Arriving at the Frontline

The rain showed no signs of letting up, instead growing more violent alongside the thunder.

The smell of gunpowder in the canyon was quickly washed away by the rain, leaving only mud and a few charred corpses.

Nishikawa Tetsu crouched beside a Stone Ninja corpse, deftly untying the intact ninja tool pouch and stripping off the slightly damaged but still usable Stone Ninja tactical vest.

"Hey, Nishikawa Tetsu."

Uchiha Fugaku, watching from the side, frowned again as he saw Tetsu practically "looting" the corpse. As the young clan leader of the Uchiha Clan, he had never seen such thuggish behavior.

"Isn't the compensation Konoha gives you enough? You're even stripping clothes off the dead."

"This vest is woven from high-density fiber—it can sell for five thousand ryo on the black market. That tool pouch has three ration pills and five explosive tags, worth two thousand ryo."

Without looking back, Tetsu expertly packed the spoils into his own backpack, his tone matter-of-fact: "Senior Fugaku, war is about resources. For a civilian ninja like me with no clan backing, this is my resupply."

Uchiha Fugaku's mouth twitched. He wanted to argue but found the logic hard to refute, finally forcing out: "Do as you please."

Namikaze Minato gave an awkward smile from the side, but he didn't find Tetsu's approach wrong.

The battle just now had made him keenly aware that on a rapidly changing battlefield, anything could become the key to survival.

"Cleanup complete. No clues left about our identity, except for that crater from the explosion."

Tetsu stood up, shouldering a backpack noticeably bulkier than before, and clapped his hands: "Let's go. The smell of blood here will soon attract beasts or other patrols."

"Hmph, do I need you to give orders?"

Uchiha Fugaku snorted, turned, and leaped onto the cliff wall. Though his words remained harsh, this time he didn't charge ahead recklessly at full speed like before. Instead, he deliberately lowered his profile, maintaining a pace the other two could keep up with.

Passing through the canyon, they reached a muddy plain.

This was the border zone between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire, one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the Second Shinobi World War.

Along the way, the three saw many villages destroyed by war. Broken walls stood in the rain, with the occasional wild dog scavenging among the ruins. The air reeked of rotting corpses and charred wood.

Namikaze Minato, who had been somewhat excited earlier, gradually grew solemn and silent.

This was war—nothing but endless suffering and death.

Nishikawa Tetsu's expression remained calm. His past life's history books and documentaries had prepared him for war's cruelty, but he said nothing, silently recording the terrain data.

A few hours later.

In the dark rainy curtain ahead, rows of lights finally appeared.

It was a massive camp, surrounded by barbed wire and sensing barriers. On the tall watchtowers, searchlight beams swept back and forth through the rainy night.

Konoha's frontline headquarters.

"Who goes there!"

As they neared the camp gate, two Anbu in Konoha vests instantly appeared, their long blades crossed, blocking the way.

"Uchiha Fugaku. Under orders to escort newly promoted genin to the front lines."

Fugaku stepped forward, pulling out the summoning toad and his mission scroll from his chest, handing them over.

The Anbu checked the scroll, glanced at the toad, and relaxed their tense stances: "So it's Jonin Fugaku. Good work. Lord Jiraiya is waiting in the command tent."

The gate slowly opened.

Entering the camp, a strong smell of disinfectant hit them.

Everywhere, medical ninjas hurried about, and wounded soldiers groaned on stretchers.

Bandages, blood, severed limbs—this was a more visceral entrance to hell than the battlefield itself.

Namikaze Minato watched a ninja with no legs being carried past and unconsciously clenched his fists.

"Don't stare."

Tetsu said quietly, "You'll get used to it. Only the living have the right to pity others."

Uchiha Fugaku glanced back at them, said nothing, and led them through the wounded area to the largest tent at the camp's center.

"Come in."

Before they could announce themselves, a deep, slightly weary voice came from inside the tent.

Pushing aside the flap, a wave of warmth mixed with tobacco smoke rushed out.

The tent was spacious. In the middle sat a huge sand table covered with flags representing different factions. A tall man with long white hair and a red haori stood with his back to the entrance, staring gloomily at the Amegakure position on the sand table.

Hearing footsteps, the man turned around.

His face bore red paint, and the "Oil" character on his forehead protector gleamed under the light.

At this moment, there was none of his usual frivolity—only the authority of a commander.

One of Konoha's Sannin, Jiraiya.

"Oh? Fugaku."

Jiraiya's gaze swept over the three, finally landing on the somewhat disheveled Nishikawa Tetsu and Namikaze Minato. His eyes softened slightly. "Later than I expected. Trouble on the way?"

"Encountered a Stone Ninja ambush squad."

Uchiha Fugaku stood straight, reporting, "One Earth Release Jonin, three Chunin."

Jiraiya's hand holding the brush paused, his brow slightly furrowed: "An elite squad of Stone Ninja? Did you avoid them?"

In his view, escaping an ambush by a Stone Ninja elite squad while dragging along two freshly graduated rookies was already a stroke of luck.

"No."

Uchiha Fugaku paused, as if organizing his words, then said somewhat stiffly: "Annihilated them."

"Hm, being able to escape is—wait, what did you say?"

Jiraiya's head snapped up, eyes wide as bells, thinking he'd misheard, "Annihilated? You all?"

He knew this team's composition all too well.

Uchiha Fugaku had opened his Three Tomoe, but he was still young; Namikaze Minato and Nishikawa Tetsu were just rookies fresh out of the academy.

For this setup to encounter a Stone Ninja elite squad and not be wiped out was a miracle—and they'd turned it around and killed them instead?

"Yes."

Uchiha Fugaku took a deep breath. Though he was loath to admit it, he stepped aside and pointed at Nishikawa Tetsu behind him: "It was mainly because of this guy's tactics."

"Oh?"

Only then did Jiraiya truly take notice of the unremarkable black-haired boy standing in the corner. He remembered this kid—perfect score on the Written Exam, but average in everything else.

"Nishikawa Tetsu, right?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin with interest, "Tell me, how did you do it?"

Nishikawa Tetsu stepped forward, gave a respectful but unservile bow, and calmly uttered four words:

"Dust Explosion."

Then, in the simplest terms, he described the process of using the terrain, a sealed space, a mixture of flour and aluminum powder, and an Explosive Tag to create that explosion.

As Nishikawa Tetsu spoke, Jiraiya's expression shifted from surprise to astonishment, finally settling into an indescribable oddness.

He turned to look at Uchiha Fugaku, as if seeking confirmation: "Really?"

Uchiha Fugaku nodded with a dark face: "That Stone Ninja Jonin died a miserable death."

"Hahaha!"

After a brief silence, Jiraiya burst into hearty laughter, slapping Nishikawa Tetsu's thin shoulder so hard he nearly knocked him to the ground.

"Interesting! Too interesting! Using bread flour to blow up a Stone Ninja Jonin? If that old stubborn Ōnoki finds out, he'll probably break his back from rage!"

The weariness in Jiraiya's eyes seemed to fade somewhat. He looked at the three youths before him, a glimmer of hope shining in his gaze.

"Uchiha's Dojutsu, a Civilian Genius, and one more..." Jiraiya paused, looking at Nishikawa Tetsu, "A Science-minded Brain."

"Looks like this Team Five of mine might just bring a bit of surprise to this dreary battlefield."

Jiraiya put away his smile and said seriously: "Welcome to the battlefield, Konoha's Eaglets. Go rest. Starting tomorrow... special training."