"Tatsuma, the downstream Sensory work is entrusted to you."
In the Land of Rain, within the rainforest where the sun is never seen, a team of ninjas gathered by a river, both for resupply and to scout the surrounding environment.
Even the giant dogs, which some people fear, remain quiet at this moment, their paws landing carefully, ensuring no sound even as they tread on wet fallen leaves.
These Nin-Dogs continuously sniffed the surrounding scents, their canine faces displaying human-like wrinkled brows in thoughtful contemplation, seemingly discerning the types and sources of the smells.
Beside each Nin-Dog, there is a member of the Inuzuka Clan performing the same actions. Ninjas resembling dogs, ninjas resembling dogs - this is something only seen within this clan.
On the side, there are also some Aburame Clan ninjas dressed in long raincoats, their hoods pulled down low. These ninjas, wearing sunglasses even in the dim rainforest, continuously emit special insects from their bodies.
Beside a pair of silver-haired and golden-haired youths, a fully wrapped Aburame ninja lowered his tone, quietly conversing with Sakamoto Tatsuma, the silver-haired one.
Tatsuma nodded, then approached the riverbank. Forming a hand seal with both hands, he then altered the seal with his right hand, connecting his thumb to his little finger while keeping the other three fingers relaxed.
This is a special kind of hand seal, part of a systematic series called the "Mudra" hand seal system. This system emphasizes that each finger corresponds to a specific Chakra element, which is quite similar to Tatsuma's past life.
The thumb represents fire, and the little finger represents water, yet the hand seal is named the "Water Seal," symbolizing the harmonization of water and fire, signifying communication and openness. It was applied by Senju Tobirama in Sensory Jutsu with remarkable effectiveness.
Tatsuma inserted his right hand into the river. As the water flows over his fingers, his Chakra attaches to the flowing water.
This type of Sensory technique doesn't have a fast sensory speed; rather, its speed depends on the water flow. Of course, if the water flow is too rapid, it won't work well. It might cause splashing, disrupting the flow, and the Chakra may not tightly adhere or interconnect with each other.
Fortunately, it's September now, and although the rainy season in the rainforest is in its late stages, it hasn't completely ended yet. Therefore, the speed of the river here is much faster than usual.
The Aburame ninja also knows that Tatsuma's Sensory efficiency isn't fast, but it excels in safety. If there are Sensory-type ninjas among the enemies, then whether it's the Nin-Dogs, insects, or even ground and air Sensory, they could be detected.
However, hardly any ninja would care whether Chakra is attached to the constantly flowing water because it's too difficult to detect, and very few have devised such means.
As a covert support team, Tatsuma and his group are not pressed for time, so they need this safest method to perform Sensory detection on the distant situation. They need to ensure they are not discovered.
After nearly half an hour, Tatsuma withdrawed his hand from the river and says, "Five kilometers downstream, there is residual Ninja Chakra. They should be traveling on the water, heading further downstream."
The Aburame ninja nodded and said, "Still the same caution. Even in their own territory, these Land of Rain ninjas are so careful to conceal their tracks."
Shaking his head, he continued, "But since the direction is further downstream, our tracks shouldn't be discovered in the short term. Let's rest here for now. I'll contact the other teams."
The frequency of patrols in this rainforest cannot be too high, especially in a small country like the Land of Rain. Even in the case of the Five Great Nations, there aren't enough ninjas available for daily border patrols.
Especially recently, since Konoha and the Hidden Sand Village have expanded their battlefield into the Land of Rain, the focus of the Land of Rain ninjas would definitely be towards the battlefield and then towards priority areas. The surveillance frequency and intensity would certainly decrease in these uninhabited rainforests.
Patrolling once or twice a week is probably the limit. Therefore, in the short term, they shouldn't encounter any issues with setting up camp here.
Tatsuma walked to the side, continuously rubbing his right hand, which had become somewhat itchy from being soaked. The river water wasn't very pure, especially during the flood season, when who knows what debris from the rainforest might have been washed into the river.
Therefore, timely cleaning was necessary. After rubbing his right hand with a cloth soaked in alcohol, Tatsuma felt much better. At this moment, Minato took care of collecting and filtering the water, adding effervescent disinfectant tablets before pouring it into a kettle and handing it to Tatsuma.
