The group transporting the wounded was small, only a dozen or so people. Besides Bieshu Feifan and his two teammates, there was one Chunin and a few cannon-fodder Genin.
While the Chunin up ahead was busy fighting enemies of unknown origin, Bieshu Feifan took the opportunity to grope at the eyes of the severely wounded people lying immobilized on the wooden cart.
In Konoha, people with special chakra generally belonged to the Uchiha or the Hyūga.
"What are you doing?"
A weak but angry roar came as Bieshu Feifan slipped his fingers beneath a pair of eyelids.
Bieshu Feifan ignored him and moved on to the next person.
Soon, amid the explosions and clashing ninjutsu up ahead, Bieshu Feifan finished feeling the eyes of every severely wounded person on his cart.
Then he checked with his Byakugan. The enemies ahead had yet to break through the Konoha Chunin's defense, so he ran over to the neighboring wooden cart.
"Who's there?"
It was pitch-black all around. Hearing someone approach, Shimura Daio immediately raised his kunai.
He had left his spear in the tent at the front line.
"Daio, my friend, it's me."
Seeing that it was Bieshu Feifan, Shimura Daio relaxed at once.
"Oh, Feifan, my friend. You're just in time. I was wondering how to help, but there aren't any suitable rocks around."
At the mention of rocks, Bieshu Feifan knew what Shimura Daio was thinking. He had been the one to teach him that way of slacking off.
"Easy enough. Let's protect the wounded first."
Shimura Daio frowned.
"How?"
"Let me check whether there are any spies among them first."
With that, Bieshu Feifan lunged toward the wooden cart and began prying at their eyes one by one. Unfortunately, there were no bloodline Shinobi.
To avoid raising suspicion, Bieshu Feifan felt over everyone's entire body, including their armpits.
That way, touching their eyes was nothing out of the ordinary.
Still, to fool Shimura Daio, Bieshu Feifan pulled out an explosive tag.
Shimura Daio's eyes lit up, and he immediately looked toward the wooden cart Wenshu was responsible for.
"I'll go check too."
When the two reached Wenshu's cart, Wenshu was absent.
Neither could be bothered with that. One felt at eyeballs while the other searched for valuables.
There were still no bloodline Shinobi. Bieshu Feifan was disappointed, but Shimura Daio was in a good mood. He had found quite a few useful things on the severely wounded.
By then, after a bitter fight, the Chunin up ahead finally drove off the enemies they had encountered and hurried back to the carts carrying the wounded.
"Pick up the pace."
His tone was quite urgent.
The enemies had indeed retreated, but they had not all died. Bieshu Feifan had also watched the battle through his Byakugan. The other side had lost a few Genin, and so had Konoha.
Wenshu returned alive then, his breathing unsteady. Seeing his two teammates completely unscathed, he felt somewhat displeased.
"Genin Bieshu, Genin Shimura, why didn't you help fight the enemies just now?"
Shimura Daio narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Are you questioning me?"
Wenshu froze.
"No, I just think that, in a situation like that, we should have followed the Chunin's lead closely."
Sensing Shimura Daio's mounting anger, Bieshu Feifan hurried to speak first:
"Genin Wenshu, the wounded need protection. If everyone went off to fight, who would protect them?"
Wenshu wanted to say more, but Bieshu Feifan cut him off:
"Genin Wenshu, escorting the wounded isn't just a mission. It's protecting our comrades. Don't treat the lives of the severely wounded as worthless. Genin Wenshu, your Will of Fire is far too weak."
Bieshu Feifan even shook his head as he spoke. Wenshu listened in a daze, turning it over in his head, yet could not find a retort for the moment.
Bieshu Feifan sneered inwardly. With Shinobi, whose development in morality, intellect, physique, aesthetics, and labor was completely lopsided, as long as they still intended to argue reasonably, they had already lost.
It was not that Bieshu Feifan was eloquent. It was that even the most educated Shinobi only had an elementary schooler's education.
After all, in a profession where people started hacking others down at a few years old, eloquence was the most useless skill.
Hadn't Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had preached for decades, still been killed by Orochimaru?
