Chapter 66

"Yeah, after so many years with the lazy clan, I can confidently say that laziness is genetically passed down in men. On the other hand, women's aggressiveness is carefully cultivated from childhood, encountering a pathological desire to avoid work from husbands, brothers, sons, and fathers. Anyone can get wild and get used to using physical force for any reason to motivate getting off the couch. It's a miracle that my birth didn't create a need for this."

"I'll retire at thirty and then I'll be lazy as much as I want," I smirked. "But for now, I have to take care of my own survival chances until then."

Smiling, Hyuga wanted to say something, but our conversation was interrupted—a commander of the entire reinforcement appeared, and the assembled fighters swiftly divided into groups. Those who had already fought did so habitually, while newcomers like us were under the guidance of recent mentors, though there weren't many of them.

"My name is Kagami Uchiha, and I am your direct commander for the duration of our journey to the border with Iwa," introduced the serious man of respectable age for an active shinobi, dressed in field attire without any distinguishing marks. "The method of movement is standard—newcomers move in the center. Scouts—report any suspicious movement immediately to me or my assistants."

He gestured to two shinobi nearby.

"Sensors—stay alert and constantly monitor the surroundings. The rest, you already know, so let's move out."

Through the wide gates of Konoha, trios containing Hyuga, Aburame, or Inuzuka swiftly emerged, followed by everyone else, including us. If we dashed out of the village in a dense stream, by the forest border, the horde of shinobi had quickly spread over a fairly large area. This way, moving through the branches, one could detect several teams nearby, but certainly not a couple dozen.

At the same time, in case of an attack, the nearest allies would always manage to come to each other's aid and buy time until more people arrived if necessary. We moved in the center with other newcomers and a small group of medical ninjas, whom I recognized by their portable first aid kits and pouches.

There was no one familiar among them, but I didn't expect to find any—I primarily worked with the permanent hospital staff, most of whom weren't even genin and thus not subject to front-line deployment. Here, almost exclusively field medics had gathered, capable of holding their own—other enemies were typically eliminated at every opportunity.

Indeed, cases where brilliant medics but inept fighters were sent to the field were far from rare, but among such survivors, there were only a few. Not everyone has a teacher like the Hokage's, like Tsunade.

Four practically continuous days of travel, interrupted only by short sleep and the minute consumption of repulsive rations, more resembling a piece of shit in color and taste than something relatively edible, left nothing but deep irritation. Even the large quantity of food sealed with me in a huge amount did not leave its scroll—looking around at neighbors pressing against the tiles, I realized they might just maim me for the opportunity to eat normally.

Obviously, many had grown tired of these very dry packs long ago. And judging by Linli's stories, they don't feed any better in camps. So I decided to save the stock for truly dark and hungry days. Constant tense anticipation of an attack didn't add to the joy, but unlike the others, I could relax a bit—with my steadily increasing control, my sensor capabilities had increased quite decently, and I would know about the approach of the enemy much earlier than seeing them with my eyes. But we didn't encounter any Iwa shinobi, and a few unlucky nukenins didn't count—scouts took them out almost instantly.

I've got more interesting stuff on patreon (up to 150 chapter)

patreon.com/Chill76