Half an hour passed in assembly.
The figure of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, appeared before everyone.
Afterwards came an impassioned speech.
I have to admit, Sarutobi Hiruzen was very skilled at stirring people's hearts. After a single speech, the ninjas who had never been to the battlefield were left burning with passion, itching to head straight to the front lines and slaughter the enemy.
Only those ninjas who had been to the battlefield knew how cruel it truly was; they no longer held the initial passion for Sarutobi Hiruzen's speech.
If you wanted to motivate these people, you either had to bind them with interests or drive them with righteousness. Expecting them to risk their lives for you on mere empty words-no one was a fool.
Like most Genin, Yechen put on a very excited expression, though inside he remained completely unmoved.
The Shinobi World was a place that spoke through strength. As long as your strength was sufficient, even a single person would have a place of their own. If you didn't like the look of someone, you simply killed them-where did all that nonsense come from?
Unawares, Yechen's mindset had changed. He was no longer the Yechen who still harbored a shred of pity; that trace of kindness had been sealed away by him.
At this moment he had only one goal, and that was to cultivate and grow stronger. Whoever had the bigger fist had the truth!
Twenty minutes passed before Sarutobi Hiruzen finished his speech.
The troops advancing toward the front lines set off one after another.
Yechen roughly scanned the troops; the number of Jonin was around twenty-something, and there were also over thirty Special Jōnin.
As for the Chunin and Genin, combined, there were around three hundred people.
With such a massive force, and strength varying unevenly, naturally they couldn't move very fast.
What's more, there were dozens of carriages hauling supplies.
Therefore, it took them nearly half a month to walk out of the territory of the Land of Fire and enter the battlefield of the Land of Rain.
Strange to say, it rarely rained in the territory of the Land of Fire, but as soon as they entered the territory of the Land of Rain, a continuous, fine drizzle greeted them.
Often they wouldn't see the sun a few times in a week, which made the ninjas who had lived in the Land of Fire for a long time very unaccustomed to it.
Because of this, the advancing troops became even slower.
Another week passed, and the Konoha forces finally drew near the main camp of the Land of Rain battlefield.
Ahead was a large canyon, with the main camp deep within it. One of the objectives of their trip was to escort supplies, and only by delivering the supplies to the main camp would this mission be considered complete.
Seeing this sight, Yechen gave birth to a bad feeling; if enemy forces ambushed them here, they would definitely suffer.
He could see it, and he believed the accompanying Jonin should know this as well.
Yet why did they still choose to walk this path? Could there really be no other choices leading to the main camp?
Then there was only one reason: time was tight, the main camp urgently needed this batch of supplies, and reserve personnel were also required.
Fortunately, the Konoha Jonin were not fools. Knowing full well that this place was suitable for an ambush, they slowed their advancing speed and even dispatched several squads to scout ahead.
Time ticked by bit by bit, and the troops advanced slowly.
Suddenly, a violent explosion came from the distance, and faintly a cluster of crimson flames could be seen rising.
"It's an Explosive Tag! An ambush!"
A Special Jōnin shouted.
The troops instantly fell into great disarray. Many Genin had never encountered such a situation; most of them had been brainwashed and brought along, so what did they know of true warfare?
When the sound of the explosion rang out, panic was born as a result.
Fortunately, the leading Jonin stepped forward one by one to put a stop to the chaos.
"Everyone, form a defensive formation!"
A stern roar came from the front.
Hearing this, the Chunin in the troops already possessed combat experience and began organizing the Genin around them to build a defensive formation together.
As for those Special Jōnin, they also began unfolding combat operations based on their own proficient fields.
Those adept at combat rushed out of the ranks to support the forward scouting personnel.
Meanwhile, the ninjas adept in the sensory field deployed formations to scout the surrounding area, preventing enemy sneak attacks.
The other ninjas also had their own jobs.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, resembling dozens or hundreds of rehearsals, with every ninja able to find their own position.
Only these newly promoted Genin knew nothing, and could only obey the instructions of the veteran Chunin around them, just like rookie soldiers who had just entered the army.
This feeling was very bad, much like having one's own fate controlled in the hands of others, completely lacking any sense of security.
Even so, Yechen did not act rashly. This kind of scene was not something a ninja of Chunin strength could sway.
Over the past half-month or so, because people were mixed and eyes were everywhere, Yechen hadn't dared to practice his techniques too much.
His identity was merely a newly promoted Genin, and if his strength exceeded that by too much, it would attract the attention of others. Rather than that, he preferred to practice a little less.
Even so, he didn't dare to slack off in the slightest; if he couldn't practice techniques, he would temper his physical constitution. Space Compression came in handy.
Space Compression could not only produce a compressive effect on other matter, but even the flesh could increase its compression capacity.
Using the Space Compression ability to add double the pressure to himself, marching with this method undoubtedly consumed physical stamina rapidly.
Consumption led to recovery, and under such tempering, his physical constitution naturally grew strengthened.