Back at the garrison camp.
After professional medical ninja treated Aoki Tsuki and Ryōta, they finally felt at ease and began to recuperate.
But he discovered that theirs was not the only squad that had been attacked.
Two squads had even been wiped out, and the medical ninja were suddenly rushed off their feet.
Since they had no missions for the time being, Aoki Tsuki told Mieko to help out and learn a few things along the way.
He seized the time to train and improve his strength.
A week later, amid a fine curtain of rain, Aoki Tsuki stood on the lake, rapidly forming hand seals. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A stream of water rose from the lake and formed a wall in front of him. It held for several seconds before falling back into the lake.
He reached up and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I've finally mastered this defensive ninjutsu."
The Water Formation Wall ninjutsu could be used differently depending on the situation.
It could take the shape of a funnel to defend against and ram into enemies, or form a circular barrier to block attacks from every direction.
For now, Aoki Tsuki could only form a wall of water where water was present. He had yet to master the other shapes.
In any case, he could use it without issue when fighting in the Land of Rain.
He was also exploring Lightning Release nature transformation, but it would not be practical in battle anytime soon.
After resting for a while, Aoki Tsuki began practicing his swordsmanship. After several months of exploration and refinement, its general direction was basically settled.
It was mainly intended to complement the seven stages of the Rain Breathing Method he was developing.
Its core was: a mind as still as water, reflecting all things.
He would make full use of the rainy environment and, through a unique breathing rhythm, sense the flow, speed, and trajectory of the rain.
The first stage, Mist Rain Breath, centered on concealment. Through breathing, he reduced his presence and blended into the curtain of rain.
The move was inspired by Zabuza's use of the Silent Killing Technique with the Hidden Mist Technique.
During this process, his footsteps and scent would be masked by the rain, keeping enemies from detecting him as much as possible.
The corresponding sword technique drew on the principle of speed in a quick-draw slash.
This was also a state Aoki Tsuki could now enter proficiently after his recent hard training.
The second stage, Continuous Rain Breath, centered on an unbroken succession.
It built on the first stage, further enhancing it to bring out the full power of his sword technique, Combined Slash.
He could just barely use this move.
As for the later stages, such as sudden rain, torrential rain, and cold rain, they were still concepts that needed continued development and refinement.
It was a process in which the rain gradually grew stronger: sensing, merging, guiding, borrowing its force, and mastering it.
The final stage was the ultimate secret of Rain Breathing as he envisioned it: unity of heaven and man.
The swordsmanship used in that state would be Senjutsu.
Every technique had a weakness.
What would happen if he left a rainy environment?
Aoki Tsuki had considered this question too. Its effect would certainly weaken, and even if he could create an environment with water, it would be greatly diminished.
But it would be enough until he reached the level of an elite Jonin.
He spent the whole morning training, until Ryōta appeared.
"Captain, Jonin Satō has summoned you. I hear we're short-handed lately. He might be assigning new missions."
Ryōta had not been idle during this time either. Besides sparring with Aoki Tsuki, he had spent the rest of his time practicing tree climbing, Water Walking, Shuriken throwing, and so on.
His Body Flicker Technique had improved greatly as well.
"All right, I'm coming."
By the time Aoki Tsuki entered the meeting, the others had already arrived one after another.
But compared with the meeting at the first camp, a few familiar people were missing, and there were several new faces.
Most of them were in a sorry state, and he was not the only one carrying injuries.
It was not easy for a small village like Amegakure to train a Chunin, and it simply could not afford such losses.
Over the past week, Sunagakure had gone to war with Kirigakure and Iwagakure in succession. Kumogakure was also stirring, waiting for an opportunity.
The Third Shinobi World War had begun.
When Satō Ichirō saw Aoki Tsuki enter, he motioned for him to sit down and then began to speak.
"Sunagakure ninja have repeatedly violated our borders, and the situation is growing worse. Iwagakure Ninja are suspected of involvement, and an unidentified force is also hiding among them, deliberately provoking conflict.
"They've inflicted heavy casualties on us. Orders have just come from the village: we must avoid falling into the enemy's plot and dragging the village back into the quagmire of war."
At that moment, Chunin Kurokawa, who was sitting beside Aoki Tsuki, raised his hand and spoke.
"But if we follow the previous strategy of avoiding battle, the three forces will only grow more brazen.
"They seem to have figured out that we don't dare clash with them. They attack us whenever they see us."
Kurokawa had deliberately stalled and failed to come to their rescue last time, and Aoki Tsuki still resented him for it.
Now he saw that Kurokawa had bandages on his face, and his eyes were full of helplessness, mixed with a trace of fear.
He felt much better and promptly retorted:
"Chunin Kurokawa, could it be that your way of communicating is wrong? You should always look for the problem in yourself first. The village never said we absolutely couldn't fight.
"I think we should first make our position clear to the other side. If they insist on having their way, then we fight. Ninja have always let their fists do the talking."
War had always been stopped through war. Avoiding battle would only make the enemy push for more.
"You bastard...?"
Seeing Aoki Tsuki ridicule him in front of everyone, Kurokawa flew into a rage.
Wait, Aoki Tsuki Squad survived an encounter with two Sunagakure Chunin last time. They're not weak. This guy is looking for an excuse to provoke me. I can't fall for it.
With that thought, Kurokawa suppressed his anger and shot back, "If that starts a war, can you bear the responsibility?"
To his surprise, Aoki Tsuki calmly shook his head.
