Chương 18: War and a Birthday

Time flowed by day by day as Dongye Zhen immersed himself in cultivation. During this period, his father, Dongye Jiro, rotated back once more and had time to accompany his son in training. However, he abandoned this task after only ten days. He was shocked to find that he was increasingly unable to withstand his son's rapidly surging strength. Regarding this, he was both delighted and dejected. He was delighted because his son was indeed a genius—a talent not inferior to Hatake Kakashi.

Given his limited horizons, Kakashi was the only benchmark for genius he could imagine. He was dejected because his dignity as a father was on the verge of collapsing. To preserve his image of strength in his son's heart, he resolutely made his escape. At the end of their final sparring session, he turned his back, gazing at the rising sun with arms crossed. While secretly rubbing his aching forearms to ease the pain, he spoke in a low, somber tone: "Zhen, your progress is truly incredible.

I believe it won't be many years before you surpass me. It makes me sentimental; I never expected you to have such capacity. You are truly my son. But I have nothing left to teach you. You must explore the path ahead on your own. Strive hard, son. I await the day you catch up and stand by my side." With that, Jiro departed, leaving behind a broad-shouldered and solitary impression, as if he were peerless in the world. Zhen watched the silhouette departing into the morning light with a hint of emotion.

This father was truly beyond reproach—strong, humorous, never putting on airs, giving him whatever he asked for, and rushing back for his birthday no matter how busy the mission. Even if he was a bit of a "chuunibyou" poser sometimes. Did you forget your son has freakish sensory abilities? If Zhen hadn't sensed the small movements of his father's hands behind his back, he might have actually believed the act. Old man, you just can't drop any more "loot" for me, no need to be so depressed, right?

Wait, his father was still young, not even twenty-six. Not quite an "old man" yet, which explained why his "chuuni" soul hadn't quite faded. He was a charming and endearing young father. The old year ended and the new one began. Dongye Zhen turned six, exactly the age to enroll in the Ninja Academy. But shortly after the New Year, a major event occurred in the Shinobi World—one Zhen had long known would happen.

The Shadow of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, the Third Kazekage—hailed as the strongest in history—had disappeared. No one knew exactly when it happened. Zhen only heard from Jiro that large squads of Sand shinobi had been hyperactive at the border recently, seemingly preparing for something big. Before the spies from various nations in the Land of Wind could return with results, the news was leaked by the Sand's own internal factions. The Third Kazekage was missing—no person found alive, no corpse found dead.

The Shinobi World was not like ancient times; while not yet in the information age, news traveled fast. Soon, the incident reached every village, large and small. Realizing they could no longer hide it, Sunagakure threw caution to the wind. Whether to divert the boiling pressure from their own ninja or to prevent internal factions from killing each other over the Kazekage's seat, an external war became inevitable. Whom to strike? The wealthiest one, of course.

They weren't about to attack the paupers in the Hidden Rain. Even if they couldn't win, they could at least bite off a few chunks of meat to fill their bellies. Thus, the Sand launched a war against the Leaf. Large squads of shinobi crossed the Land of Rivers and invaded the territory of the Land of Fire. Their justification? That was easy to find. The Sand threw a "pot" at the Leaf, claiming that Konoha had conspired to assassinate their Third Kazekage. This war, they claimed, was a war of vengeance.

Since the Leaf had the "Darkness of the Shinobi," they pinned it on him first. Whether it was true didn't matter; as long as the Sand shinobi believed it, morale was secured. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Danzo: "???" Dammit, this really has nothing to do with me! Inside the underground base of Root, Shimura Danzo truly wanted to scream those words, but as a mature shinobi, he suppressed the urge. It didn't matter if it was him or not.

They just wanted an excuse for war. What mattered was that the war had begun, and the next priority was to crush those Sand bastards to vent the rage of being framed. He was the one who set people up; no one set him up. The Sand was doomed—Shimura Danzo said so, and even the Sage of the Six Paths couldn't save them. Having lived in the Shinobi World for nearly six years, Zhen finally felt what the arrival of war was truly like.

