When the Konoha frontline camp was ambushed and thrown into chaos, Yuhara did not panic and rush off to do something. Instead, he remained vigilant and honestly hid in his own tent.
It had to be said that this was the correct judgment. If he had panicked and run around randomly at a time like this, he might first have been casually killed by a powerful enemy passing by. Secondly, as an unreliable "Konoha Ninja," he might also have been casually killed by a Konoha Ninja passing by.
Not causing trouble was the same as helping. Yuhara was doing this entirely for Konoha's sake.
Fortunately, his tent was originally located in a remote corner of the Konoha camp. The enemies had clear priority targets, and a surprise attack had to achieve its intended objective within a limited time, making operational efficiency crucial.
No one would specifically come and clean up someone like Yuhara.
Simply put, he was not worth it.
Thus, tonight's attack was a close call without any real danger for Yuhara. However, when dawn came the next day, he still received some less-than-good news.
The Cloud Hide side had fled into the distance after striking once. Early the next morning, the entire Konoha camp was filled with the smell of scorched flesh and blood. Some Konoha Ninjas were clearing the battlefield, tending to and rescuing their comrades while quickly assessing the previous night's losses.
When Yuhara, Tigo, and Jian Dong returned to the Konoha frontline hospital, they saw Xinliang's corpse.
Xinliang had not died on a dangerous mission. Instead, he had died after returning to the relatively safe Konoha camp. Though putting it this way sounded somewhat condescending, Yuhara felt that abandoning the power to protect oneself and then being suddenly killed by an enemy carried a certain sense of irony.
He simply did not know whether Xinliang had felt regret when he faced the invading enemies last night but could no longer form hand seals to fight. Or perhaps he had already been killed before he could feel regret.
In a certain sense, Xinliang had committed suicide.
Yuhara could understand, to some extent, the feelings of someone who had grown accustomed to life and death, experienced countless dangers, and then begun yearning for a peaceful life. But in such a dangerous world, a person should never abandon the ability to protect themselves, no matter what.
Because at the most critical moment, only you could protect yourself... Yuhara could only express his deep regret over what had happened to Xinliang.
However, his teammate's death had also made him realize one fact in a tangible way: staying in Konoha was no safer than staying beside Orochimaru, and leaving Konoha would not be safer than remaining there, either.
If he wanted to gain the ability to protect himself, hiding in Konoha and secretly developing might be the best choice. Besides, the Ninja World War had already reached its final stage. If he held on a little longer, the world might very well welcome peace.
Xinliang's death was depressing, but it would not affect the team's subsequent arrangements.
Since the Konoha camp had been ambushed by the Cloud Hide, Konoha would naturally launch an equivalent reprisal next. Under such circumstances, the useless squad whose ranks had been smashed to pieces had no reason to remain on the front line.
Three days later, the five remaining members of Squad Z left the battered frontline camp and began returning to Konoha.
Yuhara finally figured out the current point in time: Konoha Year 47. It seemed that everything that was supposed to happen had already happened.
Before long, Minato Namikaze would succeed to the position of Fourth Hokage. And considering that the end of the year was already approaching, perhaps "Child of Prophecy" Naruto had already begun growing up.
Several days later, the group of five arrived at Konoha Village at an unhurried pace.
The two people whom Yuhara was not very familiar with went directly to the camp outside the village from before, while he himself was momentarily unsure where he should go.
"Yuhara, come with me." Fortunately, Jian Dong called out to him at that moment.
So Yuhara followed behind her with Tigo without much hesitation... He had effectively been taken in temporarily by Jian Dong.
The three of them then arrived at her home, an old two-story wooden house located on the outskirts of Konoha. Unlike Yuhara, who had only just arrived, Tigo seemed to have been living there for a long time.
First, he had been imprisoned in Orochimaru's dungeon as a test subject. Then, he had suddenly been thrown onto the battlefield. After being in this world for so long, Yuhara finally had a chance to relax a little.
He took a serious bath, changed into the old clothes Jian Dong provided, ate a proper meal, and then... without saying a word, collapsed into bed and fell asleep.
He slept from the afternoon until nightfall. When it reached two in the morning, Yuhara woke up feeling extremely refreshed, then found himself unable to sleep again.
He opened the window beside the bed and, supporting himself with one hand against the windowsill, looked up at the sky outside.
The weather was excellent that day, and the moon and stars were clearly visible.
The night was quiet. Yuhara seemed to faintly hear a soft sobbing sound... Once people relaxed, escaped danger, and returned to the environment they were most familiar with, all the emotions they had suppressed would burst out.
After all, Jian Dong's elder brother had died on the battlefield. Ninjas were human beings when all was said and done, not true killing machines.
At a time like this, all he needed to do was remain quiet and avoid disturbing her.
Since he could not sleep anyway, Yuhara began considering what he should do tomorrow...
In any case, before leaving Konoha next time, he had to possess a certain level of combat strength.
The next day.
Ninjas woke up early, and Yuhara had not slept at all to begin with. After asking Jian Dong about several places he could go, he calmly left the house.
Compared with the misery of the front line, Konoha was indeed prosperous and lively. Yuhara casually found somewhere to eat breakfast, then headed straight toward a certain place...
The first thing he needed to do was shop, so he appeared in a Ninja Tool Shop.
Yuhara was not short of money. He currently had two hundred thousand ryo in mission funds.
"Shopkeeper, are you there?"
It was a little early for customers. Only after Yuhara called out several times did a middle-aged man finally appear in the shop.
"Welcome, sir."
The shopkeeper wiped his hands on his apron while greeting Yuhara enthusiastically.
"I'd like to order two special ninja tools. I wonder if that's possible." As he spoke, Yuhara took an explanatory drawing from inside his clothes.
"Of course it is. No matter what kind of ninja tool it is, our shop can..."
The shopkeeper accepted the drawing and began his habitual self-praise, but the moment he saw what was drawn on it, he immediately fell silent.
"Sir, this counts as a... ninja tool?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?"
Of course there was no problem. However, there was no need to buy what Yuhara wanted from a Ninja Tool Shop. Going directly to a blacksmith would actually have been more appropriate.
Yuhara ordered two "Sword Crates" measuring 10×20×120. One was required to be solid steel, while the other was to have an iron exterior and be filled with mercury.
"Sir, I have to warn you: the combined weight of these two things is just over half a ton..."
So this weight made it impossible for them to be usable ninja tools. They were simply too heavy.
"Just treat it as me buying something to weigh down a pickle jar... So, how about it? Are you taking the job?"
"...We are!"
Although the crude things Yuhara had commissioned made the long-established shopkeeper feel slightly insulted, he had never been in the habit of turning away business.
After paying a deposit, the two parties agreed that Yuhara would return to collect the goods in one day. Just as he was about to step out the door, he suddenly stopped.
"Sir, is there anything else you need?" the shopkeeper asked again. He was worried that this customer wanted to commission some other bizarre object.
Yuhara hesitated, then stammered, "Um, do you happen to sell the elementary school textbooks from the Ninja Academy?"
Shopkeeper: "..."
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