Someone Near Godhood

Land of Rain, Amegakure.

Towering buildings like a forest of spires reached toward the sky. The ceaseless rain seemed to sketch the village's distinctive, complex, three-dimensional outline over and over. Yet even after countless downpours, it could not wash away Amegakure's gloomy tone.

The overcast sky was just like the war raging at that moment.

On the top floor of a building stood Hanzō, the leader of Amegakure. He looked down over the rain and the village. The special breathing mask on his face hid his expression, making it impossible to guess what this powerful figure who stirred up the Shinobi World was thinking.

At the time, Hanzō was regarded as the ninja closest to the pinnacle of the Shinobi World. His strength was beyond question, and his conviction to protect Amegakure and the Land of Rain sustained him. Together, these gave him formidable strength in both body and spirit.

However, Hanzō was not as powerful as the "God of Shinobi" had once been. He could easily win a battle, but he could not turn the tide of an entire war... Even human strength had its limits. Amegakure was, after all, a small village, and most of the time its ninja could only rely on the Land of Rain's unique terrain to contend with the Three Great Shinobi Villages.

Amegakure's strength was below that of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and it was stretched thin trying to fight three of them at once. Hanzō could not lead Amegakure out of this quagmire... Fortunately, the Three Great Shinobi Villages were enemies of one another. If they joined forces against Amegakure, the village might already have been defeated.

"What is it?"

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

"Lord Hanzō, we obtained a piece of intelligence through a special channel..."

The urgent intelligence was important, so the Amegakure ninja had rushed here as quickly as possible to inform their respected leader.

"A special channel... Let's hear it."

"Yes, Lord Hanzō. Apparently, Iwagakure's Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki are operating as a team in our Land of Rain. Iwagakure has given them considerable freedom, allowing them to engage at will and kill any enemies they encounter."

"Jinchuriki..."

Even Hanzō had to take Jinchuriki seriously. He had to consider the possibility that one might infiltrate Amegakure... If a Jinchuriki unleashed their full power without restraint, they would surely have the strength to destroy the village.

Given Iwagakure's way of doing things, it was entirely possible.

Hanzō fell silent for a moment, then gave a cold laugh. "This intelligence must have come from Konoha. What a clever scheme."

The information itself was important, but the channel through which it had arrived also deserved attention... Their intentions were obvious.

"It most likely came from Konoha. And with Iwagakure so active lately, the information is probably genuine," the ninja said.

In fact, ever since the war had begun, Hanzō had maintained quiet ties with Shimura Danzō, who oversaw Konoha's frontline intelligence network. They had cooperated openly and behind the scenes on numerous occasions, usually against a third party.

That foundation of cooperation had eventually led to their "wholehearted collaboration" in deceiving and ambushing the "rebel organization" in the Land of Rain... In short, it was no trouble for Shimura Danzō to pass intelligence to Amegakure.

In any case, Hanzō could not ignore the Jinchuriki. If the information was true, then regardless of Konoha's intentions, the fact remained that two Jinchuriki were operating in the Land of Rain—and Hanzō could not allow that.

"Expand our reconnaissance and sensory network. Find those two Jinchuriki as soon as possible," Hanzō ordered, quite naturally.

"Yes, Lord Hanzō."

As long as he chose the battlefield carefully, Hanzō did not fear Jinchuriki. Once he found the pair, he would surely attack them head-on. Hanzō had never been afraid of anyone in a direct confrontation.

Using Jinchuriki in battle had its pros and cons. They were undeniably powerful, but deploying them also exposed their weaknesses.

If he could capture Iwagakure's Jinchuriki, Iwagakure would be forced to hesitate, giving Hanzō the power to influence the course of the war... It was a bold plan, but if he weren't bold, he wouldn't be fighting all three of the Great Shinobi Villages at once.

Meanwhile, after receiving their new mission, Yuzuru set out with the team at once. He had no idea that a Konoha surveillance network was watching them from behind... Konoha had deployed numerous scouts and sensor ninja, including Hyuga ninja, to keep track of the teams sent out on missions.