"Thank you," Tatsuma said, taking a sip and then putting the kettle back into the backpack. Minato shook his head, saying, "It was just something I did on the fly."
"Do you want to learn that Sensory technique I just used?" Tatsuma whispered to Minato. In a group of Sensory ninjas, speaking softly didn't make much difference, but expressing this attitude caused the surrounding Inuzuka and Aburame ninjas to instinctively keep their distance.
Minato showed a somewhat embarrassed expression and replied, "Is it appropriate? I heard it was taught to you by Tsunade sensei or was a research achievement of the Second Hokage-sama."
"Before we parted ways, I already asked sensei, and she didn't mind. Plus, my hand can't handle soaking in this river water every day, so if you learn it, you can help me share the burden," Tatsuma said, casually hooking his arm around Minato's shoulder. After considering for a moment, Minato nodded and replied, "Then I'll share any Ninjutsu I learn with you in the future."
Minato felt he owed Tatsuma a lot, especially in the past few days when Jiraiya confided in him about the circumstances surrounding his learning of the Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu. Jiraiya bluntly stated that without Tatsuma, he wouldn't have learned this Ninjutsu so early.
The astute Minato, after a few hints from Jiraiya, understood the risks Tatsuma took when he voiced his opinions to Sarutobi Hiruzen in the Hokage's office.
If Sarutobi Hiruzen had felt displeased by Tatsuma's actions at the time, it could have been seen as seeking undue credit, especially since Sarutobi Hiruzen already had high hopes for their future and was willing to personally mentor them.
Otherwise, they might have only received a scroll of Ninjutsu at best, and as the one making the request, Tatsuma might have incurred Sarutobi Hiruzen's displeasure. The risks were all borne by Tatsuma, while Minato unknowingly accepted the benefits.
Moreover, Minato also recalled how Tatsuma had taken care of him on the battlefield before, even getting injured several times because of it. Feeling increasingly indebted, Minato, who couldn't offer any compensation at the moment despite Tatsuma's generosity, could only draw upon his own future.
Upon hearing Minato's promise, Tatsuma simply waved his hand. After all, Minato couldn't provide what he needed in the short term. The most important talents in Ninja Tool Throwing, Space-Time, Sensory, and Ninjutsu Development, Tatsuma had already gleaned from Minato.
Even the Rasengan, which Minato would develop later, Tatsuma had quietly figured out, but he hadn't had the chance to reasonably reveal this technique yet. It could only be kept as a trump card for now.
While Minato felt indebted, Tatsuma felt the same. However, Tatsuma absolutely felt indebted for Minato's pure and sincere friendship towards him, and he just wanted to make up for it a bit more.
Tatsuma didn't bring Tobirama's notes with him, but his memory was excellent, and he had memorized the contents of the scrolls. Therefore, directly reciting them to Minato wasn't difficult for him.
Over the next period, alongside his responsibility for aquatic Sensory Detection, Tatsuma also taught Minato Sensory techniques. However, it was unfortunate, though not unexpected for Tatsuma, that Minato had very poor aptitude for learning aquatic Sensory Jutsu.
It wasn't just aquatic Sensory Jutsu; Minato also struggled with ground Sensory Jutsu. He was far from the level where he could apply what he had learned from reading the notes, unlike Tatsuma, who could use them immediately. After all, Minato didn't possess the water and earth attributes.
However, Minato's disappointment didn't end there. When he heard about the technique for Sensory Jutsu in the air, he initially tried to learn it with determination. But the progress of his learning was truly disappointing.
In the Land of Rain, the air was too damp, often hindering the transmission of Chakra. This was something even Tatsuma hadn't anticipated, as his Chakra wasn't affected by water.
"Indeed, my talent is far inferior to yours, Tatsuma," Minato concluded on the first New Year's Eve he spent away from home, after three months of diligently memorizing Tobirama's notes, just like Tatsuma.
The five attributes of Chakra combined with Sensory techniques posed a challenge for Minato. Due to his lack of earth and water Chakra, he couldn't even begin to learn techniques based on these elements. Furthermore, the Sensory techniques involving wind Chakra were greatly limited in the Land of Rain. Minato was uncertain about his progress in training.
As for fire and lightning Chakra, apart from situations like forest fires where he might need to rescue people, Minato couldn't think of scenarios where the former would be applicable. As for the latter, unless he was in the Land of Lightning, it was rare to encounter thunderstorms, making it difficult for him to practice.
