Naruto: The Hidden Shadow Style

The chaotic battle raged all night long, and it wasn't until dawn that Konoha's camp finally returned to peace.

That night, Haseo and Sakumo Hatake encountered a total of three waves of enemies—two teams of two and one team of four. Using their knowledge of the terrain, familiarity with the environment, and superior speed techniques, they eliminated all eight enemies with minimal losses.

It could be said that although the night's battles carried life-or-death risks for Haseo and Sakumo, the frequency of combat wasn't as intense as imagined.

There were enough ninja stationed in this area to defend it, so the barrier surrounding the Frontline Hospital remained intact even after all the fighting.

Sunagakure (the Hidden Sand Village) failed to achieve this objective, but at daybreak, they didn't linger on the battlefield—they withdrew quickly...

Leaving behind nothing but bodies strewn across the ground.

It wasn't just Konoha's side that suffered heavy losses from the surprise attack; Sunagakure's offensive forces weren't faring much better either. In truth, the number of casualties on both sides was nearly even.

This was precisely due to Kagami Uchiha's orders issued right after Konoha's command system was damaged. It was exactly that simple command that stabilized the situation and morale at Konoha's base.

Early the next morning, Haseo—who clearly showed signs of exhaustion—was just slumped on the ground, trying to catch his breath. Not far from him lay the corpse of an enemy, but he paid it no mind whatsoever.

Further away, Sakumo Hatake was lying there resting... Due to their age difference, Sakumo's exhaustion looked far worse than Haseo's.

Using the light coming from the horizon, Haseo surveyed the surroundings. At a glance, although Konoha's camp had been attacked, it hadn't reached a state of collapse. The level of damage sustained was manageable.

Perhaps Sunagakure's plan had failed? Haseo couldn't help but think.

Detailed battle reports wouldn't reach someone of Haseo's level this quickly. In fact, many details about last night's fighting would forever remain unknown to him—he was merely a foot soldier after all. But unexpectedly, just as Haseo was thinking he should get up to help deal with the aftermath of the battlefield, Kōga reappeared before him.

Due to last night's decentralization of command authority, Kōga was still the highest-ranking officer here—and thus Haseo's immediate supervisor.

"Doctor Kōga, are you alright?" Seeing that Kōga looked somewhat disheveled, Haseo asked concernedly. At this moment, one of Kōga's arms was slung around his neck—he had clearly been injured in last night's battle.

Kōga shook his head, unconcerned about his own injuries. He looked straight at Haseo and said, "Haseo, it's urgent—you need to go back to the village now."

"Back to Konoha?" Haseo was taken aback, hastily standing upright. He didn't understand this order very well. After all, Konoha Base had just been attacked—shouldn't everyone hold position until reinforcements arrived instead of retreating to Konoha at such a vulnerable time?

It was too abnormal.

"Should I go with my entire squad?"

He continued, asking,

Because they had been assigned to different areas the previous night, Haseo currently had no idea about the status of the remaining members of his squad—let alone whether those three were still alive.

But Kōga denied his suggestion once again. "No, only you remain. Your squad is still stationed here… You need to return to the village where both you and your jutsu will actually be useful."

Haseo started slightly, then ventured, "Could something have happened to Sansho-sensei?"

At the moment, Haseo's connection with Konoha wasn't all that deep. Aside from his relationship with Sansho, he couldn't think of any other reason for being recalled to the village—he hadn't been at the Front Line for very long and had taken part in only a few real battles.

"No, it's not related to Sansho, but it is indeed an emergency… Everything will become clear once you arrive at the village," Kōga explained.

Since he refused to give further details, Haseo knew pressing him about why he was being sent back would yield nothing. So he continued, "Do I need to leave immediately?"

"Immediately," Kōga emphasized firmly.

Now Haseo understood. Whatever the mission was, it clearly demanded urgency. "Understood. I'll go make preparations right away."

But just as Haseo turned to leave, Kōga suddenly grabbed him. With his one working hand, he tightly gripped Haseo's arm and leaned in close to whisper, "When things get truly desperate, you must protect Sansho at all costs."

Looking at the other man's serious expression, Haseo could only nod solemnly. Yet inside, his thoughts became even more confused… What exactly had happened in Konoha?

Unfortunately, his memories contained very little information regarding the First Great Ninja World War.

The mission was extremely urgent—Haseo hadn't even had time to regroup or recover before being urgently deployed with three unfamiliar ninja.

"Are we all here? Then let's move out."

Once assembled, their leader wasted no time issuing the command to depart. Before their departure, several other squads had already left the area… Clearly, Konoha was recalling large numbers of ninja back to the village itself.

Was it possible that Sunagakure had not only launched a surprise attack on Konoha's frontline camp, but also struck the village directly? How could such a thing even be possible?! If not that, then why withdraw so many ninja from the Front Line?

Everything suddenly seemed illogical.

Haseo had no issue with participating in combat missions, but he hoped not to get dragged into any schemes. His mind raced with questions, though his feet never stopped moving.

He joined this team as they left the camp and set off back toward Konoha. However, just before leaving the camp entirely, Haseo suddenly hesitated slightly with his steps.

"What's wrong?" The team leader immediately noticed his pause.

"Nothing, it's just… I saw a 'familiar face,'" Haseo replied.

And it was a 'familiar face'—one who was already dead. As he passed by a group of ninja sorting through corpses, Haseo caught sight of the logistics ninja who had helped him pick out weapons the day before… now lying lifeless among the corpses.

The squad leader was somewhat displeased with Haseo's reaction. Frowning, he said, "Don't get distracted. Focus on the mission."

The group left the Konoha base and suddenly picked up speed. Before long, they crossed the border of the Land of Rivers and returned to the Land of Fire.

At this point, the atmosphere within the team finally seemed to relax a little, so Haseo overheard a conversation between two ninja:

"If it weren't for the Acting Third hesitating, last night's incident never would've happened."

"Yeah, he just isn't decisive enough—he lacks both the sense of responsibility and experience expected of a Hokage. If it had been the Second—"

Judging from their conversation, they were trying to pin the blame for last night's events on Hiruzen Sarutobi. This thought made Haseo scoff slightly—he couldn't help but mock their reasoning. What the Third Hokage lacked wasn't experience or determination—it was credibility and standing among the elders. What did that Sand sneak attack even have to do with Hiruzen anyway?

And as for "If it had been the Second," why not dream even bigger and say, "What if it had been the First?"

But in fairness, one couldn't really blame these ninja for their simplistic views. After all, they never got much beyond elementary school education, lacking any formal learning. Mostly all they knew was fighting—how were they even supposed to wrap their heads around strategy?

Right now, the Third Hokage was indeed at the front lines. But when forces were evenly matched and the battle was at a stalemate, he hadn't recklessly thrown his own unit directly into combat. Instead, he'd set up a new camp along the border of the Land of Fire.

Merging both forces recklessly wouldn't necessarily tip the balance in Konoha's favor. It was simple enough—did Konoha think it alone understood how to reinforce? Didn't the Sand also know that?

So splitting the force into two camps under the Third's command made perfect strategic sense—covering each other in case something went wrong.

Yet now, given some problems arising at the front-line camp, the Third Hokage's approach appeared to be drawing criticism... Especially considering that Hiruzen was still only an Acting Hokage.

When your authority's shaky, every mistake your men make turns into your fault.

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