Naturally, Zangetsu had no intention of "giving in" to Hozuki Seigetsu. He had no feelings for her. Why? Because she simply wasn't his type. As for what his type was… it was simple: he liked good-looking women.
A day passed quietly.
The next morning, Zangetsu, along with the other Hozuki clan shinobi, followed the Hidden Mist forces and began to cross the sea, heading toward the Land of Fire.
Three days later, at night, the Hidden Mist forces, moving at full speed, reached the coast of the Land of Fire and landed.
After setting foot on enemy soil, Zangetsu continued to follow the troops, moving quickly under the cover of darkness. They were heading straight for the Konoha border defense garrison, preparing for a surprise attack.
"Faster, move faster! Stop dawdling! We're going to war, not on a picnic! Take down the Konoha ninja ahead, and it will count as an A-rank mission for each of you!"
A rough roar reached his ears. Zangetsu perked up, then deliberately slowed his pace.
Faster? Rushing to our deaths? An A-rank mission? Do I look like I need the money? Well… I am a little short, but compared to money, life is obviously more important.
Zangetsu complained internally.
He wasn't a native of the Hidden Mist, so he hadn't been brainwashed by the "Will of Water." He certainly didn't believe in nonsense like "death is a ninja's destination, and to die in battle is an honor."
His primary goal in this war was to stay alive. His secondary goal was to find an opportunity to defect from the Hidden Mist and safely join Konoha. Even if he couldn't safely join Konoha, he had to find a way to contact his romance targets and get his progress above 21% to get the 'Acquaintance' reward.
Winning the war, defeating Konoha, and restoring the glory of the Hidden Mist—these things never once crossed Zangetsu's mind. His plan for this war was just to slack off and get by. He was only acting at the level of an ordinary Chunin anyway. On a battlefield teeming with Chunin, no one would pay special attention to him.
And most importantly, what was the point of rushing now? Did they really think they could launch a surprise attack on Konoha at night? They were dreaming.
A surprise attack might have worked before the Third Great Ninja War officially broke out. But now, after the war had been raging for so long, Konoha had already been surprise-attacked by the Sand, the Cloud, and the Stone. They were numb to it by now. They had long been guarding against the Mist, constantly watching for a blade that might come from the east.
Zangetsu didn't even have to think to know that Konoha was already aware of the Mist forces' movements and had prepared their defenses. A ninja army of several thousand people couldn't possibly hide on the open sea for three days.
And the facts proved him right. The Konoha forces stationed at the border to defend against the Land of Water were already on high alert as the Mist army rapidly approached.
On the border of the Land of Fire, in a dense forest.
The two Konoha elders responsible for the defense, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, stood under a large tree, looking at a map on the ground with grave expressions. Nearby stood more than a dozen elite ninja, all important members of major clans and powerful Elite Jonin. And besides them, hidden throughout the forest, were many more Konoha shinobi lying in ambush. Though not numerous, they were all elite troops.
They were waiting for the Hidden Mist army to arrive.
"Elder Koharu, Elder Homura, the Mist army is only twenty kilometers away!" a Konoha ninja reported, making the atmosphere even heavier.
"Hmph, these bastards from the Mist betrayed our alliance. This time, we'll make sure none of them return!" one of the elite ninja said angrily.
"Konoha is not to be trifled with! The Mist will pay a heavy price for this!"
"They must be tired of living! We'll bury them all here today!"
Several ninja spoke one after another, all of them burning with anger. But everyone present knew the truth. This ambush could inflict some losses on the Mist, but it could never truly defeat them. The difference in numbers was simply too great. The vast majority of Konoha's forces were tied up on the fronts against the Cloud and the Stone. Fighting three villages at once had completely erased Konoha's numerical advantage, putting them at a huge disadvantage. Fortunately, the Sand Village had already withdrawn from the war and had no intention of rejoining. Otherwise, Konoha's situation would be even worse.
"Prepare to engage the enemy. Remember, our goal this time is to use the terrain to ambush and wear down the Mist forces, not to fight a decisive battle. Once the enemy breaks through the third ambush point, retreat immediately!" Koharu ordered, her serious tone calming the hot-headed ninja.
"Understood!"
…
"Faster, faster! Don't let the Konoha ninja react! Slaughter them all before they wake up!"
It was that same rough voice again. Zangetsu knew it belonged to an Elite Jonin from the Kaguya clan named Kaguya Jiro. He was a battle maniac who seemed like he would die if he didn't fight or kill someone. That was why he was in such a hurry, yelling for everyone to charge forward like a brainless fool, even though everyone knew the chances of this surprise attack succeeding were low.
However, not many people listened to him.
Aside from the other battle-crazed members of the Kaguya clan and the scout team members who had no choice, the other ninja did not speed up. In fact, Zangetsu noticed that both his own Hozuki clan and the Yuki clan next to them were consciously slowing down.
It just went to show that very few people who became ninja were actually idiots. Except for those brainless Kaguyas.
Zangetsu sighed internally and used the darkness of the night to slow down even more.
At a certain moment, after the army entered a dense forest, a brilliant light suddenly erupted, and the sound of explosions filled the air.
Zangetsu decisively stopped.
The war had begun.
-------
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