Seeing Wenshu at a loss, Shimura Daio sneered and added:
"Genin Wenshu, you should have ensured the wounded were safe. Your sense of duty is too weak. All you care about is merit."
With that, Shimura Daio and Bieshu Feifan continued pulling their wooden carts after the Chunin leading the group.
Wenshu thought it over but still could not come up with a retort. With a sullen face, he pulled his cart and followed as well.
Only Bieshu Feifan and his two teammates were pulling carts. Everyone else was on guard duty: one Chunin and a few Genin.
With that lineup, they actually had no need for Bieshu Feifan's trio at all. But they had happened to run into them, and there was no reason not to use free cannon fodder.
The cartload of severely wounded people was ultimately delivered safely to the rear. Then the Chunin leading them immediately took the few Genin back toward the front line at speed.
Bieshu Feifan cursed inwardly again. Forget getting a rest-they even had to pull the empty carts back.
This time, halfway there, Bieshu Feifan happened to activate his Byakugan to scout and spotted people lying in ambush not far ahead. Judging by their clothing, they were probably Shinobi from the Land of Rain.
But the Chunin leading them noticed nothing and did not change their route, even though they had already fought a battle along this very route earlier.
Bieshu Feifan gradually slowed down and began panting heavily, soon falling to the rear of the group.
Shimura Daio did not abandon Bieshu Feifan, slowing down as well.
"Feifan, my friend, your stamina really is a little lacking."
Bieshu Feifan rolled his eyes at Shimura Daio. He was only seven, not some exceptionally gifted genius who could hack his way to Chunin at this age. He was merely a Shinobi with the most standard Genin potential in Konoha. He had not even learned the three basic techniques yet.
Although Wenshu had had an unpleasant exchange with the two earlier, he slowed down as well rather than leaving them completely behind.
The Chunin and the few Genin he led, on the other hand, had stopped paying attention to the three temporary workers as soon as the mission was complete.
It was the same now. Although they clearly noticed that Bieshu Feifan lacked the stamina to keep up, they had no intention of waiting or helping and simply ran on ahead.
Then,
Boom!
One of the faster Genin stepped on an explosive tag and was instantly blown into several pieces before he could even scream.
"Enemy attack!"
The Chunin leading them shouted after the fact while swiftly retreating.
But there was not a trace of light at that hour, and the Chunin had no idea where the enemies were.
The enemies, however, had used the flash of the exploding tag to see the Konoha ninja's positions clearly. The moment the Chunin retreated, a dense barrage of shuriken flew from the woods ahead.
Bieshu Feifan and his two teammates, at the very rear, were not caught in the attack. Bieshu Feifan scanned their surroundings with his Byakugan, then abandoned his cart, turned, and ran to the right.
Shimura Daio hesitated for a moment, then followed Bieshu Feifan.
Although he did not know whether the route Bieshu Feifan had chosen was dangerous, he knew he could not judge where danger lay at all.
Wenshu hesitated much longer. After several screams rang out in the darkness, he, unable to make out the situation, followed the other two after all.
"Aren't you going to help? You're just abandoning the Chunin like this?"
The first thing Wenshu did upon catching up was question them.
Bieshu Feifan rolled his eyes at him irritably.
"Genin Wenshu, the Chunin abandoned us. We were already left behind when the previous mission ended, and we still haven't caught up. What is this nonsense about helping?"
"You..."
Wenshu was stunned by Bieshu Feifan's words. That was not what the Ninja Academy had taught him.
But just as he was about to say something, Shimura Daio interrupted him.
"That's right. The Chunin and the others ran so fast. Maybe they've already reached the front line."
With even Shimura Daio saying that, Wenshu was utterly dumbfounded. A vague feeling arose within him.
These two teammates of his did not seem to be good people.
The journey went smoothly. That Chunin had drawn all the fire.
Bieshu Feifan and his two teammates returned safely to the camp at the very front.
Wenshu immediately went to report to Takaichi Wanmi that they had been ambushed, but before he could approach the tent, a Chunin stopped him.
"You three, come here."
Bieshu Feifan's face darkened, and he had a bad feeling.
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