"Captain! Want something to eat?" Uchiha Huo held out some meat. He had just grabbed it from the camp kitchen.
After several days of marching, the Ninja Forces hadn't eaten well or rested properly. As soon as they arrived at the camp, many rushed to sleep or find something to eat. Tsunade's group, however, was already well-prepared within the camp.
"Sure, hand me some. Got a meeting later," Saitama said, nodding at Uchiha Huo.
"Here ya go!" Uchiha Huo handed over the piece of meat in his hand.
Saitama didn't hesitate—he took it and started eating while walking toward the center of the camp. Many other captains were also stepping out of their tents, heading in the same direction.
"Hey there, Mori-sama!" Saitama teased as he came across Uchiha Mori.
"Hn. Saitama," Uchiha Mori calmly replied with a greeting. Because he'd been helping Uchiha Tianming manage the Uchiha unit these past few days, he naturally didn't have time for Saitama, especially since Saitama usually had nothing urgent to do anyway.
"Wanna walk together? By the way, first time attending this kind of meeting—how do I act like I've been to one before?" Saitama strolled alongside Mori, still cracking jokes.
"Just don't say stupid things," Mori said casually after greeting another clan member beside him.
"Alright then. This'll be my first time actually seeing Tsunade-sama's presence up close!" Saitama nodded.
"None of the Sannin (Legendary Three) are famous without merit—they're all top-tier talents in Konoha!" Mori said confidently, although he didn't know that Tsunade, one of those so-called mighty warriors, had developed a blood phobia and could no longer fight. Her reputation alone now kept enemies at bay.
"We're here," Saitama observed, noticing how many people had already gathered.
Tsunade hadn't arrived yet. Saitama and Mori stood on the periphery, waiting for the meeting to begin.
This sort of meeting was just for boosting morale and handling minor issues.
The crowd grew quiet as Tsunade walked into the middle of the gathering. She wore a ninja jacket, her hair tied neatly into a ponytail swaying gently with each step.
As soon as Tsunade entered, a powerful presence filled the air. The surrounding ninja held their breath, captivated by her every move.
Needless to say, Tsunade truly lived up to being one of the "Sannin." Though her power might fall slightly behind Orochimaru and Jiraiya, she matched them easily in terms of sheer presence.
"Tch!" She slammed her foot down with a heavy thud. Arms crossed, she scanned the crowd coldly. Shizune stood nervously nearby, her hands fidgeting anxiously in front of her.
"I'm sorry for calling everyone here urgently to the frontline—it's because the situation is critical!" Tsunade spoke firmly, her strong and commanding posture shifting as she looked around at the ninja in different directions.
"You can rest today, but tomorrow we officially begin frontline duties. I expect everyone to be ready," she continued, her gaze sweeping across the crowd. Saitama distinctly felt her eyes lingering on him for a few seconds.
She then moved on to brief the other captains about their responsibilities. Tasks for the coming days were also assigned to each clan accordingly.
"Everyone else dismissed—team leaders stay behind!" Tsunade waved her hand. Saitama and Mori nodded before turning around and leaving.
"Follow me into the tent!" Tsunade said to the twenty-odd remaining team leaders as she strode toward the largest tent.
She now needed to discuss upcoming matters with all the leaders. Although the current battle situation with the Mist hadn't reached its worst stage yet, there was no harm in preparing early.
...
"Got everything?" Saitama returned to his tent, calling over Uchiha Huo and his younger brother to relay what he had just heard.
"So starting tomorrow we're on patrol to stop the Mist from crossing the border?" Uchiha Huo mumbled with his mouth full.
"Yeah. I'll check once Mori gets back."
"The war with the Mist hasn't officially broken out yet, but they've been constantly testing our limits. Any enemy who dares to cross our border should be eliminated immediately!"
"Understood!" Both brothers nodded. The weight of the battlefield pressed down on them slightly.
You're dismissed. Rest up—we'll need you sharp tomorrow.
"Yes!"
The two left Saitama's tent and returned to their own quarters.
He exhaled heavily as he unbuckled his ninja sword and placed it beside him before lying down on the nearby bed.
