The Land of Lightning lay in the north of the continent, tucked away in a remote corner.
In truth, aside from the Land of Fire, which had the most fertile soil, the other four of the Five Great Nations had all drawn the short straw.
There was no need to say much about the Land of Lightning. Its steep terrain meant that even its homes were built halfway up the mountains.
Every day, people feared that one wrong turn in bed would send them rolling down the mountain (an exaggeration, of course). Who in their right mind wanted to sleep halfway up a mountain?
This harsh environment made everyone in the Land of Lightning martial-minded—if they didn't get creative, they couldn't make a living. After all, they could use training as an excuse to ignore how awful the place was.
But honestly, didn't the Land of Lightning want to live as comfortably as Konoha, in the heart of the continent, with good food and a good night's sleep?
Of course they did.
Unfortunately, Senju Hashirama was around, so they didn't dare make a move.
Later, after making inquiries in several directions, they got a lead.
The damn God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, that absurdly powerful ninja from Konoha, seemed—perhaps, maybe, possibly—to have died...
They had no definite information, so they continued investigating.
Then they uncovered all sorts of clues.
For example, business at the Konoha casino had been slow lately because a certain big spender hadn't shown up.
Senju Hashirama's Transformation Technique certainly wouldn't be exposed, but there was no faking the casino's business.
Not to mention that some of the gambling dens were run by spies from other countries.
That wasn't enough. Maybe it was just a normal fluctuation?
Then the child from Senju Hashirama's household moved out.
Well, Yuya was already eleven. He wasn't a child anymore.
That still wasn't enough to draw a conclusion, so they kept watching.
Then they noticed that Senju Tobirama wasn't visiting Senju Hashirama's residence much anymore. (After all, only his sister-in-law lived there. To avoid suspicion, he couldn't just barge in like he used to.)
Although Uzumaki Mito remembered Senju Hashirama's instructions and stayed home even when she put on mourning clothes, never letting anyone see her, all those clues were enough for the people of the Land of Lightning to confirm one thing.
Even if Senju Hashirama wasn't dead, he was definitely in bad shape.
In that case, why not give it a try?
They were sick and tired of that hellish place they called home. If they lost, so be it. The other side could take the place off their hands.
And so, just as the spring of Year 17 of Konoha came to an end, the Land of Lightning launched an attack on Konoha.
One month later:
"Hey, are we really likely to see enemies come through here?" Hyuga Kazuko, who was about the same age as Yuya, shot him a sideways glance and asked in annoyance.
Yuya looked at the map in front of him and shook his head. "This is the rear. The Land of Lightning declared war, but that doesn't mean we can only defend."
They were between two cliffs in the northern part of the Land of Fire.
The only way across was a wooden bridge suspended by iron chains.
Their first shift had a simple task: if the people retreating from the Konoha-Kumogakure front were their own, they could let them pass. But if they were from Kumogakure, they had to blow up the bridge.
Explosive Tags had already been stuck to the only bridge.
Rou Uchiha glanced at Hyuga Kazuko, smiled faintly, and spoke with a hint of disdain. "Don't you have the Byakugan? Use it to take a look."
The Uchiha and Hyuga clans had been rivals. In the past, with Madara Uchiha around, the Hyuga Clan had been firmly suppressed.
But after Madara Uchiha was driven out by the Uchiha Clan and made a huge scene, the Hyuga Clan thought they had their chance again.
It wasn't as if they could produce another Madara Uchiha.
Of course, the adults still smiled cheerfully when they met, but when it came to the children, they were taught that losing to anyone was fine—just not to the other clan.
Children this age were still forming their views, and teaching them like that would surely lead them astray.
Of course, if you took your son to the battlefield when he was four, then just forget I said that (Fugaku Uchiha: Stop bringing me into this already).
Yuya paid no attention to the two little brats' squabbling.
Just then, a young woman walked over. She wore a tight-fitting ninja mesh shirt under a leather jacket, and her hair was tied in a ponytail. "How are things, Yuya? You've been watching for a while. Still worried about the front?"
The beautiful young woman was Senju Tobirama's secretary.
Because Tobirama thought highly of Yuya, and because Yuya had to go to the battlefield, Senju Tobirama had sent his most trusted person to lead Yuya's squad.
He had also assigned them a very simple task for the sake of their safety.
Take this bridge-watch duty, for instance. You couldn't exactly call it important, but it wasn't entirely unimportant either... If Konoha's forces collapsed at the front, blocking the enemy's advance here would still count as a major contribution.
Senju Tobirama had certainly thought things through.
It was just...
Yuya sighed and nodded. "Here, I'm not worried about those people from Kumogakure. I'm worried about the people from the Land of Water."
The secretary froze. "The Land of Water? Aren't they our allies?"
Yuya was speechless. Was Tobirama's secretary really that naïve?
Could you trust allies these days?
How often had allies stabbed you in the back?
Just then, Yuya heard something coming from the other side of the bridge.
A group of Konoha Ninja came speeding toward them from across the bridge.
Yuya saw them clearly. The Konoha Ninja were moving fast, their steps swift. More importantly, every step they took left a deep crater in the ground.
Yuya's pupils contracted sharply. He jumped to his feet and raised a Kunai toward the five Konoha Ninja who had already run onto the bridge. "Stop! Stop right now! If you don't, I'll set off the Explosive Tags!"
The bridge was only a little over a hundred meters long. As long as Yuya's eyesight was sound, he could spot that something was wrong.
The secretary frowned and stepped in front of Yuya. "Stop! Give the password, or we'll attack!"
The five figures showed no intention of stopping. The secretary hesitated, but Yuya didn't pause for an instant. He formed a hand seal. "Explode!"
With a BOOM, the bridge split in two. The five ninjas who had just reached its midpoint dropped their act. A puff of smoke from the Transformation Technique cleared, revealing their true forms.
They were a group of people clad in black and blue robes.
"Water Shadow Guard?!" the secretary cried in alarm. But it was already too late. The five ninjas leaped off the bridge, then...
Dropped straight down.
Obviously, they couldn't cross a gap dozens of meters wide with a simple jump.
But they had already completed their mission. Before falling over the cliff, they had thrown out Sealing Scrolls.
The five scrolls unfurled in midair...
The secretary stared tensely at the scrolls opening high above them. Then a vast torrent of water surged out of the scrolls and hurtled toward the squad...
In midair, the water gradually changed shape, turning into a series of cones. At the same time, it solidified into ice. Then...
They shot toward the secretary and the other three members of the squad...
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