Konoha Year 38.
The Second Great Shinobi War has now raged for over a year.
On the battlefront of the Land of Rain, the ninja of Konoha, Suna, and Ame were trapped in a meat grinder of a conflict; even the batches of ninja academy students, forced to graduate early, have been replaced several times over.
In contrast, the front in the Land of Rivers has entered a stalemate.
Although Konoha and the Sand Village have continually sent reinforcements and battles of all sizes have not ceased, with daily casualties, both sides have maintained restraint. A full-scale war between ninja legions has never broken out.
Both nations use the river as a natural border in the west of the Land of Rivers, forming a deadlock. Along this entire defensive line, a large number of patrol squads are densely distributed around the garrisons of both sides.
Konoha, in particular, relying on the river and the surrounding forests, has built a three-layered, three-dimensional defensive line stretching for hundreds of kilometers to strictly prevent elite Sand ninja troops from infiltrating their rearguard.
Umino Sasuke's patrol squad is just one of the many common sentry teams—cannon fodder—stationed outside the main defensive line.
'If our squad tried to stop the Sand's elite, it would be hopeless. We'd crumble at the first touch. Our only purpose is to send up the early warning signal, and at that, we are indeed effective. The problem is, the risk of death is entirely up to luck, whether the Sage of Six Paths decides it's your last day. I can only pray that the Sand elite don't choose our zone to attack. I'd rather they hit the Tetsu Squad, downstream, who were just wiped out. Or the Aoba Squad, upstream; although the terrain offers a wide field of view, if they attack at night, they might slip through unnoticed.'
'This patrol mission seems dangerous, but deep down, nowhere is safe. Life and death depend on fate. For a cannon fodder squad like ours, this is actually a good post. The war is here, so what mission isn't dangerous? Comparatively, this job is a steal. If I hadn't acquired some special goods from the Land of Wind to have a… friendly exchange with a Nara clan jōnin in logistics, I wouldn't have landed such a good mission.'
'As long as we survive for ten days and nothing happens in our zone, it'll count as a C-rank mission. That's much better than those assault missions. The cannon fodder in those missions, not to mention the military ration pills they have to eat, barely receive the merit equivalent to a C-rank mission after the officers take their cut. If you want it to count as a B-rank, you'd better be strong enough to survive and enjoy it.'
'Fighting to the death on an empty stomach for the merit of a C-rank mission... This patrol, while longer, is stable and relatively safe. At least we don't have to stuff ourselves with ration pills to go die. And even if the Sand elite do pick our zone, we can at least have one last decent meal before we become ghosts, right?'
"Captain, is it really okay for us to be cooking soup and clay-baked fish every day? If the mobile patrol unit finds out..."
Umino Sasuke cut him off directly.
"And what if they find out? At worst, we'll just cook them some extra portions and build some goodwill. If something were to happen in our zone, they'd come to support us faster just for the chance to keep getting free food and drink in the future."
Sasuke couldn't care less about so-called battlefield discipline and continued stirring the pot of fish soup. The heat was perfect. With a ladle, he scooped up some of the milky white soup, calmly blew on the steam, and tasted it. His Adam's apple bobbed as the fresh, fragrant flavor flooded his senses. He couldn't help but take another sip, closing his eyes to savor it.
'So comforting. The ninja world is truly nourished by natural energy. The ingredients are of a superior quality.'
He filled a bowl and handed it directly to his subordinate.
"Ryo, if you don't want to have regrets in the future and you still aim to become a jōnin, listen to me: eat fewer Hyōrōgan pills."
Sasuke looked at his subordinate, who had a clear, naive look, and said seriously:
"Those Hyōrōgan pills are more useful if I trade them for an exploding tag."
Inuzuka Ryo was about to argue, but his gaze became fixed on the thick soup in his hands. He swallowed hard. The memory of that taste returned to his mind, and though he tried to speak of discipline, his body was more honest. How could discipline compare to this bowl of soup?
Sasuke filled another bowl and placed it in front of Akimaru, Ryo's ninken. Seeing the food, Akimaru wagged his tail and barked excitedly.
Ryo was still conflicted. The rules of the battlefield weighed on him, and completely abandoning the honor of his ninja clan was difficult. However, seeing his partner Akimaru so happy and already eating, the soup in his hands captured his will.
"Thank you, Captain!"
Though he wanted to start eating immediately, he maintained his clan's basic etiquette. He blew on the steam from the bowl with restraint and took a small sip. A satisfied "Hmm~" escaped him. His eyes lit up; the delicacy was so delicious his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. For a moment, he forgot about clan etiquette and took several large gulps.
'It's delicious! The captain's cooking skills are getting better every day!'
Faced with such a meal, who cares about discipline? Whoever wants their Hyōrōgan pills can have them.
Umino Sasuke watched the now-compliant Inuzuka Ryo and nodded with a smile.
'A ninja must know when to break the rules. Even the great Jiraiya-sama taught us not to follow them blindly. And if someone who trained so many Kage says it, it must be true.'
Seeing that the stubborn Ryo had started eating, Tekudō and Koshino, the other two squad members, quickly filled their bowls and joined the feast. Tekudō, while drinking, kept glancing at the pot, wondering when the fish cooking in the embers beneath it would be ready.
'If I weren't good with finances, these brats would bankrupt me. After this meal, we'll have saved several more ration pills. On a ten-day mission, we can save about 40, which is equivalent to one exploding tag. And here on the front lines, an exploding tag is an extra life. They are a valuable resource. We ninja are fragile; even a Kage can die from a well-placed hit.'
'Hyōrōgan pills aren't as valuable as the tags, but they're still military supplies. With a few pills and some water, you can survive a month-long mission. They're indispensable for assassination and sabotage. If you don't sell them on the black market, you can go to the logistics department and, after a friendly exchange with the right jōnin, trade 40 pills for an exploding tag. It's always a good idea to have more.'
'There's still a long way to go until the war ends. The price of exploding tags, as a strategic resource, will skyrocket. They already cost twice as much as they do in peacetime. Besides, I'm asking these kids to eat fewer pills for their own good. It's a lesson I learned through blood and tears. Hyōrōgan are a double-edged sword: they give you short-term strength, but in the long run, they deplete your potential.'
'The choice between the future and the present seems clear, but often there is no choice. If you die now, there is no future. For a genin, consuming one or two pills a day helps them survive and quickly increase their strength. If they survive a few battles, becoming a chūnin isn't difficult. And a war-veteran chūnin is the backbone of Konoha. Still cannon fodder, but a higher class of it, one the village won't abandon so easily. If you survive the war, as a chūnin in peacetime you'll be part of a high-income group. Finding an attractive wife will be easy; you'll be a winner in life.'
'The good news is, the body I now occupy, Umino Sasuke, is already a veteran chūnin, part of that backbone. The bad news is, my potential is exhausted, and I'm on the front lines of the Second Great Shinobi War, trying to figure out how to survive until the end.'