His First War (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)

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When Suzaku led the reinforcements to the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost,

the Konoha Ninja who had originally been stationed there visibly breathed sighs of relief. The outpost commander was a Jōnin from the Kazematsuri Clan named Ido. He had arrived inside the main gates ahead of time to welcome Suzaku. When he saw that the reinforcements numbered three to four hundred, this Kazematsuri Clan Jōnin finally relaxed completely, the joy on his face impossible to hide.

The casualties at the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost had simply been too severe during this period.

Before Suzaku's batch of reinforcements arrived,

some personnel had already been transferred from rear outposts to reinforce the defenses of the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost. Even so, the outpost had nearly been breached. If reinforcements had not arrived, it might only have held out another ten days or half a month. If the Kumo Ninja raised the intensity of their attacks by another level, the defenses could have collapsed at any moment.

But things were different now.

Four hundred fresh troops had joined them.

Among them were quite a few ninja at the Jōnin level.

And there was Suzaku, a strategist publicly recognized as one of the top three in the Nara Clan. Naturally, Ido could finally breathe easy. Most importantly, if they had received reinforcements here, then the other outposts surely had as well. Given the current situation, as long as Kumogakure did not expand the scale of the war again, the border defenses could definitely stabilize.

However, as a Jōnin of the Kazematsuri Clan, Ido was still somewhat puzzled by the thirty or forty Uchiha Clan ninja among the reinforcements. Even during the previous three Shinobi World Wars, the number of Uchiha Clan members deployed to the front lines had always been limited to a certain extent. The village needed the Uchiha Clan's combat strength,

but it also had to guard against the Uchiha.

And now, the major upheaval of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack had occurred not long ago.

Although Ido had not returned to the village for nearly a year,

he still had his own channels for learning about such a major disturbance.

The Sharingan in the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's eyes had been so obvious during its rampage. At a time like this, was it really appropriate to send Uchiha Clan members to reinforce the front lines?

At that thought,

Ido could not help but glance at Suzaku a few more times.

As a Jōnin of the Nara Clan, Suzaku naturally understood the meaning in Ido's gaze.

He lightly shook his head, and in an angle unnoticed by the others, a faint glimmer appeared deep within his eyes.

Ido seemed to understand and nodded slightly.

He did not ask any further questions. The reinforcements were real enough, and since the Uchiha Clan had been permitted to leave the village to support the front lines, they must have received the Hokage's approval. Since Lord Third believed there was no problem, Ido naturally would not dwell on it. As ninja clans in Konohagakure that stood most firmly on Sarutobi Hiruzen's side,

the Kazematsuri, Ise, Tsukikage, Yamashiro, Kōzuki, and other ninja clans almost obeyed Sarutobi Hiruzen's every command without question.

"All personnel, report to your assigned camps and rest. Specific patrol and combat-preparation assignments will be issued tonight. Starting tomorrow, carry out your duties according to the established plan. But remember: even outside mission hours, you must not let your guard down. Keep your combat equipment on you at all times. Do not remove it under any circumstances. That is all. Dismissed!"

Although most of the ninja dispatched to reinforce the various front-line outposts had experienced the Third Shinobi World War, including the Genin, necessary instructions could not be omitted. Especially at an important outpost like Mount Hot Spring, even during routine rotations for rest, those off duty could not simply rest without a care. They still had to remain ready to join the battle at any moment, because no one knew when the enemy might launch an attack.

"Yes!"

Of the ninja dispatched to the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost,

aside from the scouts and Medical Ninja who immediately needed to begin work,

the rest were led by their respective team leaders and dispersed to the surrounding camps. Only the leaders of each clan needed to head to the main camp afterward to discuss the next steps. Defending the camp was not merely about holding the line; often, it was also necessary to send corresponding sabotage teams deep into enemy territory.

The same went for patrol squads. Under normal circumstances, they had to cover the area within fifty li of the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost.

While ensuring the outpost's own security,

they also had to make sure the supply route from the rear was not cut off by the Kumo Ninja.

These were all key considerations the commanders had to weigh carefully and prudently.

The Hot Springs Mountain Outpost, huh?

From the state of the outpost alone, Shōji could roughly guess just how brutal the fighting between Konoha and the Kumo Ninja had been during this period. At its worst, the Kumo Ninja might even have fought their way inside the outpost.

The ruined areas within the outpost were the best proof.

Although this was not Shōji's first time participating in a war,

that had been the previous Shōji. For Uchiha Shōji, whose soul had now fused with another's, this was truly his first time going to war. From the moment he stepped into the Land of Hot Springs, an indescribable emotion had welled up deep inside him.

It was like anticipation, like excitement, and yet also tinged with faint fear.

The battle instincts buried deep in the Uchiha Clan's bones, along with the ordinary person's fear of war brought by the memories and emotions of his previous life,

merged together.

Shōji found that his hands were trembling slightly.

Am I afraid? Or am I excited? Either way, this is my first battlefield. Kumo Ninja, I'll use you to test the extent of my ability and my limits!

Shōji took a deep breath and looked at the gradually setting sun outside. As the afterglow of dusk dyed the entire camp red, he murmured softly.

His first battlefield.

The place closest to the Kumo Ninja outpost.

This was the first true challenge Shōji had faced since arriving in this world.

Thus, on his first night after arriving at Mount Hot Spring, Shōji rarely found himself unable to sleep.

Of course, it was not solely because of himself. It was also because the Kumo Ninja had launched a sneak attack. Konoha had no way, nor any need, to conceal the news that a large number of Konoha reinforcements had entered the Land of Hot Springs and that the Hot Springs Mountain Outpost had received an additional three to four hundred troops. Less than an hour after Suzaku and the others arrived,

the Kumo Ninja commander at Kumogakure's Southern Fortress, directly north of Konoha's Hot Springs Mountain Outpost, received the news firsthand.