Staring down at the head that was glaring fixedly up at him, Nawaki couldn't shake the feeling of holy crap. Tens of thousands of animals he'd never seen before were stampeding through his mind—animals with camel-like heads and goat-like bodies!
"Zhou Duan!"
He had just endured the terrifying killing intent of a Jonin, and now he'd had to endure "Stargazing." Fear gave way to anger, and Nawaki could no longer hold back. He couldn't take on a Jonin, but he could at least try his luck against Zhou Duan. With that thought, he roared at him:
"You're messing with me on purpose, aren't you?!"
"Hey, don't get worked up..."
Zhou Duan had indeed meant to mess with Nawaki a little, but seeing how strongly he'd reacted made him feel a bit guilty. He quickly pulled a few bottles of purple medicine from his robes and tried to reassure Nawaki:
"That's right. I was messing with you!"
"Hmph!"
Nawaki snorted and turned away disdainfully.
"Since you've admitted you were deliberately messing with me, I'll let it go this time!"
"Enough talk. Get behind me!"
"Hmph, sure thing!"
As soon as Nawaki finished speaking, he strode behind Zhou Duan with impressive confidence. That resolute face, that humiliating behavior—everyone in the room couldn't help but twitch at the corners of their mouths!
"Okay!"
After enjoying the little spectacle, the registration ninja hadn't forgotten his actual job. He picked up the heads from the floor, took out several stacks of records, and carefully compared them. After a while, he spoke in a hoarse voice:
"We've confirmed that two of them were Chunin: Sickle Hand Akiama Shinnosuke and Swift Blade Akita Mitsunaka, both from the Sand. The remaining six were probably Genin. We don't have detailed records on them. There's no helping that; unless a Sand Genin is particularly notable, we don't record their details. There's no point keeping records on ordinary Genin. Oh, right..."
The ninja looked up at Zhou Duan.
"Didn't you say you killed three Chunin? What happened to the last one?"
"The last one died pretty horribly..."
Before Zhou Duan could answer, Nawaki jumped in.
"Our captain wrapped Senbon in Explosive Tags and shoved them up his butt. He blew up so completely there wasn't even a scrap left! That's Konoha's secret Taijutsu technique—Senbon Kill! Lord Orochimaru saw it too. That ninja died a glorious death. Ah, wait..."
Only belatedly realizing what he'd said, Nawaki eyed the record-keeping ninja warily.
"I let slip one of Konoha's secret Taijutsu techniques. You won't leak it, will you?"
"I have absolutely no interest in this so-called Konoha Taijutsu technique. I'd even like to erase it from my mind completely!"
The record-keeping ninja bared his teeth and hurriedly changed the subject.
"Right. Your team's information and battle results have been entered. You're clearly strong, but when I see Lord Orochimaru, I'll still confirm things with him. You've been assigned to the Fifth Combat Brigade, in order. The captain is a Jonin from the Inuzuka Clan, Inuzuka Jin. Here—this is the latest battlefield intelligence!"
The registration ninja's expression grew serious as he pulled a scroll from his drawer.
"It's only a summary, but you may only read it in this room. Remember, even this basic intelligence must not be revealed to the enemy!"
"Understood!"
Zhou Duan took the scroll and spread it out on the table. Water Gate, Hundred Palms, and the curious Nawaki gathered around him. The information on the scroll was brief, but it gave Zhou Duan a general picture:
"Counting Steel Rock Valley, where Zhou Duan is now, Konoha has three large forward forces. The other two are stationed at Constant Green Oasis and Quicksand Bone Land. Constant Green Oasis is an oasis that has existed in the desert for centuries without ever disappearing. Most of the trees there are a species called Tough Bone. They're incredibly sturdy, able to withstand almost any A-rank ninjutsu and even the full-force strikes of ordinary Jonin with their weapons!
"But strangely, as soon as one of these trees is cut down, the felled section becomes extremely brittle and useless. That has kept the trees from being chopped down entirely. After all, since they can withstand A-rank ninjutsu, they'd be top-grade material if someone put in the effort to cut them down!
"Quicksand Bone Land is a vast expanse of quicksand pits, with pits of all sizes scattered across dozens of miles. It's also a burial ground for Ninja Beasts. Whenever one is nearing the end of its life, it comes here to die. All kinds of sturdy Ninja Beast bones cover the area. That means if someone learns the routes and makes a map, the place would be an exceptionally secure fortress. Fortunately, Konoha stole the map of Quicksand Bone Land that the Sand had painstakingly made, then altered it. We only had time to make a few basic changes, but the Sand's original routes are practically useless now!
"Both places are strange, but easy to defend and difficult to attack. If Konoha hadn't seized these two strategic locations by force at the very beginning, the battles that followed would have been extremely difficult!
"There are more than ten thousand people at each of the three locations, over forty thousand ninjas in total. They're attacking in a semicircle. The fighting against the Sand is fierce, but we're steadily advancing. In addition, more than two thousand ninjas have pushed farther into the Land of Wind. Some have infiltrated small villages affiliated with the Sand to sabotage them, while others continually attack the Sand's supply convoys, harassing them at every turn!
"Steel Rock Valley is the most important battlefield. Not only are the numbers here greatest, but the Konoha Sannin—Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade—are here, along with one of our top fighters, Kakashi Sakumo!"
"It's clear Konoha has committed a huge force this time. We've left fewer than half our ninjas back home, and sent the rest to the battlefield!"
"We've deployed a lot of ninjas," Hundred Palms said.
"You can tell the village was short-handed, but I didn't realize we'd sent nearly everything we had!"
"The number we deployed isn't the main thing..." Zhou Duan looked at the ninja before him. "What I want to know is how many casualties we've suffered so far."
"Four thousand," the record-keeping ninja replied, his expression darkening.
"That's a high casualty rate!"
Hearing the number, even the usually cheerful Water Gate's expression turned somber.
"And this is only the early stage of the fighting. By the time the war is over, that number will at least double. One casualty for every five ninjas is a high rate!"
"Yeah, it's high. But in a war-torn world like this, fighting is unavoidable. We can only change the world if we become strong ourselves. That's the only thing we can do right now."
Zhou Duan patted Water Gate on the shoulder reassuringly, then handed the scroll back to the reviewing ninja.
"Let's not dwell on such a grim topic. Let's talk about something else. Where's the supply exchange? We have some damaged and unused ninja tools that we need to replace."
Before you continue