Eighteen: Close Friends

"Hyuga Hyakusho, it's just that my father wanted me to master the Hyuga clan's powerful techniques—the Eight Trigrams—one hundred and twenty-eight palms, within my lifetime!"

Hyakusho stared at Zhou Duan, his face completely darkened. He thought, if it weren't for the strange potion in Zhou Duan's hand, he would have already gone to fight him to the death.

"Captain, I hope you won't play such jokes anymore!"

"Since everyone has stated their abilities, I'll start by simply assigning tasks!"

Zhou Duan acted as if he hadn't heard Hyakusho at all and continued with the mission assignment. Hyakusho, unwilling to accept this, considered his own strength and the potency of Zhou Duan's potion. He suddenly felt that in the face of important mission assignments, he shouldn't be concerned with other things. Minor matters like making fun of names should just be let go!

"For our formation during the operation, we'll maintain the standard squad formation. I'll be in the first position, Hyakusho, you'll be behind and to my right, watching for danger on the right flank. Activate your Byakugan every three minutes to avoid wasting unnecessary Chakra. If any unexpected situation arises, alert us while keeping your Byakugan active;

Nawaki, you'll be behind and to my left, watching for danger on the left;

Minato, you'll be at the rear of the formation, always watching for attacks from behind.

If we encounter enemies, Hyakusho and Nawaki, your main role will be to tie them down. Minato and I will try to resolve the enemies as quickly as possible and return to help you. Don't push yourselves, and..."

Zhou Duan held the potion bottle and stared intently at Nawaki, the threat implicit and obvious:

"Especially you, Nawaki, during combat, you can only use Earth Release without my command. You can't even use Water Release, and only D-rank ninjutsu. Don't give me that sulky look. A ninja with the powerful potential for dual affinities, and yet only Genin strength—the Sand Ninja who want to target you are surely numerous!

If you had the strength of your elders from the Senju Clan on the battlefield, I wouldn't say anything. But your combat experience is negative. If you expose yourself, you'll be the first to die!"

After Zhou Duan finished speaking, Namikaze Minato and Hyuga Hyakusho both nodded, having no objections to the assignments. As for Nawaki, although unwilling, he reluctantly nodded under the threat of Zhou Duan's potion bottle.

"Report, Hatake Shudan leading the Fifth Squad to rendezvous!"

In the towering forest, a man-made path appeared before Zhou Duan and his group. Over a dozen horse-drawn carts carrying supplies were neatly lined up. The drivers were of various heights and builds, but each was a fierce-looking, grim individual. These men were either bandits or prisoners from other ninja villages, their meridians crippled, making them unable to cultivate Chakra, and they were sent here to transport supplies. The reason they willingly drove the carts was Konohagakure's promise—though the hope was slim, if they could survive delivering supplies twenty times, they would be granted freedom!

Around these men were over twenty ninjas, but they were almost all newly graduated Genin, with only a few older Chunin among them. A thin ninja with cold eyes stood on a supply cart, staring intently at Zhou Duan's group from the moment they appeared.

"Password!"

"Carry the snake!"

"Did you bring the goods?"

Zhou Duan nodded, took out a semi-circular wooden block with a sealing symbol from his pocket, and threw it to the other person. The thin ninja caught the block and fitted it with another one he held. The two pieces joined perfectly, immediately igniting, burning both blocks to ashes in an instant!

"Identity confirmed, confirmed as Fifth Squad!"

The thin ninja's gaze softened, and his tone was no longer cold. The others also relaxed slightly. Although they were within Konohagakure's territory, there was no guarantee against infiltrating ninjas causing trouble. It wasn't uncommon for them to target supplies if they couldn't defeat Konoha ninjas!

"I am Karui, the captain of the Sixth Supply Team, and the only Jonin. Our team has five squads. Four Chunin will each lead a squad, and you'll lead one. We are expected to reach the buffer zone between Konoha and the Land of Wind in six days, at one of our supply outposts—the Bee Village. Upon reaching there, our escort mission will be completed, and the next step will be to face the battlefield directly!"

"As for patrol assignments, two squads will be dispatched at a time to patrol in a circular area, while the rest will guard the supplies!"

Karui paused. "Zhou Duan, due to personnel issues, although your squad doesn't have a Chunin leading it, your patrol time will be completed. When the other Chunin are teaching, you can listen, and you can ask questions freely. As long as it's not overly classified information, they will teach you!"

