Turning Point

The inexplicable tense standoff and the inexplicable return to normal were common occurrences during wartime. After the battle against the AB Brothers, Minato Namikaze soon returned to Konoha.

The news that he had become the Fourth Hokage reached the front lines soon afterward.

This sent Konoha's morale soaring. Most Konoha Ninja even felt a sense of shared glory... The First and Second Hokage had come from the Senju, while the Third had come from the Sarutobi, but the Fourth Hokage had been born a commoner.

On one hand, because Minato Namikaze's talent, ability, and combat strength were so outstanding, the ninja born into the clans instinctively considered themselves "geniuses" just like him. On the other hand, he truly came from an ordinary background, so Minato Namikaze was "one of us" to everyone.

As far as succeeding the position of Hokage went, Minato Namikaze received an absurdly high level of support.

Of course, it was impossible for everyone to support him, but the vast majority truly did.

Having repeatedly carried out dangerous missions and turned the tide of battle several times, Minato Namikaze symbolized "hope" in Konoha. Leadership, charisma, strength, personality, achievements and accomplishments—there had never been anyone more suited to become the Fourth Hokage.

During wartime, the Hokage succession ceremony was kept simple, and the ninja at the front lines could not possibly see what was happening in Konoha. Even so, the news that Minato Namikaze had become Hokage greatly boosted the morale of the front lines.

However, such a major event had basically nothing to do with Yuhara. Konoha and the Hokage were too far away from him, and during this period, he had been idling around in Konoha's camp in the Land of Rice.

When it came to things he was not interested in, Orochimaru had always summoned them when needed and cast them aside when done. Clearly, Orochimaru had never taken Magnet Release seriously, so after obtaining the Second Hokage's corpse, he put Yuhara aside as well.

During this time, Yuhara did manage to learn Shadow Clone Jutsu. This B-rank Ninjutsu took him a whole week to master... That speed could not be considered fast, but neither was it slow. It could not compare to a genius, but it was already far shorter than the average time.

As for Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu, Yuhara had not learned it yet, because Squad Z had returned to camp at that point. That meant he had finally found his organization again... For the time being, though, whether Yuhara learned Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu or not did not matter. He had no way to use a technique that would instantly drain all his mana on the battlefield anyway.

In fact, as soon as his mana fell below 80%, he began to feel insecure. Once it fell below 30%, he would start to panic...

The reconnaissance mission toward Iwagakure had cost Squad Z five members. In return, those who survived had brought Konoha a large amount of valuable intelligence.

Fortunately, Jian Dong and Tigo were both still alive.

Perhaps because reinforcements would become increasingly difficult to obtain in the future, making it hard to maintain the full twenty-four-member squad, Squad Z was split up after returning to camp. One group retained a twelve-member strength, while the rest were assigned to other similar teams.

Yuhara naturally ended up in the twelve-member group because he was in perfect condition and could participate in the next operation at any time... The others had been selected according to the same standard.

That was right. Yuhara had previously been a hundred-percent cannon fodder, but now he could be considered a combatant.

Although Yuhara was still figuring out his combat style, his personality had already basically revealed itself... He generally disliked flashy nonsense and was completely inclined toward things that were practical and useful.

Compared to a lightsaber, he preferred The Holy Sword of Physics.

Compared to all kinds of messy techniques, he preferred solving problems with one swing of a hammer.

Compared to energy weapons, he preferred Kinetic Weapons.

Compared to an energy cannon, of course he preferred a Railgun...

In short, Yuhara preferred techniques with more obvious physical effects, and firmly believed that the more physical something was, the more "truthful" it was.

From this, it was clear that he was a rather pure person.

Unfortunately, Yuhara had no chance to coordinate with his teammates. Just three days after Squad Z returned, they received a new mission.

"Ever since Amegakure's civil unrest several years ago, the Land of Rain has gradually become more isolated, and obtaining intelligence has grown increasingly difficult. The war has continued for several years. At a time when the major nations are gradually growing exhausted, it is especially important to determine Amegakure's current situation. This is to prevent any sudden accidents... Since we have already figured out the situations in the Land of the Falls and the Land of Grass, our next reconnaissance target will naturally be the Land of Rain."

In a corner of the camp, Jian Dong explained the new mission to the members of the team.

According to Yuhara's original thinking, since the team had been reduced in size, the difficulty of their missions should have been reduced accordingly. However, the actual situation was precisely the opposite... The mission had become even more "suicidal."

Could the Land of Rain really compare with the Land of Grass or the Land of the Falls? The Land of the Falls had once been "glorious in its ancestors' time," while the Land of Grass had always been a minor presence. But what about the Land of Rain? Amegakure's Hanzo of the Salamander was powerful enough to fight the Fire, Earth, and Wind nations simultaneously, and Amegakure was by no means an ordinary small ninja village.

At the peak of his power, Hanzo had possessed the magnanimity to spare the young Three Legendary Sannin. That was also the origin of the title Three Legendary Sannin. But did he still have such magnanimity now? People changed. As for the change in Hanzo, all that could be said was that he had grown increasingly rotten.

The so-called Amegakure's civil unrest should have been Hanzo's attempt to wipe out the former "Akatsuki." Akatsuki's ideology had spread rapidly throughout the Land of Rain, the Land of the Fourth War, and they had threatened Hanzo's position.

Closed-off, hostile to outsiders, and exceptionally dangerous—that was the Land of Rain now.

"Ninja have no right to choose their missions..."

Yuhara was beginning to understand that sentence more and more.

It meant that if they told you to go die, you had to go die. Since Konoha had a new Hokage, why not have you die to celebrate? It was not quite that vicious, but it was basically the same.

After receiving the specialized rainproof cloaks, the team began its reconnaissance mission in the Land of Rain.

The route before entering the Land of Rain was safe because the team would first head south into the Land of Fire, then turn east, and enter the Land of Rain from the Land of Fire.

As soon as the team set foot in the Land of Rain, heavy rain began falling from the sky.

Although Yuhara liked rainy days very much, that was limited to sitting quietly at home and admiring the rain outside the window. It absolutely did not include lurking in an unfamiliar jungle during a damp, cold winter.

Less than half an hour after entering the Land of Rain, Yuhara felt that there was not a single dry spot left on his body. His clothes, layer after layer, clung tightly to his skin, making him feel both irritated and suffocated.

Even snow would have been far better than heavy rain.

In weather like this, Yuhara had no idea why, but he always felt that something was about to happen...

A Little Story After the Rain.