Early the next morning, just as Ayato arrived at the entrance of the clan grounds, Masashi and the other two, who had received the message yesterday and been waiting for a long time, immediately surrounded him.
“Who is the new team member?” Zensuke asked curiously.
Although Ayato, who had shown a small display of strength yesterday, successfully obtained permission to go to the front lines, Ryunosuke added a new team member for Ayato’s safety.
“I heard it’s a Ninja skilled in Medical Ninjutsu.” Although Retsu wasn’t present yesterday, he was still the grandson of the Third Elder, so his information was quite comprehensive.
Masashi looked behind everyone and slowly said, “The new member is already here.
Why don’t you just ask her?”
Everyone quickly looked behind them.
The person who arrived was a girl slightly older than them, with neat, ear-length short hair and delicate features.
“It’s you, Kiana,” Zensuke exclaimed softly.
“Boss!” Kiana nodded to Ayato, then smiled and greeted everyone, “Good morning, everyone.”
As a student from the same Clan Academy cohort as Ayato, Kiana naturally knew how to address him, as she had also been one of the many people Ayato had defeated.
Because teaching staff were scarce and there weren’t many children of the right age, the Hagoromo Clan Academy usually had a cohort every two years.
Thus, in the same batch of students, the age gap between the oldest and youngest could be up to two years.
For instance, Kiana, although she was in the same cohort as Ayato and the others that year, was the oldest among the five, already 11 years old.
Retsu was also a year older than Ayato and the others, already 10 years old.
“Why did you start studying Medical Ninjutsu?” Ayato asked curiously.
“I remember your Ninjutsu skills were quite good.”
“Well, Hezi and Qu were seriously injured during a mission before, and the clan couldn’t save them.
A while ago…”
Kiana’s tone was low: “So my team disbanded, and I haven’t been on a mission for a long time.
I figured if I was going to be idle anyway, I might as well learn some Medical Ninjutsu.
Maybe if I encounter a situation like that again in the future—”
Hearing that their classmates had sacrificed themselves, everyone felt heavy-hearted.
The anxiety about the future dampened the excitement they had previously felt about going to the front lines.
Ayato patted her shoulder: “From now on, live well, carrying their share with you.”
“Understood, Boss.”
Ayato nodded and summoned three scrolls taller than themselves: “Everyone knows about this mission, right?”
“Although the route for this mission is within the Hagoromo Clan’s sphere of influence, Senior Yuta, who also took this path, encountered danger.”
“Therefore, I divided the supplies into three parts: one for me, one for Retsu, and one for Masashi.” Ayato handed a scroll to Masashi and Retsu respectively.
“If the situation turns bad, I will cover the retreat.”
Ayato looked directly into their eyes and said calmly with an undeniable tone, “And you two must safely deliver these supplies to the front line camp.
This is an order.”
“Yes, Captain Ayato!”
Everyone answered in unison.
After a brief preparation, they leaped onto the treetops and rushed toward the battlefield without stopping.
After a day and a night of continuous travel, the group of five finally arrived safely at the Hagoromo Clan’s Eastern Front Battlefield Camp before nightfall on the second day.
“Stop,” two Hagoromo Clan Ninja blocked the five people in front of the camp gate.
“What are you doing here?”
Ayato stepped forward and handed over a token: “We are here on the Clan Head’s orders, transporting supplies.”
One of the Ninja took the token from Ayato’s hand and examined it.
His tone softened considerably: “My apologies, that was a routine inspection.
Please follow me.”
Ayato nodded slightly in understanding and followed him toward the Command Center where the Fourth Elder was located.
The distance from the gate to the Command Center was only a little over a hundred meters, yet Ayato and the five others had already seen countless severely injured clan members lying in tents in agony.
Heavy-hearted, Ayato didn’t want to speak and could only follow silently behind the guiding Ninja with his head lowered.
“We’ve arrived.
The Fourth Elder is inside,” the guiding Ninja stopped in front of a tent that was slightly larger than the surrounding ones.
“Thank you.”
The Ninja waved his hand and left using the Body Flicker Technique.
Ayato saw Masashi and the others looking at each other, unsure of what to do.
He grinned and casually walked inside.
He was very familiar with the Fourth Elder.
Although the Fourth Elder was also part of the hardline faction like the Second Elder, his personality was much more easygoing.
As soon as he entered the tent, Ayato keenly spotted a precious Treasure Chest next to the seat on the left side of the Fourth Elder’s desk.
Without thinking, Ayato walked straight over and sat down.
Inside the tent, Fourth Elder Kashi was leaning over, examining a map on his desk.
Hearing the movement of someone entering, he stopped what he was doing.
Seeing Ayato walk in and sit down without saying a word, the Fourth Elder’s mouth twitched: “You brat, you certainly aren’t polite.”
Ayato, who had quickly opened the Treasure Chest while sitting down, met the Fourth Elder’s gaze and said casually, “Of course.
Ayato casually spouted nonsense about Naruto’s Ninja Way and brazenly claimed it as his own.
Zensuke and Kiana, who had never seen such a scene, didn’t dare breathe loudly, thinking simultaneously: *As expected of the Boss, he’s too bold.
What if the Fourth Elder gets angry?*
The Fourth Elder certainly wouldn’t get angry.
Rather than getting angry, Ayato’s unrestrained and natural behavior was actually much to his liking.
“Where are the goods?”
After giving Retsu and Masashi a look, Ayato also summoned his Sealing Scroll: “It’s all here, nothing missing.”
The Fourth Elder skillfully opened the three Sealing Scrolls, which were filled with supplies like Kunai, exploding tags, and military rations pills.
After carefully checking them, the Fourth Elder nodded: “The quantity is about ten percent less than what the letter stated.
The person who sealed these supplies is moderately proficient in Sealing Jutsu.”
Although Sealing Jutsu had long been popularized and widely used in civil, military, and various other fields in this era, everyone’s Sealing Jutsu seemed subpar, as sealed supplies often mysteriously went missing.
“Tch, only the Uzumaki Clan’s Sealing Jutsu is reliable.”
Ayato’s muttering wasn’t quiet, and everyone inside the tent heard it.
The Fourth Elder rubbed his brow: “Who doesn’t know the Uzumaki Clan’s Sealing Jutsu is good?
The problem is we can’t get it.”
The Uzumaki Clan, famous in the Ninja World for their Sealing Jutsu, wasn’t inherently strong, yet no Ninja Clan dared to scheme against them, as the Senju backing them were not to be trifled with.
Furthermore, the two clans, who previously only had casual contact, had been communicating more and more frequently lately, suggesting an intention to strengthen cooperation.
Who would dare provoke that?
We can’t afford to provoke them.
“If we can’t steal it, why not use Marriage Alliances?
Make the Uzumaki Clan send their Sealing Jutsu over as a Dowry.”
“What did you say?”
This time, Ayato’s murmuring was very quiet, and no one heard him.
The Fourth Elder only vaguely caught the words ‘Sealing Jutsu’.
“Nothing,”
Ayato awkwardly changed the subject: “Fourth Elder, the Old Man said that our Team Seven will stay and operate on the Eastern Front Battlefield from now on.
Don’t leave us idle.”
Hearing this, the Fourth Elder, who was processing the supplies, recalled Ryunosuke’s instructions to him and looked at Ayato with a half-smile: “Don’t worry, brat.
I don’t keep idle hands here.”