Upon hearing Minato's reflections, Tatsuma, who was also recalling the experiences of the past year, snapped out of his thoughts. Tatsuma found Minato's comment amusing, as Minato jokingly criticized his own talent, second only to Naruto's self-deprecation about not being good at preaching.
However, looking back on the past year, during the first quarter, both of them were training. In the second quarter, Tatsuma indeed outshone Minato on the battlefield. In the third quarter, while training in the village, Tatsuma took the lead.
By the final quarter, Minato was nearly driven to despair by his inability to grasp the Sensory techniques, leading him to reach this conclusion. Tatsuma suddenly understood, though this wasn't the whole truth.
Tatsuma patted Minato on the shoulder and said, "The environment in the Land of Rain isn't conducive to training, and besides, haven't you made great progress in your Sensory technique since we arrived in the northern part of the Land of Rain recently?"
Now in the depths of winter, as they gradually approached the border between the Rain and Earth countries, the air humidity decreased significantly. Not only were their clothes no longer constantly damp, but Minato's Sensory abilities had also improved considerably.
However, in just these short ten days, compared to the whole year, the improvement was relatively minor, and Minato hadn't noticed it.
After hearing Tatsuma's words, Minato forced a smile. He felt his friend was trying to comfort him.
"It's New Year's," said the Aburame ninja leading the team, breaking the silence. Upon hearing this, smiles appeared on everyone's faces.
Although there was no atmosphere of New Year's in such a desolate place, and the sticky dampness made it feel like the rainy season, they had still made it through another year.
"Let's all make a wish," said the Squad Captain with a smile, addressing everyone. A ninja from the Inuzuka Clan was trimming the fur around his Nin-Dog's claws. Upon hearing this, he said, "My wish... I hope the war will stop this year."
His wish resonated with many people, but Tatsuma's smile was particularly forced. If his memory and calculations were correct, not only would the war not end this year, but it might even escalate into the Second Shinobi World War, affecting the entire shinobi world.
However, he was still too insignificant. Even if he knew some things, he couldn't stop the momentum. In the current situation, neither the Wind nor the Fire side had the power to end the war.
Because the battlefield was no longer determined by the will of the two Kage, but by the will of the two nations, from the highest-ranking nobles like Daimyo to the grassroots civilians, everyone wanted the war to continue.
While there was a brief moment of joy here, further north in a cave, Tsunade put away her hands, sweating, while Jiraiya lay there gritting his teeth, clearly badly injured.
Tsunade popped a Military Rations Pill into her mouth to regain her strength, then looked towards Orochimaru, who was keeping watch outside the cave. She said, "Orochimaru, let's ask for reinforcements. With Jiraiya's current condition, we won't be able to hide our tracks and escape properly."
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru glanced back at their old teammate lying in the dim cave, his expression conflicted. After a moment, he shook his head and said:
"Let's hold on a little longer. Given the distance between us and the support team, they would have to rush at full speed to reach us. If they do that, their months of undercover work would be in vain. Let's move a bit further south and have the team rendezvous with us. We can't let the Land of Rain know that we have a large number of ninjas lurking in their territory. Besides, with your current strength, we can hold out."
Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Tsunade raised her hand to touch her forehead protector. The mark underneath, which had taken a year to develop, was now almost invisible.
Her strength couldn't endure any longer.
At this moment, Jiraiya opened his eyes and took a few breaths. He chuckled and said, "Haha, don't be so pessimistic. I'll be fine. Even if they catch up..."
He pressed down on his abdomen, still in considerable pain. Gritting his teeth, he continued, "I'll hold them off for you. The most important thing is to get the intel out. I also agree with Orochimaru, no need to call for reinforcements."
Orochimaru remained silent, his expression suddenly turning grim. He said, "There are Iwa-nin approaching. Tsunade, can you take Jiraiya with you?"
Tsunade clenched her fists and then shook her head. "You take him for a while. I need to rest."
"Alright."
Without further ado, Orochimaru hoisted Jiraiya onto his back and left the cave, heading south. Tsunade followed behind them, making a tough decision.
While Orochimaru and Jiraiya were unaware, Tsunade reached into her pouch and pulled out a communicator, pressing the button for help.
Immediately, she tucked the communicator, which was continuously flashing its signal light, back into her ninja pouch.
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