In the end, Shin'un's vigilance proved unnecessary. The convoy of horse-drawn wagons approached Konoha's camp in the Land of Rain without incident.
As the convoy gradually drew closer to the expanse of tents in the distance, Shin'un began looking around.
Nearly a hundred tents stood in a clearing that appeared to have been opened up by hand. Rather than being packed closely together, they seemed deliberately divided into several sections, and Shin'un could roughly make out their purposes.
For example, a large cluster of tents on the western side of the camp bustled with people. It was probably the living area for ninja who had withdrawn from the front lines.
The southeastern corner was also busy, but many of the people walking there were injured, and medical-nin in white coats mingled among them. Those were probably the medical tents where ninja received treatment.
The northeastern corner was somewhat different, with fully armed ninja walking all through it. Shin'un guessed that was where supplies were stored and issued.
At the very center of the camp stood a huge tent that, judging by sight alone, occupied an area the size of a basketball court. It was probably the command tent responsible for directing operations across the entire Land of Rain battlefield.
While Shin'un was still curiously observing Konoha's distant tents, the wagon convoy he was riding in suddenly stopped.
Noticing the halt, Shin'un glanced around, stood up, and raised an eyebrow as he looked toward the lead wagon.
There, the Jonin in charge of this transport mission was talking with several ninja who appeared to be on patrol, taking out a mission scroll to show them.
After seeing this, Shin'un quietly sat back down and waited for the convoy to set off again.
"What's going on? What are they doing?" Yūichi watched the ninja talking in the distance, then looked at Shin'un in some confusion.
"It's probably an inspection like the ones when you enter or leave through the Konoha Gate. We should be able to move on soon," Shin'un replied casually.
After a short wait, just as Shin'un had said, the convoy continued toward the nearby tents.
Only now, its destination seemed a little more definite. The convoy headed straight for the northeastern corner of the camp, exactly where Shin'un had identified the supply storage area.
Soon, the lead wagon entered the tent area. After they found the ninja responsible for managing the stored supplies, the dozen or so wagons followed him toward the tents being used as storehouses.
It was already getting late, and the sun was about to set. The heavy clouds had already blocked out the sunlight, and it would soon grow even darker.
The group raced against time to unload the supplies from the wagons before the sky turned completely black.
For that, they had the Shadow Clones of several veteran ninja to thank, adding several capable workers to the unloading crew...
Once all the supplies had been safely stored in the tents, the group split up, following the ninja responsible for storage to several nearby clearings for dinner.
Shin'un's squad and Minato Namikaze's squad likewise followed a logistics ninja toward a nearby clearing.
"Whole roast lamb! Meat skewers! Grilled oysters!" Shiina Kō's eyes widened in delight at the whole lamb sizzling and dripping fat over a fire ahead, and the grills scattered across the clearing, all giving off enticing aromas. "I never thought we'd get a dinner like this here."
"Is this all right? I mean, lighting fires to grill food on a battlefield?" Yūichi silently swallowed as he smelled the grilled food. His appetite had clearly been stirred, but the solid ninja education he had received from an early age in the Uchiha Clan still made him consider ninja-related concerns first.
Shin'un knew little about battlefield matters and had no similar experience. Although the roast lamb sizzling before him smelled delicious, he likewise could not tell whether this was appropriate.
In the end, the logistics ninja who had brought them here spoke up to explain.
"Don't worry, it's fine. The actual front lines are still a day's journey from here. The area for dozens of kilometers around us is entirely under Konoha's control, so there's no need to worry about being discovered."
As he spoke, the logistics ninja pointed at the ninja sitting and chatting in groups around the scattered fires in the clearing.
"Besides, most of the ninja here have temporarily withdrawn from the front lines for various reasons. Most of them have held on for a long time under extremely dangerous conditions."
"Ninja are people too. We don't know how long this war will last, and staying tense all the time will cause problems sooner or later. We prepare food like this to help relieve their stress as much as possible."
"And it's not just that. Within certain limits, we try to provide combat ninja with whatever will make them most comfortable. That's one of the reasons we logistics ninja are here in this war."
At those words, Yūichi looked as though a door to a whole new world had opened before him. His eyes shone as he stared at the whole roast lamb before him, giving off its tempting aroma and flaunting its charms. "Right, right. Relieving stress."
As he spoke, he stole a glance at the logistics ninja leading them, then rushed straight over to the fire with the whole roast lamb without standing on ceremony. He picked up a small plate beside it and joined the line for roast meat.
Seeing Yūichi's behavior, the logistics ninja smiled faintly, stopped, and turned to Shin'un and the others behind him.
"All right, everyone. I have other things to do, so this is as far as I'll take you. Enjoy your meal."
"Oh, and one more thing."
The broad, plump logistics ninja then pointed toward two tents right beside the clearing.
"If you don't want grilled food, those tents have stewed meat, cooked dishes, sushi, noodles... pretty much every kind of food. Someone will keep replenishing it as it gets eaten."
With that, the logistics ninja leaned closer to them and said quietly, "It's completely free, and it tastes pretty good. Eat your fill!"
Shin'un was speechless at that.
Good grief, this was paradise for the Akimichi Clan, wasn't it?
"All right, everyone." The logistics ninja straightened up and looked at Shin'un and the others.
"We were in too much of a hurry unloading the supplies earlier, so I have to go back and help count everything again. Enjoy your dinner tonight!" With that, the logistics ninja turned to leave.
Seeing this, Shiina Kō behind Shin'un and Minato Namikaze's two teammates had already begun considering whether to have whole roast lamb or the fragrant stewed pig's trotters in the nearby tents.
Unlike their teammates, however, Shin'un and Minato Namikaze hurriedly called out to the broad-faced logistics ninja as he turned to leave.
"Please wait!"
"Please wait!"
Hearing the voice beside him, Shin'un looked at Minato Namikaze, and Minato looked back.
Shin'un reacted first, smiling and nodding to Minato.
"You ask."
Minato nodded and turned back to the logistics ninja, who had already stopped.
"May I ask when we're going to see our teachers?"
At Minato's question, the logistics ninja froze. A trace of embarrassment appeared on his broad face, and he scratched his head. "Sorry, I forgot to mention it."
"Lord Jiraiya came to the logistics department a few days ago and left instructions. He said that once the transport convoy bringing you arrived, you should go find him in the large tent at the very center of camp."
"When they don't have missions, Lord Jiraiya and Lord Orochimaru are often there."
After speaking, the logistics ninja glanced at the sky.
"It's a little late now. Go tomorrow."