Budding

The Hidden Stone prisoners were escorted back to Konoha's station. After interrogation through the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques, the intelligence was quickly compiled. The result was both expected and allowed them to relax slightly. The Hidden Stone Village was indeed actively stockpiling war supplies, and the border friction was also a deliberate probe, but for now, there were still no signs of an immediate large-scale offensive. The situation was tense, but it had not reached the worst point yet. This gave Konoha some time to prepare, but it also meant that this state of high-pressure confrontation and low-intensity conflict along the border would continue.

The patrol missions still went on every day. Uchiha Narong led his squad—steady Aburame Ryoma, the green but highly motivated Asuma Sarutobi, and the careful yet still somewhat nervous Kurenai Yuhi—as they continued to patrol back and forth along the long border. Over these days, they cleared out several small groups of wandering ninja, repelled two scouts of unknown origin, and more than anything, witnessed the wounds this land bore under the shadow of war.

They passed one small village after another near the border. Many villages had long since been almost emptied out. Charred burn marks and deep pits from clashing ninjutsu scarred the ruined walls, and the air was filled with a faint smell of blood and rot. Now and then, they could see one or two lucky survivors, sallow and gaunt, their eyes numb and terrified. Like startled birds, the moment they saw Narong's group wearing ninja vests, they hid in panic.

"Bastards! Those damned wandering ninja and rogue ninja!" Asuma slammed his fist into the earthen wall beside him, his young face full of anger and helplessness. He had grown up in Konoha's relatively peaceful environment. Though he knew the ninja world was cruel, seeing such miserable scenes with his own eyes still shook him deeply.

Kurenai Yuhi pressed her lips together, her face pale. She tried to use medical ninjutsu to bandage an old woman they had found in the ruins with an injured leg, but the despair and emptiness in the old woman's eyes made her heart ache. "Why... why does it have to be like this..."

Aburame Ryoma silently controlled his insects to scout the surroundings. The expression beneath his sunglasses could not be seen, but the heavy atmosphere around him showed that his mood was just as grim. "The war hasn't even officially begun, and the border has already become like this." His voice was low, carrying a hint of mockery.

Uchiha Narong stood on a desolate ridge between fields, his Sharingan silently sweeping over the ravaged land. He saw a child's toy half-exposed beneath a collapsed house, withered crops in the fields, and livestock carcasses that had been casually discarded and were already rotting. His mood was nowhere near as calm as he appeared on the surface.

That day, the squad patrolled to a place called River Post Town. It had once been an important trade hub on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. In the past, merchant caravans had flowed through in an endless stream, inns and taverns had stood everywhere, and the place had been bustling with life. Narong had seen its former prosperity in the illustration attached to the mission scroll.

However, when they arrived, what they saw was nothing but ruin and deathly silence.

The wooden archway at the town entrance leaned crookedly, covered in marks from blades and axes. The streets were cold and deserted. Rubbish and shattered tiles lay scattered across the bluestone road, and most of the shops on both sides had their doors and windows shut tight. Some had been smashed outright, their interiors looted clean. Dust, mildew, and a faint stench of decay mingled in the air. Occasionally, a few sallow, ragged residents hurried past like ghosts, glanced at them warily, then quickly slipped deep into the alleys.

The former inn was now nothing but an empty shell. Its sign had fallen to the ground and been trampled to pieces. Inside the tavern, tables and chairs lay toppled in every direction, shards of wine jars mixed with dried, dark-red stains. There had once been a small market at the center of town. Now only a few empty stalls and a handful of rotten vegetable leaves remained. A wild dog rummaged through a garbage heap for food, letting out low whimpers.

This place had clearly suffered more than one looting. Ronin, bandits, and even foreign reconnaissance units disguised as wandering ninja might all have visited this place. Human lives here seemed to have become the cheapest thing of all.

"This... this is River Post Town?" Asuma stared at the scene before him in disbelief. He found it hard to connect this place with the "prosperous market" described in the mission briefing.

Kurenai Yuhi covered her mouth, her eyes full of pity. "How did it become like this..."

Aburame Ryoma's insects scattered and flew out. A moment later, they returned with a report. "There aren't many living people in the town. Most are hiding at home. No obvious chakra reactions have been found, but... there are many corpses, either simply buried or discarded in the mass grave outside town."

Narong walked silently down the empty street. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan took in every detail: the bloodstains dried on the walls, the broken toys scattered in the corners, behind one shattered window, a pair of terrified children's eyes flashing past... an indescribable sense of oppression enveloped him.

