The Near-God

Land of Rain, Amegakure.

Towering buildings, like a forest of pagodas, pierced the sky. The ceaseless rain seemed to continuously sketch the unique, complex, and three-dimensional outline of this village. Yet, despite the repeated scouring of the rain, the somber undertone of Amegakure remained.

The gloomy sky mirrored the current state of war.

On the top floor of a certain building, Hanzō, the leader of Amegakure, stood within. He gazed down at the rain and the village. The special breathing mask he wore concealed his expression, making it impossible to guess the thoughts of this influential figure who stirred the shinobi world.

At this moment, Hanzō was considered the closest ninja to the pinnacle of the shinobi world. His strength was beyond doubt, and he was supported by a conviction to protect Amegakure and the Land of Rain. Thus, he possessed formidable power both internally and externally.

However, Hanzō was not as powerful as the "God of Shinobi" of the past. He could easily achieve victory in a single battle, but it was not enough to sway the entire war... Human effort has its limits. Amegakure was, after all, a small ninja village. Most of the time, Amegakure's ninja could only contend with the three great ninja villages by relying on the unique environment of the Land of Rain.

Amegakure's strength ranked below the five great ninja villages. Facing three of them at once was a struggle. Hanzō found it difficult to lead Amegakure out of its predicament... Fortunately, the three great ninja villages were at odds with each other. If they had joined forces against Amegakure, the village might have already fallen.

"What is it?"

As soon as Hanzō finished speaking, an Amegakure ninja hurried into the room.

"Lord Hanzō, we've obtained some intelligence through a special channel..."

This urgent intelligence was quite important, which was why the Amegakure ninja had to rush here as quickly as possible to inform their revered leader.

"A special channel... Tell me about it."

"Yes, Lord Hanzō. It is said that Iwagakure's Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki are operating as a small team in our Land of Rain. They have received high-level permission from Iwagakure to engage in combat freely and intercept any enemies."

"Jinchuriki..."

Even Hanzō had to take Jinchuriki targets seriously. He had to consider the possibility of Jinchuriki infiltrating Amegakure... If a Jinchuriki were to unleash their full power without restraint, they would undoubtedly possess the strength to destroy Amegakure.

Given Iwagakure's modus operandi, it was not beyond them to do such a thing.

Hanzō paused for a moment, then let out a cold laugh. "This intelligence must have come from Konoha, haven't they? What a calculated move."

While the intelligence itself was important, the channel through which it was delivered was also worth considering... Their objective was glaringly obvious.

"It most likely came from Konoha. Coupled with Iwagakure's recent frequent movements, the intelligence is highly likely to be true," the ninja said.

In fact, since the war began, Hanzō had been subtly connected with Shimura Danzō, who managed Konoha's front-line intelligence system. They had cooperated with each other, both openly and covertly, often targeting third-party objectives.

It was precisely because of this cooperative foundation that they later "worked together in good faith" to eliminate the "rebel organization" of the Land of Rain through deception and surprise attacks... In short, it was not difficult for Shimura Danzō to transmit intelligence to Amegakure.

Be that as it may, he could not ignore the matter of the Jinchuriki. If this intelligence was true, regardless of Konoha's intentions, the fact that two Jinchuriki were operating in the Land of Rain would not change, and Hanzō could not allow that.

"Increase reconnaissance methods and sensory capabilities. Determine the location of these two Jinchuriki as soon as possible," Hanzō issued a logical command.

"Yes, Lord Hanzō."

As long as the chosen battlefield was suitable, Hanzō did not fear Jinchuriki. Once he discovered the location of the duo, he would strike directly. In a head-on confrontation, Hanzō had never feared anyone.

Using Jinchuriki in battle had its pros and cons. While Jinchuriki were powerful combatants, this also meant exposing their weaknesses.

If he could capture Iwagakure's Jinchuriki, Iwagakure would be hesitant to act, and Hanzō would gain the power to influence the war... Hanzō's idea was somewhat bold, but if he wasn't bold, how could he be fighting three great ninja villages simultaneously?

Meanwhile, after the new mission was issued, Yuzuru immediately departed with his squad. However, he was unaware that a Konoha surveillance network was watching them... Konoha had deployed numerous reconnaissance and sensory ninja, including Hyuga ninja, to monitor the situation of these dispatched squads at all times.

