CH_36

The "ordinary" days lasted until a few days before New Year's, when Tōji ran into some of his classmates from the Academy at camp—Gan Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo.

They were still genin—or rather, everyone from Tōji's graduating class was still genin. Like Tōji and the others, they'd been sent to the front to transport supplies. But they'd been luckier—they hadn't run into any trouble. Though maybe it wasn't just luck; after the last incident, Konoha had tightened up information security and precautions.

Konoha's main force had such tight operational security that even Tōji, stationed right in the camp, could barely get any news.

But it wasn't long after seeing Izumo and the others that Tōji realized things weren't that simple.

Uchiha Fugaku had arrived with a number of Uchiha clan members—including four-year-old Itachi Uchiha…

The first-generation Ino-Shika-Chō trio had also arrived!

With Nara Shikaku here… yeah. As expected—Konoha Year 47, this was the year Konoha would turn the tide against Iwa!

Tōji had no chance to chat with those big shots. He didn't even have time to go talk to Izumo and the others—there was always a batch of patients waiting for him to treat every day.

That same day, Sarutobi Shinnosuke—who'd barely been seen around—left the camp with a group of wounded who needed long-term recovery, heading back to the village.

Tōji only knew about it because he was working in the medical unit. He wasn't sure when the group had left, or exactly who was in it.

Maybe some of the shinobi Tsunade had brought back from Kikyōyama had now been redeployed here.

But that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that he could genuinely feel a turning point coming.

That night, back in the shared tent where he slept, Tōji didn't see anyone from the "new transport squad"—so he still didn't get a chance to chat with Izumo and the others.

At the turn of winter into spring, the Land of Fire was still mostly clear and sunny, and the night sky remained full of brilliant stars.

Normally, Tōji went to bed earlier—his days were filled with the tedious, meticulous work of wound care and practicing the 【Healing Technique】.

But that day, his mood was a little stirred up—so he made the rare move of dragging Natchi out to look at the stars.

There was nothing particularly special about the night sky—but that was the whole point of the ritual. Consider it an early New Year's celebration.

"Spending New Year's on the front lines—that's quite the experience!" Natchi couldn't help but remark.

During this period, under Iwa's guerrilla tactics, Konoha had also slowed its pace. But there were still over a hundred squad-level skirmishes every day.

It was hard to tell whether this was wearing down Iwa or wearing down Konoha.

Though Tōji and Natchi remained at the front, since there'd been no more enemy attacks on the camp, they'd gradually grown used to their daily routines—almost as if they weren't in danger at all.

"Yeah—it really is something." Tōji thought about how after this, there wouldn't be many more such occasions in this world. After all, the Fourth Great Ninja War would only last a few days.

He brought up the current situation again… "Though, it looks like we've got a new commander on our side. I wonder if there'll be any new arrangements for us genin."

"Seems like quite a few squads that came down from the Kikyōyama front—and have had time to rest—have also arrived. Fighting is still going to be above our pay grade, right?" Natchi wasn't really interested in stargazing—he just wanted to talk with Tōji.

"But there wasn't much movement today—maybe they didn't bring that many people. Don't forget, Konoha still has Kumo to deal with." Tōji hadn't forgotten Konoha's predicament.

Who knows—maybe as soon as the new year started, the plan to destroy Kannabi Bridge would be set in motion. But before the actual bridge demolition, Konoha had to lock down Iwa's forces and attention, to create an opening for Kakashi's squad.

Which meant—a big move was coming soon…

Natchi, whose thinking couldn't quite keep up, said, "If we could get into a real front-line fight, I'd actually look forward to it!"

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