Rest and Recuperation

Rumble!

Jagged lightning unfurled its clawed scales beneath the dark clouds, illuminating the black sky for a fleeting instant. Rain poured down with a furious patter, so dense that faces were indistinguishable from just a few meters away.

Faint firelight flickered deep within a cave.

"With rain this heavy, it should erase our tracks, right?" Anko let out a breath as she watched the torrential downpour outside. Her face was full of exhaustion, and she looked utterly bedraggled.

In the span of a single day, they had already gone through several battles. The Kumogakure ninja had swarmed toward them like sharks smelling blood.

They had eliminated three Kumogakure squads—one led by a Jonin, while the other two consisted entirely of Chunin and elite Chunin. She looked so miserable because she had nearly died in the counterattack of that Kumogakure Jonin.

Fortunately, their team had a powerful Medical Ninja like Kagetsu. She herself also possessed a defensive ninjutsu like Blut Vene, allowing her to turn fatal wounds into severe injuries and heal severe injuries into minor ones in a short time.

Otherwise, burdened with dead weight like her, Kagetsu, Shisui, and the others would have been caught by the Cloud Ninja pursuing and encircling them from behind sooner or later.

"We've already left the Land of Fire. Unless it's necessary, avoid any battles from here on out. The number of Cloud Ninja deployed here is simply too high," Kagetsu said calmly after shaking off their pursuers.

Kumogakure had deployed far too many ninja in this region. If an encounter battle dragged on and could not be resolved quickly, they would soon face wave after wave of reinforcements from Cloud Ninja squads.

"I got two pieces of information." Shisui slowly emerged from the darkness beyond the reach of the cave's firelight. His eyes were a blood-red shade, gradually fading back to black after he stepped into the light. In the shadows cast by the fire, a ninja wearing a Kumogakure forehead protector was bound against the cave wall.

"The main force led by the Raikage has already broken through the Rain Country and is confronting Sunagakure along its border defenses. The two sides have fought several battles, and the Cloud Ninja under the Raikage have begun to gain a tremendous advantage.

"Until a Sunagakure Jonin named Rasa stepped forward and stalled the Raikage's advance."

"A Jonin? Isn't the Third Kazekage already missing? Can that Jonin, Rasa, stop the Raikage?" Anko was somewhat surprised. In her understanding, only the Kage of another great nation could contend against the Kage of one of the great nations.

"If nothing unexpected happens, Rasa, who inherited the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release, is the Fourth Kazekage," Shisui said softly as he sat beside the fire.

"There's one more piece of information. Kumogakure is aggressively gathering food supplies. These Kumogakure ninja are teams sent to locate ninja outposts and collect food," Shisui added.

"Is Kumogakure running out of food?" Even someone as carefree as Anko could hear the key point in the information Shisui had extracted.

"The Third Raikage A led an elite force in a rapid march to catch the Wind Country off guard. According to their plan, they intended to take advantage of the Third Kazekage's disappearance, while Sunagakure was leaderless, and have the Third Raikage lead the Jonin forces deep into Sunagakure's territory, forcing the Wind Country and Sunagakure to surrender.

"The Third Raikage nearly succeeded, but he was stopped by Rasa and his Magnet Release," Shisui summarized from the intelligence he had extracted.

"Speed was the key to their strategy, yet they failed to achieve their objective and were instead dragged into a quagmire by Sunagakure. Once one part of a plan goes off track, another force has to be used to set it right.

"Kumogakure is temporarily short on food. If the Raikage doesn't want to retreat, then before supplies arrive, he needs to find other provisions for the incoming ninja army. Who would his target be?" Kagetsu analyzed based on the intelligence Shisui had extracted.

Anko and Shisui both fell silent for a moment.

"The Rain Country!"

"The Land of Fire!"

Then they answered in unison.

"Exactly. Only the Rain Country and the Land of Fire, the two countries closest to the battlefield, can provide them with food. But the Rain Country itself is extremely barren. Besides being caught between great nations and frequently becoming a battlefield for the Five Great Nations, its rainy climate also means it cannot have much food in reserve.

"But the Land of Fire is different. We possess the largest food reserves. If Kumogakure wants to obtain large quantities of food and wartime supplies, they can only get them from us.

"Besides, Orochimaru Sensei once told me that Hanzo of Amegakure is a stubborn Old Man. He would never be willing to let anyone interfere in the affairs of the Rain Country and Amegakure. In other words, in the conflict between the Wind Country and the Land of Lightning, he will not choose either side.

"As long as we confirm these things, this intelligence-gathering mission can be considered complete," Kagetsu said softly.

"No wonder Kumogakure has so many ninja within the Land of Fire and along the border," Anko said, suddenly looking as though she had realized something.

"But Konoha's food and supplies are all stored at the border defense posts, aren't they? If they want to obtain large quantities of food, wouldn't those defense posts be their primary targets?" Shisui's expression immediately turned much uglier.

"It's very likely that it has already happened. We're just not qualified to access this kind of intelligence yet." Kagetsu shook his head, then looked at Shisui and asked with certainty, "The Raikage is tied down on Sunagakure's battlefield, so who is leading the invasion into the Land of Fire?"

Shisui thought carefully, then said uncertainly, "From his memories, it was two young Jonin who were extremely close to the Raikage."

The future Fourth Raikage A and Eight-tails B?

Kagetsu immediately settled on his suspects.

"Then do we need to go support them?" Anko clenched her fists.

"Hasn't Senior Minato already taken people there?" Kagetsu rolled his eyes at Anko. If nothing unexpected happened, the many clashes between the A B duo and Minato would take place during this period in the future.

Namikaze Minato's mobility made both his support capabilities and combat strength exceptionally formidable. Once an outpost was attacked, he could rapidly rush over to provide aid.

"Rest. Take advantage of this rare environment to recover your strength as quickly as possible. I think we'll go through even more battles next." As Kagetsu spoke, he took out a Storage Scroll and opened it, releasing Exploding Tags, Kunai, Shuriken, and other combat supplies. He distributed them to Shisui and Anko to replenish their losses.

After silently finishing all this, Anko and Kagetsu closed their eyes first to rest and recover, while Shisui took responsibility for the first watch.

As Kagetsu sank his consciousness into his mind, he sensed something and summoned the Status Panel.