Because Konoha had the Hyuga clan, their battlefield control situation should theoretically be superior to other ninja villages. However, in reality, the battlefield environment was too complex and ever-changing. Konoha could possess a certain intelligence advantage, but this advantage was not as significant as imagined.

Yuzuru had now been promoted to Chunin, but just as he had thought, during missions, there was little difference between Chunin and Genin.

However, this mission encountered some trouble shortly after departure. The squad's movements were exposed to unnecessary eyes.

Iwagakure was invading through the Land of Grass, so the Konoha squad naturally had to operate in the Land of Grass. However, shortly after the squad entered the Land of Grass, they quickly encountered a two-person team of Kusagakure ninja.

Despite their caution, the Konoha squad quickly discovered them.

"Captain, what should we do? Should we eliminate them?" Kairi Omori asked Torifu Akimichi.

Considering the importance of the upcoming mission, the Konoha squad's actions being exposed to Kusagakure ninja was unacceptable under any circumstances.

Torifu Akimichi was also helpless, but blind aggression was not advisable. "Kusagakure is not currently a participant in the war. Their leader 'strictly maintains neutrality.' We cannot proactively attack them."

"..." Was the captain's decision this rigid?

Kusagakure was currently "lying low." Even though Konoha and Iwagakure ninja frequently crossed their borders, they had no intention of joining the war.

Completely annihilate this team of Kusagakure ninja? Torifu Akimichi did not want to do that.

"What do the Kusagakure ninja want? Are they monitoring us, preventing us from approaching Kusagakure?"

"They are too close. It will be difficult to carry out our mission like this."

Torifu Akimichi certainly could not allow the Kusagakure ninja to operate nearby. He thought for a moment, then made a decision: "Try to subdue them. Yuzuru, you take the lead."

The Kusagakure ninja's strength was limited, and these two did not seem like individuals who were hiding their true strength.

"Understood." Yuzuru agreed.

"Alright, we'll provide support."

Thus, the moving Konoha squad suddenly stopped, and then they began to move at high speed towards the direction of the Kusagakure ninja.

Yuzuru initially acted in coordination with the squad, but when the two Kusagakure ninja realized something was wrong and prepared to flee, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to accelerate. His figure weaved through the grass repeatedly, and he suddenly appeared before one of them, almost before the opponent could make another effective move.

"Don't move rashly... We Konoha ninja don't kill indiscriminately."

Yuzuru placed a kunai against the enemy's neck, cracking a joke that wasn't funny at all... "Konoha doesn't kill people indiscriminately? Tsk."

"Scatter!"

With one person subdued, the other Kusagakure ninja actually prepared to make a run for it.

However, with a loud boom, Hazuki Uchiha landed lightly, abruptly intercepting the other Kusagakure ninja who was attempting to escape... Alright, Torifu Akimichi had used a partial Expansion Jutsu to throw Hazuki Uchiha over.

Hazuki had already activated her Sharingan in advance, so when her eyes met the enemy's, his expression instantly froze.

Immediately after, the target of the Genjutsu shifted to another person.

When Torifu Akimichi arrived, he immediately began questioning them... Alright, these two were just Kusagakure ninja on a routine intelligence-gathering mission, and running into a Konoha squad was purely coincidental.

"Control them, make them forget about us, and head north to bring back news to Kusagakure that Iwagakure is launching a large-scale invasion of the Land of Grass," Torifu Akimichi then said.

Alright, although this captain didn't choose to kill them, it was worse for Kusagakure than if he had... To gain more support for Konoha in the war, he was even trying to win over Kusagakure's allegiance.

As long as the smaller ninja villages disliked Iwagakure more, it would be beneficial for Konoha.

This round-faced captain had a dark heart. It should be known that Torifu Akimichi was merely a tactical genius who had always executed frontline missions, and he would never hold a high position, now or in the future... It could only be said that he was worthy of having followed the Second Hokage.

Hearing the captain's orders, Hazuki nodded, then continued to cast Genjutsu on the two of them.

"None of you saw anything just now, you were just on a routine patrol..."

"Yes, we were just on a routine patrol."

"Next, head north into the Land of Grass to confirm the situation with Iwagakure..."

The Sharingan was truly too convenient; no wonder it later became a universally coveted hard currency in the Shinobi World.

"Unexpected situations always arise on the battlefield. The problem with Kusagakure is that they are neither our allies nor our enemies."

Then came Torifu Akimichi's mini-lesson.

"In this war, Kusagakure currently has no leaning, but Iwagakure is far more aggressive than we are."