Chapter 154: Don't Let the Food Leave Your Sight
"Alright! Stop fooling around, quickly tidy up the scene," Jiraiya slapped Tatsuma on the back of his head, urging him to clean up the scene quickly. If the wires were left in place, the Rain Ninjas might regain consciousness and attack them, not the Sand Ninjas.
However, those wires were difficult to detect by enemies, as well as by their own people. In order to clean up those traces, the three of them busied themselves for most of the day before confirming that everything was cleaned up.
Throughout this process, Tatsuma remained vigilant of the surrounding environment, to prevent others from seeing their cleanup work.
After tidying up the scene, they didn't immediately return to the camp. Instead, they made a large circle, passing various rivers, to conceal and clean their tracks and scent. Their clothes and appearance changed multiple times.
However, while cleaning, they "accidentally" left behind some extremely subtle traces. After two days, they approached the camp of the Sand Ninjas, only to change direction and move to Danzo's camp without leaving a trace.
This operation involves two camps. If successful, the camp on the Fire Rain battlefield will suffer fewer harassments from the Rain Ninja. However, on the Wind Fire battlefield, the Sand Ninja are likely to face a strong counterattack from the Rain Ninja.
Although only three people are executing the mission, its success depends on confirmation from both camps, preferably face to face. After all, whether it's letters or communication devices, they leave traces and can be intercepted.
Such practices leaving vulnerabilities are naturally not allowed, so even if face-to-face communication is less efficient, it's the only method.
Upon arrival at the camp, Jiraiya was summoned by Danzo. He grumbled about something and headed towards the command tent, leaving Tatsuma and Minato to enjoy a hearty lunch on the battlefield.
Tatsuma and Minato didn't hold back either. After all, they had been on missions for the past few days, from luring Rain Ninja to fighting and then misleading them. It had been three days of living in the wilderness.
Although they brought plenty of clothes to conceal their tracks and washed themselves multiple times to avoid leaving any scent, their eating habits couldn't be refined. They could only gnaw on Military Rations Pills.
Finally having a hot meal today, they naturally didn't hold back. While the two of them were feasting, several figures approached cautiously. The alertness of the two, who were not yet relaxed, instantly sensed their presence.
However, they didn't pay any attention, as they were all familiar faces.
"Rip~"
"Snap~"
Two green figures tore through the tent and collapsed on the ground inside, with Inuzuka Tsume, Aburame Shibi, and others pressed on top of them. Apart from Nawaki, all the others were Tatsuma's classmates.
Nawaki had trained with them a lot, so he was also very familiar with them. Therefore, even when they came to this camp, they often mingled together.
Hyuga Sento had gradually drifted apart from his own clan members. After all, this camp had many Hyuga Clan ninjas, including the clan head, Hyuga Itsuki, and his two sons.
Even on the battlefield, the Hyuga Clan maintains strict discipline. Perhaps the previous Sento could have accepted it, having adapted to it for so many years. But since becoming part of the main family, he couldn't accept the rules of the Hyuga Clan. Coupled with Nawaki leading him to follow the ninja path of restraining himself with tight-fitting clothing but then opening up to his "youthful" nature, he grew even more averse to the Hyuga Clan's regulations.
Of course, perhaps Sento also found solace in distancing himself from his kin, avoiding hearing those voices suggesting he should be grateful for the deaths of his loved ones.
Minato pulled his seat towards Tatsuma, making more space, and smiled as he asked the others, "If you're not full, would you like to join us?"
Nawaki and Sento, pinned to the ground, nodded eagerly, especially Sento. Being unable to get up due to everyone's weight pressing down on him, he was growing desperate. If he hadn't only recently learned about Revolving Heaven and hadn't yet mastered it, he might have resorted to using it.
Most supplies at the camp, especially food, were distributed in fixed amounts. It wasn't permissible for everyone to eat freely until full, which was easily accepted by adult ninjas who needed to control their weight and had already adapted to this way of distribution.
But for teenage ninjas who are still growing, it's quite cruel. After all, children at this stage need a large amount of nutrients to aid their development, and their appetite and food intake are often larger than many adults.
Minato and Tatsuma were very familiar with such situations. It wasn't because they were gluttonous like these people, but because on the Fire Rain camp side, there was also someone similar—Akimichi Choza.
Back in the village, he never went hungry, and every meal was a feast. But when he came to the battlefield? Eating Military Rations Pills along the way was one thing, but upon arriving at the camp, he found that the food here was rationed.
Even though Shikaku repeatedly explained to him that it wasn't directed at him personally, but rather a necessity for better control and calculation of remaining supplies, Choza couldn't accept it.
