After Mito Uzumaki's death, Konoha held a funeral. An Yan and Tsunade attended, dressed in black.
Everyone paid their respects with solemn expressions.
As Hashirama Senju's wife, Mito was highly respected in Konoha. Many villagers came to pay their respects, including, of course, spies from other nations.
Although the ANBU had conducted multiple screenings, some spies still managed to slip away.
The news of the Konoha Jinchuriki's death spread, and the other nations began to stir. The tailed beasts were equivalent to nuclear bombs. Now that Konoha's was on cooldown, it was their turn to make a move.
The Stone and Sand immediately amassed troops on the border, creating a tense atmosphere.
An Yan was sent directly to the front lines with his team for a long-term border patrol mission.
Hearing that they were going to the battlefield, Nawaki and the others were not worried, but excited. As they say, young soldiers are eager to earn glory.
But An Yan had given them special training beforehand. At least Nawaki wouldn't be killed by a simple explosive tag trap. As for other ways to die, they could only pray for good luck.
The war between ninja was very different from what An Yan had imagined. He had expected tens of thousands of people fighting, or at least a melee of a few thousand.
In reality, it was just a few dozen squads fighting a few dozen squads. Each squad had four people, constantly patrolling and skirmishing along the border. The daily battles were just between a few squads.
The scale of the battles was not grand at all. It was all about the fundamental strength of each squad.
No wonder a village of only a few tens of thousands could fight a war for several years. With only a few squads dying each day, it would take a long time to see a decisive result. The intensity of the war was too low.
Although An Yan complained, he had no intention of increasing the intensity. A low-intensity war meant a higher safety factor.
If the intensity were to increase, he would inevitably have to face enemy experts. And a ninja's battle is a battle of information. If all his information was leaked, he would be close to death.
Even someone as outstanding as Minato was killed by Obito, who knew his weaknesses. An Yan did not want to be in a situation where he had to die.
An Yan and his team were resting around a campfire. Kana was sensing the surroundings, keeping watch.
An Yan's squad was very well-rounded. These students were all talented.
In the first few days of patrol, An Yan had to take action himself to kill the enemy Sand ninja. But as Nawaki and Minato gradually became accustomed to the atmosphere of the battlefield, they killed without hesitation.
An Yan cheerfully pulled a piece of black clay from the fire, broke it open, and revealed the wild chicken inside. The aroma of the meat filled the air. He tore off the two chicken legs and gave one to Nawaki and one to Minato. Then he gave the wings to Kana. The four of them began to eat.
"I don't know where Teacher learned to make this beggar's chicken, but it's really delicious," Nawaki mumbled as he ate.
An Yan said, annoyed, "No talking while you're eating."
Kana suddenly spoke up. "Teacher, a Sand squad is approaching. They're two kilometers away."
An Yan sighed. "There's always something at night. These guys see a fire and they're like mad dogs that have smelled meat. So troublesome."
He ate faster. It wasn't easy to get a hot meal during the war. After this, who knows how many days they'd be eating military ration pills.
The moment he finished eating, the enemy arrived.
"You guys! We've been traveling all night, and you're just sitting here eating! You bastards!"
The Sand squad leader was clearly envious of their hot meal and immediately attacked.
A barrage of shuriken flew at them, but An Yan sat there without moving. An earth wall rose up and blocked all the shuriken. The next moment, the three kids charged out.
This squad was very average, led by a Chunin. An Yan didn't even have to do much. Minato led the team and took care of them.
After the routine cleanup of fodder.
The four of them gathered around the campfire again.
An Yan had actually wanted to use the Four-Pillar House Technique, but Wood Style was a top secret in Konoha right now and couldn't be used lightly. It might scare the other villages into ganging up on them.
When people are idle, they tend to overthink things.
Minato spoke up. "Teacher, I've always had a question. What can be done to break the chain of hatred and bring peace to this world?"
Oh, so Minato also has the Hokage mindset?
An Yan complained inwardly but still answered seriously. "To be honest, I don't know either. But I have a theory. If Konoha were to become incomparably strong and unify all the countries in the world, so that everyone was from the same country, the first couple of generations might still have chains of hatred. But after a few more generations, as time passes, people wouldn't have so much hatred anymore. That would be a preliminary form of peace."
Minato smiled wryly. "That sounds very difficult to achieve."
An Yan nodded. "Yes. The Land of Rain is a three-way battlefield, but Konoha is a four-way one. We're surrounded by the other great villages. One wrong move, and we could be attacked by all of them, let alone attack others."
Minato nodded in understanding. Then he asked, "So, there's no other way?"
An Yan shook his head. "Where there are people, there is conflict. It's inevitable. There are only so many resources. If you have more, others have less. Someone will always be dissatisfied."
Minato understood this as well. He sighed and looked off into the distance, towards Konoha.
An Yan suddenly smiled. "The ninja world is a world where strength is respected. If one day your strength surpasses that of Madara Uchiha and the First Hokage, I don't think it would be impossible for us to unify the ninja world."
Minato gave a bitter smile. Teacher An Yan had such high expectations of him. Although he didn't know what Madara and the First Hokage's strength was like, he had seen the Valley of the End. Such a massive place was created just by the aftershocks of their battle. The First's strength was terrifying.
Minato felt he would be lucky to even reach the First's level, let alone surpass him. He had always been self-aware.
But An Yan didn't think so. Minato had died too young. A genius like him, if he had lived for another twenty years, his strength would have reached an unknown level, at least on par with Hashirama.
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