The girl named Inuzuka Meiko didn't seem like the talkative type. She just glanced at Higashino Shin before losing interest, focusing instead on stroking her beloved dog's head. Her personality was the complete opposite of her future clansman, the younger Inuzuka Kiba.
On the other hand, Hyuga Tokuma waved and greeted, "Yo, Shin, long time no see."
"Long time no see, Tokuma, Muta."
"Mm!" Muta Aburame grunted in response, gave Higashino Shin a serious look, and then said nothing more.
It wasn't that he had a problem with Higashino Shin; it was just his personality. In several years as classmates, Higashino Shin had never heard him speak more than a few complete sentences to anyone.
At the same time, you could see him present at any class activity, but he was as quiet as a wooden post. However, if you greeted him, he would always respond promptly.
Their clan was just like that, a breeding ground for brooding types.
[Remember this site's domain name: Taiwan Novel Network, smooth reading, read at your leisure]
Seeing the rival he had always wanted to beat, Hyuga Tokuma teased, "You guy, you're finally willing to graduate. I thought you were going to stay in school for the full six years?"
"If the situation allowed for it, I actually wouldn't mind staying a few more years."
"School can't make our strength grow quickly; only by becoming an official Ninja can we get enough training. So, Shin, graduating a year late, will you still be that monster who leaves me with no hope of victory?"
Higashino Shin said with surprise, "You don't want to have a match with me right now, do you?"
"How is that possible? Am I that reckless? But well, maybe in this war, we can see who can kill more enemies."
"Tokuma!"
"Hmm?"
Higashino Shin looked seriously into his nearly pure white eyes: "War is not a game. Rather than killing enemies, I hope you and everyone else can survive safely."
Hyuga Tokuma fell silent for a few seconds before nodding: "I understand."
At this moment, his team's Jonin, Sarutobi Jitsugetsu, said solemnly: "Shin is right. Don't face war with the mindset of doing a regular mission, or you'll die."
We must be on full alert to prevent enemy ambushes, especially when approaching the battlefield. Our reconnaissance squad is the eyes of the team; we cannot relax for a moment."
"Yes, Sensei!" The three members of the Tokuma squad immediately nodded in response.
---
Among the Five Great Ninja Villages of the Ninja World, the straight-line distance between Konoha Village and the Hidden Mist Village is actually the shortest.
The Hidden Mist came across the sea, using the former Land of Whirlpools peninsula as a base to directly invade the Land of Fire from the southeast.
So the so-called Eastern Front is more accurately the Southeastern Front. Unlike wars in other directions, the Southeastern Front is entirely within the Land of Fire's territory.
There are no buffer countries between the two sides; the sea is the buffer. And Konoha Ninja obviously wouldn't be foolish enough to run out onto the water to fight the Hidden Mist, as the opponent would hold a complete environmental advantage.
Therefore, the support troops only need to cross less than half of the Land of Fire to reach the Southeastern Front.
Known: In the future, Kakashi's team traveled from Konoha to Sunagakure for support, crossing more than half of the Land of Fire, the entire Land of Rivers, and the Land of Wind's desert which affected their speed, taking a total of three days.
At that time, Kakashi, Sakura Haruno, and Uzumaki Naruto all had the strength of a Jonin.
Question: How long will it take for this support unit to reach the Southeastern Front?
The answer is unknown.
Because there are many Genin in this team, and to maintain the stamina to deal with emergencies, the leading Jonin did not let the team advance at full speed and would stop to rest and recover stamina every once in a while.
This is a steady approach, and the other Jonin would not object.
Higashino Shin and his group set off at 9 AM sharp. By the afternoon, they were still within the borders of the Land of Fire.
Until evening, the advancing Higashino Shin suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"There's a situation!"
Gekko Yun Jian immediately used a special method to signal nearby companions. Seeing Sarutobi Jitsugetsu's questioning gaze, he nodded slightly.
Soon, the entire support force stopped advancing and hid on the spot. Then several Jonin rushed over, including adult Ninjas from the Hyuga Clan.
A Jonin from the Nara family asked, "What's the situation?"
Higashino Shin immediately reported: "There is a lake at the 1 o'clock direction straight ahead. There are Chakra reactions there, about 4 kilometers away. Personnel... 15 people."
The adult Ninja of the Hyuga Clan immediately activated the Byakugan upon hearing this, giving up the nearly 360-degree perspective to focus his vision in the direction Higashino Shin mentioned.
