One Year Later

Winter turned to spring, and late summer bled into early autumn. In the blink of an eye, a year had passed. This past year, the Third Great Ninja War had raged fiercely. On the western front at Kikyo Mountain, thanks to Orochimaru's skillful command, the battle line had been held steadily.

The Sand Ninja's fierce assault yielded no results, and the Daimyo behind them once again cut funding. Enraged, the Chiyo Siblings' anger boiled over, and they led their troops to plunder the Land of Rain, their allies from the Second Great Ninja War.

The Demigod Hanzo no longer possessed the ferocity of the Second Great Ninja War. He only wished to defend the Land of Rain and thus deployed his forces within its borders.

As a result, the Land of Earth followed suit. Under the leadership of Tsuchiemon, a trusted subordinate of the Tsuchikage, they launched another raid on the Land of Rain from the northern front. Hanzo, close to tears, had no choice but to send someone with a humbled plea to the Land of Fire for aid.

Because of this, the battle line gradually shifted northward. The Land of Rain inexplicably became the battlefield for three great nations.

Jiraiya's position as commander of the northern front was replaced by the perpetually frowning Mitokado Homura, due to Jiraiya's own boastfulness.

Jiraiya went towards the Land of Earth, acting as a bodyguard for the Anbu captain, Mitarai Zixiao.

The Cloud Ninja from the Land of Lightning had completely settled in the Land of Rivers and showed no signs of leaving.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had no good solutions. He consulted with the Hyuga family and decided to send their close-combat specialists to deal with those muscle-bound brutes.

Currently, the defenses on the Land of Lightning's side were exclusively manned by Hyuga clansmen. Of course, there were still plenty of civilian cannon fodder, such as Bing San's classmates.

The Land of Water was surprisingly calm, as if it didn't want to play with everyone else. It remained isolated, and no one knew what it was doing.

The Third Mizukage, that blind man who always kept his eyes closed, was also up to something mysterious.

"I'm saying, can you guys stop making such a racket every single day? You've been noisy for over a year, can't you move somewhere else?"

Bing San was getting a headache from the constant bickering of the logistics Jonin, to the point he was starting to talk nonsense. If they weren't going to hold meetings in the command tent, were they supposed to go to the Hokage's office?

Orochimaru was outside directing the battle, leaving Sergeant Third Class and Shin'nosuke Sarutobi behind.

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi had now become the administrator responsible for material distribution, his job being to argue every day.

The Jonin nodded at Bing San and continued their discussion.

Bing San, with a look of utter despair, left the command tent to cool off at the nearby medical camp.

As Bing San entered the medical camp, many ninjas nodded and greeted him.

Ever since the last rearguard action where he revealed his Ice Release abilities, Bing San hadn't returned to the battlefield. He had been helping in the medical camp to treat the wounded.

He could hear shouts of "Ow, ow, ow, easy there!" from all over the camp.

Looking around, the wounded stretched out in an unbroken line, estimated to be around a thousand in number.

Originally, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others had estimated that the Sand Ninja would attack at most three or four times before retreating.

However, they hadn't expected the Chiyo Siblings to go mad and turn on the Daimyo, completely letting loose.

They had mobilized almost all the ninjas of Sunagakure, plundering wherever they went when they ran out of supplies.

This had disgusted many, to the point of questioning if they had ever seen an army that plundered its own country.

To boost morale, they had even declared that whoever could break Konoha's defensive perimeter would become the next Kazekage.

This also officially announced the death of the Third Kazekage, Ryunosuke, to the ninja world.

Even Bunpuku, the stubborn monk, had been "forced" to the front lines. If this obstinate monk hadn't been slacking off, the situation would have been far more dire.

While Bing San was busy making ice to cool things down, Nara Shikaku found him.

Bing San was a bit surprised. He was just a tool and a mascot, why would anyone need him?

Bing San looked at Shikaku with a Danzo-like expression and said, "Speak. What do you need me for?"

