Tsunade's gaze swept across the room, and she shouted, "Kakashi, Shizune, Nara Saltwater, and Hyuga Iroha! I hereby order the four of you to form a special intelligence investigation team and secretly infiltrate the Land of Water to investigate the Kirigakure!"
Kakashi and the other three stepped forward and answered in unison, "Yes!"
Danzo, not wanting to be left out, jumped out and said coldly, "Although this squad has a good composition, its combat strength is insufficient. Once it encounters a large-scale ninja, it will be difficult to organize an effective counterattack."
"I suggest that Hinata Hyuga replace Hyuga Iroha to carry out this mission!"
Tsunade Danzo a cold glance, then shouted with a sense of satisfaction, "Absolutely not!"
It felt so good to loudly refute Danzo, that old scoundrel, who finally voiced a different opinion!
Honestly, when Danzo and Tsunade agreed, Tsunade was really questioning her life, wondering if there was something wrong with her plan.
It wasn't until Danzo stepped forward and voiced his dissenting opinion that Tsunade felt the meeting was finally over.
My decision is definitely right!
"Only Jonin can carry out this mission, and Hinata is currently only Chunin. It would be too dangerous for her to carry out this kind of mission."
Danzo remained expressionless and said in a deep voice, "Although Hinata Hyuga is only Chunin- level ninja, her strength is undeniable. To ensure the absolute success of this mission, having Hinata Hyuga carry it out is the best choice."
Hinata pouted angrily, "I just got back, okay? I haven't even had a day to rest, and you want me to go out on a mission?"
Picking up her notebook for taking notes during the meeting, Hinata drew a big turtle next to Danzo's name, the kind carrying a big pot on its back... Hmm! Let's boil an egg in the pot.
Danzo, that old bastard, definitely has no good intentions.
However, this kind of Jonin meeting is not something that Hinata, a mere Chunin, can casually interrupt.
Kakashi glanced at Shimura Danzō and said calmly, "The purpose of this trip to the Land of Water to gather intelligence is to investigate the attitude of Kirigakure. Hinata isn't the kind of ninja who's good at gathering intelligence, so sending her... would cause big problems."
Hinata: "???"
At this moment, even though she was just a rookie Chunin, Hinata had no choice but to stand up and speak out.
Hinata used to only badmouth Kakashi behind his back, but Kakashi actually dared to badmouth me to my face!
Hinata glared at Kakashi, her face full of indignation, and said, "Teacher Kakashi! What makes you say I'm not good at gathering intelligence? I've obtained information about the enemy on several occasions!"
Kakashi rolled his dead fish eyes and teased, "Oh~ you mean that time in Otogakure?"
"Yes!"
Hinata put her hands on her hips and said proudly, "That time I brought back information about the entire Otogakure!"
Tsunade rubbed her temples, feeling a terrible headache.
She had actually considered sending Hinata, given Hinata's strength. Having Hinata join the investigation team would greatly enhance the team's combat power.
However, as soon as Kakashi mentioned the Otogakure, Tsunade couldn't help but think of the Clover Gold Mine Mountain.
Neji said that Hinata blew up the mine to gather information about Raiga.
If Hinata were sent to Kirigakure to gather information, the results would likely be like this:
A ninja burst into the Hokage's Office, his face filled with anxiety, and reported, "Lady Tsunade, something terrible has happened! Kirigakure has been wiped out, and Hinata has brought all the information about Kirigakure back to Konoha..."
Tsunade: "..."
"I said no, and that's final. This is settled!"
"Disband!"
The group of Jonin Body Flicker Technique left the Hokage's Office.
Danzo his cane in displeasure. He had originally intended to snort, but upon seeing Hinata's pouting and unhappy face, Danzo swallowed his snort and left the Hokage Building with a lonely figure.
Tsunade glanced at Hinata and asked casually, "Didn't you say you didn't want to go?"
Hinata said stubbornly, "But after what Teacher Kakashi said, I want to go again!"
Tsunade snorted and said irritably, "Come and help!"
"Oh!"
This mission is different from the past. Although the Five Great Shinobi Villages often send spies to each other, Kirigakure is far overseas and has been closed off for many years. They will never show mercy to ninjas from other villages. Therefore, Konoha knows very little about Kirigakure in recent years.
When a ninja village experiences internal problems, that is often the most tense time.
Therefore, going to Kirigakure to investigate intelligence at this time is an extremely dangerous mission.
Hinata and Shizune helped Tsunade through a large amount of information about Kirigakure and extract the latest relevant information about Kirigakure.
Hinata: Slurp!
Looking at that huge pile of dense text, Hinata felt her little head getting bigger and bigger.
Dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, nasal congestion, cramps in the hands and feet, and loss of tactile sensation.
What's most infuriating is that some of the information was recorded in the form of coded messages, which are coded knowledge that only Jonin are qualified to access. Hinata even found herself getting sleepy while reading it.
Shizune said gently, "Hinata, leave those documents you don't understand to me!"
"Kindness!"
Hinata nodded obediently and handed the confidential information to Shizune.
While investigating information about Kirigakure is urgent, it's not something that can be rushed.
Shizune also need to make sufficient preparations before they can set off.
Hinata flipped through the documents one by one, most of which were records related to Kirigakure during World War I, Second Shinobi War, and Third Shinobi War, including information on the combat capabilities of some important ninjas.
For example, in the Original Story, there is a small mustache named 'Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki' who was Impure World Reincarnation.
The records of the Second Mizukage in Konoha are quite comprehensive, after all, they were opponents who fought against each other back then.
Despite his somewhat goofy demeanor after being Impure World Reincarnation using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, the Second Mizukage was actually a war fanatic who thoroughly enjoyed the conflict. This is evident in his Ninjutsu, which were almost entirely designed for large-scale warfare.
The records also contain some information about the Third Mizukage, but by the time the Fourth Mizukage was in power, there was very little information about Kirigakure.
Shizune said dejectedly, "There's absolutely no useful information!"
Tsunade tossed a stack of documents on the ground and said calmly, "The Kirigakure wasn't too closed off before, but after the Fourth Mizukage took over, the policies within the Bloody Mist were pushed to their extreme, and the Kirigakure's strength seems to have been greatly weakened..."
Tsunade, however, was thinking about Danzo's information.
Someone manipulated the Fourth Mizukage using Genjutsu magic...
In the history of the Shinobi World, there are only a handful of people who can manipulate the Kage of a village with Genjutsu. In the last ten years, there have only been a few members of the Uchiha clan.
Even Konoha Kurenai Yuhi, Konoha's best Genjutsu ninja, could never do that.
Therefore, Tsunade's biggest suspect is still the Sharingan, or even the Mangekyō Sharingan.
What Tsunade wanted to investigate was precisely this kind of information.
"Huh?"
Hinata held a document in her hand, a hint of doubt on her face, and murmured, "Itachi Uchiha and Jūzō Biwa were once..."
"Boss, take a look at this intelligence report."
"That's strange, there wasn't even a signature."
In this collection of information about Kirigakure, every piece of intelligence is followed by a signature, indicating that the intelligence was obtained by that ninja.
This unsigned intelligence report was very likely sent back by Itachi Uchiha.