At the border of the Land of Rivers, Black Mud Ridge.
It had once been an unremarkable stretch of hills. Apart from wild dogs and smugglers, no one had given it a second glance. Now barbed wire, trenches, and concrete bunkers had carved it to pieces.
"Stop shaking. Take the safety off."
Sakai Saburo, a grizzled veteran, smacked the rookie's steel helmet with a sharp clang. The rookie nearly dropped his Defender rifle into the mud.
"S-squad leader, those are Iwagakure ninja over there." His teeth chattered as he crouched in the flooded trench, daring to peek out with only one eye. "I heard they can travel underground and turn people to stone."
"So what if they're ninja? They're made of flesh too." Sakai Saburo spat out his cigarette butt. The rain had soaked it long ago, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "See that open ground ahead? Chairman Quan called it the 'welcome zone.' Jonin or Kage, if they walk in, they'll leave some pieces behind."
The rookie swallowed and stared at the seemingly quiet mud ahead. There were no trees, only waist-high dead grass and the occasional rusty tin can half-buried in the ground.
Those were mines.
General Quan—no, Chairman Quan—had buried all twelve thousand infantry mines in the Land of Rivers' stockpile there. He called it "hospitality."
Suddenly, a few faint whistles cut through the rain.
Sakai Saburo's ears twitched. He shoved the rookie down into the muddy water. "Get down!"
Several Kunai skimmed the trench and struck the sandbags behind them. Then dozens of ocher figures burst from the rain across the empty wasteland, as if they had sprouted from the earth.
Iwagakure's vanguard.
They moved fast, channeling chakra through their feet to cross the mud as easily as firm ground. A Stone Ninja at