Chapter 78: Front-line News

Uchiha Feiyu, having returned to Konoha, was initially in quite a good mood, but he soon discovered that the atmosphere in the Ninja Village was somewhat off.

A while ago, although the various ninja in Konoha also had serious expressions and came and went in a hurry, they were at least full of confidence and high spirits; that was the confidence in victory accumulated from Konoha's decades of undefeated battles.

But now...

The ninja coming and going in a hurry now gave people a feeling of panic; the expressions of those ninja, which were originally serious with a hint of confidence, had now become somewhat stiff and fearful.

"It seems something has happened in Konoha... Hmm, it's likely that something went wrong on the front lines?"

Just as Uchiha Feiyu was thinking about these things, his gaze suddenly swept over five young ninja.

"Kakashi, Asuma... you're all here? Long time no see!"

"You are... Feiyu!!"

The ones Uchiha Feiyu had called out to were precisely this group of ten-year-old ninja, who were also Uchiha Feiyu's classmates.

On the streets of Konoha, a group of little youths who had just left the concept of childhood behind all revealed expressions of surprise as they looked at the young man before them.

Uchiha Feiyu was now fully 15 years old, and having spent half a year rushing about on the battlefield, followed by his Bloodline Limit synthesis and Bloodline Evolution, he looked no different from a youth of seventeen or eighteen.

Yet his group of little classmates were only ten or eleven years old; although they had had their share of struggles during wartime, as underage ninja, they had not yet been sent to the front lines as long as Konoha had not reached the end of its rope, and they still retained a bit of innocence.

Because of this, the two sides seemed to be a generation apart, as if Uchiha Feiyu were their team leader.

At Konoha's Yakiniku Q, Uchiha Feiyu ordered over a dozen plates of various grilled meats and asked the group of little classmates before him:

"Is this enough? Do you need any more?"

"No need, no need, we aren't from the Akimichi Clan, we can't eat that much."

Kurenai waved her hand and spoke, her expression carrying a hint of excitement.

The Uchiha Feiyu of today was no longer the former ninja companion, nor the older classmate who was mocked by others, but a powerful ninja renowned throughout all of Konoha, known as the Little White Fang and the Konoha Ghost.

Even their former teacher, Hyuga Hizashi, was a far cry from the current Uchiha Feiyu in terms of fame and strength; watching their former companion soar into the sky made Yuhi Kurenai and Asuma feel like they were dreaming.

On the contrary, Kakashi Hatake, Obito, Guy, and the others didn't care much; these people were either calm and unflappable by nature, or they were carefree and had big hearts, and didn't pay much mind to Uchiha Feiyu's changes.

"Speaking of which, I just returned to Konoha, and I feel the atmosphere in the village is a bit wrong. Also, why are you little ninja gathered together? Did something big happen?"

"Why do you call us little ninja? Feiyu, aren't you our classmate? We all started learning ninjutsu at the same time, so how did we become little ninja?"

Obito shouted loudly with a look of dissatisfaction. Uchiha Feiyu rolled his eyes slightly and spoke indifferently:

"Fine, fine, fine, then please, elite ninja, introduce to me what exactly has been happening lately?"

Obito was stunned for a moment, scratched his head, and then looked at Kakashi:

"Kakashi, has anything happened lately? I don't feel like anything is different!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and spoke helplessly:

"Obito, you guy, you really are slow-witted."

"This time we just happened to meet by chance. Obito, Rin, and I are already members of the same squad, and we just happened to run into Asuma and Kurenai who were out shopping, so we chatted about how things have been."

"As for the big news lately... I only know that the situation on the front lines is not optimistic; it seems something went wrong on the Cloud Ninja front. If you want to know more, you should go ask Asuma!"

Although Kakashi Hatake was also a famous young genius in Konoha and his strength was already very close to a true Jonin, he had never been to the front lines, and his status in Konoha was not high, so the intelligence he possessed was still very scarce.

And although Asuma was much weaker than Kakashi and hadn't even become a Chunin yet, as the son of the Hokage, no one would truly believe he was ignorant of front-line intelligence.

After hearing Kakashi's words, a bitter smile appeared on Asuma's face, and he put down the chopsticks in his hand:

"Kakashi, you guy... don't you know what the confidentiality regulations are?"

"If we're really talking about confidentiality regulations, there's no way you, a Genin, know more than I, a Special Jonin, do!"

"Since even you know, it's clear that these confidentiality regulations have long since been broken!"

Kakashi said this half-sarcastically and half-self-deprecatingly, causing Asuma's face to turn red instantly:

"Alright, alright, alright, I get it, I'll tell you!"

"It is said that on the front-line battlefield, our Konoha suffered a major defeat, the entire Cloud Ninja front was completely broken through, and at least three thousand ninja were sacrificed!"

"The front-line battlefield is very tight right now; who knows when our batch of ninja, who have only been graduated for a year, will have to go to the front lines!"

Once these words were spoken, the entire table fell silent. A moment later, Nohara Rin spoke in a timid voice:

"This matter... why haven't we received any news at all?"

"Yeah, why haven't we received any news at all..."

Asuma's voice carried a hint of distress and helplessness as he muttered to himself.

"Tsk, that's simple. This is news of a defeat, not a great victory. How could the Konoha High Command easily reveal it?"

"What if it affects Konoha's morale? What if it affects other battlefields? What if it affects... their recruitment of cannon fodder?"

Without a doubt, the one who could say such things was definitely Uchiha Feiyu. Once these words were spoken, the expressions of the group of little ninja present varied.

Most of the little ninja were surprised and disapproving, but Asuma's body stiffened after hearing this, and he revealed a look of shame.

Kakashi still had an indifferent and plain expression, but he said something that sounded like a warning, or perhaps a complaint:

"Feiyu, you guy just love to talk nonsense! Be careful of being executed by Anbu ninja for the crime of disrupting military morale!"

Uchiha Feiyu shrugged. He didn't care about the crime of disrupting military morale, and the Konoha High Command certainly wouldn't cause trouble with a Shadow-level Ninja over such a charge. However, such words could easily influence these little ninja, so in the end, he chuckled:

"Sorry... sometimes this mouth of mine just likes to talk nonsense."

(End of chapter)