Revolution in the Ninja World

On the third day after arriving at the camp, the ninjas began to replenish their supplies and equipment.

Habara's squad was the last to arrive at the supply point. He followed behind his three teammates, mimicking their actions as he restocked.

First, he took off his own ninja tool pouch and placed it in the designated area. Then, he received two brand-new pouches. After checking the contents – shuriken, wire, scrolls, medicine, and other standard medical supplies – he attached the new pouches to his waist.

The pouches contained only the most basic weapons and consumables. Habara continued to follow his teammates, and next, he received a package of military rations pills. These were small, high in calories, and provided ample energy – the main field rations for ninjas.

Finally, following his teammates' example, he took a stack of rectangular "paper bundles" from a closely guarded box overseen by two Konoha ninjas. These bundles were about the size of the currency issued by the "Heaven and Earth Bank." Habara casually picked them up, and then he saw that instead of the Jade Emperor's portrait in the center of the "Heaven and Earth Bank notes," there was a simple, clear, and nerve-wracking character:

Explode.

…What the hell, explosive tags.

Were these explosives just casually available for anyone to take? Based on Habara's memory, a box of explosive tags could easily level this entire camp. Thinking of this, his fingertips almost started sparking with uncontrolled chakra.

Fortunately, Habara was a steady-handed person. He silently took a deep breath and carefully stuffed the stack of explosive tags into his ninja tool pouch.

Carrying a pouch full of "bombs," Habara felt like he'd become a terrorist.

The four of them completed their resupply. As they were leaving the supply point, Habara thought for a moment and then quickened his pace to catch up with Squad Leader Izayo:

"Izayo-taicho, I've never used explosive tags before… Could you please explain how to use them?"

For the safety of himself and his teammates, he had to understand how to use these explosives. It would be a terrible shame to accidentally blow himself up.

Habara could only pretend to be a country bumpkin ninja who had never seen explosive tags before. Logically, a ninja shouldn't be ignorant of how to use such standard equipment, but if he insisted that he'd never seen or used them before, it wouldn't be a big deal.

As expected, his teammates just glanced at him, and then Izayo said, "The explosive tags provided by the village are high-powered weapons that have already been filled with chakra and are ready to use. Before using them, you just need to 'trigger' them. But pay special attention to the explosive tag's blast radius…"

Izayo was normally a woman of few words, but she still explained the use of explosive tags to Habara in detail.

In short, there were two ways to use explosive tags: the "pull-type," which reacted to one's own chakra, and the "trigger-type," which reacted to an enemy's chakra. The former was used for throwing attacks, and the latter for setting traps… It sounded no different from how to use fragmentation grenades.

Habara listened attentively, nodding repeatedly to show that he understood. However, after finishing her explanation, Izayo hesitated slightly, and finally said to Habara, "We're a reserve squad, so we won't be engaging the enemy hastily. You… try not to use explosive tags unless absolutely necessary."

"…"

Habara felt a strong sense of distrust.

Just kidding, given his situation, the fact that Izayo still allowed him to carry explosive tags was already a considerable show of trust. Think about it, who would let an untrained recruit directly throw hand grenades?

And given that Habara had asked such a low-level question, his teammates now had a general idea of what kind of ninja he was… The "mature and reliable" image Habara had painstakingly cultivated over the past few days was thus declared bankrupt.

This guy is basically unreliable on the battlefield… All three teammates shared this thought simultaneously.

...

An hour after the supplies were distributed, the twenty-four-member ninja team left the camp. Led by Nindo, they marched towards the front lines in a relatively tight formation.

The Land of Fire was relatively safe, so they didn't need to deploy in a combat formation.

Until they set off, most of the people, including Habara, didn't know their destination or mission objective. Habara only knew that the team was heading north, so the enemy was likely Iwagakure or Kumogakure.

Ninjas mostly traveled on foot. Habara and the others maintained a moderate pace, and they took care to rest frequently along the way. By Habara's past life standards, this would certainly be considered a forced march. But with his Chunin physique in this world, he found the journey relatively easy.

Five days later, they reached the border of the Land of Fire. Further ahead was the highly dangerous war zone.

Squad Leader Nindo signaled everyone to stop. After the ninjas formed a circle, he took out a battle map and began to explain the mission:

"Our mission's tactical objective is to kill Kumogakure's elite Jonin, 'I' [Different]. The mission difficulty is A-rank. According to reliable intelligence, the enemy has been operating in a two-man squad in the eastern part of the Land of Rice Fields for some time. The enemy squad is very strong and has already ambushed and killed many of our personnel. The village requires us to eliminate that dangerous element."

As Nindo explained, he used a pencil to circle the enemy ninja's area of operation on the map.

"Next, we'll first report to Konoha's front-line base and obtain the latest mission intelligence. Then, the team will proceed to the designated battlefield to search for the enemy, aiming to locate the target as quickly as possible and ultimately complete the mission."

Twenty-four ninjas against a two-man squad – it seemed like a clear numerical advantage. However, the problem was that the Konoha side consisted of Genin and Chunin, while the enemy was an elite Jonin… The probability of being wiped out was much higher than the probability of completing the mission.

Otherwise, this wouldn't be an A-rank mission.

After listening to the squad leader's explanation, Habara immediately understood Konoha's plan: to use their less reliable, expendable forces to counter the enemy's elite squad. It was a win-win situation – a huge gain if they succeeded, and no great loss if they were wiped out… A truly correct, clever, and cruel decision.

Thus, Habara's desire to escape Konoha instantly increased.

"The difficulty of the mission is obvious, but the war has now reached its final stage. As long as we persevere and gradually accumulate advantages on the battlefield, victory will ultimately belong to Konoha…"

Nindo gave another pre-battle pep talk, saying something along the lines of "Rebuilding Konoha's glory is our duty," and then the team began to march toward the battlefield.

Soon after, they arrived at Konoha's front-line camp. However, apart from Squad Leader Nindo, the team didn't enter the camp, but chose to wait outside.

In less than half an hour, Nindo left the camp and returned to the team, bringing news:

"Everyone, there's good news. The path ahead of us should have been cleared. Just a short while ago, Konoha's 'Yellow Flash' forced back Kumogakure's AB duo. Therefore, Kumo's forces have significantly retreated in our direction of advance…"

It sounded like good news, but after hearing the name "Yellow Flash," Habara didn't feel excited or a sense of camaraderie. Instead, having truly become a part of this world, he felt that such heroic figures were too far removed from a low-level grunt like himself.

The "Yellow Flash" forcing back Kumogakure's strong enemies, to Habara, was no different from "The Great Sage Equal to Heaven just smashed through the Southern Heavenly Gate." These were events happening on a celestial scale. Even if they were praiseworthy and epic, they were also distant and unattainable.

Small people only had small stories to write.

So, what situation would Habara face next?

In short, a world-famous painting was about to unfold:

<0.055 Kakashis at the Front Lines>.