Later, Haseo Squad departed from Konoha. First, they reported to the Forward Command Post. After receiving adequate supplies, they prepared to travel northward, crossing the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers, entering their territory.
"Haseo, wait... Take these with you."
At the Konoha base, just before Haseo's departure, Kōga Kinoto found him and shoved a backpack into his arms.
"What is this?"
"Medicines—mainly hemostatics and antidotes. They're special-effect medicines I personally produced. Hopefully, they'll be useful to you when the time comes..." Saying this, Kōga suddenly shook his head. "No, rather, I hope you won't need them at all. Just consider it preparation for any possibility. This is about all I can do to help."
He naturally knew how dangerous the mission Haseo was now undertaking was. But being a medical ninja meant Kōga could only help in limited ways… Basically, preparing more medicine for him.
Haseo opened the backpack and found that various medicines were neatly categorized inside, each individually labeled with detailed instructions on how to use them. Although Kōga had simply described them as emergency medications for stopping bleeding and neutralizing poisons, anyone who took one look would immediately know these items hadn't been easy to obtain.
At this moment, countless Konoha ninja squads were carrying out the same kind of missions, yet not every squad received such special treatment like Haseo's.
"Thanks a lot, Doctor Kōga. You've really done us a big favor." After zipping up the backpack and putting it on his back, Haseo sincerely expressed his gratitude to Kōga.
During the process of infiltrating deep into the Land of Rain, Haseo Squad would inevitably engage in battle with Amegakure ninjas. Considering the possible extended duration of the mission, medical supplies would definitely become scarce resources during this operation.
Medical supplies at the Konoha front line were far more strictly controlled than ninja tools or other consumables; ninja going on missions couldn't bring as many medicines as they wished. Therefore, Kōga's consideration was indeed a rare gesture of goodwill.
This guy is great—I see why he's a winner in life… Haseo silently thought to himself.
Kōga had deep brown eyes and semi-long golden hair. If someone with those features were female, she might possess the typical 'loser' vibe—but reversed, he had that golden-boy charm instead.
As for the way Kōga expressed concern, Haseo didn't find anything wrong with it. Personally, he thought phrases like that weren't particularly lucky or unlucky. After accepting the medicines and thanking him, Haseo left the Konoha base without hesitation, leading his squad towards the unknown battlefield of the Land of Rain.
After traveling for some time, Haseo glanced at the backpack on his back and suddenly realized something...
"Darn it! So this is what they mean by 'before the battle, comes the supplies'?"
About half a day later, Renjiro—the scout ninja leading the group—abruptly stopped while moving rapidly ahead. Soon, everyone gathered at the spot where he had halted.
"Captain," he said, "we're now at the border of the Land of Rain."
"He spoke, indicating they had arrived at the edge of the Land of Rivers.
Haseo pulled a map out of the ninja tool pouch strapped to his back and unfolded it. Several companions helped hold down its four corners while he traced his finger along a road extending far into the distance.
'This map was drawn by ninja who entered the Land of Rain ahead of us. Its general accuracy can be trusted, but considering that many important targets might change within a day or even by the hour, we shouldn't place full faith in it,' Haseo explained, expressing his doubts about the map's precision.
After all, what he held was merely a copied paper map. Though it was a military-grade chart, it wasn't like real-time satellite imagery that gets constantly updated. Therefore, its reliability remained limited.
'Hospitals and arms factories are the most valuable attack targets, but success rates would be relatively low. Enemy forces will heavily protect such places. It's hard to imagine a small squad successfully destroying such critical locations. So my idea is to conduct harassment and sabotage against Amegakure's logistics supply lines while carrying out infiltration missions, with priority given to preserving our own safety.
Although this strategy may not bring particularly significant results, I think it's a more suitable combat approach for us... What do you all think?' Haseo said.
Compared to highly difficult direct assaults, he preferred more flexible guerrilla warfare tactics. Just thinking about how heavily guarded Konoha Frontline Hospital was, it wasn't hard to guess that Amegakure's key facilities were just as well protected—if not more so… No matter what, these weren't targets a four-person squad could destroy.
Therefore, Haseo's plan for their next operation appeared quite realistic and practical.
Upon hearing his words, the other three looked at each other first before simultaneously nodding their heads.
'I don't see any problems,' Nagisa Nara agreed.
The group felt comfortable with this operational arrangement. Considering Haseo's previous battlefield actions, they'd been worried earlier that he might pursue overly ambitious objectives, like charging directly into Amegakure itself. Unexpectedly, he seemed quite cautious.
In enemy territory, conservatism and prudence constituted excellent habits in multiple senses.
Still, vigilance remained necessary. In an instant, the three understood each other's meaning through eye contact… Haseo's battle plans always sounded perfectly logical—but his actual moves would usually end up going completely against them. So, fancy words carried little practical significance—they needed to keep a close watch on him moving forward.
'One more thing: when we cut diagonally northwestward along this route into the Land of Rain, besides Amegakure ninja, we're very likely to encounter enemies from Iwagakure and Kumo as well. When that happens, don't hesitate—strike decisively when the time comes,' Haseo added afterward.
He indeed considered things rather comprehensively. If this person also possessed absolute execution capability matching his ideas and operational plans, that would be perfect.
Unfortunately, nobody's flawless.
'Kumo… too?' Renjiro blinked in surprise, then asked.
Attacking the Iwagakure ninjas was understandable—he could accept that much, considering Konoha and Iwagakure were enemies rather than allies. But what about Kumo? After all, right now Kumo and Konoha were nominally allied.
"Anyone we encounter on the battlefield who isn't a ninja from Konoha is an enemy… I don't think I need to explain how we should handle our enemies," Haseo added firmly.
Who would have time during battle to carefully distinguish where each enemy came from? With the trust between Kumo and Konoha virtually nonexistent, the moment they encountered each other on the battlefield, both sides would instantly wish they had struck first.
Haseo had no fear that such actions might break the alliance. Although mutual trust remained low, ironically their current alliance was remarkably stable. Even if some "collateral damage" happened during battle, both sides would simply choose to endure it—at least during this Great Ninjutsu World War, Konoha and Kumo had always maintained a fragile, uneasy truce throughout this war.
"I understand," several people nodded in agreement, grasping Haseo's meaning.
Haseo put the map away and stood up. He had said everything he needed to say, except for one last sentence:
"If that's settled, then next…
The infiltration into the Land of Rain begins—now!"
As his voice faded out, the group of four immediately dashed without hesitation toward the thick forest of the Land of Rain, where towering trees blotted out the sky.
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