The telescopic distance of their Byakugan varies from person to person; depending on the purity and strength, the distance they can see is different.
The purest Byakugan Princess, Hyuga Hinata of the Main House, could see over 10 kilometers away in a focused direction at around 16 years old.
But there was no one from the Main House here. Hyuga Tokuma didn't even open his Byakugan like his clansmen. Perhaps he had already awakened it, but hadn't learned the technique of focusing his vision in one direction to extend the range, as he was only 9 years old.
The adult Hyuga Ninja could clearly do it. He might not be able to see beyond 10 kilometers, but 4 kilometers was still within his visual range.
After observing, he said to several colleagues beside him: "It's Kirigakure Ninja, 15 of them. Three are by the lake, seemingly preparing some kind of ritual, while the other 12 are scattered around on guard.
In addition, a restless Chakra is permeating the center of the lake. Perhaps this group of Kirigakure Ninja is up to some conspiracy. What should we do, Captain Suzaku?"
The Jonin named Nara Suzaku was the commander of this reinforcement unit. This was also the Land of Fire, and he knew about the lake ahead; its area was relatively small.
After a brief thought, he said: "No matter what these bastards want to do, we certainly can't let them run wild in the Land of Fire. In terms of numbers, the advantage is ours.
Pass my orders: gather the Jonin and Chunin to surround them. The Genin squads will be responsible for the perimeter. The requirement is that not a single enemy is allowed to escape."
"Yes!"
No one objected. Once the orders were passed down, the entire support force immediately sprang into action, closing in on the target in an encirclement.
Including Gekko Yun Jian and Sarutobi Jitsugetsu, no one was worried about the safety of the Genin on the perimeter. If so many of them couldn't take down 15 Hidden Mist Ninjas, it would mean the enemy's strength was beyond imagination.
If that were the case, it wouldn't make a difference whether the Genin squad's leading Ninja was there or not; they'd be dead anyway.
Not long after, as the encirclement narrowed, the Kirigakure Ninja busy by the lake finally noticed something was wrong.
It seemed they also had Ninjas who understood a bit of sensory perception, but the sensory range must be very limited, not exceeding one kilometer.
People with ultra-long-range sensory abilities are very rare in the Ninja World. The Uzumaki Clan had the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, but they were extinct, and Karin, the next one who would know this stuff, might not even be born yet.
Sensory perception as inhuman as Senju Tobirama's is even rarer.
The rest who play with dogs, bugs, or have the Byakugan are basically all gathered in Konoha. No wonder other Ninja villages are constantly full of envy, jealousy, and hate towards Konoha.
Upon seeing themselves surrounded, the Kirigakure were quite decisive. They immediately destroyed the ritual scrolls completely, and then... they turned around and killed the three companions responsible for the ritual, even blowing up their heads with Explosive Tags.
This operation left the three adult Hyuga Ninjas in different directions stunned. What does it mean to kill your teammates as a sacrifice before the fight even starts? Are you Kirigakure Ninja all this ruthless?
When they reported what they saw, it made the Konoha Ninja even more certain that the other side had an unspeakable purpose. It seemed that, if necessary, they had to leave a few survivors, or at least intact heads.
As the distance between the two sides closed, the remaining 12 Ninjas inside immediately joined forces to launch the Hidden Mist Jutsu. Being near the lake, they had the advantage of a water source, and the thick mist containing Chakra began to spread around.
[Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu] is a very convenient D-rank Ninjutsu that every Kirigakure Ninja knows, allowing them to create a favorable battlefield condition for themselves.
The prerequisite is not to encounter Wind Release.
But that was impossible. Several Ninjas in the support force who knew Wind Release stepped forward, and a combined C-rank [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough] blew the thick mist into the sky.
Sunagakure mainly plays with Wind Release, Iwagakure mainly plays with Earth Release, and Kumogakure mainly plays with Lightning Release. Only Konoha has every kind of Release, able to meet the needs of different enemies.
The 12 Kirigakure Ninja hadn't expected the Hidden Mist Jutsu to play much of a role anyway; it was just a smokescreen. After performing the technique, everyone took the opportunity to begin a scattered breakout.
They mainly retreated towards the lake, as water could make them feel a bit safer.
But Nara Suzaku had long expected this. The most Ninjas were treading water over from the lake. The two sides quickly made contact, and the battle broke out instantly.