Wake Up! This Is War!

The Land of Fire's forests stretched as far as the eye could see. It took ninjas five or six days to run from Konoha Village to the border of the Land of Fire.

On the fourth night, during their rest, Uchiha Ling brought over a dozen logs as usual.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A mass of flames engulfed the logs. After burning for dozens of seconds, it set them alight.

The three of them sat beside the campfire, watching the flames dance.

A wave of inferiority welled up in Dule Jiong's heart. His theoretical classes were average at best, while he ranked at the bottom in Ninjutsu and sparring.

Uchiha Ling ranked last in theory, yet he was unquestionably first in sparring.

When it came down to a real fight to the death, what use was calculating a parabola?

Dule Jiong asked, "Anko, do you know why you were assigned to Lord Orochimaru's team?"

He felt that being Lord Orochimaru's student was too difficult. There was no guidance at all; they had simply been thrown straight onto the battlefield.

As far as he knew, the other teams had to carry out D-Rank Missions in the Village for at least a month.

How wonderful that would be—having a teacher and a buffer period.

Mitaraishi Anko said, "My father used to be Lord Orochimaru's subordinate, but he sacrificed himself for Lord Orochimaru two years ago."

Uchiha Ling said, "It seems your father was highly trusted by Lord Orochimaru.

Lord Orochimaru wouldn't think that taking you on as a student was some kind of reward for you, would he?"

Mitaraishi Anko thought Uchiha Ling's words were terribly harsh, and then she felt especially miserable.

So many things had happened recently: Early Graduation, being assigned to Orochimaru's team, having the bottom-ranked Dule Jiong