The Land of Grass was located right between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire, and was also the shortest route connecting the two nations.
This geographical position dictated that it was not only the bridgehead for the Hidden Stone to invade the Land of Fire, but also the focal point of Konoha's defensive system.
The Hidden Stone had deployed several thousand combatants here. However, due to the distance, in order to maintain the integrity of their forces and guard against any sudden counterattacks from Konoha, the Hidden Stone had to regularly transport supplies to the Land of Grass frontline.
To this end, the Hidden Stone had established specialized supply units of varying scales.
In terms of organization, the Chunin Yoshida belonged to one such supply unit. He was part of a twelve-man supply squad.
Don't let the small size and limited transport capacity of this squad fool you; the goods they transported were extremely important.
Medical supplies. They were responsible for regularly transporting all kinds of urgently needed medicine to the front lines.
Although most of their transportation route was located within Hidden Stone territory, making the supply run relatively safe, out of standard ninja caution, they still operated quite carefully.
Every time they arrived at the frontline stronghold, they would stay for one day to rest, and then immediately head back the next day.
But after repeating this exact mission over and over again without ever running into a single problem, this caution gradually began to fade.
Because of this, they were completely unaware that they were already being watched.
This mission went as smoothly as ever. After dropping off the supplies and traveling half a day away from the stronghold, the squad began their scheduled rest break.
Yoshida was assigned to stand guard.
Suddenly, from a dried-up reed marsh not far from the squad's resting area, a strange rustling sound rang out.
Enemies?
The Hidden Stone ninjas immediately went on high alert.
Yoshida! Go check out the situation. The captain immediately barked an order to the guard.
"Huh? M-Me... by myself?"
The Chunin hadn't expected the job to fall on his shoulders.
"Is there a problem?"
Although the captain's tone and expression hadn't changed at all, hearing him speak like that made Yoshida shudder.
"N-No, none."
After tossing out that reply, he immediately scurried off toward the reed marsh like a frightened rat.
As for the whispers behind his back, he pretended not to hear them.
How the hell did a guy like that even become a Chunin?
And why was he shoved into our squad?
He's so terrified of dying. How did he even survive on the battlefield? I heard he used to actually be active on the front lines.
They weren't wrong. Yoshida was 27 years old this year. In the early days of the war, he had indeed been full of spirit and fought quite aggressively... right up until he experienced a brutal, head-on meat grinder of a battle against the Hidden Cloud. That living hell completely broke him.
Yoshida didn't want to recall what happened that day even once, but those scenes simply refused to fade from his mind.
And so, having miraculously survived, he transformed from a highly motivated young man into a total coward terrified of death. He could no longer handle staying on the front lines. After stepping down, he could only take on painless, risk-free logistics missions.
Therefore, none of his teammates really liked him. He wasn't fit to be a ninja.
Initially, due to the captain's attitude, Yoshida moved relatively quickly. But as he got closer and closer to the reed marsh, he began to dawdle.
He would take a few steps forward, and then, as if spooked by something, violently jerk backward...
Yet nothing happened. Then he scratched his head. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he fished a kunai out of his ninja pouch before stepping into the reed marsh with extreme caution.
His teammates were tense at first, and then just completely dumbfounded. Damn it, it's just pulling out a weapon, what are you getting so worked up about?
The distance wasn't that far, after all. Everyone saw Yoshida's comical performance, and they genuinely didn't know if they should laugh in this kind of situation.
Of course, Yoshida himself absolutely could not laugh. At this moment, his nerves were pulled taut. All he could hear in his ears was the heavy thumping of his own heart, and his breathing grew ragged.
The reeds were very dense. His teammates couldn't see him here, and he couldn't see his teammates.
Suddenly, the area directly in front of him shook violently again.
Yoshida almost screamed in terror.
Thankfully he held it in. Looking closely, it turned out this was just a wild boar's nest. The rustling was just caused by a wild animal.
Yoshida immediately let out a massive sigh of relief. "Captain, there's nothing here!"
He shouted loudly.
However, the moment his voice faded, an anomaly struck!
Appearing directly behind him as if out of thin air, a hand with its middle and index fingers pressed together tapped right against the back of Yoshida's head.
And then, Yoshida knew nothing at all.
A silent surge of high-voltage electricity instantly fried his brain.
The hand gently supported him as Yoshida slumped to the ground, without making a single suspicious sound.
Then, those hands unrolled something. It was a scroll with the character for Corpse written in the center, and it instantly sealed Yoshida away.
...
You didn't find anything at all? The captain asked the returning Yoshida, still using that same tone.
And Yoshida, clearly still sporting that cowering and timid demeanor, replied, There was nothing... well, there was a wild boar that caused that noise.
Where's the boar? someone in the squad asked. This person was probably thinking about improving their meals, seeing as their diet during missions mostly consisted of things like military ration pills.
It's still there... I-I was afraid the smell of blood from killing it might attract enemies.
The group was instantly rendered speechless. How many times had it been now? This Yoshida was really something else. The Land of Earth was just up ahead. This was entirely Hidden Stone territory. Where the hell would enemies come from?
The captain, however, didn't say anything. He actually agreed with Yoshida's logic, but a certain emotion prevented him from acknowledging or praising the man... A coward like this wasn't worth the effort.
Clean up your tracks. We're moving out immediately.
Yes, sir! the group responded in unison.
Following the captain's orders, the Hidden Stone ninjas quickly packed up and then vacated the area.
As for Yoshida, he never once looked back from start to finish...
Walking past this slope of reeds, have you ever heard the tale of a ninja who was once here?
Since they weren't carrying any cargo on the return trip, they moved much faster.
Along the way, Yoshida maintained that same pathetic, overly paranoid, and cautious demeanor. His behavior was completely normal for him and didn't raise a single shred of suspicion.
Yoshida was just Yoshida, after all. Who would waste their time paying extra attention to him?
But unexpectedly, by the time evening rolled around, he actively courted death by approaching the captain on his own.
Captain... I heard this squad is going to be disbanded and reassigned to other missions, is that true?
The captain shot the annoying pest a sideways glance, but he couldn't actually do anything to Yoshida just because of a question like this.
Who told you that?
I... Yoshida began to stammer, unable to get the words out.
The captain didn't find the question suspicious. In truth, rumors like that really had been circulating within the unit.
He naturally knew exactly what the guy standing in front of him was worried about. He was just terrified that a new mission would land him back on the front lines. Because of this, the captain's contempt for Yoshida grew even stronger.
I haven't received any news like that. But don't overthink it. These are decisions made by our superiors, and neither you nor I have the right to question them.
He had already made up his mind: if there really was a suicide mission coming up, he was giving the very first slot to Yoshida.
After all, he was completely useless to his squad and the entire Hidden Stone, wasn't he?
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