The Land of Rivers sat directly between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, serving as a buffer zone between the two great nations.
Though it had no hidden village of its own, it had seen more than its fair share of war.
Small nations like this were always the cannon fodder and sacrificial lambs of the Great Ninja Wars.
To them, war was a cruel, man-made natural disaster. They never held the initiative to choose whether to fight or not.
Of course, there were also arrogant individuals who delusionally tried to challenge the Five Great Ninja Villages' supremacy.
Hanzo of the Salamander, leader of the Hidden Rain Village, was one of them.
He was an overwhelmingly powerful ninja who constantly sought the title of "Kage," making him incredibly active throughout the Great Ninja Wars.
But to get back on track: in every Great Ninja War—or whenever Konoha and the Sand clashed—the Land of Rivers was a fiercely contested battleground.
For a long time, this small nation had been an ally of the Land of Fire, influenced and controlled by Konoha.
However, during the Third Great Ninja War, the Daimyo of the Land of Rivers suddenly declared neutrality.
Perhaps he hoped to avoid being unilaterally slaughtered by the Sand.
Unfortunately, this meant Konoha would no longer help defend their borders, nor would they care about the country's casualties during the war.
Even worse, despite their declaration of neutrality, the Sand traditionally viewed the Land of Rivers as part of Konoha's faction.
Even if the small nation offered no resistance, the Sand ninja showed them absolutely no mercy.
This harsh lesson proved that sitting on the fence was never a smart choice.
By the time the Land of Rivers realized its mistake, the two great nations had already battered the small country to pieces.
Along Konoha's 200-kilometer frontline, 600 ninja were deployed to monitor the Sand.
If an invasion occurred, they were the first line of defense.
Hagoromo had now arrived at this very vanguard.
His body was hidden beneath his black cloak, and a pure white mask covered his face. With his hood pulled up, he crouched silently on a thick tree branch.
The dense canopy completely concealed his presence.
Right now, he felt like a wretched camper in a video game, which was mildly annoying. Still, he kept his eyes unblinkingly fixed on the horizon.
As he reminded himself, this was a real battlefield.
Hagoromo had been assigned to Squad 132. It was originally a four-man team, but tragically, everyone except the captain had perished during the Sand's last offensive.
Naturally, Hagoromo was slotted in as a replacement.
For now, they could only conduct reconnaissance missions as a two-man cell.
Because the monitoring zone was so vast, Konoha's vanguard line was spread incredibly thin.
Every squad had a massive area to cover and carried a heavy burden.
The captain of this squad was a Jonin. He was highly skilled, which was the only reason he survived the last battle.
After some basic medical treatment, he had immediately returned to the front.
However, the real point of interest wasn't his rank—it was his identity.
He was a Hyuga, and he possessed the Byakugan.
This meant they could predict, discover, and strike the enemy before anyone else.
Hagoromo rarely spoke with his captain. The man had only given him a few basic warnings when they first met.
This was the kind of cold detachment common among ninja who spent too much time on the absolute front lines.
They had killed many enemies, but they had likely watched even more comrades die. Gradually, they grew numb.
Executing the mission perfectly became their only remaining obsession.
On Hagoromo's sixth day at the vanguard, as evening approached, a distinct bird call echoed through the forest.
Soon, the unique chirping began to ring out from all directions.
This was Konoha's specific method of relaying signals. It meant the Sand's offensive was imminent.
And it was a massive one. Rough estimates placed the enemy numbers at around a thousand.
Through his mask, Hagoromo turned to look at Captain Hyuga.
With his keen eyesight, he could clearly see the man giving him a hand sign.
30 minutes. Prepare to engage!
Alright. Hagoromo's sensory skills were incredibly sharp—sharp enough to easily outclass most ninjas.
But even he couldn't compete with the sheer, telescopic range of a professional Byakugan user yet.
He hadn't detected any chakra signatures yet, but he knew the enemy was out there.
He turned his gaze forward, his focus sharpening completely.
His first large-scale encounter was about to begin.
Truth be told, he was a little nervous. He wasn't afraid of one-on-one fights; if he couldn't win, he could always run.
But this was a massive team battle, and he wasn't familiar with this kind of warfare.
A chaotic melee meant unexpected dangers could spring up anywhere, at any time.
Just as he focused his mind and refined his chakra to its absolute peak, the enemy finally appeared.
Hagoromo's current position was in a dense forest overlooking a relatively flat, barren wasteland. Any movement out there was blatantly obvious.
In the distance, a massive swarm of Sand ninja surged forward.
They were practically swaggering as they charged directly toward Konoha's defensive line.
Seeing their movements, Hagoromo frowned. He wasn't scared; he just thought their approach was far too brazen.
Ninja charging across an open field? He had never seen such a thing—he had never even heard of it.
Yet, it was happening right in front of him. Weren't they just setting themselves up as massive targets?
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
But Hagoromo had no time to overthink it. The enemy was closing in quickly; they were almost within attack range.
The Sand formation was shaped like a wedge. Fortunately, the Third Battalion—where Hagoromo was stationed—wasn't their main target.
They were positioned on the enemy's flank, giving them an advantageous angle of attack.
Suddenly, a massive barrage of wide-area ninjutsu erupted from the previously silent forest, raining down like a curtain of artillery fire!
"If you have a long-range jutsu, fire one off! If you hit someone, great; if not, forget it and follow me!" Captain Hyuga shouted as he dashed past Hagoromo.
Honestly, the captain didn't expect much from his new recruit.
Many kids like Hagoromo stepped onto the battlefield for the first time and were killed before they even understood what was happening.
Hagoromo simply nodded to show he understood.
The densely packed Sand ninja charged the Konoha line head-on, exactly like a samurai army.
The moment the two sides clashed, Hagoromo pulled two scrolls from his ninja pouch.
He hesitated for a second, then shoved one back inside.
He quickly unfurled the remaining scroll. In the center of a circular sealing formula was the kanji for "Sword."
"Release!"
Hagoromo formed a one-handed seal. With a loud poof, a puff of white smoke rose from the scroll.
When it cleared, an object rested securely in his hand.