The Land of Rivers lies between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, serving as a buffer zone between the two great nations. This country has no hidden village of its own, yet it has suffered no shortage of warfare.
Small countries like this have always been cannon fodder and sacrifices in every Shinobi World War. To them, war is a merciless natural disaster, because the power to choose never lies in their hands.
Of course, there have always been arrogant figures who attempted to challenge the authority of the Five Great Hidden Villages. One such person was Hanzō of the Salamander, leader of Amegakure in the Land of Rain. He was an extraordinarily powerful shinobi who long coveted the title of Kage, and thus remained extremely active during the Shinobi World Wars.
That aside, in nearly every major conflict—or more specifically, whenever Konohagakure and Sunagakure clashed—the Land of Rivers became a repeatedly contested battlefield.
For a long time, this small nation had been allied with the Land of Fire, existing under Konoha's influence and protection. However, after the Third Shinobi World War, perhaps in an attempt to avoid being unilaterally crushed by Sunagakure, the daimyō of the Land of Rivers abruptly declared neutrality.
This decision meant that Konoha would no longer help defend their territory, nor would it take civilian casualties in the Land of Rivers into consideration during wartime.
Yet even after declaring neutrality, due to historical alignments, the Sand shinobi continued to regard the Land of Rivers as part of Konoha's camp. Even if the country offered no resistance, Sunagakure showed no mercy once they moved in.
This harsh lesson proved one thing: being a fence-sitter is never a wise choice. By now, the Land of Rivers had realized its mistake—but it was already too late. The country had been thoroughly ravaged by the two great powers.
Along Konoha's foremost defensive line—stretching roughly two hundred kilometers—six hundred shinobi had been deployed. Their mission was to monitor Sunagakure's movements and serve as the first line of resistance in case of invasion.
At this moment, Hagoromo had already arrived at this front line.
Wrapped in a cloak, his face hidden behind a pure white mask with an attached hood, Hagoromo crouched atop a thick tree branch. The dense canopy completely concealed his presence.
There was something vaguely uncomfortable—almost ridiculous—about squatting there like this, but his eyes never once left the distant horizon.
As always, this was a battlefield.
The squad Hagoromo had been assigned to was Squad 132. Originally, it had been a standard four-man team, but unfortunately, during Sunagakure's previous assault, all members except the captain had been killed in action. Hagoromo had been transferred in to fill the vacancy.
As a result, they were currently forced to conduct reconnaissance in pairs.
Because the area requiring surveillance was enormous, Konoha's most forward line was thinly and loosely manned. Each squad was responsible for a vast monitoring zone, making the workload extremely heavy.
The squad captain was a jōnin, and a capable one at that—precisely why he had survived the last battle. After only minimal treatment, he had returned straight to the front.
But that wasn't the important part.
The key detail was his lineage.
He was a member of the Hyūga clan, possessing the legendary Byakugan.
Thanks to this, they could detect enemies first, anticipate movements first, and strike first.
Hagoromo barely spoke with the captain. At the beginning, the man had simply given him a few warnings and instructions—that cold detachment common to shinobi who had spent too long on the front lines. Such people had killed countless enemies, but had likely lost even more comrades. Eventually, numbness set in, and completing the mission became their only obsession.
On Hagoromo's sixth day at the front, just as evening approached, a strange birdcall echoed through the forest.
Soon, similar birdcalls began to rise and fall in succession.
This was a unique signal system used by Konoha shinobi.
It meant that Sunagakure was about to launch an attack.
And not a small one.
A large-scale offensive—estimated at around a thousand shinobi.
Hagoromo's gaze shifted behind his mask to the Hyūga captain across from him. His eyesight was sharp enough to clearly see the hand signals being relayed.
"Thirty minutes. Prepare for engagement."
Hagoromo had to admit—he was only a half-trained reconnaissance shinobi. He couldn't compare to a Byakugan user. Even now, he hadn't detected anything himself, yet enemies were already approaching.
He refocused his gaze and forced himself to concentrate.
His first real battle was about to begin.
To be honest, he was nervous.
In a one-on-one fight, he wasn't afraid—if he couldn't win, he could always retreat. But this was a group battle, and he had little experience with that kind of chaos.
A melee meant unpredictability. Anything could happen at any moment.
As he gathered his focus and refined his chakra to its peak state, the enemy finally appeared.
From a terrain standpoint, Hagoromo's position lay within dense forest, while the opposite side was a barren, open wasteland devoid of vegetation. Any movement there was immediately visible.
Then he saw them.
Masses of Sand shinobi surged forward, charging openly toward Konoha's defensive line without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Hagoromo frowned—not out of fear, but confusion.
A frontal shinobi charge?
He had never seen such a thing before. He had barely even heard of it.
This was practically offering themselves up as targets.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
But he had no time to think further—the enemy had already entered attack range.
The Sand forces advanced in a wedge formation. Hagoromo's Third Battalion was not the primary target; instead, they were positioned on the enemy's flank, holding a favorable angle of attack.
Then, from the previously silent forest, wide-area ninjutsu erupted all at once—like a storm of projectiles flooding the battlefield.
"If you have long-range ninjutsu, use it now. If not, forget it—just follow me!"
As the Hyūga captain rushed past Hagoromo, he barked the order into his ear.
To be honest, the captain had little expectation of the newcomer. Many kids like Hagoromo died in their very first battle—often before they even understood what was happening.
Hagoromo nodded in response, signaling that he understood.
The dense mass of Sand shinobi crashed forward like armored warriors. At the instant the two sides collided—
Hagoromo reached into his ninja pouch and pulled out two scrolls. After a brief hesitation, he stuffed one of them back.
He quickly unrolled the remaining scroll.
At the center of the circular sealing formula, a single character was inscribed:
"Sword."
"Release!"
With one hand forming a seal—
Bang!
A burst of white smoke erupted from the scroll, and something solid appeared in Hagoromo's grasp.
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