Tavern

Before Ito Rei left, Jiang Rui did not forget to confirm the location of Kumogakure's forces, along with part of their deployment.

Even so, after marching at full speed for a day and crossing the Land of Iron again along the same route, Jiang Rui did not see any other Cloud Ninja at the Land of Iron's border.

Had they retreated...?

After thinking it over, Jiang Rui directly opened the map and ordered Great Sage to deduce the enemy's route.

"Confirmation complete."

A small amount of magic power drained away. Jiang Rui frowned as he looked at the map before him.

Great Sage provided four possible routes.

One was to travel along the Land of Iron's border through the Land of Rice Fields, then retreat back to Kumogakure.

Another was to directly enter the Land of Fire, pose a certain threat to it, and then retreat back to Kumogakure.

There was also a sea route, passing through the Land of Birds...

Tsk, that country's name was kind of interesting, huh?

The final route was to continue south toward the Land of Waves and the Land of Tea, where they could effectively ambush ninjas from the Land of Water.

Without a second word, Jiang Rui eliminated the last two routes. Kumogakure and Konoha were not of one mind, so they naturally would not dare venture too deeply.

Jiang Rui figured that if he were the Raikage, he would definitely choose the second route and give Konoha another hard blow!

In fact, the Raikage had done just that. He had merely issued a threat beforehand, while Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed on the surface before secretly recalling Jiraiya and planning to send him to the Land of Rice Fields, preventing the Raikage from dispatching more troops into the Land of Fire.

Of course, Jiang Rui did not know any of that, but Kumogakure's forces would inevitably have to pass through the Land of Rice Fields to return to their village.

What a coincidence. He had heard Nagato and the others were there too?

That was interesting, huh?

After some thought, Jiang Rui decided to first follow the Land of Iron's border toward the Land of Rice Fields.

If he did not find them, that would mean they were stationed within the Land of Fire. He could just go back and look for them then, right?

No sooner thought than done!

Without another word, Jiang Rui picked out the direction of the Land of Rice Fields and set off.

Meanwhile, in Kirigakure, the Water Shadow also began issuing orders. Mist's main ninja forces quietly gathered, preparing to move toward the Land of Fire's border.

As Jiang Rui sped along the border region, he did not see even a shadow of Kumogakure's forces. Instead, he clashed several times with Rogue Ninja and wandering ninjas.

To be honest, most wandering ninjas were fairly easy to talk to. Especially after seeing the Anbu mask atop Jiang Rui's head, at most they would toss intelligence such as "A Mist Anbu is active along the Land of Iron's border" into the Underground Exchange.

Other than that, they ran the moment they saw Jiang Rui!

Anbu usually meant trouble.

But Rogue Ninja were different!

Heaven knew, he had only seen a few Mist Rogue Ninja sitting in that tavern and wanted to go over to say hello.

Then they mistook him for an assassination squad sent to arrest them...

Eh?

That did not seem wrong, actually.

In any case, Jiang Rui helplessly gained a few more attributes, while the Underground Exchange's intelligence became:

"A Mist Anbu is hunting Mist Rogue Ninja in the surrounding area. Estimated strength: High Ninja..."

That gave Jiang Rui quite a headache.

However, after several days of rushing onward, he more or less felt that he had chosen the wrong route.

After all, an army's marching speed could never surpass his.

So he simply stopped investigating the surroundings and headed straight for the Land of Rice Fields.

Worth mentioning, though, Kumogakure's alliance with Konoha left the Water Shadow afraid to act rashly.

The Water Shadow was afraid someone would attack his home...

After all, Kumogakure and Kirigakure were separated by only a stretch of sea. Oh, with the Land of Birds in between as well. And although one force was operating in the Land of Fire, the Raikage and the remaining ninjas were still in the village and had not moved.

Thus, Avatar soon brought another message: he had another mission!

Sabotage the alliance between the Land of Fire and Kumogakure.

Jiang Rui: ???

Teacher really had faith in me, huh?

I had not even gotten cocky, yet he already had so much faith in his student?

Fine then!

Jiang Rui curled his lips. The Third Mizukage wanted him to disguise himself as a Kumogakure or Konoha ninja and cause trouble, but he thought...

Why not just wipe out Kumogakure's advance force?

With the balance of power broken, what alliance could there be?!

It had to be said that a Slime with a tiny bit of ocean in its belly had indeed gotten a little swollen with confidence!

That afternoon, as evening approached, at the Land of Rice Fields' border...

"...At that late-night bar, who cares whether it's real or fake~" Jiang Rui swaggered along, humming an unknown tune as he walked step by step into a tavern.

After rushing all this way, he had to reward himself somehow.

With that in mind, Jiang Rui strode into the tavern with his head held high.

"Boss, give me a Tonight I'm Not Going Home."

For an instant, the tavern's conversations briefly stopped. After most people glanced at him, they resumed talking.

Jiang Rui casually sat down on a stool and looked around. Perhaps because this was near the border between Konoha and Kumogakure, there were far fewer Rogue Ninja here. Most people glanced at the mask on his head, but few seemed to recognize it.

Or rather, even if they recognized it, they did not want trouble?

This was a fairly large tavern. Behind the spacious counter, the pot-bellied owner was wiping a small sake cup.

He glanced at Jiang Rui twice without surprise, merely finding it a little unusual as he called out, "Ayase, go attend to her."

"On it."

It was a very gentle voice.

Jiang Rui looked up. Oh, a very pretty young lady. This tavern's owner seemed unusual. Thinking of all the taverns he had passed on the way, which one had not grovelled at the sight of a ninja? Yet this guy could not care less about him?!

What outrageous behavior. Still, he would forgive him because the young lady was so pretty.

Holding some food, the young lady looked gently at the adorable blue-haired girl. "What would you like, little ninja?"

Little ninja?

Tsk.

Jiang Rui blinked and repeated, "Tonight I'm Not Going Home. Do you have it?"

"Um, we have sake, rice wine, fruit wine..." The young lady blinked as well and answered.

"Fine. Bring me some fruit wine."

"Sure."

Jiang Rui narrowed his eyes and lay on the table, studying the surroundings.

To his front left sat a ninja wearing a conical hat, wolfing down food as if he intended to leave right after drinking.

In a corner sat a group of ordinary people who looked like Samurai, discussing something.

Jiang Rui focused...

"There was blood everywhere in the streets. It scared the hell out of me."

"Exactly. The moment the letter gets delivered, we're leaving! I heard this place is about to become a battlefield."

"Who did you hear that from?"

Jiang Rui turned his head. While listening to their conversation, he swept his gaze around the right side. There were only three people there, close to the bar.

The moment he saw them, Jiang Rui's attention was drawn to them.

One had slightly curled blond hair swept back, a very modern-looking hairstyle, along with a high nose bridge and deep blue eyes.

He was talking with the owner about something.

Jiang Rui's golden eyes widened slightly, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Although those traits were not particularly eye-catching in Naruto, that did not stop Jiang Rui from noticing them.

It was a certain temperament, the feeling of modern people.

The other two noticed Jiang Rui's gaze, looked over, and lowered their heads to exchange a few words.

The three quickly rose to leave.

Because they were some distance away, Jiang Rui vaguely heard words such as "someone...," "we...," "no need...," and "Mist..."

Hmm...

After pondering for a moment, a stream of water slowly flowed beneath his feet...

Raise your paws and vote, w