The tent had a very simple layout—a bed, a table, and a single chair. After all, the tent itself was only several square meters in size.
After continuous travel for several days, Saitama's body was somewhat tired. Despite having stronger physical abilities and faster recovery speed than others, his mental exhaustion still made him feel slightly weary.
Lying flat on the bed, Saitama stared at the top of the tent with a serious look in his eyes.
Though the Mist seemed like the least threatening force, only he knew who lurked behind them.
Yagura Karatachi—the Fourth Mizukage and perfect Jinchuriki—was such a powerful Kage figure, yet even he was controlled by Madara Uchiha.
Most recent changes within the Mist were undeniably connected to Madara Uchiha. In fact, one could say the Uchiha clan was the hidden force behind the Mist's war against Konoha.
As another member of the Uchiha clan, Saitama didn't expect Madara Uchiha to show leniency toward him just for that connection alone. If he encountered Madara Uchiha somewhere nearby, he'd simply consider himself unlucky.
However, at this time, Madara Uchiha must have been on his last breath and wouldn't personally appear in reality. Moreover, he probably hadn't even chosen his successor yet, and Obito would still be in Konoha at this point.
Saitama stopped wandering in thought. He knew his most important task now was simply completing the assigned mission properly.
"I'll catch some sleep for now." He narrowed his eyes slightly, letting his eyelids begin to droop.
This nap lasted until midnight, when his stomach woke him up due to hunger. He got up intentionally to search for something to eat.
The first thing he did after waking up was grab his ninja sword—a habit formed over the past year. Only when his weapon was close by would he feel secure.
Rubbing his messy hair, Saitama didn't bother fixing it much. He simply pushed the semi-long strands behind with his hand so they wouldn't block his vision.
"Hmm?" Just as he was about to head out, Saitama noticed a large bowl of meat on the table along with a jug of drinking water.
"Who's thoughtful enough to leave this here? Seems like someone came in during the afternoon, but I was too sleepy to pay attention?" Saitama tapped his forehead with his right hand, thinking.
"It must've been Huo, barging into my tent like that reckless guy." Saitama walked over, picked up the bowl and held it in his arms before sitting down on the chair.
Inside the bowl were some steamed rice balls and a big chunk of meat weighing nearly half a pound—beef, apparently.
"Tastes alright, though slightly cold," Saitama commented while eating, his legs bouncing slightly under the chair.
Since he was already starving and there wasn't that much food to begin with, Saitama polished it all off in about ten minutes.
"Burp!"
"Enough to take the edge off. Don't want to overdo it tonight." Saitama said patting his stomach, then stood up to go for a walk outside.
At this hour, the Konoha camp was heavily guarded, filled with patrolling personnel. Naturally, those doing night patrol today were from units who had arrived earlier. Lately, the workload for ninjas like him who had arrived ahead of time had indeed become quite heavy.
Saitama nodded politely to several patrolling individuals without looking down on them just because they were regular chunin or even genin civilians.
They were still quite a distance from the border line. As he looked toward Mist's direction, thoughts filled Saitama's mind.
As he was thinking, Saitama found himself at the edge of the camp. There was an open space here, seemingly yet to have tents set up—or perhaps deliberately left empty for people to relax.
"Hey!" A female voice reached Saitama's ears, followed immediately by the whistling sound of a flying shuriken.
"Ha!" The wooden target took the hit, producing another crackling sound.
"Who's being so annoying, not sleeping at night!?" Although it was an open area, it was still within the camp premises. Wanting to keep things peaceful, Saitama followed the sound toward its source.
Besides, having slept so long, he wasn't feeling drowsy anyway, and doing something interesting sounded good.
He moved quietly. Though there were torches burning around the camp, the light was still dim. Saitama slowly approached where the sounds originated.
"Heavy breathing!" Shizune leaned against a wooden post, panting hard—it was clear her training had exhausted her.
Saitama stood in the shadows beyond the firelight, rows of tents behind him. Before him, illuminated only by the moonlight, was a young girl training on the open ground.
"What are you doing?" With nothing better to do, Saitama approached voluntarily to start a conversation.