The border units barely held off the Sand's initial assault, becoming entangled at the junction of the Land of Rivers and Fire. But that wasn't enough; the entirety of Konoha immediately shifted out of "mission mode." Vast numbers of shinobi assigned abroad were recalled, organized into battalions, and deployed to the front. The village's peaceful atmosphere vanished, replaced by a thick tension. Villagers stood on both sides of the road, watching the departing troops with grim expressions.

Among those ranks were their fathers, husbands, and sons, all stepping onto the battlefield without hesitation to protect the Land of Fire and the Leaf. But how many would return safely? No one knew. The high command sent representatives to the Capital to meet the Daimyo and request funding for the state of war. Simultaneously, they held daily meetings with clan heads and civilian ninja representatives to discuss war planning.

Everyone knew that once a war started, it couldn't remain a conflict between only two nations. It wouldn't be long before all the major military powers were dragged in. The Fire-Wind border had to be held, but other borders couldn't be ignored; manpower had to be increased everywhere as a precaution. After two previous Great Wars, this was the standard routine. Time slipped through this tense atmosphere, and Zhen reached his sixth birthday.

That evening, Hui and Jiro smiled as they watched their son close his eyes before the cake and make a silent wish. In the past, Zhen had always just gone through the motions. There were no Dragon Balls in this world; what was the point of wishing? But today was different. Because of the war, he made a sincere wish. Jiro asked with a laugh, "Zhen, what did you wish for this year?"

"It won't come true if I say it out loud."

"Quite right," Hui said, pulling out a thick notebook.

"Here, this is the gift I prepared. It contains the key points for learning Medical Ninjutsu that I've summarized and organized."

"And this is mine." Jiro produced a short-bladed tantō. It was the same style as the black ironwood one he had gifted previously, but this was the real thing.

"You were too small before; I was afraid you'd accidentally hurt yourself or others. But I know you've grown up. You aren't naive like other kids; you're mentally very mature. It's time."

"Thank you, Father. Thank you, Mother." Zhen tucked the notebook away and drew the blade to inspect it. It wasn't a new sword. The hilt and scabbard showed signs of wear, clearly having some years on them. However, the blade was bright as new without a single mlemish. Carved into it were the characters for "Dongye." Two traditional Chinese characters—it was a Japanese-style world, so the presence of Hanzi was perfectly normal. Jiro explained, "This was your grandfather's blade.

The steel is infused with Chakra Metal; it cost our family all our liquid assets back then. Your grandfather used it, and so did your uncle. Later it was damaged and kept as a family heirloom. I recently had a master smith restore it. Now, I pass it to you. I hope you make a name for yourself with it; I believe you can." Zhen did have an uncle; otherwise, his father would have been named Taro instead of Jiro (Second Son).

However, both his uncle and grandfather had died in the previous two Great Wars, and his grandmother had passed away after the second. As for his mother's side, there was no one left; Hui had been a war orphan since she was very young.

"I will, Father." Zhen sheathed the sword.

"When do you leave? In which direction?" The couple was silent for a moment. Finally, Jiro spoke.

"The day after tomorrow. Iwagakure forces have appeared in the Land of Grass. They need more hands over there." Indeed, not long after the Sand and Leaf began their war, Iwagakure prepared to join in. Jiro had just been rotated back from the border of the Land of Rivers, successfully avoiding the initial war there, but now he had to accept orders to garrison the Land of Grass front.

"Be careful, Father. Don't be reckless if you encounter a large enemy force. Survive. Mom and I will be waiting for you at home." Jiro patted his son's head.

"Don't worry. You know my strength well. I won't die that easily." Unlike the Sand, which had fewer shinobi and specialized in poison and puppets, Iwagakure followed a "zerg" strategy. While they didn't have many top-tier experts, their middle and lower-rank ninja were dense. During wartime, they rarely deployed elite small squads; they usually moved in platoons or even battalions.

Against a master like Minato Namikaze, they were just experience points to be farmed, but for ordinary Leaf ninja, they were a nightmare. One slip-up meant being swarmed and beaten to death. Two days later, another detachment of the shinobi army marched out. This time, Zhen was among the crowd on the side of the road, seeing them off. This was war. Zhen knew that while Konoha seemed to have things under control now, once Kumogakure joined and Kirigakure later intervened, the village would be stretched to its limit.

They would be forced to graduate Academy students early to replenish their ranks. Looking at the timeline, he would very likely be one of them.