Arriving in the Land of Lightning

"Danzo, you must have seen wrong."

Hiruzen Sarutobi silently stepped between the two, repeatedly signaling Danzo with his eyes. "With Uchiha Ao's strength, the village would never send him to the front lines."

Upon hearing this, Kagami Uchiha's tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

Thinking calmly, before leaving the village, he had already informed the Clan Head in advance. There should be no way they would send Ao to the front.

But to be safe, he stepped past Hiruzen Sarutobi, fixed his gaze on Danzo, and said coldly:

"Danzo, this joke isn't funny. I'll ask you once more—are you certain you saw Ao?"

"Heh..."

As if he hadn't noticed Hiruzen's signals at all, Danzo let out a sneer from his throat. "That face—I saw it once before the Hokage. How could I forget?

If you don't believe me..."

He tilted his head, jerking his chin toward the several subordinates behind him.

"Ask them."

Caught under the simultaneous gaze of several Jonin, those ninjas immediately grew uneasy. After some nudging and hesitation, one finally steeled himself to speak:

"We're not too clear on that Reconnaissance Ninja's name, but his appearance was quite handsome—deep eyes, a cold look on the surface, but surprisingly easygoing once you talked to him."

Also... his taijutsu was incredible. When we and Lord Danzo were pursuing that fleeing Cloud Village ninja, that man appeared and killed him in one blow."

At this, the ninjas beside him all nodded in agreement.

Though that Cloud Village ninja was already heavily wounded, cornered beasts unleash terrifying power. For that ninja named Ao to finish him so quickly showed his strength.

Hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others showed some surprise. It did sound very similar to that Uchiha Ao, but if it really was him, how had his strength grown so much?

And taijutsu, at that...

Thinking this, their expressions turned somewhat odd. A Uchiha ninja training in physical combat—this was their first time hearing of it.

"Since it's him!"

Though Kagami Uchiha was also surprised inwardly, the features these men described were far too similar to Ao's. He stared hard at Danzo, speaking word by word.

"Escorting Reconnaissance Ninjas to hand over intelligence and guiding safe routes—that was a written order from three days ago! Don't tell me you didn't receive it!"

"Ha!"

This time Danzo didn't even bother hiding his sneer, his lips curling into a mocking arc.

"I have no obligation to answer that question. If you're dissatisfied, feel free to report this to the Hokage and let him punish me.

"As for back then..."

His gaze swept over Kagami's flushed face as he said slowly, "My squad still had patrol duties to attend to. We couldn't spare the attention—that's only reasonable."

The ninjas standing behind him immediately looked awkward. At the time, they hadn't had any patrol mission at all—they were only stationed in a very small area.

But none of them dared say that. Danzo's venomous nature was infamous among the Jonin. Any Chunin who crossed him would end up dead from various "accidents" soon after...

"Danzo!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to mediate again. "You really handled this wrong. Tell us the location quickly—Kagami and I will go meet him..."

Shing!

At that moment, Kagami Uchiha's pupils suddenly contracted, and three deep tomoe began spinning in his eyes. Danzo, who had been sneering just a moment ago, suddenly went blank-eyed.

"Genjutsu! Kagami, calm down!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi reacted fastest, quickly trying to dissuade him, but he took a step back.

After all, he had spoken up on the surface—no one could fault him.

Bang!

At the same time, Kagami Uchiha's fist had already landed on Danzo's face. With full force, it sent him flying several meters, slamming hard into the rocks behind him.

Shards of stone flew everywhere.

But that wasn't enough to vent his anger. Kagami chased after him in a few steps and rained down thump thump more punches on Danzo's already swollen face, until it was half a pig's head before the surrounding Jonin finally pulled him back.

"This isn't over!"

Kagami Uchiha shook off the ninjas trying to mediate, said coldly, and then headed with his own ninjas toward the area Danzo had patrolled during the day.

Danzo had long been knocked out of the genjutsu, but some damn dog had been binding his hands and feet with Ninjutsu the whole time, so he couldn't fight back.

"Kagami Uchiha!"

Watching Kagami's retreating figure, Danzo shouted hoarsely through his swollen pig-face, "You dared to assault a Jonin on the front lines! I will report this to the Hokage and have him execute you! Execute you!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi signaled to the Chunin behind Danzo, who quickly stepped forward to support him, pulling him away as they played peacemaker. Only when they had dragged him far off did this farce finally end.

"Koharu, stay here and calm Danzo down. I'll go find Kagami." Hiruzen Sarutobi turned and said.

Utatane Koharu nodded and led a few ninjas toward Danzo.

While the two were brawling, Hiruzen Sarutobi had taken the chance to question Danzo's Chunin subordinates and learned the location where they had encountered Uchiha Ao.

The sky was too dark. Although Cloud Village's harassment had lessened recently, searching at night was still far too dangerous.

"You few, come with me to find Kagami!"

"Yes!"

Two days later, noon.

Land of Lightning border, Shimosaka Raiden Castle.

This coastal city stood proudly atop the steep cliffs of the Land of Lightning's coastline. Built into the mountain, it rose layer by layer, covering an extremely wide area.

The city's outermost defense was a wall built from rough, massive boulders. The recent tension between the two villages did not seem to have affected this city's prosperity—the flow of people at the city gate was still bustling and crowded.

Besides the samurai at the gate, a ninja stood on each of the high positions on either side, constantly covering their eyes with Chakra, scanning every person entering.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out in the crowd pushing into the city.

"How did my stuff end up with you?"

"What are you talking about? Are you calling me a thief?"

In no time, the area around the two burly men arguing had fallen into chaos.

The two ninjas who had been staring at the city gate were instantly drawn to the disturbance, but the stream of people entering ahead never stopped.

"What business do you have in Shimosaka Raiden Castle?"

The samurai at the city gate seemed a bit curious about the commotion behind them, asking questions absentmindedly.

The one being questioned was a young man with blond hair and blue eyes. He shook the groceries in his hand in front of the samurai. "Just selling some groceries in the city."

"Hmm, go on in. Don't cause trouble."

"Thank you."

The young man nodded in thanks and smoothly entered the city.

As soon as he entered, a sea breeze mixed with a salty, fishy smell and the odor of strange metal hit him in the face. The streets were packed with surging crowds.

Most of the women on the street had skin as white as snow and dazzling blond hair, wearing northern-style corset skirts or leather armor that accentuated their curves.

As for the men of the Land of Lightning, Uchiha Ao, now in disguise, didn't look closely. They were all dark and swarthy anyway.

Along the way, he didn't choose to travel alone but instead blended into a merchant group. Though it was slow, it was safe.

Sure enough, his thinking was correct. Although they occasionally ran into Cloud Village ninjas questioning them on the road, most only interrogated the merchant group's leader. In this way, he followed the group while recording what he saw and heard in the villages they passed.

Although most of this information wasn't very valuable, it was better than nothing. His ultimate goal was to infiltrate this nearest border city of the Land of Lightning.

With this information, it would surely be a great help to his reconnaissance mission.

"Where should I start..."

Lost in thought, Uchiha Ao followed the crowd deeper into the city.

Gurgle...

He patted his stomach and turned his gaze toward a ramen shop not far away.

"Better solve the food problem first."

Eating places were always bustling with people—maybe he could also dig up some intelligence.

"Boss, the usual, two bowls of ramen."

Just then, Uchiha Ao, who had just walked near the ramen shop, followed the voice and looked over. He saw two people standing at the shop entrance—one with silver hair, one with blond hair, each with three whisker-like marks on their cheeks, like felines.

"It's them?!"