Squad Z finally completed its personnel replenishment once again.
In fact, the speed at which a rather abnormal squad like this could replenish its ranks indirectly proved that Konoha was facing a severe shortage of manpower at this time.
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that by the latter stages of the Ninja World War, every shinobi village was facing this kind of pressure. The Five Great Nations were all gritting their teeth and holding on, desperately squeezing out the last of their wartime potential. They were, so to speak, "eating grass while milking themselves dry."
By this point in the war, neither side had obtained what it wanted. So was there still any point in continuing such a war?
Naturally, there wasn't.
If there was no point, then could all sides join forces and end the war together?
What a joke.
War was like a wager. Since the gamblers had already put up so many chips in the early stages, by the later stages, their only choice was to keep raising the stakes. Only by raising the stakes could they possibly preserve everything; quitting would merely leave them ruined.
Whether it was war or gambling, the people involved had highly similar thoughts. At the beginning, their goal was certainly to profit. In the final stage, their goal was certainly to lose as little as possible.
Under such circumstances, once Squad Z had assembled its personnel, it was naturally sent to the front lines again at once. After Rindou, Jian Dong became the commander of this shinobi squad. This time, however, they did not receive their mission in advance. Everything would depend on the situation at the front.
Yuhara did not know how many squads in Konoha were similar in nature to Squad Z, but he imagined Squad Z could not be the only one. The ironic thing was that, at this point, even cannon fodder had become a scarce resource.
Still, compared to the first time he had been suddenly thrown onto the front lines, Yuhara felt much more prepared now. It was like a bride climbing into a sedan chair: the first time was unfamiliar, but the second time was easier.
Of course, aside from the matter of experience, more importantly, he had strengthened his own abilities.
During the journey from Konoha to the front lines in the Land of Rice, both Jian Dong and Tigo could tell that Yuhara seemed to be in a fairly good mood. If either of them took the initiative to ask why, Yuhara would definitely answer, "Learning enriches people and brings them happiness."
Through self-study, Yuhara had obtained the highest level of education in the shinobi world. He had also learned, for the first time, how to use hand seals to cast jutsu—namely, the legendary Transformation Jutsu, Substitution Technique, and Clone Technique.
So compared to last time, Yuhara had gained at least a little confidence. He simply did not know how many of these twenty-four people would survive the mission.
As an aside, if one put it a bit more crudely, the shinobi of the Ninja World War could genuinely say, "I'm not interested in money," and they would truly mean it. Money was meaningless if one had no life left. At least, before leaving Konoha, Yuhara had been worrying about how he could spend all his money.
After considering it from every angle, he finally decided to exchange his money for something that retained its value, took up little space, and was practical... Explosive Tags.
An Explosive Tag currently sold for 800 ryo at the official price, roughly equivalent to the cost of ten bowls of Ichiraku ramen. It was practically impossible to lose out on such a purchase. Faced with high-performance explosives that were both high-quality and cheap, who could possibly resist?
Thus, Yuhara was currently carrying one hundred Explosive Tags he had bought himself and twelve Explosive Tags issued by Konoha. He was practically a mobile arsenal... It was not that he did not want to buy more; the owner of the Ninja Tool Shop had to keep some stock on hand, after all.
"We'll take one last break. Keep your spirits up. After this, we'll be leaving the borders of the Land of Fire."
Before leaving the Land of Fire, Jian Dong ordered the shinobi to rest as usual.
They truly needed to rest properly now, because for some of them, after this break, it would be difficult to describe when they would get another one... One could say they would never have the chance to rest again, or one could say they would be resting forever from then on.
Yuhara casually laid the two rectangular iron pillars behind him across the ground, then moved a stone beneath a large tree. After that, he simply leaned back and sat there.
A light drizzle was falling from the sky.
"Yuhara, here..."
A short while later, Tigo approached Yuhara carrying a steaming metal lunch box and handed it to him.
"Thanks."
Yuhara thanked her as he accepted the lunch box.
Inside was some sort of instant noodle dish. Its flavor was actually quite ordinary, but no matter how ordinary it was, that was still ordinary in the sense that it was food. It was far better than military rations. If it was not absolutely necessary, who would want to live by eating those things?
The warm food quickly replenished the body heat Yuhara had been quietly losing in the drizzly weather, and his body soon warmed up.
The woods in the middle distance were lush and dripping green, while the mountains farther away were hazy with mist. A group of people resting in such surroundings looked, to anyone who did not know better, as if they were out having a picnic.
As Yuhara sat there, eating a mouthful of noodles from time to time, rainwater gathered in all sorts of complicated ways in the canopy behind him. Then, under the force of gravity, it fell, droplets striking a blue-gray stone half-buried in the mud and constantly producing a "tap, tap" sound.
Tap, tap, tap.
La la la, tap la, la la la, tap la~ tap...
Er... Hmm?
All right, eating also brought happiness.
But when Squad Z left the Land of Fire and once again arrived at Konoha's front-line camp in the Land of Rice, Yuhara finally understood one principle... Happiness was always temporary.
Because of the surprise attack some time ago, Konoha had been forced to replace its front-line commander with someone stronger and more capable of maintaining control. Thus, the Third Hokage sent someone who had previously been resting in Konoha back to the front lines.
That "someone" was Yuhara's old acquaintance, Orochimaru.
In fact, Minato Namikaze could have resolved Konoha's front-line problems more quickly, but he was about to become the Fourth Hokage. Therefore, he could only remain in Konoha during this period.
So Orochimaru was thrown back to the front lines. That also saved him from constantly conducting some sort of inhumane experiment in Konoha.
When Squad Z arrived at the camp, they happened to run straight into Orochimaru.
Orochimaru swept his gaze around, then fixed his eyes on Yuhara.
Yuhara was just as astonished. Where had this wild Orochimaru come from? Hadn't "A Little Story from the Dungeon" already ended? Was there actually a sequel? He could only lower his head quickly while silently reciting in his heart, Snakes have terrible eyesight. There's no reason you should be able to see me.
A shinobi beside him explained the situation of the squad to Orochimaru. The villain smiled faintly, then issued a crisp order. "Your squad's next mission is to head southwest and gather intelligence. Your main objectives are to investigate Iwagakure's movements, monitor the situation in Takigakure and stay alert for any shift toward Iwagakure, and confirm that the detour route from the Land of the Falls and the Land of Grass back to the Land of Fire remains open."
One had to admit, Orochimaru really did look the part when giving orders.
Then he continued, "However, before you begin your operation, I need to pull out one special talent. He has another mission...
"Yuhara, what an unexpected reunion."
Go to hell.
Could Yuhara say that?
No.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Yuhara slowly raised his head and forced an awkward smile.
Go to hell.
He could only say it in his heart. In fact, he could repeat it as many times as he wanted.
Before you continue