After all, he was genuinely hungry every day. What Choza did most frequently in the camp was to approach those ninjas or kunoichi who looked thin and petite during meal times, asking them if they could finish an entire box of food.
If the other party said they couldn't eat or could only eat a little, he would show a pitiful look, hoping these ninjas could spare him some food. With this trick, Choza indeed managed to trick quite a bit of food out of others.
However, after Tsunade discovered one time that he was tricking injured soldiers out of their meals, she mercilessly beat him up, and he never dared to play tricks again.
Here, although there wasn't someone like Choza with an oversized appetite, ninjas like Nawaki and Sento, practitioners of Taijutsu, also had astonishing appetites. Nawaki was a bit better off since he could mooch off his sensei a bit.
Unable to go to the battlefield and helping Nawaki with practice every day in the camp, Sento couldn't stand it anymore. So when he accidentally caught sight of Tatsuma and Minato enjoying such a lavish meal during Soma practice today, he brought his little buddies over.
Sento struggled continuously, wanting to rush to the table as soon as possible. But pinned down by everyone else, he could only watch helplessly as his classmates crawled off him and ran to the table.
Even Aburame Shibi, who was also unable to get up, used his insects to help him secure a plate of food. With the insects present, others selectively gave up on that dish. As Aburame Shibi slowly rose from the ground, he wore a satisfied smile.
He still had a trick up his sleeve; if these classmates didn't let him have the food, he would have his insects lay eggs on it, let's see if they could still eat it!
When Nawaki and Sento broke free from the crowd and arrived at the table, besides Tatsuma foreseeing everything and serving himself and Minato food from the bowl, there was only half a pot of rice, some soup, and a dish full of insects left.
Although both were resentful, they still scooped up the remaining rice with the soup. Even if there was only plain rice left, youth didn't allow for wasting food!
Before long, except for Tatsuma, Minato, and Aburame Shibi, who were still leisurely eating, everyone else was either sitting or lying on the ground resting.
Inuzuka Tsume, who rarely had a chance to eat a full meal, rubbed her dog's head, which was also lying belly up and full, and said to Tatsuma and Minato, "Why did you two come here today? No, that's not right, I shouldn't say it like that."
"Can you come again tomorrow? It would be best if you could come every day."
"If we come every day, we won't get treated like this today. After all, this is like a reward."
Tatsuma swallowed his food before saying to Inuzuka Tsume. Hearing this, a tinge of regret flashed across everyone's faces. Sento, now satiated and with his brain refueled with energy, quickly realized something.
"A reward? What task did you complete?"
Upon hearing this, everyone showed curiosity and envy. After all, coming here for them meant either doing laundry and cooking or delivering various documents and supplies, making it even more boring than school.
Nawaki's battlefield experiences became their rare entertainment. However, Nawaki's stories were too monotonous, as if he only went to the battlefield for one thing: landmine clearance!
After listening to it several times, they became tired of it. Now, with Tatsuma and Minato here, they wanted to hear different battlefield stories. Tatsuma, with a slight frown, appeared to be deep in thought, his youthful face filled with stories.
Just when everyone thought he was about to share some thrilling battlefield experiences, Tatsuma said softly, "Classified mission, can't disclose."
"Tsk!"
"Sigh~"
"If you're not going to tell, then don't. What's so great about it anyway?!"
Although they were all pouting, their envy couldn't be concealed. After all, executing classified missions, defeating powerful enemies, and encountering beautiful or handsome foreign ninjas were the most attractive contents in ninja folklore.
However, they also understood what classified missions meant. Seeing that Tatsuma and Minato couldn't say anything, they stopped asking and instead began to complain about the dullness of the camp.
Minato occasionally chimed in on their topics, but Tatsuma remained silent. After all, he had never experienced the dullness of camp life.
The first time he came to the camp, he was immediately drafted as a medical ninja. Then he juggled between combat and medical duties, occasionally providing ideas to open up the leaders' minds. Dull? His dark circles and his left shoulder, scarred from numerous hardships, disagreed entirely.
However, Tatsuma didn't complain. After all, everything was his own choice. If he wanted to join the Konoha Hospital or the Sealing Team, he could even avoid coming to the front lines altogether, just like Kushina, who was assigned to the Sealing Team right after graduation.
Since it was his chosen path, there was no need to complain about the hardships he had experienced. Don't be like someone who took shortcuts and still claimed their path was the most difficult, like a player who constantly insists they've had the toughest journey.
While everyone was chatting, Jiraiya, stomach grumbling and throat dry, finally finished his debriefing work and was about to make do with a meal of leftovers.
"Hey, where's my food?! What happened to that big table full of food?!"
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