Ambush

"Qian, have you really learned it already?"

Furukawa showed no reaction to Qian's answer, but Ryosuke, standing nearby, could no longer remain calm.

Although he had known for a long time that there was a certain gap between his learning ability and Qian's, the teenager's unwillingness to admit defeat still made him refuse to fall behind.

When Furukawa had taught Qian the Body Flicker Technique, he had not avoided Ryosuke.

So Ryosuke had learned along with him.

He had practiced hard over the past few days and had finally grasped some of the technique's tricks. Perhaps he could not use it in an intense battle, but under normal circumstances, he had no problem performing it properly.

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Although this could not be considered truly learning the technique, it was enough to make Ryosuke proud.

He had originally thought Qian's progress would be about the same as his own. Even if Qian was ahead, he would at most be slightly ahead. But the truth was that the gap between them was enormous.

Having been companions for several months, Ryosuke had gained a certain understanding of Qian's way of speaking and doing things. Qian might deliberately downplay his own strength, but he would never exaggerate it.

In other words, when Qian said he had learned it, his actual level was definitely far beyond this.

Thus, Ryosuke's feelings were extremely complicated. Once again, he had failed to catch up.

For a moment, an aura of negativity radiated from him.

Qian keenly noticed the change in his emotions. With a turn of thought, he roughly guessed the reason.

However, he did not offer any words of comfort, because this was simply the truth.

Not wanting to continue dwelling on the matter, Qian immediately asked, "Where's Shizuko? Hasn't she come yet?"

After all, whenever they gathered in the past, Mizutani Shizuko had always been the first to arrive.

But now...

Qian glanced at the time. The final deadline for assembling was almost here, yet she still had not arrived.

This left Qian somewhat surprised.

Could something have happened? Qian wondered.

"I don't know."

Nearby, Ryosuke answered listlessly.

As he spoke, he looked toward the village entrance and happened to see Mizutani Shizuko hurrying over.

He waved and called out, "Shizuko, over here!"

Hearing him, Mizutani Shizuko quickly turned her head. After spotting them, she forced a smile and then hurried over.

"Shizuko, why did you arrive so late today? Did something happen?"

Before Mizutani Shizuko had even reached them, Ryosuke had already asked.

At that, Mizutani Shizuko shook her head and forced out another smile. "Nothing happened. I just got up late."

"Oh, is that so?"

Ryosuke rubbed his chin and said seriously, "Then you should set an alarm clock. That way, you won't oversleep. Just like me."

Watching Ryosuke chatter on, Qian could not tell whether he was genuinely carefree or deliberately trying to ease Mizutani Shizuko's pressure.

Anyone with eyes could see that Mizutani Shizuko had not come late simply because she had overslept.

The redness around her eyes showed that she had cried not long ago.

Combined with the fact that they were about to head to the battlefield, it was not difficult to guess that these tears had been shed when she said goodbye to her family.

This also gave Qian a profound understanding that this was a real world.

Here, war was war. Death did not become acceptable just because of a slogan or two.

Ninjas were people too. They had their own emotions, families, friends, and lives. Once they died, the impact would spread to a great many people.

Therefore, there were plenty of people who feared war. They were merely bound by a series of rules and beliefs, leaving them no choice but to accept it.

Ah! This really is a twisted world!

With a silent sigh, Qian stopped thinking about it and began waiting calmly for the unit to depart.

Time passed second by second.

After the unit had finished assembling, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, appeared before everyone.

What followed was an impassioned speech.

It had to be said that his words were highly rousing. After the speech, the young Low and Mid-Ranked Ninja were all fired up, practically itching to rush into battle and kill the enemy.

Even Mizutani Shizuko, whose mood had been poor, showed a faint smile after listening to him.

Only the Jonin maintained stern expressions throughout, seemingly unmoved by his words.

But that made sense. Which Jonin had not fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood? How could their firm wills be shaken by a few words?

To rouse their enthusiasm, one either had to bind them with tangible benefits or motivate them with a greater cause. Otherwise, with nothing but empty words, why would they listen to you?

Just because you were the Hokage?

The Hokage had only been chosen by everyone else, too!

Uh...

Well, perhaps. Probably.

Qian shook his head and stopped thinking about it. These matters were still far beyond him, and he had no desire to get involved in them.

The Ninja World was, at its core, a world where strength reigned supreme. As long as one possessed sufficient strength, one could speak with one's fists even without understanding anything else.

If someone displeased you, you could simply knock them down with one punch. Why bother considering so much?

Therefore, increasing one's strength was the true path.

A few minutes later.

The speech ended, and the unit set out.

Qian roughly counted them. There were around thirty Jonin, along with sixty or seventy Special Jonin.

As for the Chunin and Genin, there were more than three hundred and nearly four hundred altogether.

Such a huge unit naturally could not move too quickly.

Moreover, there were dozens of supply carts.

Thus, it took them a full two weeks to leave the Land of Fire and enter the Rain Country Battlefield.

As soon as they entered the Rain Country, they were greeted by continuous drizzle. Often, they would not see the sun even once in two or three days.

The unit's pace slowed even further.

Nearly another week later.

They arrived at a canyon. After passing through it and traveling another several dozen miles, they would reach Konoha's Main Camp in the Rain Country.

That was their destination, and the dozens of carts of supplies were being delivered there as well.

Qian stared at the deep, gloomy canyon ahead, his brow twitching repeatedly.

Even a rookie like him knew that this kind of terrain was highly suitable for an ambush. Qian did not believe those Jonin could fail to see it.

"Then why are we going through here?"

Other than being forced to, Qian could think of no other reason.

In other words, Konoha's situation on the Rain Country Battlefield was far less optimistic than he had imagined. Otherwise, they would not have preserved such a supply route.

Fortunately, the Konoha Jonin were not incompetent. Before entering the canyon, they had already ordered the unit to slow down.

At the same time, they sent out several teams to search ahead and along the cliffs on both sides for signs of an enemy ambush.

Time passed second by second as the unit advanced slowly.

Suddenly, a massive explosion rang out from the cliff in the distance. Faintly, they could even see a cluster of crimson flames rising into the air.

"An Exploding Tag! It's an ambush!"

Someone in the unit shouted, and the crowd instantly became frantic.

Fortunately, a Jonin spoke up in time, preventing the chaos.