He had originally thought that, as a transmigrator with an adult soul, he could calmly survive in this world, pursue strength, and protect the people he cared about. That would be enough. What did the suffering of these border residents have to do with him? The strong preyed on the weak. That was simply the law of the ninja world.

But the tragedy he had seen with his own eyes over these past few days, one after another, still carved cracks into the hard defenses around his heart. He was no saint, nor was he naive enough to think he could save everyone, but a nameless irritation and... a faint thread of anger were still taking root deep inside him.

At night, the squad made camp in a relatively intact abandoned house at the edge of town. The campfire crackled, casting light over the four faces, each with a different expression.

Asuma chewed hard on his rations as if he were taking out his frustration on someone. "Just you wait! Once I get strong enough, I'll clean up every one of those troublemaking bastards! I'll rebuild order here!" The young man's hot blood and sense of justice were burning.

Kurenai Yuhi hugged her knees and said softly, "If only... if only there were no war. Then everyone could live safely."

Aburame Ryoma wiped his kunai and analyzed calmly, "That's difficult. As long as the nations keep fighting and resources are unevenly distributed, the border will never know peace. Unless... there is an absolutely powerful force capable of suppressing all factions and forcibly maintaining order." His words carried a touch of the realism and coldness unique to the Aburame Clan.

Narong poked at the fire and did not join the discussion, but his teammates' words stirred ripples in his heart.

"These major ninja villages control world-destroying power, and every Kage-level expert can alter the terrain at the drop of a hat. But look at the places under their rule..." Narong sneered inwardly. "Aside from the village headquarters, which at least look passable, this vast borderland and these dependent small nations are rotten to the core! Their ability to govern is pathetic."

He thought of the daimyo of the Land of Fire, those nobles who sat high above, enjoying their offerings while turning a blind eye to the misery on the border. Ninja possessed power, yet they were constrained by those ordinary daimyo, with resources and funding held by the throat. "What an ironic and warped system."

The thought Even I could do better if I were in charge popped up uncontrollably. In the past, he had only wanted to protect himself and pursue personal strength and longevity. But now, he vaguely felt that if... if he possessed enough overwhelming strength, or even... power, could he not only make his own life better, but also reduce the tragedies on land like this beneath his feet? Could he give these numb civilians waiting for death a slightly more decent environment to survive in?

The thought even surprised him. It did not fit his usual style of keeping himself safe and avoiding trouble.

He thought again of Madara Uchiha's insane plan. "Infinite Tsukuyomi, making everyone live in a dream... that really is nonsense." Narong scoffed at it. False peace was meaningless. "But... Madara wanting to unify the ninja world, that direction, maybe... is right?"

Looking across history, the end of the Warring States era had come precisely because Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha joined hands to found Konoha, achieving the relative unification of the Land of Fire and bringing a brief peace. Although great wars arose again afterward, in terms of scale and control, it was indeed much better than the previous era of clan warfare, when human life was worth less than grass.

"If... if there really were a powerful force that could forcibly integrate the entire ninja world, break down the barriers between nations and between villages, and establish a unified, powerful order... although it would be impossible to completely eliminate conflict, at the very least, could large-scale, endless decay along the borders like this be effectively curbed?"

This idea began to grow in his heart like wild grass. It was not born from some lofty ideal. It was more like a cool calculation based on real gains and losses, and... an instinctive impulse to "change" something after witnessing too much suffering. Power could not only bring safety and resources. It seemed... it could also be used to do some "real things."

He glanced at the teammates beside him: Asuma, whose hot blood had not yet cooled; Kurenai, kind at heart; Ryoma, pragmatic and calm. Then he thought of Guy in Konoha Village, Amamiya Ren, and even that twisted but extraordinarily capable teacher, Orochimaru... if there were a force that could gather them together and point them toward the same goal...

Narong took a deep breath and suppressed his surging thoughts. It was still too far away to think about such things now. The first priority was to survive the coming great war and become stronger. Only by possessing enough strength would he have the right to consider matters of "change."

"Rest. We still have to continue patrolling tomorrow." Narong spoke calmly, interrupting everyone's thoughts.

He lay down and closed his eyes, but the scenes from the day and the conversation from the night kept echoing in his mind. A seed called "ambition," perhaps without even him fully realizing it, had already been quietly buried amid the ruins and smoke of the border.