While Ayane Amamiya silently bid farewell to her former classmate and solidified the resolve in her heart…
A dozen miles behind the frontlines.
A small town called Aodoro had also plunged into the chaos of war.
“Hurry, go!
I heard the Konoha ninja have broken through!” “What?
Isn’t Lord Hanzo of the Salamander stationed at the frontlines…?” “Who knows?!
The Mayor’s entire family is dead, and word is the Konoha ninja did it!” “The Mayor is dead?
Don’t tell me Lord Hanzo has already…” “Shut up!
Just go home and pack your things!” The panicked chatter of civilians filled the air, and the guards who usually swaggered around were now fleeing faster than startled rabbits.
Everywhere you looked, there was only the frantic chaos of a warzone.
Aodoro Town was one of Amegakure’s vital logistics transit hubs for this sector of the battlefield.
Because of the massive stockpile of supplies stored within, it was naturally a prime target designated for destruction in Konoha’s current operation.
Just half an hour ago.
An elite Jonin squad composed of members from the Ino-Shika-Cho formation and the Uchiha clan launched a surprise attack on the town.
Aided by the Byakugan of the Hyuga Branch Family and the specialized antidote personally concocted by Tsunade…
they marched straight through the miasma zones established by Amegakure, silently bypassed all the Rain outposts, successfully slipped into the town, and began to wreak absolute havoc!
Compared to top-tier Konoha elites like them…
the Chunin squad Ayane had eliminated on the frontlines was nothing more than child’s play.
Although the Amegakure garrison stationed in the town quickly detected the anomaly and mounted a counterattack, sometimes the slightest leak of terrible news was enough to trigger mass panic among the civilian populace.
This was the tragic reality of a weak, minor nation.
A single gust of wind was all it took for the commoners to fall like withered autumn grass, never to stand straight again.
Amidst the devastation.
Few people noticed three scrawny, tiny figures hiding behind the wall of a narrow alleyway, observing everything.
Watching the crowds fleeing in all directions, their faces betrayed a deep sense of confusion and fear.
“Yahiko, Nagato…
it looks like there’s another battle…” The blue-haired girl huddled beneath an oversized raincoat, her eyes filled with terror.
“Are we still going to keep moving forward?” Standing beside her were two boys roughly her age, wearing identical oversized raincoats.
One had vibrant orange hair, the other deep red.
Their faces, however, looked remarkably similar—both were sallow, malnourished, and completely filthy.
The red-haired Nagato kept his head lowered in silence, his long bangs hanging down to completely obscure his eyes.
However, the other two were already accustomed to his gloomy demeanor.
After a brief silence, the orange-haired Yahiko whispered, “Konan, we’ve already come this far.
If we turn back now…
everything we’ve been through to get here will have been for nothing.” He clenched his fists tight.
It sounded less like an answer and more like he was trying to hype himself up.
“We have to…
become ninja!” Suppressing the fear welling up in his chest, Yahiko declared with unwavering resolve, “Only by becoming ninja will we possess the power to change all of this!” Yahiko was an orphan of the Land of Rain.
To be perfectly honest, that was an incredibly common, dime-a-dozen status in this country.
In terms of social standing, he wasn’t much nobler than the weeds growing on the side of the road.
However, unlike other orphans…
Yahiko had two like-minded friends whom he could trust with his life, as well as a relatively safe secret base.
One friend was Konan, whom he had known the longest.
She was a street urchin he met over two years ago and one of the co-founders of their secret base.
The other friend was Nagato, who had only joined them half a year ago.
He wasn’t very talkative, but he was incredibly kind-hearted.
Even when he had passed out from sheer starvation, his only thought was to find a bite of food for his pet dog…
It was precisely because she was moved by his genuine sincerity and kindness that Konan had taken the unconscious Nagato into their hideout.
Originally, the three children huddled together for warmth to survive.
Although life was grueling, they still found occasional moments of joy and laughter.
But during a chance excursion outside, the trio witnessed two shinobi engaged in combat.
That superhuman power deeply captivated Yahiko, planting the seed for a grand, impossible ambition in his heart that he had never dared to dream of before.
Determined to become a shinobi…
he led his two companions out of their secret base, trekking across the country to reach the battlefield between Amegakure and Konoha.
Yahiko’s line of thought was simple.
He hoped that he, Konan, or Nagato—any of them would do—could catch the eye of a powerful ninja, become their disciple, and learn to master the power of chakra.
Who could have known that their timing would be so remarkably unfortunate?
Before the three of them could even find a single bite of food, they were swept up in this chaotic warzone.
Hearing Yahiko’s response, Nagato suddenly interjected, “It’s going to be very dangerous.” Someone who didn’t know him might assume Nagato was subtly voicing his opposition.
But in reality, he was merely stating an objective fact without the slightest intention of arguing against the plan.
Naturally, Yahiko understood this perfectly.
He nodded with a quiet “Mm,” and continued his instructions.
“That’s exactly why we have to be extremely, incredibly careful!
If it comes down to it, you guys stay hidden, and I’ll go first to…” Before the “big brother” could even finish his earnest speech…
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted right next to them.
Plumes of dust and smoke choked the air.
The brick and stone wall beside them collapsed violently, crumbling like a toppling mountain of jade.
The three children reacted with such extreme fluidity it looked as though they had rehearsed this exact scenario a thousand times.
In perfect unison, they bent low, curled their bodies tight, and scrambled into a secure hiding spot.
This was the survival instinct drilled into the bones of every single street urchin who grew up in the Land of Rain!
“Cough!
Cough!
Cough!” Amidst the billowing dust, a shinobi wearing a combat vest crawled out from the shattered bricks and rubble, cursing through gritted teeth, “Damn it!
Those cursed Konoha ninja…” The trio held their breath.
Not daring to make a sound, they could only communicate through their eyes.
Nagato even made sure to gently press down on the puppy hidden in his coat; the little dog intelligently kept its mouth shut.
‘Looking at the symbol on his forehead protector, he’s a ninja from our Land of Rain.’ ‘He looks like he’s hurt…’ ‘And the injuries look pretty severe?’ As if confirming their silent deductions…
The shinobi, who had painstakingly dragged himself from the ruins, barely managed a few steps before collapsing heavily face-first into the dirt with a loud thud.
Dark clouds gathered overhead.
The rain began to fall silently from the sky, the light drizzle quickly escalating into a torrential downpour.
The three kids didn’t even dare to breathe heavily.
They stayed huddled in the shadows, their eyes glued to the fallen shinobi who showed no signs of getting back up.
After a long time passed.
Judging the situation to be relatively safe, Yahiko whispered, “Don’t come out.
I’m going to take a look.” Under his companions’ worried gazes, he nimbly scrambled over the broken rubble and approached the shinobi.
The man was sprawled on his stomach, making it impossible to see his face clearly, but judging by the stubble around his mouth, he appeared to be middle-aged.
Yahiko cautiously reached out a hand, testing the man’s breathing beneath his nose.
It was incredibly faint.
But he was definitely still alive!
A bold, crazy idea began to claw its way up from the bottom of Yahiko’s heart!
Perhaps…
their one opportunity to become ninja was lying right in front of them!