Kirito, who had already prepared his excuse, hadn't even had a chance to speak before he was recognized.
Kirito first felt a wave of embarrassment, then realized something was wrong. Before transmigrating, he was just an ordinary Ninja in this world. His parents died in the Second Ninja World War, and he didn't have many close friends.
Being recognized immediately in this remote, desolate area—the probability was probably like winning the lottery.
Looking up, he saw that the six people in front of him were all Ninjas around his age; the oldest definitely didn't exceed fifteen.
Because the war was urgent, and Kumogakure's people were inherently fierce, everyone aimed to improve their combat strength through actual combat, so it was common for young Ninjas to enter the battlefield.
But the key was that none of these six Ninja were led by a Jonin, yet they dared to appear on the path to the battlefield. Should he call them stubborn or ignorant?
The team watched Kirito, and a Female Ninja walked out from the middle of the six people. It was this Female Ninja who had just called out Kirito's name.
After sizing her up, he noticed the Female Ninja was tall and slender, wearing long combat boots and the standard Kumogakure battle uniform. Her fair complexion contrasted sharply with the skin tone of most Kumogakure commoners.
The most striking feature was her long blonde hair. As Kirito looked up from below, he suddenly felt that what he had just thought was wrong.
The most prominent feature of the Female Ninja in front of him didn't seem to be her blonde hair; her first impression should be that her skin was very fair and her pectoral muscles were well-developed… Kirito quickly recalled his memories.
He remembered that his original body entered the Kumogakure Ninja Academy for training when he was nine, though it was only for a short two years. Still, it added a lot to his experience.
He vaguely recalled that the most famous person in the class back then wasn't the best student or the one with the most outstanding Ninjutsu, but the class beauty, whose name seemed to be… Samui.
Upon thinking of that name, Kirito's memory completely resurfaced.
He wasn't recalling the original story's introduction to this Female Ninja, but rather the doujinshi he had read in his past life; she was also a highly popular female protagonist.
Most doujinshi centered around Princess Tsunade, but miraculously, Samui, merely a supporting character in the anime, managed to crush several major female rookies and join the ranks of popular choices.
There was no other reason; it was just because she had outstanding features. Some netizens even said that the only one who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Tsunade was Samui.
Golden-yellow hair, perfect figure, cold and gorgeous face… he was getting distracted.
Kirito quickly pulled his thoughts back and, to cover his inner embarrassment, casually asked a question.
"Oh, Classmate Samui, you actually remember me?"
Samui slowly walked out with one hand on her hip, her fair face devoid of extra expression, looking like an eternal Ice Queen.
"Memorizing everyone's information is a basic requirement for a Ninja, isn't it?"
Samui emitted a very cold feeling, and no emotion could be detected in her words.
A dark-faced Ninja standing beside her watched Kirito warily, raising his right hand to grip the Ninja Blade behind his back, stepping two paces closer to Kirito.
"Your name, identity, affiliated unit, and why you are here."
Hearing the Ninja's interrogation, Kirito brought out the excuse he had prepared earlier.
"I was originally performing a reconnaissance mission at the front when I encountered an Iwagakure unit. They had quite a few people, so I chose to temporarily evade. When I returned, I couldn't find my main unit, which is why I ended up here."
Although Kirito's answer was made up on the spot, it was logical.
However, the dark-faced Ninja opposite him clearly didn't immediately believe the answer. His hand remained tightly gripping the Long Sword behind his back, ready to attack if Kirito made any suspicious moves.
"You encountered an Iwagakure unit at the front. Which unit was it? What was its size? Where are those Iwa Ninjas now?"
Hearing these questions, Kirito maintained a calm expression on the surface, but his heart sank.
Why was this dark-faced Ninja so stubborn? He was asking for such detailed information. Was he deliberately trying to make trouble for him?
If the interrogation continued this way, he would eventually face a question he couldn't answer, and the fact that he had privately left the battlefield would be exposed.
Just as Kirito was rapidly thinking about how to respond, Samui in front maintained her previous posture.
Wearing the slightly elevated combat boots unique to Female Ninjas, she had approached Kirito, her eyes scanning her former classmate up and down.
In Samui's memory, the former Kirito was unremarkable, had no outstanding achievements, didn't socialize much, and they hadn't even exchanged more than a few words during their two years as classmates.
Therefore, the image of Kirito reflected in Samui's mind was that of an honest and simple child.
Not too good, but definitely not too bad.
After quickly finishing her recollection, Samui slightly parted her crimson lips.
"Troy, that's enough. Don't arbitrarily suspect comrades. The war situation ahead is not optimistic, and the battlefield is chaotic. Many Ninjas have been scattered; he is just one of them."
Hearing Samui say this, the dark-faced Youth named Troy stopped talking, and the hand gripping the Long Sword slowly lowered.
Samui walked up to Kirito, but instead of stopping in front of him, she brushed past him directly, and a light sentence floated into Kirito's ear.
"You don't need to return to the rear unit to regroup. Since we met here, join my squad. Our squad is Kumogakure's Squad 12. You are the seventh member of our squad. You can forget your previous Ninja number; your current number is 9527. Now, join the team and follow us to the Treading Cloud Bridge to support the front lines in defeating the Iwa Ninjas."
Samui's words were very cold, and she didn't give Kirito a chance to refuse. After passing by Kirito, she immediately entered a Ninja combat state and dashed forward.
And the members of Samui's squad quickly followed suit.
Seeing this, Kirito felt his scalp tingle. He had just managed to return from the absolute front line.
Now he only wanted to find a quiet place to merge his Ninjutsu and enhance his Five Elements Release Techniques, but given the current situation, that seemed unlikely.
Of course, Kirito could also choose to use Earth Release; he could escape Samui's line of sight with a single flash, and Samui and the others probably wouldn't be able to catch him.
However, if he actually did that, it would be equivalent to disobeying orders on the battlefield, and he would definitely receive severe punishment from Kumogakure upon his return. If he didn't return to Kumogakure, he would be classified as a Rogue Ninja.
Kirito's mind raced, feeling like he had hit a dead end, and now he was about to be forcibly dragged back onto the battlefield to risk his life.
Just as Kirito was struggling internally, a strong arm rubbed against him.
Turning his head, he saw it was the dark-faced Youth named Troy from earlier.
"You idiot, stick close this time! Remember not to get scattered again."
Troy took out a stack of papers from his personal backpack.
"Take these. This contains the basic information about our destination, the Treading Cloud Bridge, and the situation we'll be facing. Read them quickly on the way, so you don't get lost when you reach the battlefield."
Taking the intelligence report from Troy and opening it, Kirito could only sigh helplessly in his heart.
The mission destination, the Treading Cloud Bridge, was not within the Land of Lightning but within the Land of Moon.
The Land of Moon is a small country right next to the Land of Lightning.
During peacetime, this small country could rely on the Land of Lightning, paying a small protection fee annually to live peacefully and securely.
But this was a time of war, and the Land of Moon was dragged into it.
Of course, the Land of Moon was not one of the warring nations; it was forced to become the battlefield for Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
End of the chapter.