Silence echoed more heavily than any shout.
After Naruto's words fell, the entire bridgehead plunged into an eerie stillness.
The twelve villagers, who had just learned how to grip bamboo spears, stood dumbfounded, their expressions shifting from fear to confusion, then to an ineffable blankness.
They had thought themselves sacrificial lambs, only to be told they were treasures to be protected.
Sasuke's fist clenched at his side, his nails digging deeply into his palm.
A burning sense of shame, mixed with a strange admiration, violently crashed within his chest.
He had always seen Naruto as a ruthless chess player, and himself as a precisely manipulated piece.
But now he realized that the chess player didn't care about winning or losing this particular game.
He wanted the future of the entire chessboard.
This kind of grand strategy, this attitude of calculating everything while adhering to some insane principle, made Sasuke's heart, once filled with the flames of revenge, waver for the first time.
Sakura covered her mouth, tears welling in her eyes but not yet falling.
She gazed at Naruto's back, that Loser she had once despised and loathed, lost in thought.
"Everyone, listen to my command."
Naruto broke the silence.
"Tazuna, you are to immediately lead all villagers, carrying enough food and water for three days, to retreat deep into the forest at the south end of the bridge.
There is an abandoned mountain shrine there, on high ground, easy to defend and difficult to attack."
"No one is to leave until they receive my signal."
Tazuna's lips trembled, and he took a step forward.
"We… we can help! We can…"
"Your mission is to survive."
Naruto interrupted him.
"And then, complete this bridge. This country needs hope, and you are that hope itself."
His words held no warmth, yet they brought tears to Tazuna's eyes instantly.
The young fisherman named Haisuke, for the first time, shed his numbness. He gripped the bamboo spear in his hand and shouted loudly.
"Let us stay! We can fight too!"
"Yes! We are not cowards!"
The rest of the militia also stirred.
"Obey orders."
Naruto's voice suddenly turned cold, like an ice pick piercing everyone's ears.
"This is also part of the war. Now, execute."
That unquestionable authority instantly crushed the courage that had just ignited.
The villagers no longer spoke, and under Tazuna's organization, they began to retreat silently.
Haisuke walked last, he looked back deeply at Naruto, then nodded forcefully, and disappeared into the forest.
Soon, only Team 7's four members remained at the bridgehead.
Kakashi walked over to Naruto, his expression complex.
"I retract all my previous doubts about you."
He spoke, his voice a little dry.
"I thought you would treat them as expendable."
"Teacher."
Naruto looked in the direction where the villagers had disappeared.
"These villagers, after training, possess basic self-defense capabilities, but they are far from being able to contend with Ninja."
"Letting them participate in battle would only be a meaningless sacrifice."
"A competent commander does not waste any soldier's life."
Kakashi fell silent.
He looked at his student, that golden hair, which in the morning's faint light, strongly resembled a figure from deep in his memory who always wore a warm smile.
"You truly… are very much like that man."
Kakashi's voice was very soft, like a sigh.
Naruto did not respond to this remark.
He turned around and began to deploy the actual battle plan.
"Zabuza and his accomplice will likely appear before noon in two days. Their targets are the bridge and Tazuna, so this place is our battlefield."
"Sakura, you will be at the middle section of the bridge, centered around the tallest bridge pier, to set up a medical station and backup traps. Your mission is to provide support and guard the rear."
"Yes!"
Sakura's reply was crisp and clear.
"Sasuke, you will be at the bridgehead entrance, responsible for the first wave of assault and reconnaissance. The Sharingan is our advantage, do not waste it."
"Hm."
Sasuke acknowledged.
"I will be at the center of the battlefield, serving as a mobile force and the command core."
Naruto finally looked at Kakashi.
"Teacher, Zabuza is for you to deal with. The Ninja who uses senbon is for me."
It was still a commanding tone, and Kakashi scratched his head, feeling for the first time that being clearly directed by his student wasn't so bad after all.
"Understood, Teacher Naruto, student Kakashi understood."
He replied lazily.
The team disbanded, each going to prepare.
Sasuke wiped his kunai, but couldn't calm his mind.
He walked to Naruto, who was checking explosive tags, and stood silently.
Naruto didn't look up, as if he hadn't noticed his presence.
After a long while.
Sasuke finally spoke, his voice hoarse, as if every word was squeezed from his throat.
"Can you… help me with my revenge?"
