The Pure Land chessboard, Pawn sector.
This was not the center of the battlefield. There were no towering Susanoo, no earth-shattering clashes of Wood Release, but the fighting was just as fierce and chaotic.
Everyone had gone mad, lost themselves, and unleashed everything they had.
Large numbers of both sides' mainstay fighters, elite ninja, and even famous samurai from history fought in pairs or formed squads to face one another. The flashes of ninjutsu and the clang of weapons never ceased.
In an unremarkable corner of this chaotic battlefield, a scruffily dressed old man with messy hair and a small pair of sunglasses nimbly dodged flying rubble and stray attacks while grumbling:
"I'm telling you!
Can those big fellows up there watch out for the teammates under their feet when they fight?
I nearly tripped over a Wood Release root, then the wind from a Susanoo's chakra blew so hard I couldn't open my eyes.
I'm an old man. I can't take this kind of punishment."
This old man was Chen Baojun, known as Teacher Chen, a hero recorded in Konoha's archives as having died in the Third Shinobi World War.
In reality, he had simply grown tired of war, faked his death to escape, and lived quietly under an assumed identity near Konoha. Occasionally, he even stole the offerings left at his own grave.
After the Chunin Ninja Exams, Rock Lee had even caught him stealing offerings while passing by during training.
His heavily accented complaints were barely noticeable amid the battle cries, but Rock Lee, who was fighting an enemy nearby, happened to hear them.
"Huh?"
Rock Lee sent the enemy before him flying with a beautiful Konoha Whirlwind. His ears twitched, and he whipped his head toward the voice.
When he saw the scruffy old man clearly,