Evening.
That day.
Yechen finished his day's training and returned to camp. He had barely reached his quarters when someone came looking for him.
Looking at the Konoha ninja who had come to deliver a message, Yechen asked,
"What does Captain Kurozawa need me for?"
Indeed, Yuna Kurozawa had sent someone to summon him.
"I don't know. Captain Kurozawa only told me to ask you to come to the meeting room," the messenger replied, shaking his head.
"All right."
Yechen answered and stepped out of his tent.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the Northern Defense Line's meeting room.
Along the way, Yechen could clearly sense that there were more people around than usual for this time of day, and every one of them seemed to be hurrying somewhere. Had something happened?
Putting those thoughts aside, Yechen pulled back the tent flap without ceremony and walked straight in.
The first thing he saw was Yuna Kurozawa's miserable expression.
"Captain Kurozawa, what's wrong? What happened?"
"Sigh..."
Seeing him, Yuna Kurozawa sighed, then said,
"We just received word from Commander-in-Chief Nara at the Command Center. Qu River Town has fallen to Iwagakure."
"What?" Yechen was stunned by the news.
Of course Yechen knew how important Qu River Town was to Konoha. He and Shisui had come from there.
With the town lost, Konoha would have no more important strongholds left to defend. Once Iwagakure extended its battle lines and gradually consolidated its position, Konoha's Main Camp in the Land of Rain would be in grave danger.
At that point, Konoha's defensive forces would inevitably be squeezed into a tiny area, severely restricting their movements and leaving them with far fewer options.
Iwagakure, by contrast, would have much greater flexibility in its movements.
Drawing on his memories of his previous life, Yechen