Shikaku slapped his own forehead and said, "Can you stop making that deadpan face? Your small eyes and hooked nose already make you look creepy enough. If you keep frowning, people will think I owe you money."

Bing San was speechless. Actually, Bing San wasn't that bad-looking. Perhaps it was because he was still young and hadn't fully developed, but Bing San had small eyes, a V-shaped face, a hooked nose, thin lips, pale skin, and long silver hair.

He looked like he had the Second Hokage's facial structure and Danzo's features, but he was much cuter than Danzo. He was just short, under 1.6 meters.

Bing San twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "Stop with the nonsense. You're the last person who likes trouble, so you wouldn't be here just to chat."

Shikaku removed his hand from his face and said, "It's not me looking for you, it's someone else. Your senior disciple, Minato Namikaze, has arrived. He brought something from your old man and said he wanted to give it to you personally. Also, quite a few classmates want to find you, the 'legendary commander,' to have some fun."

Bing San tilted his head and said, "Seriously, why not just give it to my clone? And why have that effeminate Minato Namikaze deliver it? I really don't want to see him."

For some reason, our little sunbeam Minato Namikaze and Bing San didn't get along. Perhaps it was the fated enmity between snakes and toads.

Orochimaru had officially taken Bing San as his disciple. Currently, Bing San's summoning beast was Ryūchi Cave's Purple Flame, a purple, fire-attribute poisonous snake.

The first time Bing San summoned Manda, Manda was incredibly arrogant. In response, Bing San simply pulled out a golden meal (expired), and Manda was almost moved to tears by hunger. After eating it, Manda never responded to Bing San's summons again. However, Orochimaru had summoned it a few times, and it was perfectly fine.

"Let's go, let's see what it is," Bing San said, walking out first.

Shikaku followed. It had to be said, the Nara family's genes were excellent. Nara Shikaku was handsome and had a great physique, looking like a protagonist from any angle.

They arrived at a small camp area on the west side of the main camp. Before even entering, they could hear strange noises from inside.

Bing San poked his head in, his face covered in black lines. Two green-skinned watermelon heads were carrying things while standing on their heads, making incomprehensible noises as they walked.

Behind them, the one with a toothpick in his mouth and a look of utter despair was Shiranui Genma, along with his former "subordinate," Namiashi Raidō.

Seeing them, Bing San covered his face and pretended not to know them. However, Namiashi Raidō shouted loudly, "Boss Bing San! Boss Bing San! We're here!"

Everyone around looked towards Shimura Bing San with a whoosh, after all, there was only one person with such a strange and particularly famous name.

Bing San felt his face burning. Following these two green-skinned brats had been tough on them.

After a few pleasantries, the group continued inside. Turning a corner, they saw Kakashi with a smug look on his face, Rin with an auntie-like smile, and Obito lying on the ground – best to ignore him.

Obito jumped up from the ground and pointed at Kakashi, shouting, "Smug Kakashi, you've got no honor!"

Then, seeing Bing San approach, he waved his hand foolishly at Bing San again. He completely forgot he was covered in dirt and still rubbed against others.

Bing San shook his head. This? The future big boss? Can you believe it?

The little sun, Minato Namikaze, looked at Bing San kindly and said, "Junior Brother Bing San, this is something Lord Danzo gave you." He then handed Bing San a short sword.

Bing San examined it closely. The hilt was inscribed with "Peerless of the West." It turned out to be one of Tachibana Muneshige's short swords.

The blade was about fifty centimeters long, gleaming brightly. The hilt was covered in circles of inscribed spells, clearly indicating it was no ordinary item.

It seems old Danzo made some backroom deals with Sarutobi Hiruzen after he went back. Otherwise, there's no way he'd get his hands on one of Tachibana Muneshige's swords.

Bing San held the sword and swung it a few times, feeling a warm sensation from the hilt.