Naruto stopped his movements.
He looked up, his blue pupils calm and unmoving.
"Revenge is an inefficient tactical objective, contaminated by emotion."
"It will make you make wrong judgments and waste unnecessary resources."
Sasuke's body tensed.
"However."
Naruto's tone shifted.
"If your revenge target is defined as 'an enemy of Konoha', then the operation to eliminate him can be incorporated into a higher-level strategic plan."
Sasuke didn't understand those complex terms.
But he understood the meaning.
"As long as you listen to me."
Naruto stood up, meeting Sasuke's gaze.
"Obey my every command, and let your strength be the sharpest link in my plan."
"I will devise the most efficient path to victory for you."
Sasuke looked at him.
There was no sympathy in those eyes, no understanding, only an absolute rationality that viewed everything as a component.
To entrust one's hatred to such a person to control.
This in itself was a humiliation.
But Sasuke had no choice.
Because he had witnessed firsthand how powerful this rationality truly was.
"Good." He spat out the word through gritted teeth.
The next morning, in the Land of Waves forest.
Naruto entered the depths of the woods alone.
The militia's training intensity was high, and muscle strains and fatigue needed to be addressed.
He remembered how apothecaries in the underhives of the Warhammer world would use common plants to concoct effective healing salves.
The plants in this world, imbued with something called "Natural Energy," would only have better effects.
He pushed aside a patch of damp ferns and saw a cluster of purple herbs.
This was it.
Just as he reached out to pick it, a faint sound of footsteps came from another direction.
Naruto didn't look back.
His perception had already detected the presence of that life form.
There was no killing intent, no hostility, the aura was as peaceful as the forest itself.
A petite figure in pink casual clothes appeared not far away.
It was a "girl" who looked slightly older than him, with long, flowing hair and a delicate face, also carrying a basket for collecting herbs.
"You… hello."
The "girl" saw Naruto, seemed a little surprised, but still greeted him politely.
"Are you also here to pick herbs?"
Naruto stood up, holding the purple herb in his hand.
"Hm."
He replied indifferently.
The "girl" walked over, curiously looking at the herb in his hand.
"This is Solanum nigrum, it can clear heat and detoxify, but it shouldn't be used indiscriminately; eating too much will cause dizziness."
Her voice was clear and crisp, carrying an innocent purity that was ignorant of the world.
Naruto looked at her.
His perception, honed by psychic training, pierced through the Chakra's disguise, seeing something deeper.
He saw the icy will, like a glacier, hidden within that petite body.
He also saw the pure "loyalty" intertwined behind that will, a soul willing to sacrifice everything without hesitation to protect someone.
"Is that so."
Naruto put the herb into his Ninja tool pouch.
"Thank you for the reminder."
He turned, preparing to leave.
"Wait a moment!"
Haku called out to him.
"Your shoulder… are you injured?"
She pointed to a barely perceptible trace of blood seeping through Naruto's clothes.
"I have very good wound medicine here, I made it myself, it's very effective for wound healing."
She said, taking out a small porcelain bottle from her basket and handing it over, her face showing pure kindness.
Naruto stopped, turned back, and looked at the hand extended towards him, and the porcelain bottle filled with kindness.
He was silent for a moment.
Then, he took it.
"Thank you."
The "girl" revealed a gentle smile.
"You don't look much like a Ninja."
Her words were light, yet like a probing needle.
"More like a… general, just like the generals from the Sengoku period in storybooks, very serious, but always seeming to be thinking."
Naruto held the cool porcelain bottle.
General.
Political Commissar.
Soldier.
These were all just different roles played to achieve the ultimate goal of "human survival."
The nouns themselves were meaningless.
Its value depended on the function it could perform.
His heart was utterly calm.
"I hope we can meet again."
The "girl" smiled, turned, and walked into the woods, her figure quickly disappearing into the damp mist.
Naruto stood still, unmoving.
He opened the stopper of the porcelain bottle, and a clear, medicinal fragrance wafted out.
The ingredients were clear, the proportions precise; it was a high-quality wound medicine.
The enemy had already begun close-range reconnaissance.
This indicated that their action of forming a militia had aroused the opponent's vigilance and unease.
The opponent was currently evaluating the threat level of their team.
The time for the decisive battle was approaching.
He put the stopper back on, carefully put away this unexpected "trophy," and turned towards the Village.
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