"Who's there!?" Startled by Saitama's sudden voice, Shizune turned to look.
Her somewhat youthful face bore a determined expression, her forehead adorned with a Konoha ninja forehead protector. She wore a black close-combat suit beneath a ninja vest, paired with dark pants—she looked very professional.
"Do I know you?" Shizune had some impression of Saitama; she'd seen him during the leader meeting in the afternoon. Since Saitama seemed to be the youngest among the squad leaders, she remembered him.
"I'm Saitama Uchiha."
Saitama stopped a few meters away from Shizune and gave a slight nod.
"You need something?" Shizune wore a serious expression, which looked rather comical on her young face.
"Not really. Just wandering around and heard some noise from this direction, so I came to check it out."
"Oh, sorry for disturbing you." Shizune knew that training late at night might bother others, so she felt slightly embarrassed. She thought he had heard the noise and come to investigate.
With that, Shizune quickly gathered her things and turned to leave.
"That's it? You're leaving already?" Saitama smiled playfully, stepping in front of Shizune.
"I'm very sorry for interrupting your rest." Shizune bowed, hugging her chest with an awkward smile.
"No, it's not that. I wasn't actually disturbed by you at all."
"Oh." Shizune finally looked up, confirming whether Saitama meant what he said.
"What were you doing just now?" Saitama asked again. He had seen Shizune practicing shuriken ninjutsu and close combat skills.
"Practicing ninjutsu." Shizune, knowing Saitama had no intention of giving her a hard time, stood her ground calmly.
"Aren't you Tsunade-sama's disciple? Shouldn't you be learning medical ninjutsu instead?" Saitama asked in confusion. These techniques don't seem to fit Shizune's status. Although Medical Ninjas needed some ninjutsu proficiency, this still seemed odd.
Shizune remained silent.
"You are a Jonin, right?" Shizune looked at Saitama and asked.
"Eh, not really."
"Then why were you at today's captains' meeting?"
"You were there too, weren't you?"
"Oh, I was brought there by Tsunade-sama. This is different for me."
"More or less. I went along with someone else too."
"Then are you a Chunin?"
"Yes, I am a Chunin." Saitama nodded, acknowledging his rank. Indeed, he was merely a Chunin, albeit one possessing Jonin-level combat strength.
"Oh." Shizune nodded as well, accepting Saitama's explanation.
"Are the Uchiha clan's Ninja generally good at taijutsu? I noticed you seem to use a sword?" Her gaze fell to [Ninja Sword] at Saitama's waist.
"I'm okay, I guess. What about it?" Saitama patted his [Ninja Sword] modestly. He found this situation quite amusing, especially since she was a female character he had long admired in his past life.
"Then can you teach me a few moves?" Shizune asked directly.
"And what do I get out of it?" Saitama shrugged.
"I can teach you a simple [Medical Ninjutsu] technique." Shizune was somewhat surprised by Saitama's response, but after thinking for a while, she shook her head slightly before speaking to him.
"That works." Saitama took a few steps forward, approaching Shizune.
"So, what would you like to learn?" He gestured for Shizune to speak.
"I want to learn some close-combat techniques for personal reasons I can't talk about. I want to become somewhat capable in hand-to-hand combat." Shizune thought for a moment before replying.
Despite technically being their first real meeting — previous passing glances didn't count — Shizune felt strangely calm under Saitama's steady gaze, as if greeting an old friend. That's why she proposed learning a few moves from him.
"Oh, you haven't told me your name yet," Saitama reminded her.
"Oh, right! My name is Shizune, a Konoha Chunin!"
Shizune realized she hadn't properly introduced herself and blushed slightly, quickly speaking up.
"Shizune, huh? Got it," Saitama said with a nod, clearly satisfied with her attitude.
"Come at me now. Show me what you've got, and then I'll teach you," Saitama said, stepping back a few paces, hand on his sword as he motioned toward Shizune.
"Huh? You really want me to attack you? Alright then." Shizune got into position, her expression turning serious as she focused on Saitama, who stood there with an easygoing posture.
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