Kurenai Yuhi raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Aoba, you really are sharp. It took me over a decade to realize something you saw right through."
She was referring to the deployment schedule.
"If I'm not mistaken, our team will be sent to the battlefield by the end of this year or early next year. Any later, and it'll be too dangerous."
Just as I thought!
Kawaki Aoba nodded internally.
What Kurenai meant was that delaying their deployment much longer would put them at risk of joining the war at its most brutal stage. By that time, it wouldn't be about building experience—it would be a true life-or-death struggle between the Five Great Shinobi Villages and their enemies.
As the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi would never let his youngest son, Asuma Sarutobi, face such a savage battlefield for his first combat deployment.
Why were they held back from being deployed earlier? That, too, was because of the Third Hokage's intervention.
Over the past year, the team had grown stronger. Even Kurenai Yuhi—who was considered the least combat-oriented of them—had developed genjutsu skills on par with a Chūnin-level genjutsu specialist. Their squad had evolved from an ordinary jōnin-led team into a true elite unit.
The remaining time would be used for them to gain real-world battlefield experience, preparing them for the full-scale war looming on the horizon. In hindsight, Hiruzen had carefully arranged all of this.
Truly… well-intentioned.
Kawaki Aoba's gaze fell upon the year's list of fallen shinobi. Among the names, he noticed something peculiar. He saw casualties from the Hyūga, Aburame, Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Sarutobi, and Shimura clans.
But not a single Uchiha.
Was it because the Uchiha were so powerful they suffered no losses?
Of course not.
The truth was that the Uchiha had been barred from frontline combat.
Even Obito Uchiha—soon to be Kakashi Hatake's teammate and a future disciple of the Fourth Hokage—was relegated to logistics, delivering supplies to the frontlines rather than engaging the enemy.
If Hiruzen Sarutobi was deliberately withholding Uchiha from active deployment, then perhaps he didn't want their clan to gain glory… or he feared something else.
Kawaki Aoba didn't bear the Uchiha name. He simply sighed and accepted this twisted reality.
Time passed, and their strength continued to grow. As Konoha Year 44 came to a close and it seemed they might avoid the battlefield that year, the Hokage's decree arrived.
Kurenai Yuhi's squad was officially recognized as an elite unit.
Both Kurenai and Asuma were promoted to Chūnin—well-deserved, given their mission records and overall growth.
It simply meant they would spend the New Year on the battlefield.
Perhaps this was Hiruzen's way of personally shaping Asuma's shinobi path.
Their mission: reinforce the Kusa front, assist Konoha forces against Iwagakure, and inflict significant casualties on Kusagakure.
The mission details were surprisingly blunt—clearly distinguishing between repelling Iwagakure and eliminating Kusagakure forces.
"Don't hold back," Kurenai told them. "Have no mercy. Stab them down with your kunai."
When asked why the mission phrased it so plainly, Kurenai explained:
"Grass Country's Kusagakure once rivaled the Five Great Shinobi Villages in influence. After its founding, it was ambitious and resourceful. But during the First Great Ninja War, they made a fatal misstep—selling intelligence to all sides."
At first, their information was accurate. But when their intelligence supply dried up, they began peddling false or half-truths. They sold contradictory reports to both Konoha and Iwagakure—setting them against each other in needless conflict.
Their deceit was eventually exposed. After the war, the Five Great Villages met and pieced together Kusagakure's treachery. The result was swift: Kusagakure was devastated.
But they had prepared. Surviving remnants eventually rebuilt the village.
However, when the Second Shinobi World War erupted, Konoha and Iwagakure again chose Kusagakure as their secondary battleground—punishing them indirectly.
One day, Kusa supported Konoha; the next, Iwa. By the end, they were dragged into the war against Amegakure as well.
After the Second War, their rebuilt foundation had eroded again.
Now, during the Third Shinobi World War, Kusa was once more the battleground—only this time, it was the primary front between Konoha and Iwagakure.
After this war, Kusagakure might cease to exist altogether.
As Kurenai recounted this history, even Kawaki Aoba couldn't help but scoff.
Grass was already on the edge of collapse. But they brought it on themselves—gambling and betraying every side until none were left to trust them.
No, Kusa deserved no pity. Only the consequences of their own choices.
