Escort Mission

Anyone who had been to the Land of Rain would say it was a weeping country.

Meikyō agreed wholeheartedly. Even though he was not yet within the Land of Rain's borders, but stationed at the junction between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain, the rain still fell without cease for days on end, leaving the air damp.

Especially now, in the depths of winter, such weather felt even more piercingly cold and clammy.

Just as Dan Katō had said, the village had not sent them directly onto the battlefield, but assigned them to the second line.

This had originally been an important Konoha Border Defense stronghold during peacetime, with a stockpile of military supplies. Once war began, it could effectively support the Front Line, serving as both a Logistics Hub and a reserve troop station.

Dan Katō had already led a group of elites to the Front Line to take orders under Mitokado Homura, the Battlefield Commander here.

As for this camp, it happened to be under the command of Inuzuka Ryo's clan uncle—an Jonin named Inuzuka Gaku.

Thanks to that connection, the assignments Meikyō and the others received were all fairly good: relatively safe and easy.

For example, they were currently on duty, responsible for guarding an area southwest of the camp.

"Nami, anything?"

Meikyō turned his head toward Aburame Nami, who had just recalled a swarm of insects. As he spoke, his breath formed clouds of white mist before his mouth.

Aburame Nami merely shook her head in silence.

"I see. Then in a few minutes, once Ryo gets back, it should be about time for the shift change. Hopefully, the next assignment will be just as safe."

Meikyō let out a long sigh.

Though he was practically unrivaled among the Genin of his generation, according to Dan Katō, his current strength already surpassed that of many Chunin. He was likely only short of enough war merit, or a Chunin Exam, before becoming a true Chunin.

Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Nami were likewise stronger than the vast majority of Genin. In some Chunin Exams, they might well have had a chance of passing.

But that little strength could not stir up any waves in a war of this scale. At best, they were only slightly better off than the Cannon Fodder Genin.

Put nicely, Chunin were the village's vital backbone in wartime. Put bluntly, they were merely advanced cannon fodder that could be treated as expendable resources.

Only those at the Jonin level—or at least with the strength of a Special Jonin—were qualified to escape the fate of cannon fodder in this war and possess sufficient means of self-preservation—provided they did not encounter opponents like the Five Kage, Hanzo, or a Tailed Beast.

"Meikyō! I'm here!"

Inuzuka Ryo's bright voice rang out from nearby. Behind him followed Tetsu Maru, who had grown considerably over the past half year.

Dogs were generally considered adults after one year, but the Inuzuka Clan's Ninja Hounds clearly did not fall into that category.

They basically only gained the ability to reproduce after reaching three years old—in other words, adulthood in the biological sense.

But that did not mean these Ninja Hounds lacked combat ability before turning three. Tetsu Maru, for example, had only just passed two years old, yet his build was already beginning to approach that of a Young Dog. He could cooperate with Inuzuka Ryo to perform a considerable portion of the Inuzuka Clan's ninjutsu.

As a result, Inuzuka Ryo's strength had actually grown greatly over the past half year.

"Meikyō, Nami, Uncle Gaku said that after this assignment, we'll have to take part in the next Supply Escort Mission. If we keep doing nothing but easy jobs, people will definitely start talking, and some will become dissatisfied."

Inuzuka Ryo rubbed Tetsu Maru's head as he spoke to Meikyō.

"I see. I can understand Senior Gaku's thinking. After all, those who can stay in the rear are basically either promising young ninja valued by the village, or people with some backing. If Senior Gaku makes things too obvious, the first group will be manageable, but the latter group will be hard to placate."

Meikyō took it quite calmly.

Because the three of them possessed both traits.

They had already been among the most outstanding Genin of their class, and each had their own Ninja Clan supporting them. Though the Aburame Clan and Inuzuka Clan were not top-tier great clans, they were not clans that ordinary small Ninja Clans could compare to. They ranked above average among Konoha's many Ninja Clans, not to mention that the Uchiha behind Meikyō was the Ninja World's Foremost Great Clan.

"That's true, but this Supply Escort Mission is indeed much more dangerous. At the very least, we need to be prepared and careful during the mission. I don't want to see any of us missing."

Inuzuka Ryo forced a smile.

Supply Escort Missions generally involved rear strongholds sending batches of supplies to the Front Line at irregular intervals. This was undoubtedly one of the enemy's main targets. Once they obtained suspicious intelligence, they would dispatch elite units to intercept them. Even without that, small Enemy Squads would occasionally infiltrate the rear to attempt Raid and Sabotage.

Though not as dangerous as the battlefield on the Front Line, it was absolutely not a threat to be underestimated.

Every month, one or two Logistics Escort Units would be attacked.

When Meikyō and the others had first arrived at this camp, they had happened to see a Logistics Escort Unit attacked by Amegakure elites. Several people had reportedly died, while some of the survivors had been Crippled. They likely would never be ninja again for the rest of their lives.

"It's fine. On average, an attack only happens once every five such missions, and the last attack was just last week. We shouldn't be that unlucky. Even if we do run into one, there's nothing we can do about it. I believe our team is strong enough to survive danger at that level."

Meikyō patted Inuzuka Ryo on the shoulder in reassurance.

The carts rumbled, and the horses whinnied.

Meikyō carried a wakizashi on his back, watching his surroundings as he walked in the middle of the convoy.

Quite a few equally vigilant ninja were around him.

The dozen or so carts in the center carried a small number of Sealing Scrolls, along with a much larger amount of other supplies.

Sealing Scrolls were not actually small. They were as thick as an adult's waist and roughly a meter long.

Though they could seal supplies, their storage capacity was not absurdly large. It was nothing like the Xianxia novels, where a single storage pouch could hold several cubic meters of goods.

In the original work, both Hashirama Senju and Tenten had used these things to seal large numbers of ninja tools such as Shuriken. The one on Meikyō's back was the same.

They were also difficult to make. Not only were the materials precious, they had to be crafted by ninja proficient in both the Summoning Technique and Sealing Technique. Their principles were somewhat similar to the Flying Thunder God, allowing ninja tools and other items to be summoned out when the scroll was opened.