With the Hyuga Clan on their side, Konoha should theoretically have had better control of the battlefield than other villages. In practice, however, the battlefield was too complex and unpredictable. Konoha had some intelligence advantage, but it was not as significant as one might imagine.

Yuzuru had now been promoted to Chunin, but just as he had expected, it made little difference whether someone was a Chunin or a Genin while carrying out a mission.

This mission, however, ran into trouble soon after they set out. Their movements had been spotted by people they would rather have avoided.

Iwagakure had entered through the Land of Grass, so Konoha's team naturally had to operate there as well. But soon after they crossed into the Land of Grass, they encountered a pair of Kusagakure ninja.

Though the Konoha team had been careful, they spotted the pair almost immediately.

"Captain, what should we do? Take them out?" Kairi Omori asked Torifu Akimichi.

Given the importance of their mission, there was no way they could allow Kusagakure ninja to discover Konoha's movements.

Torifu Akimichi was in a difficult position, but launching a reckless attack was out of the question. "Kusagakure isn't involved in the war right now. Its leader is 'strictly neutral.' We can't attack them first."

"..." Was the captain's decision really so rigid?

Kusagakure was currently "putting up with everything." Even though Iwagakure and Konoha ninja kept crossing its borders, it had no intention of joining the war.

Torifu Akimichi didn't want to wipe out the Kusagakure team.

"What are they trying to do? Keep an eye on us and stop us from approaching Kusagakure?"

"They're getting too close. It'll be hard to carry out our mission like this."

Torifu Akimichi couldn't let the Kusagakure ninja keep operating nearby. He thought it over, then made his decision. "Try to capture them. Yuzuru, take the lead."

Kusagakure ninja weren't very strong, and these two didn't look like they were hiding their true abilities.

"Understood," Yuzuru replied.

"Good. We'll back you up."

The Konoha team abruptly stopped, then began moving at high speed toward the Kusagakure ninja.

Yuzuru initially moved with the team, but when the two Kusagakure ninja realized something was wrong and tried to flee, he immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to speed up. He darted through the underbrush and appeared in front of one of them before they could make another effective move.

"Don't move... We Konoha ninja don't kill people for no reason."

Yuzuru pressed a Kunai to the ninja's throat and delivered a joke that wasn't funny in the least... Konoha didn't kill people for no reason? Tch.

"Scatter!"

With one of them restrained, the other Kusagakure ninja tried to make a run for it.

But then a loud crash rang out, and Hazuki Uchiha landed lightly, suddenly blocking the other Kusagakure ninja's escape... As it turned out, Torifu Akimichi had used the Partial Multi-Size Technique and thrown Hazuki straight at them.

Hazuki had already activated her Sharingan. The moment she and her opponent met eyes, the expression on the ninja's face froze.

Then she shifted her Genjutsu to the other one.

When Torifu Akimichi arrived, he immediately began questioning them... As it turned out, the two were just Kusagakure ninja on a routine intelligence-gathering patrol. Their encounter with Konoha's team had been a coincidence.

"Control them. Make them forget they saw us, then send them north to report that Iwagakure is invading the Land of Grass in force," Torifu Akimichi said.

Well, the captain had chosen not to kill them, but for Kusagakure, he might as well have. To gain more support for Konoha during the war, he was trying to win over even Kusagakure.

The more the small villages hated Iwagakure, the better it was for Konoha.

This round-faced captain had a dark heart, too. Torifu Akimichi was only a tactical expert, and he had spent his career carrying out frontline missions. He would never hold a high position, either now or in the future... It was only fitting for someone who had followed the Second Hokage.

At the captain's order, Hazuki nodded and continued casting Genjutsu on the two ninja.

"You didn't see anyone just now. You were only on a routine patrol..."

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

"Next, head to the northern part of the Land of Grass and check on Iwagakure's movements..."

The Sharingan was incredibly convenient. No wonder it would later become something everyone in the Shinobi World wanted.

"Unexpected situations like this always come up on the battlefield. The problem with Kusagakure is that they're neither our allies nor our enemies."

Then came another one of Torifu Akimichi's little lessons.

"In this war, Kusagakure hasn't taken sides so far, but Iwagakure is far more aggressive than we are."