Top-secret intel for the cannon fodder unit

Early the next morning, the first pale light had barely touched the horizon.

The open space outside the Hidden Leaf gates was already packed with ninja.

Most had eyes full of anticipation, marking them at a glance as greenhorns fresh out of the Academy. Only a handful who had seen battle or came from established lineages wore grim, tightly drawn expressions.

Time crawled by.

Shin Kudo led Jin Uchiha and the other two over to Yukie Miyamoto, the Jonin in command, and stopped before her.

"Lady Miyamoto, Class B's Seventh Squad reporting!"

"Mm. Go wait over there."

Yukie Miyamoto nodded and dismissed them with that single sentence.

They moved to the foot of the wall before Shin Kudo spoke in a low voice.

"I'll keep this brief."

"As things stand, the Hidden Mist and our Hidden Leaf haven't openly broken ties completely."

"The other battlefronts can't spare anyone right now, so we're being sent ahead first. Our destination is that old site in the Land of Whirlpools."

"Everyone in our contingent will be under Lady Yukie Miyamoto's command."

"You don't need to overthink anything else. Just remember one thing—on the battlefield, no matter how outrageous an order from above sounds, you grit your teeth and carry it out."

"All we can do now is hang in there."

"Once everyone's here and the supply convoy arrives, we move out immediately."

Kazama Nara and Jin Uchiha both nodded grimly.

They understood how battlefield discipline worked.

On the Front Lines, the first ironclad rule was obedience.

In the Shinobi World, people were ultimately treated as tools.

Unfortunately, Itsuki Ishikawa didn't buy any of that. He immediately puffed out his chest and declared,

"Relax, guys."

"With me here, one of the top three in our class, I'll definitely keep you safe."

"Just trust me!"

Jin Uchiha's and Kazama Nara's mouths twitched.

Our squad leader's standing right here, and you already can't wait to take over?

Where does that leave Shin Kudo?

Neither of them had liked Itsuki Ishikawa to begin with. After this little performance, they genuinely had no idea what to say.

They had seen plenty of idiots.

But this was the first time they had met someone quite this stupid.

Throw someone like him onto a battlefield, and he would usually be among the first to die.

That alone was enough for both of them to resolve to stay well away from this moron when the time came.

As for what Shin Kudo was thinking, that hardly needed saying.

The look he gave Itsuki Ishikawa was indescribably complicated.

But in the end, he said nothing.

Having crawled out of piles of corpses himself, he knew better than anyone that someone like this wouldn't make so much as a ripple on the Front Lines. There was no point wasting his breath.

As he mulled that over, something flashed before their eyes.

By the time they registered it, another person stood before them, a Tachi at his waist and the Uchiha clan's flame-shaped fan embroidered on his clothes.

The newcomer was none other than Shisui Uchiha.

"Are you Lord Shisui?"

"Greetings, Lord Shisui."

Everyone hurried to greet him.

At this point, Shisui Uchiha had yet to earn the resounding title of "Shisui of the Body Flicker," but his frequent appearances on the battlefield had already won him some renown in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Unlike Ordinary Ninja like them and the clan's bottom-rung failures, Shisui was a genuine genius of the Uchiha clan.

Shisui smiled and nodded. "I'd like a private word with Jin."

"Captain, I'll be over there for a moment." Jin Uchiha frowned slightly, but still turned to let Shin Kudo know.

Shin Kudo simply nodded.

Jin Uchiha followed Shisui a short distance away.

Shin Kudo and Kazama Nara watched their retreating backs, something strange in their eyes.

They knew Jin belonged to the Uchiha clan, but they had never imagined he was so close to a genius like Shisui.

Looking at it that way, their teammate had been keeping quite a bit under wraps.

Meanwhile, Jin Uchiha and Shisui reached a secluded spot, where Shisui solemnly pressed a fishnet-style undershirt into his hands.

"I forgot yesterday, so I'm making up for it today."

"The battlefield is dangerous, and this is your first time heading to the Front Lines. As your older brother, I have to look out for you."

"This Chain Pendant Armor has some otherworldly meteoric iron and hundred-forged iron mixed into it."

"Come on, put it on and let me see."

Jin Uchiha froze for a moment, then frowned at the fishnet garment in his hands.

He was a grown man and really didn't want to wear this thing. Besides, with his abilities, he didn't believe anyone could hurt him.

But faced with the concern filling Shisui's eyes, he couldn't stop the emotions churning inside him.

After all these years since transmigrating, he had never expected to experience someone looking out for him so wholeheartedly.

There was truly nothing he could fault about Shisui's care for him.

Yet that only made him feel more conflicted. The Uchiha clan's mess gave him a headache whenever it came up.

After a brief hesitation, he drew a breath and quickly pulled on the fishnet armor.

"Good. It fits nicely."

"Now I can rest a little easier. While we're here, there's something else I need to tell you in secret."

"Word just came in from the ANBU. The Hidden Mist declared war on the Hidden Leaf yesterday. The higher-ups just haven't told your contingent the truth."

"Your unit's real job is to buy the Hidden Leaf more time with your lives."

"The Hokage has already issued orders for our Uchiha clan to mobilize its elite. Lord Fugaku will be taking charge of the Hidden Mist front."

"You have to hold on."

"Make it through these next two weeks, and I'll find a way to transfer you into my squad."

Jin Uchiha's expression changed immediately.

He had already guessed that their lot was destined to be cannon fodder, but hearing just how dangerous it would be still sent a chill down his spine.

Actual cannon fodder.

Seen in that light, their chances of returning alive really weren't good.

The Hidden Mist had already slammed the table and declared war, while the Hidden Leaf was still dragging its feet, scraping together manpower wherever it could.

Shisui had made their purpose perfectly clear: they were to buy time with their lives.

Still, he was deeply grateful to Shisui.

Even an idiot could tell that this information was top secret. The fact that Shisui had quietly shared it with him said everything about how much he cared.

Drawing a breath, he nodded solemnly.

Although his approach had always been to lay low and survive above all else, Shisui had done so much for him that he decided to return a little of that trust.

Just a tiny bit.

He simply couldn't bear to let someone who cared so much about him worry needlessly afterward.

With that thought, he lowered his voice.

"Shisui, don't worry about me."

"I'll let you in on a secret, but you can't tell a third person. Not even the Hokage or the clan head."

"I'm actually not that useless."

"I killed Yoshio Uchiha and the others."