Three days later, Kawaki Aoba and his team of four arrived at the battlefield in the Land of Grass. Here, the Sarutobi, Shimura, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans were directly engaged with the main forces of Iwagakure.
The one commanding the entire front was a seasoned elite Jōnin, Sarutobi Shinnosuke—the elder son of the Third Hokage and older brother of Sarutobi Asuma.
After receiving the mission scroll, Shinnosuke immediately understood the team's purpose and granted Yūhi Kurenai, the squad's leader, full discretion over mission assignments.
Wasting no time, Kurenai chose a recon-elimination mission targeting Kusagakure (Grass Village) operatives who were monitoring the area. This operation commenced on the second day after their arrival.
The war in the Land of Grass had already dragged on for over a year. While the Grass ninja weren't known for direct combat prowess, their skills in stealth and evasion were elite-tier—survival skills honed under Iwagakure's pressure.
Every Kusagakure ninja now operated like a cornered animal—wary, sharp, and ready to vanish the moment danger emerged.
But they were up against Kawaki Aoba, whose Observation Haki (a fan-insert ability, blending "Naruto" and "One Piece" mechanics) could scan dozens of miles around him.
> "I found them," Aoba said calmly. "Two chakra signatures to the northeast. They're faint—likely Genin-level."
Without hesitation, the squad dashed toward the location.
Now, ask how fast a Jōnin leading three Chūnin needs to move to surround and neutralize two Genin.
Most teams wouldn't know. But Team Kurenai's answer was...
> "Binding Arts Number Four: Chakra Rope."
Aoba pointed forward. Two glowing chakra ropes slithered from his fingertips, vanishing into the grassy ground.
> "Ah!"
> "We've been spotted! Run—!"
Two startled voices erupted from beneath the earth. The turf cracked open as a terrified head popped out—limbs bound tightly by glowing chakra.
> "Are these really Grass ninja? So weak..." Sarutobi Asuma muttered with disappointment.
> "They're not going to know anything worthwhile," Kurenai said, her voice laced with bemused cunning. "Should we even bother taking them alive?"
The pale, trembling Grass-nin's voice cracked.
> "Wait, noble Konoha shinobi, don't kill us! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything I know! I can spy on Iwa-nin for you—block enemy shuriken—just don't kill me!"
> "M-me too!" came a second voice from underground.
The four Konoha ninja fell silent, astonished by how fast the enemy surrendered—and negotiated for their lives.
> "Welcome to Grass Village," Kurenai said dryly, patting her teammates on the shoulders. "Get used to this."
> "Sensei... are all Kusagakure ninja like this?" Asuma asked, still processing.
Kurenai gave an unreadable look.
> "Not all. The Chūnin are slightly bolder. They'll usually offer to scavenge supplies for us."
Even Kawaki Aoba, seasoned as he was, had to pause in disbelief.
> "So what now?" Asuma asked. "Are we really dragging these two back with us?"
> "They might still be useful," Kurenai replied. "No point wasting potential intel."
> "Fine, but my shadow clone is carrying them," Aoba muttered, tossing two pills from his ninja pouch.
These pills didn't kill—they were specialized restraining toxins, designed to temporarily paralyze prisoners without long-term harm.
To everyone's surprise, one of the Grass ninja eagerly swallowed his pill, stretching out his neck like a trained pet. The second ninja followed without hesitation.
Their desperation to survive was so intense it left the whole team speechless.
After that, Aoba's shadow clone escorted the prisoners back to base, while the original team resumed the elimination mission.
> "Another target. Chakra level suggests a Chūnin," Aoba reported soon after. "Not a precise measure, but good enough."
Suddenly, he turned to Kurenai.
> "Sensei, didn't you say the Iwa camp forbids Grass ninja from getting too close? Could we track this guy back to their base?"
Kurenai shook her head.
> "Nice thought, Aoba. But Grass ninja don't even have a proper camp. They scatter, avoid detection. No central command post."
> "No camp? Are they trying to lose this war?" Aoba scowled. "They're either hyper-cautious or completely hopeless. What kind of survival strategy is that?"
> "The kind that delays defeat, not wins battles," Kurenai said with a sigh.
Disappointed but undeterred, Aoba nodded. They'd just have to eliminate targets one by one.
The four-man team picked up their pace. Before long, they were closing in on the suspected Grass Chūnin.
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