As Karui finished speaking, the four Chunin in the group nodded simultaneously. The Genin present here were all of good aptitude. Explaining some basic knowledge wouldn't harm them in any way, and it would help them grow quickly, providing more assistance.

"Alright, since everyone is here!"

With Zhou Duan's squad reporting, the team was complete. Karui wasted no further words.

"Let's depart now!"

"Mmmph ¥ hmm @ woo * "

"Eight Trigrams Gentle Fist!"

"Bang!"

"Hmm * mmm & hmph hmm % "

"Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms!"

"Bang!"

Accompanied by muffled, unintelligible groans, Hyuga Hyakusho's low shouts, and the dull thuds of flesh meeting flesh, Senju Nawaki was repeatedly sent flying by Hyuga Hyakusho. Nawaki was now bruised and battered, his clothes in tatters, looking as if he had been mauled by wolves for days and nights. Seeing Nawaki collapse to the ground once again, gasping for breath like a dying dog, Zhou Duan silently got off the supply cart, pried open Nawaki's mouth, and poured a bottle of red potion into him. Nawaki's injuries clearly began to heal, only for him to be immediately knocked down again by Hyuga Hyakusho, who had been waiting.

Even the Jonin, accustomed to life-and-death battles, and the prisoners, who had endured torment, looked on in astonishment at this level of cruelty. They had seen ruthless people, but few were so harsh on their own comrades!

"Zhou Duan, you've been tormenting Nawaki like this for five days..."

Namikaze Minato, sitting on the cart, spoke with a hint of worry and exasperation, a departure from his usual calm demeanor.

"Won't this cause any problems?"

"Problems? What problems could there be?"

Zhou Duan looked bewildered. "I'm improving Nawaki's combat power in the most effective way within a limited time!"

Zhou Duan pointed at Nawaki, who was being beaten in the open space, and explained to Minato. "This idiot Nawaki can use advanced ninjutsu, but his fundamentals are too abysmal. Despite having high potential, he can't even defeat a mid-level Genin. Enemies won't give him the chance to unleash his full power. Therefore, to train Nawaki's fundamentals, I have to beat him like this!

Fortunately, we have Hyakusho from the Hyuga clan in our squad. He can seal Nawaki's meridians, preventing him from gathering large amounts of Chakra and stopping him from impulsively using advanced ninjutsu. My potion itself can stimulate the recovery of Nawaki's unusually resilient body!

You've seen how Nawaki has been beaten for five days. His hand seal speed, evasion techniques, defense, and offense have all significantly improved! You have to admit, in this regard, the Chunin in our squad aren't as strong as me, and even the Jonin Karui hasn't questioned my training methods!"

Following the Chunin to learn experience, Zhou Duan initially held onto a sliver of hope for learning. However, he quickly realized that these Chunin knew less than he did!

Since arriving in this world, he had been madly studying all sorts of ninja knowledge. For a long time, he had continuously debated battlefield knowledge with Hatake Sakumo. Due to the war, the Leaf Village's school teaching was also very cramming-oriented—however much you can learn, that's how much I'll teach you!

This led to Zhou Duan watching with high expectations as several Chunin taught Genin during breaks in material transport. Half a day later, Zhou Duan, having learned no new things or techniques, dejectedly pulled Minato, who was equally disappointed, away!

Zhou Duan's words forced Minato to nod, but what he clearly wanted to ask was not this:

"I understand all of that, but I'm worried about Nawaki's mental state. Constantly facing setbacks will lead to complaints and could affect team unity!"

"Minato, it seems you still lack some understanding of creatures like Nawaki!"

Zhou Duan patted Minato's shoulder and took out the antidote for the silencing medicine he had force-fed Nawaki due to his chuunibyo-level roars when getting beaten. He poured it into Nawaki's mouth, who had once again been beaten to the ground by Hyuga Hyakusho:

"Nawaki, the path to becoming strong is arduous. To become a Hokage admired by all, are you willing to continue enduring this pain?"

Excluding patrol time, Nawaki had been beaten so severely for five consecutive days that he could barely take care of himself, his head battered like a dog's. His eyes were filled with burning fighting spirit, but looking at Zhou Duan, he showed no anger whatsoever:

"Zhou Duan, you and Hyakusho are my best friends!"

Zhou Duan turned to look at Minato, the meaning in his eyes self-evident:

"There's no need to worry about any of that, because he's simply an idiot!"