Excessively Cautious

Within the Land of Rivers, the zones of control for the Sand Village and Konoha were interlocked like jagged teeth. Along the long, winding border between the two forces, battles and deaths occurred at every moment.

As Hanyu's squad moved from their own controlled territory into their designated defensive sector, they did not encounter any enemies. However, they did run into their own side several times. The interactions between different squads were rather comical, as they would demand that one another prove their identities... Comical as it was, it served as proof that Konoha's defenses were quite thorough.

From the top down, every ninja maintained a high level of vigilance.

The squad then pushed into a patch of forest. After a brief reconnaissance, the four of them gathered together once more.

"In terms of positioning, this is the best scouting spot in this forest. The terrain is elevated, the view is wide, and the trees are relatively sparse. However, precisely because the location is so good, we cannot set our outpost there," Hanyu said, pointing to a spot on the map.

The logic was self-evident. In sniper warfare, a sniper never squats in the optimal sniping position. Because such an obvious spot is known to be the best for hiding and attacking not just to you, but to your opponent as well, occupying it is equivalent to exposing your position directly to the enemy.

"Aside from that, these are the remaining alternative positions." Hanyu used a pen to circle several points on the map, labeling them with numbers.

"I think point five is the best. The visibility is good enough to monitor the surrounding movements, and at the same time, the vegetation is dense, making it easier to hide. It also facilitates flexible combat or repositioning, so we won't be forced into a dead end," Renjuro said, pointing to the location of point five on the map.

The opinion of a scout ninja was worth respecting, and the other two nodded in agreement. The position chosen by their comrade allowed for observation of the entire area while also making it easier for everyone to retreat toward Konoha-controlled territory should they encounter danger.

"Since everyone is in agreement, let's move there." Hanyu also felt the position was good, so he finalized the location of the scouting outpost, and the group carefully made their way toward it.

During this process, they neither discovered the presence of enemies nor found any traces left behind by previous squads.

Upon arriving at point five, the scout ninja Renjuro began drawing special chakra seals on the surrounding trees. Once this setup was complete, he would be able to quickly perceive the presence of anyone with unfamiliar chakra approaching those seals.

Hanyu did not find this particular method of reconnaissance strange; in fact, he felt a sense of familiarity, as he could broadly summarize it as... placing wards.

Once Renjuro finished his preparations, Hanyu spoke to the group again, "Aside from keeping a few in reserve, set all the remaining explosive tags in the surrounding area."

"All of them, Hanyu? You have to realize that supplies on the front lines are extremely scarce. We should try to save them whenever we can," Nara Nagisa said, feeling that Hanyu's approach was wasteful.

"All of them," Hanyu emphasized again, then explained, "Your thinking is sound, but it's meaningless. If only we are saving resources, it makes no difference to the overall war effort. And if everyone is saving resources, then us wasting a little bit won't matter much. So... set the explosive tags. At the very least, such traps can further increase our survival rate and the success rate of our mission."

Logistics were for the Hokage to worry about, not low-level genin like them. Being a genin had its perks; at least you didn't have to worry about too much. Whatever supplies were allocated to you, you just used them—why overthink it?

Undoubtedly, Konoha's state assets were being lost at the hands of people like Hanyu... but fortunately, at least he was using the supplies for public duty; he wasn't lining his own pockets.

"..."

To the others, Hanyu's words seemed to have a point, yet they felt like something was fundamentally wrong.

Helpless, under the captain's orders, everyone proceeded to set the explosive tags. Once their preparations were complete, the tension that had been stretched to the breaking point finally eased just a little.

Following this, the squad's scouting formation was deployed at point five. Hanyu and Nara Nagisa hid within a tree canopy, their vigilant gazes constantly scanning everything around them. Not far behind them, Renjuro sat with his eyes closed, carefully sensing the area around every seal he had placed.

Chichiwa lay on the trunk of a towering tree further back, hiding herself completely.

These frontline missions were tense and monotonous, yet they allowed for not even a shred of carelessness. Consequently, even though Hanyu and his team appeared to be doing nothing, it was exceptionally draining on their mental state.

While maintaining constant, full concentration, the first night gradually arrived. It seemed that nothing had happened that day.

However, drawing such a conclusion too early was not a good thing. Several bird calls, which sounded extremely natural and without any abnormality, reached Hanyu's ears, and he instantly became even more vigilant... This was a signal from Renjuro.

Then, the bird calls repeated. Renjuro accurately conveyed the intelligence he had discovered:

"Enemy spotted, quantity 1, coordinates 22, 15!"

Through the layers of leaves, Hanyu shifted his gaze to the coordinates reported by Renjuro, and sure enough, he saw a Sand Village ninja.

Everyone received Renjuro's information. Despite the short time they had spent together, they had already established several ways to transmit information.

"What should we do?" Nara asked Hanyu silently, using hand signals from the side.

Hanyu thought for a moment, then responded, "Wait. We must at least wait for the opponent's companions to appear before deciding whether to act. We must ensure a one-hit kill on all enemies; don't give them a chance to counterattack."

Hanyu did not believe a lone Sand Village ninja would break into this area. He felt that the people on the other side were at least a squad, and the one who appeared first was merely bait to lure them into acting.

"But that ninja is already approaching the trap zone we set."

"He's just selling it, but he's selling it too obviously. We must hold back... don't underestimate the cunning of a Sand Village ninja."

"He's approaching the explosive tags. Three steps, two steps, one step—the guy stepped on the trap, it's going to trigger an explosion!" Nara stared intently at the enemy's movements, and then, he could no longer keep his eyes on it.

Holy crap, this Sand Village ninja seemed genuinely a bit stupid. It wasn't until he stepped on an explosive tag that he realized, with some disbelief, that he had fallen into a trap.

A massive explosion shocked the birds and beasts in the forest, and the Sand Village ninja who had blundered into the trap was sent flying by the blast.

Seeing this result, Nara didn't even bother with hand signals. He fixed his gaze directly on Hanyu, his eyes seemingly saying, "Let's see how you explain this one."

Hanyu thought for a moment and continued using hand signals, "Still, we cannot be careless. Look, even the blood mist from the enemy exploding is in the shape of bait."

"..."

What on earth is the shape of bait, anyway!