Konoha.
In a quiet, ordinary courtyard located in the northwestern outskirts of the village, far from its bustling center, Sansho had lived here ever since the Senju Clan's name was erased from Konoha.
At around midmorning, Kōga Kinoto—who had temporarily returned to the village and was working as an expert physician at Konoha Hospital—hurried here to report something she had been deeply concerned about to Sansho.
"Sansho, we received news about Haseo from the Front Line… He returned to the Front-line Camp today from the Land of Rain," Kōga said.
This was good news—something worth informing the current Sansho.
"Is that so? So he really is back…"
Didn't I already say before that you're all too pessimistic? Haseo would never fall so easily on the battlefield. After all, he's someone I value deeply. How could he die so simply?
Upon hearing this, Sansho paused briefly before responding with a smile. Inside, she was flustered, but she managed to keep her composure despite clearly feeling anxious.
Kōga saw through it but didn't point it out directly. Sansho's act amused him slightly, though he held back his laughter.
"Yes, apparently he was injured during the previous battle and barely escaped by using Reverse Summoning Jutsu to Shikkotsu Forest. He stayed there recuperating until now, finally returning to the Front Line… Well, even though his injuries were severe before, he has fully recovered now."
"Shikkotsu Forest huh… obviously not a place where we can maintain contact. It's fortunate that Haseo survived," Sansho replied.
Kōga glanced at her sideways. A moment ago, she was certain he was alive—now she's calling it lucky that he survived. Did she even realize what she was saying?
Whether out of sorrow or relief, during the time when Haseo went missing, the only one who truly cared about whether he lived or died was Sansho alone.
To others, even if Haseo did die on the battlefield, he would simply be another among the countless ninja who fall every day. There might be regret, but only Sansho would mourn deeply… Something Haseo himself probably never understood—let alone realized—the depth of Sansho's feelings toward him.
"Sansho, you're being too lenient toward him. From what we heard, when Haseo returned to the Front Line, he looked perfectly energetic without any sign of injury at all… As a ninja, even during recovery, under normal circumstances they regain enough strength to rejoin frontline operations fairly quickly. Yet he waited until completely healed before slowly dragging himself back. Rather than recovering, it seemed more like retirement… The village has sufficient grounds to believe he was avoiding combat and slacking off," Kōga shook his head.
He didn't know that Haseo had remained in Shikkotsu Forest for so long precisely to prepare for a major battle ahead and to study the experiences gained on the battlefield, so his opinion sounded reasonable enough.
Few would go to great lengths trying to understand things from Haseo's perspective. What Kōga thought was likely also how most people felt.
"Since Haseo didn't return to Konoha from Shikkotsu Forest but went directly to the Front Line instead, that means he must've returned to the Land of Rain again before crossing enemy territory to reach the Front Line. Naturally, he wouldn't act again until his body had fully recovered—for safety's sake… If Sarutobi or the village really wants to nitpick over this matter, then I'll personally handle the explanation with them." Sansho cast a displeased glance toward Kōga before speaking like this.
Kōga gave a bitter smile—Sansho's reaction was beyond mere favoritism now. To put it more bluntly, what he was showing could clearly be described as doting affection.
Far away, completely unaware of these distant affairs concerning himself, Haseo had already met with the Third Hokage and reported his experiences during the past period. With Katsuyu serving as a shared witness, his words naturally carried great credibility.
True, it was improper for a ninja to stay out of command so long. However, under the circumstances, his actions weren't without justification—making it practically impossible to find grounds for punishment.
Still, skipping duty remained skipping duty. Although Haseo had reported his situation to the Hokage and obtained understanding, he still needed to provide explanations to the relevant departments.
Hatake's squad escorted Haseo to the Hokage's side before withdrawing, leaving Jiraiya—who happened to have nothing else on his plate—to continue "escorting" Haseo through the entire review process. By now, the kid's face was still slightly green—not because Haseo had insulted him with some extremely provocative words—but because his face literally turned green from consuming too many bugs. In fact, considering how Jiraiya was still in excellent physical condition despite just having a green face, he was quite impressive.
To be honest, it was one hell of an ordeal—even though Haseo's stomach had become accustomed to Senju's secret medicine, known for its intense flavor, he never wanted to try Mount Myoboku's specialty dishes ever again.
But Jiraiya had learned his lesson—next time he headed to Mount Myoboku, he'd definitely bring along his own rations.
After wandering around the Konoha base and finally completing the "reintegration procedures," almost an entire day had passed.
"Haseo, exactly how many misdeeds have you committed? Why is the logistics department after you too?" Finally, Jiraiya couldn't help but ask.
"To be precise, it wasn't logistics," Haseo looked back at the tent behind them before continuing while walking, "It was the Konoha Asset Management Committee. Since previously my squad consumed all resources brought on every mission, they suspect me of participating in embezzlement and illegal resale of state-owned assets of the Land of Fire—and even believe I'm trending toward further damaging the collective interests of Konoha..."
Then I let them have it. Don't they realize that real combat needs artillery prep and suppressive fire? When we frontline ninjas risk our lives in battle, who has the time to carefully consider whether we should use an Explosive Tag at any specific moment? Complaining about how much resources we frontliners use? Come on—being able to exchange supplies for survival chances itself is already a damn good deal."
"It makes sense what you said," replied Jiraiya, who then asked after a moment's thought, "But did you waste Konoha's assets?"
"Wasted them? Of course I did. Aren't ninja tools meant to be used? Should I have saved them for the village?"
Jiraiya: "I..."
His attitude came off as way too smug.
In truth, if Konoha had just one fewer person like Haseo, the Land of Fire might have kept its place as the world's top economic power a little longer.
...
Later, Haseo learned that after he volunteered to stay behind covering their retreat, the remaining members of his squad along with the surviving leader from another Konoha team successfully escaped back. Their survival made Haseo's rearguard action worthwhile.
However, there was an issue—since Haseo had been off the grid for so long, although his squad wasn't completely disbanded, those three teammates were no longer stationed here.
Haseo's teammates had now been transferred to the eastern part of the Land of Fire and were frequently deployed to the Land of Whirlpools, tasked with monitoring Mist's movements. Ironically, it was actually Haseo who originally proposed cooperating with Kumo to monitor Mist and exchange intelligence. He never imagined that the very task he proposed would one day fall to his own teammates.
Recently, Mist's activities seemed unusually obvious, as though they were brewing some major operation. Therefore, Konoha had no choice but to increase surveillance over there.
In many ways, this mission turned out to be something of a good thing for Haseo's teammates—at the very least, carrying out surveillance on the Eastern Front was far safer compared to being stuck on the Western Battlefield.
If it were up to him, Haseo would've loved nothing more than to reunite with his team on the Eastern Front. However, after slacking off for so long, there was no way he'd be handed a soft assignment like this.
Therefore, what kind of assignment awaited Haseo—the last man standing of Haseo Squad—would depend entirely on the Forward Command Post's decision.
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