No. 2 Turret

"On the battlefield, the balance between attack and defense can shift in the blink of an eye." Soji fiddled with the nuts beside him, though his thoughts had already wandered far away. "Perhaps what Teacher Motochika is planning isn't an attack on any particular stronghold, but a change of stance to turn around the Frontline Support Battalion's overall strategic disadvantage."

"Wait, how did we end up on the defensive?" Erina and Todo looked utterly confused. "Didn't we just deal with the Waterfall Ninja who tried to raid our camp last night?"

"No. I'm not talking about the outcome of one or two isolated battles. I'm giving an overall assessment based on the nature of this construction operation."

"...Sorry, could you put that in simpler terms?"

"To put it plainly, the Frontline Support Battalion sent by the village includes not only combat personnel tasked with guarding the team, but also a much larger construction crew and Medical Team. That's bound to make our military deployments extremely difficult."

Soji picked up a screw from the pile of parts beside him, then grabbed a hollow steel pipe with his other hand. He used the objects at hand to illustrate his point.

"A quantitative change can lead to a qualitative one. Supplying a squad of ninja is worlds apart from supplying a construction crew that also serves as an engineering unit! And from the day the Frontline Support Battalion set out, no matter whether the construction operation succeeds, we have to pay the costs of that initial investment upfront."

Soji paused briefly, then continued, "In other words, even if we foil the mastermind's plans, as long as what we spend on hiring people is less than what the village has already spent, the enemy still has room to invest more."

"I get it. You mean that even though the Waterfall Ninja assassins have been eliminated, the enemy can still pour more resources into this than we've spent building the Jingu Forest Field Hospital?" Erina tapped her palm with the hollow pipe, successfully following Soji's train of thought.

"Exactly. That's the situation from the perspective of resource consumption... Of course, those aren't the only problems facing the Frontline Support Battalion."

"No way, there are other hidden dangers too!?" Todo's mouth fell open. He hunched his shoulders, his features scrunching up as if he wanted to squeeze his entire face together.

"Yes." Soji nodded firmly. "Aside from the enormous consumption of supplies, the battalion has also lost the mobility to relocate quickly and maneuver flexibly. That will cause the command staff's strategic decisions to become rigid.

"Things like choosing where to set up camp or planning the march route...

"Teacher Motochika has done everything he can in that regard, but having to account for the team's ability to adapt has still left the enemy plenty of openings to exploit."

There was a hint of helplessness in Soji's voice.

Since he knew part of how the plan was supposed to unfold, the boy understood that these vulnerabilities had probably been deliberately designed as traps from the start, to make the bait more convincing.

But without permission from his superiors, Soji naturally couldn't go around revealing classified information about the Forward Base.

So he deliberately skipped over the details of that part of the contest and went straight to the conclusion.

"As the defenders, we have to do our best to hold off every enemy attack, no matter the time or place. As the attackers, our opponents only need to succeed once for the Jingu Forest Field Hospital construction project to fail immediately. From that perspective, we'll remain on the defensive until the hospital is finished."

"Aaah! Just listening to this is exhausting!" Erina clutched her head and kicked away the fully assembled ninja tool at her feet in frustration.

Todo happened to catch the strange-looking thing. He wore the same pained expression as he looked over at Soji. "Isn't there some brilliant plan to turn the situation around?"

"Unfortunately, reality isn't a work of fiction...

"Ninety-nine percent of battles are decided by the obvious difference in strength between the sides. As long as the enemy doesn't make a mistake, all we can do is respond to whatever they throw at us."

The boy slowly shook his head, but he didn't shut down the possibility completely. "Of course, since Teacher Motochika asked Erina to prepare these weaponized office supplies, he must already have some idea of how things will develop next. Maybe it really is a brilliant plan to turn the tables on the enemy."

"But what are we supposed to do?" Erina tilted her head. "Challenge the opposing commander to a duel at a time and place of our choosing?"

"I doubt the other side will be that polite." Todo sighed. "War isn't easy..."

"Exactly! Besides, Soji, you and Teacher Motochika already teamed up to trick them once~" Erina chuckled and piled on. "If I were their commander, my next plan would definitely target you two first!"

"I'm innocent." Soji raised his hands in surrender. "It was all Teacher Motochika's idea. I had nothing to do with it."

"Too late to explain yourself now~ You took on a full squad of Waterfall Ninja all by yourself! Once word gets around, you might even earn a cool title."

"Like 'Oni in the Rain'?"

"Or 'Master of Silent Killing'?"

"Hmm, I think Soji would be better suited to a more 'refined' nickname," Todo interjected.

Erina immediately nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Then I'll think of something else..."

"..."

The Second Shinobi World War hadn't even started yet.

The Sannin and famous figures like Konoha's White Fang were still serving in Konoha's ninja forces as Soji's seniors. Their names had yet to enter the history books.

Ever since gaining his cheat ability, the boy had of course imagined the day he'd become famous.

But compared with his "peers," his mature soul, having lived another life, couldn't lose itself in the illusion of dazzling honors. The moment he tried to carry that seemingly wonderful image into the real world, the blood, tears, and hardship borne by the "hero" became a scar that shattered the beauty of his fantasy world, tearing apart the youthful dreams that had briefly taken shape...

So, for Yamada-kun, who aspired to stay far from the front lines, those empty titles were like game achievements that granted no stat bonuses.

Apart from the prestige earned through battle records, they had no value in themselves.

"Titles are something only survivors get to think about. The battle isn't over yet. For now, we just need to do our best to stay alive."

Soji took the unusual ninja tool from Todo and returned it to Erina. At the same time, he put an end to his two teammates' daydreaming. "Until we can decide our own fate, all we can do is follow orders and keep ourselves ready for whatever changes might come. So instead of wasting time on all this, why don't you explain how this thing works?"

"Oh, this? It's still in the prototype stage, so I haven't given it an official name yet. For now, I just call it No. 2 Turret!"

"Tur... ret?"

Todo looked puzzled.

Soji, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes slightly.