Returning to the Village

"I hope so," Fugaku said. "Has much changed in the Land of Rain lately? I've been stationed too far out to see what's happening elsewhere."

"There have been changes," Uchiha Jin said. "The Rain shinobi have clearly pulled back their forces. We used to run into them all the time, but now we hardly see any."

Fugaku nodded. Hanzō was no fool. The Wind, Earth, and Fire Countries had yet to bring their full strength to bear, but the Land of Rain had probably already lost a great many people. If he didn't pull back, Amegakure might be wiped out before the three countries finished fighting.

"The Rain shinobi want to sit back and watch the others fight," Fugaku said. "The Small Nations don't have the resources to compete head-on. If they wait until the three great powers have worn each other down before intervening, they'll get better results."

Jin nodded. "None of those old men are simple. I wonder what the Konoha leadership is thinking."

"Don't worry about it," Fugaku said. "It's not our decision to make. We just need to show what the Uchiha can do in this war."

After parting with Jin, Fugaku returned to his tent to rest. Two consecutive battles deep in Stone shinobi territory had left him mentally exhausted. He needed time to recover.

At noon the next day, Uchiha En's team returned, but they were in poor shape. Some of them had been killed. Death was an everyday occurrence at Forward Camp.

War was always cruel. From the first day they became ninja, everyone should have been prepared to die, including Fugaku Uchiha.

Every mission was a dance on a knife's edge. That was why Fugaku approached every operation with extreme caution, trying to leave as little to chance as possible.

Fugaku did not see Uchiha En until that evening, after En had finished handing in his mission report.

"Fugaku, Jin, you're here," Uchiha En said. "We walked into a Sand Shinobi ambush. Four people died from poison after we broke through, and everyone else was wounded. I was careless."

"You can't blame yourself for that," Fugaku said. "The Sand Shinobi have always been skilled with poison. With the medical care we have now, saving them would have been a vain hope."

"Oh, Fugaku, I have a letter for you from the Clan Head." Uchiha En took out a letter and handed it to him.

Fugaku took the envelope. "To Fugaku Uchiha, to be opened personally" was written on it in his father's handwriting. The seal showed no sign of having been broken. No one else had read it.

Fugaku tore open the envelope, took out the letter, and read it carefully.

The letter said that Konoha had secretly sent two more groups of reinforcements into the Land of Rain, neither of which included any Uchiha. Uchiha Tenjo intended to ask the Third Hokage to send more Uchiha to the Land of Rain soon, so the clan could do its part in the war at the front.

Uchiha Tenjo's move was both a statement of loyalty and an attempt to restore the clan's image among the villagers.

Neither group of reinforcements Konoha had sent had come to Forward Camp. Perhaps they were establishing new bases.

In the long run, Konoha would face three countries in the war. Relying on Forward Camp alone for supplies would leave them stretched thin once the fighting intensified, especially given the distance.

Establishing bases closer to the front was the best solution. But an all-out war had not begun yet, so those bases needed to remain secret.

After two days of rest, the team set out again on a mission to the northwest of the Land of Rain.

Time flew by. Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and Fugaku spent his fourteenth birthday on a mission.

He drove a kunai into the heart of the Stone shinobi before him, and a message appeared in his mind.

Killed one Stone shinobi Jonin. Gained a moderate amount of Pupil Power.

Three months of combat missions had come to an end. The entire team had been transformed by the fighting. Even Yamamoto Isuke, once a newcomer, had made tremendous progress.

"Let's go." Fugaku looked calmly at the eleven members before him. "The mission is over. We're heading back to Forward Camp to report in."

The mission had gone smoothly at first. Later, the Stone shinobi noticed that their teams kept dying for no apparent reason and organized searches several times. In the final two months, killing even one Stone shinobi team a month counted as good luck.

Over the three months, they had killed seven teams of Stone and Rain shinobi, sixty-eight people in all. They had completed the mission perfectly.

Forward Camp showed no sign of expanding over those three months. Its strength had simply been kept at a steady level. Perhaps the great powers had reached some sort of secret agreement, because the fighting had not escalated.

But hatred was steadily growing. Every ninja who died added to it. When that hatred reached its limit, all-out war would begin.

Fugaku entered Hatake Sakumo's tent. Sakumo was as formidable as ever, but Fugaku felt far less pressure in his presence. He had advanced rapidly over the past three months, and the other team members no longer broke into cold sweats as they had when they first met Sakumo.

The tent had changed little since their last visit, apart from the markings on the model of the Land of Rain in its center.

"Fugaku Uchiha of Team 009, reporting in with my team." Fugaku looked directly at Hatake Sakumo, who stood beside the model. "We killed forty-seven Stone shinobi and twenty-one Rain shinobi on this mission, sixty-eight in total."

Surprise flashed through Hatake Sakumo's eyes. "You performed better than any of the other combat teams. You lost no team members and completed the mission to a high standard.

"Fugaku Uchiha, you've lived up to your reputation as an Uchiha prodigy. Your initial assignment is complete. You may return to Konoha to rest for a while and await your next mission."

"Captain Hatake," Yamada Shinji asked, "will the twelve of us still be together on our next mission?"

Hatake Sakumo shook his head. "That depends on Konoha's arrangements. Some of you are ready for promotion to Jonin, though. It's unlikely you'll all be assigned to the same team again.

"Rest at the camp for two days. A group of ninja will return to Konoha the day after tomorrow. You'll go with them, and another group will take your place."

Fugaku understood what Hatake Sakumo meant. Konoha was using the battlefield in the Land of Rain to train its troops. The other two countries were probably doing the same. It was a cruel method, though. Those who failed the test died.

Many years had passed since the last Shinobi World War. Until they understood one another's strength, none of the countries dared launch an all-out war. These clashes were both a way to test their enemies and a way to sharpen their own troops.

When they left Hatake Sakumo's tent, relief and excitement filled the team.

Only those who had experienced war understood how precious peace was, and how hard it was to come by.

Everyone dreamed of leaving the battlefield and living in peace for a while.

"Captain, what are you going to do when you get back to Konoha?" Yamada Shinji asked. "After all that brutal fighting, it feels like there won't be anything to do in a peaceful life."

"Don't be so dramatic," Satomaru said. "We're not even back in Konoha yet. By the time you get bored, we'll probably have another mission."

Fugaku watched his teammates bicker without stopping them. Fighting while constantly on alert took a heavy toll. Having someone lighten the mood helped everyone relax.

Judging by what Hatake Sakumo had said today, getting the whole team together again would probably be difficult.