Shadow of a Cup's Reflection

Squad Z finally completed its personnel replenishment once again.

In fact, the replenishment speed of such an abnormal team could indirectly prove that Konoha was facing a severe shortage of troops at this time.

Or, to put it another way, by the late stage of the Ninja World War, every ninja village was facing pressure in this regard. The Five Great Nations were gritting their teeth and trying to squeeze out their last war potential, truly "eating grass and milking themselves dry."

Fighting to this point, neither side had achieved what they wanted, so was there any point in continuing such a war?

Naturally, there wasn't.

Since there was no point, could all parties unite and end the war together?

What a joke.

War is like a gamble. Since the gamblers had already put so many chips on the table in the early stages, their only choice in the later stages was to keep raising the stakes. Only by raising the stakes could they possibly save everything; withdrawing would only result in total loss.

Whether it's war or gambling, the participants' thoughts are highly consistent. The initial goal is profit, and the final goal is to lose less.

In this situation, after completing its personnel assembly, Squad Z was naturally immediately sent to the front lines again. Following Rindou, Jian Dong became the commander of this ninja squad. However, this time they did not receive their mission in advance; everything would depend on the front-line situation.

Yuhara didn't know how many teams similar to Squad Z there were in Konoha, but he thought that Squad Z would at least not be the only one. Ironically, even cannon fodder had become a scarce resource by this time.

However, compared to being suddenly thrown to the front lines for the first time, Yuhara was much more confident this time. It was like a young lady going to get married for the first time; the second time would be much more familiar.

Of course, besides the experience, the more important thing was that he had strengthened his own strength.

On the way from Konoha to the front lines in the Land of Rice, both Jian Dong and Tigo could see that Yuhara seemed to be in a good mood. If they had asked Yuhara the reason, he would have surely replied – learning makes one fulfilled and brings happiness.

Yuhara had obtained the highest academic qualification in the ninja world through self-study, and for the first time, he learned ninjutsu that was released through hand seals, namely the legendary Transformation Jutsu, Substitution Technique, and Clone Jutsu.

So, compared to last time, Yuhara had some confidence this time. He just didn't know how many of these twenty-four people would survive the mission.

To speak off-topic, in the Ninja World War, ninjas could truly say "I'm not interested in money," and they were truly not interested. Having money but no life was meaningless. At least before Yuhara left Konoha, he was worried about how to spend all his money.

After much thought, he finally decided to exchange his money for something that would hold its value, didn't take up space, and was practical... Explosive Tags.

The official price of one Explosive Tag was currently 800 Ryo, which was roughly equivalent to the price of 10 bowls of Ichiraku Ramen. It could be said that you couldn't lose money or be fooled. Faced with high-quality, low-priced, high-performance explosives, who wouldn't be tempted?

Therefore, Yuhara was now carrying 100 self-purchased Explosive Tags and 12 Explosive Tags issued by Konoha, essentially a mobile arsenal... It wasn't that he didn't want to buy more, but the ninja tool shop owner had to keep some inventory.

"One last rest, keep your spirits up. We'll be leaving the Land of Fire's borders next."

Before leaving the Land of Fire, Jian Dong ordered the ninjas to rest as usual.

They really needed to rest now, because for some people, after this rest, the next rest would be hard to describe... One could say they would never have the chance to rest again, or one could say they would rest forever from now on.

Yuhara casually laid down the two rectangular iron pillars behind him, then moved a rock and placed it under a large tree. He then leaned against it.

A light drizzle was falling from the sky.

"Yuhara, here..."

A moment later, Tigo came over to Yuhara with a steaming iron lunchbox and handed it to him.

"Thanks."

Yuhara thanked her as he took the lunchbox.

The lunchbox contained some kind of instant noodle dish. Its taste was actually very ordinary, but even ordinary was ordinary in terms of food. This was much better than military ration pills. If it weren't for circumstances beyond their control, who would want to live on that stuff?

The warm food quickly replenished the body heat Yuhara was losing in the drizzly weather, and his body immediately warmed up.

The trees in the middle ground were lush green, and the distant mountains were shrouded in mist. A group of people resting in such an environment might be mistaken for a picnic.

Yuhara sat there, eating a mouthful of noodles from time to time. The rain gathered in various complex ways in the tree canopy behind him, and under the force of gravity, it dripped down, each drop hitting a bluestone half-buried in the mud, constantly making a "drip, drip" sound.

Drip, drip, drip.

La la la, drip la, la la la, drip la~drip...

Uh... Hmm?

Okay, eating also brings happiness.

But when Squad Z left the Land of Fire and arrived at Konoha's forward camp in the Land of Rice, Yuhara finally understood a truth... Happiness is always temporary.

Because of the previous surprise attack, Konoha had to replace the front-line commander with someone stronger and with better control. Thus, the Third Hokage sent someone who had been resting in Konoha back to the front lines.

This "someone" was Yuhara's old acquaintance, Orochimaru.

In fact, Minato Namikaze could have resolved Konoha's front-line issues faster, but he was about to become the Fourth Hokage, so he could only stay in Konoha during this period.

Therefore, Orochimaru was sent back to the front lines, which also saved him from conducting his anti-human experiments in Konoha.

When Squad Z arrived at the camp, they ran right into Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's gaze swept around, and then it fixed on Yuhara.

Yuhara was equally surprised. Where did this wild Orochimaru come from? Wasn't "Dungeon Stories" over? Was there a sequel? He could only quickly lower his head, silently chanting in his heart, "Snakes have poor eyesight, you have no reason to see me."

A ninja beside him explained the situation of this team to Orochimaru. The villain then smiled slightly and crisply ordered, "Your squad's next mission is to conduct intelligence gathering in the southwest direction, mainly to investigate Iwagakure's movements, monitor the situation in Takigakure, be vigilant about their leaning towards Iwagakure, and at the same time confirm that the detour route from the Land of Falls and the Land of Grass back to the Land of Fire remains unobstructed."

Not bad, Orochimaru's command was quite impressive.

Then, he continued, "However, before you act, I need to pull out a special talent. He has another mission...

Yuhara, what an unexpected reunion."

Go die.

Could Yuhara say that?

No.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Yuhara slowly raised his head, revealing an awkward smile.

Go die.

He could only say that in his heart, he could even say it as many times as he wanted.