Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

Spending the night without incident, the next morning Haseo's squad quickly ended their brief rest and continued forward. After another peaceful day and a half, they arrived at the front-line command post before the deadline. 

The reason why powerful countries with strong military forces tolerate the existence of smaller nations and minor ninja villages comes down to two factors. One is because the division of national borders and territories has always been influenced by historical and geographical factors. The other is an intentional effort by major nations themselves, meant to create buffer zones between each other. 

Otherwise, once the **one-nation-one-village system** became established, the fate of those small countries would be nothing more than being overwhelmed and gradually consumed by larger ones. 

So far, retaining small nations along the borders has been proven to be the right choice. No matter how intense the current Ninja World War has become, the main battlegrounds have always remained within these buffer zones—in the territories of small countries. 

Even throughout the First Great Ninja War and the later wars that followed, this pattern remained unchanged… True, battles like those fought by Konoha have always been fierce and bloody, but the real losers were always the small nations caught between the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. 

This isn't even blaming Konoha for deliberately bullying the weak. The reasoning is simple—given the choice between waging war on your own soil or someone else's, anyone would choose the latter. 

Therefore, even though the loss of ninja in battle might be heavy, production centers and other infrastructure inside the major nations remain largely intact. As a result, the wars can last longer, and after the fighting ends, the great nations and large ninja villages recover quickly. 

Compared to the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Rivers, where Haseo and his companions are now stationed, is not particularly small in terms of territory. However, it lacks any resistance ability at all during the Ninja World War precisely because it doesn't have its own ninja village. 

Currently, Konoha has deployed approximately four thousand ninjas within the Land of Rivers. To maintain balance against Konoha, Sunagakure must also field a similar number of ninja, meaning this country has already been packed full of ninja. 

Haseo had always found it rather ridiculous how so many ninja were clustered together. Flexibility through small-unit operations was what truly defined ninjas. Organized group assaults and large-scale offensives were more fitting for samurais, not ninjas. Did ninjas really line up into formations and charge forward shouting slogans? 

However, by now, no single village or nation had the freedom to dictate such deployment strategies anymore. The war had reached this stage, and every side could only respond by concentrating all available forces for attack. 

The kind of war Haseo envisioned—one where battles were decided in small skirmishes—only existed in the chaotic era before the ninja villages were formed. Once ninja formed organized villages, their power vastly exceeded what it had been during the clan warfare period, naturally leading to uncontrollable expansion in the scale of battles.

Of course, even with so many ninja gathered in such a tight formation, the uniqueness of ninja combat wouldn't completely disappear... True, both great Hidden Villages had heavily stationed forces in the Land of Rivers, but unless it was a strategically decisive battle, neither side would possibly commit their full strength all at once.

At the moment, most of the fighting between Sunagakure and Konoha mainly took the form of skirmishes between small units. Both sides were patiently trying to wear down each other bit by bit... In short, the war had already entered a phase of strategic stalemate.

After Squad Haseo arrived and reported to the forward command post, just as he had anticipated, they were dispatched only a few hours later.

Before the Hokage's arrival, the commanding officer of Konoha's forces here was Kagami Uchiha. Back in the village, Sansho could boss Kagami Uchiha around, and Haseo saw him frequently, but such situations absolutely wouldn't happen here. In fact, Haseo didn't even have the clearance to meet with him—at least for now.

After completing the report, Haseo took his mission orders and returned to face his squad members again. He unfolded the newly received mission map and pointed at a small area marked on it, saying, "Because the scout team previously operating in this area has completely lost contact, headquarters suspects they've been wiped out, and now we're being sent to replace them."

Although words like "suspects" were used, in reality, both headquarters and Haseo himself were certain that those ninja must already be dead... Around here, if a ninja's scheduled report wasn't received by headquarters on time, they would immediately be presumed dead.

"What about the timing?" Nagisa Nara asked about when the squad had lost contact.

"It's been seven hours already," Haseo informed everyone based on intelligence obtained from headquarters. Normally, frontline ninja checked in every six hours. If an emergency arose, special signals would be sent. But the squad they were replacing had sent no such signal nor done their scheduled check-in. The most likely scenario was that they'd been silently taken out without any trace.

"So what's our mission—attack or defend?" Nara asked again.

"Defend. Our task is to guard that area. If small groups of Suna ninja infiltrate, eliminate them; if enemy forces of medium size or larger enter the area, then immediately alert headquarters." As Haseo spoke, he also mentioned that earlier while receiving the mission, he'd specifically asked whether they should try locating the missing team or investigate how they died, but that question had been flatly rejected.

Every day here, ninja died constantly, and headquarters simply didn't have the capacity to investigate each death carefully, let alone recover their remains.

"We've got five days total before someone comes to relieve us. Five days later, if there's still no replacement after one week, we're allowed to withdraw ourselves... Any questions about the mission?"

"Nope." All three members shook their heads together; Haseo had already explained the mission details clearly enough.

"Alright, let's start arranging the formation. Since this is a defensive mission, to ensure open sightlines and prevent being overwhelmed immediately, I'll use a dispersed positioning strategy. The basic formation will be a T-shape—I and Nara will stand at the very front, handling the first wave of attacks. Ten meters behind us will be Renjiro, responsible for reconnaissance and relaying information forward and backward. Twenty meters past Renjiro will be Chichio—you must ensure sufficient height and visibility while staying ready to provide support... Listen carefully: because the spacing is so wide, you must stay well hidden. Otherwise, if the rear is suddenly attacked, we'll hardly have any chance of reinforcing you."

"Any opinions on the formation?"

Everyone shook their heads again.

You'd never guess they were just fourteen-year-olds—both the one giving orders and the ones listening. Ninja weren't supposed to be tools of war—but still, they kept pushing themselves toward becoming exactly that.

Even though he was about to step onto the battlefield, Haseo's thinking remained clear, his verbal expressions remarkably precise and concise. This was his first real battle—but there was no way it was going to get to him mentally.

Haseo fully grasped the mission given to him: they could die, but they must ensure the scroll transmission reaches headquarters. That's why he chose the scattered formation. Actually, the most dangerous position in this setup was Chichio's; she was essentially detached from the rest. If an overwhelming enemy appeared in front, she would become the last guarantee for reporting back. Meanwhile, if the enemy struck from the rear or flanks, she'd be eliminated instantly.

"Okay then, check your gear and supplies..."

"All set? Move out!"

Ninja tools, armor, military rations, medicines, scrolls used for transmitting messages, and special signal flares—Haseo and his squad members rechecked all items carried on their bodies.

After confirming everything was in order, they sped swiftly toward the assigned target area.

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