Naruto: The Teaching System - 265

Chapter 265: Iwagakure Eyes the Supply Convoy

"Neji, how do you feel?" Time had passed since their last mission. During this period, Sawada's team had successively executed multiple C-rank and B-rank missions. Only now had they finally been able to accept an A-rank mission.

This was only possible with Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval, as Konoha was currently fighting Iwagakure and Hidden Sand. The strength they had demonstrated earned them respect across the Elemental Nations, and the missions kept coming in. With only three jōnin and special jōnin in Sawada's team, to maximize their talents, A-rank missions had to be assigned.

At least Neji's strength wasn't weak, and from reports of past missions, Hiruzen Sarutobi had clearly seen Neji's growth, which led him to approve it.

"No problem, Sensei." Neji nodded, then directly jumped back to rejoin the team.

"Currently, no suspicious targets have been detected," Neji said with a serious expression.

Sawada nodded, then continued forward. This mission was to transport supplies to the front lines in the Grass Country. The war had lasted nearly two months.

Ōnoki felt frustrated. After all, his Four-Tails Jinchūriki was now in Konoha's hands. The front-line war had remained at a stalemate because their opponent was Jiraiya, an experienced shinobi who had lived through the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars.

Meanwhile, the Hidden Sand front kept pressing him for explanations. How could Ōnoki make up for such massive supply losses?

So Ōnoki's attention turned to Konoha's rear supply convoys. After all, Konoha's troops had fought on the front line in the Grass Country, and transporting supplies there undoubtedly required long-distance travel. Though the Hidden Waterfall Village had been warned by Konoha not to let Iwagakure through, it still couldn't stop small Iwagakure squads from infiltrating.

Therefore, over the past half month, Konoha had suffered multiple supply interceptions. Generally speaking, missions transporting supplies to the front lines were classified as B-rank, led by jōnin with chūnin handling transport. However, due to Iwagakure's continued harassment, losses were no longer minor, so the mission was directly reclassified as A-rank.

"Alright, continue forward!" Sawada issued orders to the supply convoy behind them. Hearing his instruction, the team slowly resumed moving forward.

Yusuke was at the rear, while Koto maintained alertness in the middle. Neji led the way ahead, with Sawada providing support on the side. Seeing the team begin moving, Sawada boarded one of the carriages with Neji.

Had they simply been traveling, they would proceed along ninja routes, but now traveling with the supply convoy, they could only move slowly by carriage.

"Sensei, what is war like?" Neji, having closed his Byakugan to rest, asked Sawada beside him.

"War?" Sawada paused to think, as he had only experienced war once. Direct troop confrontation had been left to Kakashi, so he wasn't quite sure how to explain.

"Specifically, your teacher can't explain clearly, but one thing is certain," Sawada spoke after a moment's thought. "Regardless of your strength, once you step onto the battlefield, all are equal."

"Equal?" Neji was startled, not quite understanding what that meant.

"Yes. Unless your strength can influence the battle situation, sometimes even the smallest mistakes can lead to unexpected consequences." Sawada nodded. This wasn't him speaking nonsense. Senju Nawaki, though he was already a genin at the time and carried Senju blood, was still killed by an explosive tag.

"The battlefield is like a meat grinder, composed of countless lives."

Listening to the examples Sawada gave, Neji couldn't help but nod. All sorts of situations appeared on battlefields, and there were many cases of jōnin dying on the front lines.

Sawada didn't bother Neji's contemplation. After all, the cruelty of war couldn't be conveyed simply through discussing a few events or examples.

They traveled, stopping and starting, taking much longer than previous missions. Fortunately, they encountered no major obstacles on the way, and the few Iwagakure shinobi they did meet were easily handled by Sawada and his team.

However, as they drew closer to the front line of the Grass Country, Sawada became somewhat uneasy. After all, this supply route was one of only a few that hadn't yet been exposed. Yet Iwagakure's traces had already appeared.

But Sawada had no wisdom to apply. He could only shake his head. Since he couldn't figure this out now, it was better to deliver the supplies as quickly as possible.

During the remaining time, Sawada and Neji took turns sensing, trying to transport the supplies in the safest possible manner.

Perhaps Sawada really was overthinking it. At least the supply convoy safely arrived at Konoha's encampment in Grass Country.

"Sawada! You finally made it!" Just as they were handing over the supplies to the shinobi in the camp, a familiar voice rang out from afar.

Sawada turned his head and saw Akimichi Chōza quickly approaching them.

Neji immediately bowed respectfully. After all, he had trained with Chōji and the others and often went to eat and drink at the Akimichi Clan. Neji had known Chōza for quite some time.

"Oh, hello, Neji. I didn't expect you'd already graduated." Chōza looked surprised upon seeing Neji, then understood.

"Chōza-senpai, what is this?" Sawada asked with curiosity, looking at Chōza as if seeing him for the first time, with a relieved expression on his face. "If you hadn't come these past two days, I estimate I would have had to lead a team to investigate."

Chōza thought of the seriousness of this matter, his expression becoming grave as he looked at Sawada. "Mm? Why?" Sawada was startled, which made him curious.

"I don't know what happened, but Iwagakure seems to have gone mad. Even the previously hidden routes have been discovered one after another." Chōza's face was very serious. After all, these routes had been carefully developed by the Akimichi Clan.

"What were the losses?" Sawada furrowed his brow. As he had feared, the exposure of these routes meant Konoha's future supply transport would become even more difficult. This wasn't good news for Jiraiya on the front line.

"Though there are still losses, they weren't completely ransacked by Iwagakure. Based on past experience, this transport convoy was basically equipped with multiple jōnin." Chōza spoke seriously. "It's just these routes can't be used anymore after this."

After Akimichi Chōza finished speaking, he remembered to ask Sawada, "By the way, did you encounter any Iwagakure shinobi on the way?"

"Yes, but it was only a small team. It felt like they were more lost and happened to end up there." Sawada nodded and said, "I handled them before they could send any messages."

"Phew." Chōza breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good then. At least there's still a way out."

"By the way, come with me first. Jiraiya-sama has something for you." After speaking, Chōza gestured for Sawada to follow him.

Sawada didn't hesitate, instructing Yusuke and Koto to coordinate with the camp's shinobi, then called Neji over and headed toward the main tent.