from the ambush and traps—was never meant to block the Sand Ninja's breakthrough and infiltration in the first place.

Instead, the idea was that if the ambush and traps proved ineffective, this river would serve as a natural barrier to buy some buffer time against the Sand Ninja's pursuit.

Both involve blocking the enemy, yet their tactical objectives are completely different.

The former uses the river to stop the enemy from breaking through the defense zone at all costs, waiting for reinforcements.

The latter leverages the terrain advantage to delay the enemy, buying time for escape.

Plan for defeat before planning victory.

Always securing an escape route first—that is the true essence of the Secret Art of the Survivalist Path.

After all, accidents happen in everything.

It never hurts to guard against trouble before it strikes.