As night fell, the squad didn't press on blindly. Torifu Akimichi decided they would stop and rest.
For this mission, they had to stay in fighting shape and conserve their strength, so they needed to rest when they could.
Torifu found a spot on higher ground, then dug a small shelter beneath a large tree. He quickly dealt with the loose earth outside, concealing the entrance.
Once inside, he cleverly set up vents through the trunk and canopy. Then he reached beneath the raincoat on his back and pulled out a huge bundle of firewood.
The other three stared, their eyes twitching. Setting aside where he'd even hidden it, was it really necessary to carry a bundle of firewood on such an important mission?
The answer was yes.
The Konoha squad could rest in a relatively clean place. They could even build a fire to ward off the damp chill.
In the Land of Rain, the sound of rain was always ringing in people's ears.
A campfire blazed inside the shelter. Yuzuru took off his raincoat and jacket, then dried himself and his clothes by the fire. Compared to the damp, chilly conditions outside, the comfort of being warm and dry was enough to make him drowsy.
There was little room for fussing on a battlefield. The two kunoichi also sat around the fire, but since they didn't know each other well, everyone quietly warmed themselves without saying much.
Once the cold and damp had mostly left their bodies, Torifu took out some dried meat and passed it around.
"Have something to replenish your strength. We'll take turns keeping watch. Yuzuru, you're first."
"Thank you, Captain."
Yuzuru took the food from his captain. Compared to field rations or Soldier Pills, dried meat was undoubtedly much tastier.
After handing out the meat, Torifu pulled a mess tin from behind him and made a pot of steaming, haphazard soup.
He gave everyone a bowl.
It was clear that the captain wasn't just good at killing. He also loved life and cared about its little comforts.
After a bowl of hot soup, Yuzuru felt his strength quickly returning, and his exhaustion fading away... The captain was actually looking after him, a mere Genin. He didn't seem like an ordinary ninja.
Once they had replenished their strength, the squad began resting. Yuzuru took the first watch. Several hours later, he woke Hazuki Uchiha for her turn, then went to sleep himself.
But at dawn, the captain, who had taken the last watch, quietly woke everyone.
"Listen carefully. Can you hear it?"
The rain had eased in the early morning, so when everyone listened closely, they could just make out another sound.
"Sounds like someone's fighting in the distance."
"There are quite a few of them. At least a medium-sized engagement."
"Should we go take a look?"
"Hold on." Torifu stopped their discussion. After listening carefully for a while, he made his decision. "Wait here. I'll go check it out."
With that, he put on his raincoat and silently disappeared into the morning rain. He returned just fifteen minutes later.
Seeing that everyone was ready for a fight, he said, "Don't make a sound. Stay hidden. We'll circle around the edge."
Once they had quietly left the shelter and put some distance between themselves and the battlefield, Torifu pointed toward it. Only then did the others notice a vast, ominously dark shadow hanging over the woods.
It wasn't the night clinging to the world before dawn. It was poison gas released by the two sides fighting.
The gas remained undispersed even in the heavy rain. It was clearly no ordinary poison. Even from a distance, it seemed extremely dangerous and deadly.
"If nothing unexpected happened, Sunagakure and Amegakure are fighting. We just need to keep our distance. Their battle has nothing to do with our mission."
Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the battlefield, Torifu briefly explained what he had seen.
In a fight between ninjas, you used whatever technique killed most efficiently. Compared to close-quarters combat, poison was an essential tool for anyone traveling from home.
Yuzuru thought, All I want is to make it off the battlefield alive, but this looks like it'll be pretty difficult... That poison gas just now could've killed me with one breath.
Since they had nearly been caught up in the battle, Torifu changed their route as they continued. The Konoha squad crossed the border and traveled along the Land of Grass side, lowering their chances of encountering enemies.
However, when the squad crossed back into the northwestern part of the Land of Rain, the battlefield grew far more complex and dangerous... This was where Iwagakure and Amegakure were fighting. For Konoha Ninja, danger lurked everywhere.
Before continuing, the Konoha squad stopped once more. Only then did Torifu unfold a map and show everyone the marked locations.
"We had three main observation posts in this area. The nearest one is here." As he spoke, Torifu pointed to a spot on the map.
"We're going to check on it now. Be ready for a fight at any moment. Our people have been out of contact for too long, and I have a bad feeling."
The three nodded. After so long without a message, they had more or less accepted that their comrades were dead. Going there now was only to confirm the situation... To put it bluntly, they were going to see the bodies with their own eyes.
The squad stayed on high alert as they entered the Land of Rain again and cautiously approached a Konoha observation post.
The post was hidden inside a large tree and so well disguised that it couldn't be spotted with the naked eye. Under normal circumstances, it would also have a barrier to conceal and screen it, but now the barrier was gone.
Once they were close, Torifu imitated a certain birdcall to send the signal, but got no response.
He glanced at Kairi Omori. She had already finished forming hand seals. A small foxlike animal darted from her sleeve and climbed up the tree where the post was located.
There were no enemies inside the post, but Kairi's expression still darkened.
With no danger in sight, the Konoha squad entered the post. Inside, they found the dead Konoha ninjas.
"They've been dead for over a week. We're too late." Torifu reached that conclusion with just one glance.
Yuzuru covered his nose and mouth, trying to keep the stench of decay out.
"Why are there no signs of a fight? It looks like the ninjas here died without making a sound," Hazuki Uchiha asked.
"Could someone have slipped into the post unnoticed?" Kairi asked.
"No, there's a Hyuga ninja here. Could anyone have evaded the Byakugan?"
The corpse of a Hyuga ninja lay before them. He was a branch-family member, and the Byakugan in his eye sockets had been destroyed. The Caged Bird seal on his forehead had vanished after activating.
Torifu now suspected that a spy had exposed the location of the post. The deaths of the ninjas here were indeed strange.
Torifu paced around the post, seemingly calculating something. Once he had finished, he reached out and felt along the tree trunk, then opened a hidden compartment.
Inside was a scroll containing intelligence.
After reading it through once, Torifu immediately looked surprised.
Meanwhile, Kairi was examining the last Konoha ninja's body. Suddenly, the body, which had been leaning in the corner of the post, slid to one side, revealing something hidden behind it.
A sizzling fuse sounded.
It was...
A stack of Exploding Tags.
Before you continue