"What are you afraid of? Lord Hanzō will step in."
"Uh..." Kurokawa was at a loss for words.
In Amegakure, Hanzō was a god. Who would dare argue?
"Aoki Tsuki is quite right," Satō Ichirō agreed.
On a politically correct matter like this, he had to immediately follow up and make his position clear.
Jonin Takenaka Osamu had mentioned Aoki Tsuki to him. Though young, he was reasonably strong, good at analyzing intelligence, and loyal to the village.
Takenaka Osamu had asked him to observe Aoki Tsuki's performance during the patrol.
So far, he seemed satisfactory.
His wife, Kikuno Momo, had also told him that Aoki Tsuki often ate at their family's shop.
He was not the only one in Amegakure who approached Satō this way. All of them simply wanted to use their connections with him to get ahead.
Does he want to become one of Lord Hanzō's guards?
Satō Ichirō inwardly shook his head. There was no problem with Aoki Tsuki's background or his stance, but his strength was still a little lacking.
Even the outermost guards had to be elite Chunin with ample experience.
Most importantly, they had to be absolutely loyal to Lord Hanzō, putting him above the village.
Both required the test of time.
Aoki Tsuki had only spoken up just now to get his attention.
"Heh... kid!"
The thought flashed through Satō Ichirō's mind, and he said, "For us ninja, fighting is nearly unavoidable.
"How we fight and what we fight for-our position is important. Just make it clear, and handle the rest according to the situation."
"Yes, sir!"
Everyone stood and answered in unison.
Satō Ichirō meant that they only needed to make Amegakure's position clear. Whether they fought or withdrew otherwise was up to them.
That made things easier.
Unlike the previous strategy, which had been vague and unclear.
If they fought, they feared causing a bigger conflict or even a war. If they did not, they feared disgracing the village's name and being punished by the village.
Immediately afterward, Aoki Tsuki Squad was reassigned to patrol the Chōkai Peak area. Kurokawa Squad remained responsible for the other half, and the two were paired up once again.
Because of what was said at the meeting, the two did not seem as harmonious as the teams on the other mountains.
"Brother Kurokawa, I hope we can look out for each other. I can't promise anything else, but as soon as you run into trouble, I'll be there."
Aoki Tsuki swore to the heavens. "I promise."
"Just as I thought, this guy... I knew it..."
Kurokawa sighed, put on a fake smile, and nodded in agreement. "Right, right, I was thinking the same thing."
"Mm, here's to a good partnership."
The two shook hands and went their separate ways to make arrangements.
Fortunately, each squad patrolled half of Chōkai Peak, so they hardly ever saw each other.
Aoki Tsuki Squad did not encounter any enemies either. This was all thanks to Mieko's sensory ability, which let them avoid every potential enemy. They really hadn't encountered any, so he couldn't be blamed for that, could he?
That day, the squad was patrolling as usual when it suddenly received a distress signal.
Mieko quickly said, "Captain, it looks like a call for help from Kurokawa Squad next to us."
Ryōta and Shinichi both looked at Aoki Tsuki, waiting for their captain to speak.
He rubbed his chin. "Looks like Kurokawa Squad is in trouble. Let's hurry to support them, but we can't let our guard down along the way."
After they had traveled some distance, Aoki Tsuki ordered the squad to stop and scout the surroundings.
Of course, he was stalling for time.
Mieko moved close to Aoki Tsuki and whispered, "Is this really okay? If something really happens to Kurokawa Squad, won't they blame us?"
"Aren't we on our way to support them? Support needs a plan. We should advance step by step, not rush in blindly.
"Otherwise, not only will we accomplish nothing, we'll get ourselves caught up in it too. We need to learn to trust in our comrades' strength."
"O-okay. Now that you put it that way, it does seem to make sense."
Of course, Mieko knew their captain was talking nonsense.
Forget it. This guy always has a way to deal with the higher-ups. I'd better not worry about it.
Being a squad leader was no easy job; one needed eight hundred schemes in mind. Even so, after some time, the squad arrived at the rescue site.
From a long way off, they saw a member of Kurokawa Squad hanging from a tree, blood staining the trunk red.
"He's... dead!!"
Mieko stared in shock at the corpse in the tree.
Immediately afterward, they spotted the bodies of the other two members of Kurokawa Squad nearby, one after another.
The one in the tree was in somewhat better shape. Of the two on the ground, one had been pierced with Kunai and Shuriken like a porcupine, while the other had been blown to pieces by an Explosive Tag.
"What happened? Where's Chunin Kurokawa?"
"Don't worry. That guy's crafty. There's no way he'd die so easily. Strange, why hasn't support arrived yet?"
Judging by the time, Satō Ichirō, who was at Mount Rishiri, should have arrived by now.
Mieko sensed the surroundings and shook her head.
"There are intense Chakra fluctuations ahead and to the right. Someone should still be fighting."
Aoki Tsuki took out a scroll and stored the three bodies inside it.
"Come on, let's take a look."
The group carefully slipped over and found the battlefield beside a waterfall.
"It's Sunagakure and Iwagakure! Why am I not surprised at all?"
Three Sunagakure ninja were fighting five Iwagakure Ninja. The ninja from Iwagakure wore red and were generally tall and large.
The Sunagakure side was clearly at a disadvantage.
Two of them were Yoshiki and Fire Fly, whom Aoki Tsuki Squad had encountered last time. The third was stronger and was fighting the opposing leader.