Gekkō Hayate did not quite understand his father's sudden decision.
At such a close distance, with a ninja's speed, they could have returned very quickly. Why choose to walk back slowly instead?
Was there anything worth looking at along the way? It was all forest, no different from the large training grounds inside Konohagakure.
Still, jōnin always had their own reasons for doing things. Gekkō Hayate was merely curious and did not voice any doubts. Higashino Makoto likewise did not ask questions, but quietly sensed the situation around them.
Because of his inherent fusion with white natural energy, his perception was special and divided into active mode and passive mode.
When he did not deliberately focus to activate it, it remained in passive mode, providing only the most basic alert capability. The range was not large, but it was enough to ensure that no one could approach him silently.
Ninjas excelled at sneak attacks. For anyone hoping to take him out using underhanded tactics, this was truly a troublesome ability.
If he actively activated perceptual scanning, it would enter active mode, greatly increasing both range and precision.
As expected, he sensed someone rapidly approaching from behind them—it was the three genin from the same village they had encountered in the morning. Higashino Makoto remembered their chakra signatures.
From his perception, the other party was simply traveling normally, not acting like they were tailing them. Since everyone's missions were similar, it was perfectly normal to run into each other on the way back.
What was abnormal was their own sensei's decision to lead them back at a slow pace. It seemed as though he was deliberately waiting for them, yet judging from the morning's situation, this genin team was not composed of people he knew.
Before long, the three who had been traveling at full speed encountered the Kumomi Team, which was returning to the village at a leisurely pace.
They leapt down from the trees and respectfully saluted Gekkō Kumomi.
This was basic etiquette for genin when encountering higher-ranking ninjas from the same village in the field.
Meeting twice in a single day could be considered fate. Both sides exchanged names and became acquainted with one another. As fellow shinobi of Konohagakure, Higashino Makoto and the others did not display any hint of disdain simply because the other party were older genin.
That would be very rude.
As for why, during wartime, genin like this are still in the village—it's because sending them to the front line would be pointless. It would be little different from sending them to their deaths, aside from wasting kunai and shuriken.
Maybe the three of them had already been to the front line, only to be scared out of their wits.
A ninja who has lost their courage will only add to the enemy's battle merits on the front line, and might even drag their own side down. They might as well be kept in the village as wage workers—at least then they can create a bit of economic value for Konohagakure.
Wasn't Might Duy kept in the village during the war as well, doing low-level missions? It was just that his situation was different: because no one understood his true strength, they naturally wouldn't bring him to the battlefield.
When he learned from ninjas who had returned to the village to rest and reorganize that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were carrying out a frenzied hunt of Konohagakure's ninjas on the front line, he immediately cut his way to the scene. While earning earthshaking battle merits, he also, by luck, saved his son's life.
But not every ninja is Duy.
...
The leader of the genin squad was a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, named Ritsu. The two teammates were named Yūta and Yūto—biological brothers. Not only were their aptitudes similar, even their personalities were extremely close.
They followed weakly behind their captain, and the entire time they did not dare look at the jōnin, Gekkō Kumomi, seeming not very bold.
All three were ordinary civilians with no surname, just like the Higashino family once was.
However, because the Higashino family's predecessors happened to catch the founding of the ninja villages, became ninjas, and achieved meaningful accomplishments, they would deliberately take a surname.
That surname might be a place name, an object name, or something else related to their accomplishments.
Many civilian surnames in the shinobi world came about this way.
Clearly, in these three people's family, there had not been any accomplished ancestors. Perhaps they were all their family's first-generation ninjas.
As for what had happened to them, everyone tacitly did not ask too much, to avoid awkwardness.
Ritsu seemed very interested in Higashino Makoto and the others. "Kumomi-senpai, looking at your disciples' ages, are they this year's graduates?"
"Ah, yes. They just graduated, and they still don't understand anything."
"I see. Then they really should do more D-rank missions to accumulate experience. But if they can receive guidance from a jōnin as powerful as you, I'm sure they're all excellent juniors."
"Hahaha!" Hearing someone praise his disciples, Gekkō Kumomi seemed quite pleased. "Their strength is indeed not bad, but the biggest problem is that they haven't seen blood yet. So after doing one more day of D-rank missions tomorrow, I plan to take on a higher-level mission to let them see what real combat is actually like."
"Oh my, that's really enviable—being able to start touching higher-level missions so soon. Unlike us, with limited talent and strength, we can only do some insignificant work in the village."
"Don't say it like that. Everyone is contributing to the village; there's no higher or lower distinction."
"Thank you for the reassurance, senpai." Ritsu sincerely expressed his thanks to Gekkō Kumomi, because those words were essentially helping him save a bit of face in front of the juniors.
So he thought for a moment and said, "As an upperclassman to the juniors, I'm undoubtedly a failure, but I can at least offer a bit of advice based on my own experience."
"For example, the first time facing bloody and brutal scenes may cause serious psychological issues. Perhaps we could use some other methods to ease the transition first."
Gekkō Kumomi grew a bit interested. "Oh? For example?"
"The livestock farms outside the village release missions every spring and autumn to eliminate ferocious wild beasts. The spring missions should be around these days. Although they're D-rank, there is some risk involved, so not many genin are willing to take them. Perhaps they could give it a try, to adapt in advance to the feeling of bloody killing."
"That really is a good idea. Your suggestion is a great help."
"Not at all—so long as senpai finds it useful."
Higashino Makoto and Gekkō Hayate exchanged a glance and understood where the issue lay.
Seeing outstanding juniors, it was fine for Ritsu to ask a few more questions, but he was being a bit overly enthusiastic.
And their own sensei had been talking a bit too much today; he had even inadvertently revealed quite a bit of information about their own squad
This wasn't to say that the fellow village ninjas in front of them necessarily had ulterior motives, but doing so violated the ninja code.
A ninja, regarding mission planning—regardless of rank—should, in principle, only discuss it with their own teammates or superiors, and not go around telling others, even if the other party were insignificant genin.
At the same time, one must also strictly observe confidentiality and not inquire into other people's mission details.
Only when two people were very close would they occasionally talk about some unimportant matters as casual conversation, but clearly the relationship between Gekkō Kumomi and Ritsu had not reached that level.
Uzuki Yūgao and the two other brothers merely felt that their captain was chatting quite happily.
Higashino Makoto and Hayate temporarily kept their suspicions to themselves.
Gekkō Kumomi was a mature jōnin; he wouldn't speak carelessly. Since he acted this way, he must have had his own reasons.
Thus, the two teams returned to Konohagakure together amid an atmosphere that was both harmonious and strange.
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