The sun hung high overhead, and the breeze carried a hint of heat. Three figures walked along the road to Konoha, their hats shielding them from the sunlight.
Each of them wore a ring, with faintly visible characters engraved on them. Feng Yao had borrowed the idea from Akatsuki's ranking system.
The three rings bore the characters Heaven, Constellation, and Array, respectively. They came from the opening passage of the Thousand Character Classic.
"Did you both understand the mission I gave you? If you want to run, just say so. After all, our target this time is one of the Five Great Ninja Villages: Konoha."
There was no emotion in Feng Yao's voice. It was hard to tell whether he was testing them or being sincere.
At this point in time, although Konoha Ninja Village had grown somewhat weak, with the Uchiha Clan wiped out and the Third Hokage past his prime, it still had Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, as well as the Hyuga, Sarutobi, Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans. Trying to complete a mission like this with only three people would be no easy feat.
"Heh, I never expected the organization's first mission to be an attack on Konoha Ninja Village."
Zabuza laughed darkly, his thoughts unclear.
Hideyoshi, standing nearby, seemed excited. He was passionate about all kinds of thrilling, dangerous pursuits.
When he had told Feng Yao what he wanted, he'd said that if the Immortal Organization did nothing but mundane things, he'd leave without hesitation. Now, he probably wouldn't want to go even if they kicked him out.
Feng Yao understood perfectly well. Though he had managed to keep the two of them in line for now, getting them to risk their lives for him unconditionally would be difficult. If they saw him losing, they would probably run at the first opportunity.
This team is going to be hard to lead. Feng Yao couldn't help but sigh. Leading a team required more than powerful abilities; it also took strong leadership.
"Host, based on my estimate, neither of them is even 50% loyal to you. This will reduce the success rate of your plan to take revenge on Konoha by at least 20%. You're still not prepared enough."
The system's merciless taunt echoed in Feng Yao's mind once again. He rolled his eyes.
"Who do you think is to blame? You only gave me six months! Otherwise, would I need to rush like this? Wouldn't it be better to wait until Orochimaru attacked Konoha and take advantage of the chaos? You're a real piece of work, system."
Feng Yao was furious, but the system had stopped responding.
When they reached a town, the three decided to take a break together. This was the very place Feng Yao had fled to at the beginning.
He still owed some people here 1,020 taels in medical fees.
Feng Yao first handed some of his belongings to Zabuza and told him to go rest at an inn. He would join him later.
Then he took out a five-thousand-tael note and headed to a run-down clinic to find the old doctor who had treated him.
The clinic looked even more dilapidated than before. Cobwebs clung to the doorway, and a cloud of dust billowed toward him when he pushed the door open.
Scattered wood chips and the uncleaned room suggested that no one had lived there for a long time.
"Is anyone here? I've come to pay my medical fees." Unwilling to give up, Feng Yao called out twice. When no one answered, he had no choice but to step outside.
He approached a vendor with a stall nearby and asked,
"Excuse me, was there an old man who used to run a clinic here? Has he moved away?"
The vendor was young. He had thought Feng Yao was coming over to buy something, but when he realized Feng Yao was asking for information, he frowned and replied irritably,
"I don't know. I haven't seen him in ages. Are you buying anything or not?"
Feng Yao didn't get angry at his attitude. He took out a hundred-tael note, handed it to the vendor, and asked,
"When was the last time you saw him?"
The vendor's eyes lit up at the sight of the note. He snatched it with both hands and hurriedly stuffed it into his clothes, then put on a fawning smile. "Thank you, sir! The last time I saw him was probably two or three months ago. I think some people wearing strange masks came by. After that, I never saw him again."
At the mention of people in strange masks, a cold glint flashed in Feng Yao's eyes. The vendor shuddered, realizing the man in front of him was someone dangerous.
There was no doubt that those people in strange masks had been Anbu from Konoha. The Third Hokage had sent them to hunt him down, and they hadn't even spared a doctor. Feng Yao patted the vendor on the shoulder.
"Thanks. Just pretend this conversation never happened."
Then he turned and entered the clinic again. He carefully stacked the banknotes and placed them on the table, then bowed deeply.
"Old sir, I'm forever grateful that you saved my life. Whoever killed you, I swear I'll cut off his head and bring it here."
With that, he turned and left, his expression dark. He had always been someone who repaid both kindness and grudges.
The old man had saved his life, but now he was dead because of Feng Yao. That gave him yet another reason to attack Konoha.
"You're finally back! So, when are we making our move?"
Hideyoshi cried out and came crowding over, but Feng Yao pushed him away in distaste.
He wasn't in the mood to fool around. Given Konoha's current situation, a direct attack was out of the question. First, he had to find a way to weaken the village as a whole. He also needed to investigate who had killed the old doctor.
Feng Yao pondered. "First, we need to draw away some of Konoha's top fighters. We'll be at a serious disadvantage if we have to face them all at once. There's only three of us; even two fists can't fight four hands."
"Then there's the intelligence we need to gather. I swore I'd avenge the old man, and I intend to keep that promise. But prying information out of a shinobi won't be as easy as getting it out of Gato. We'll have to infiltrate the place where Konoha keeps its intelligence and mission records."
"Destroying Konoha will require large-scale Senjutsu. But if I use too much of it, my Senjutsu Chakra will run low quickly, shortening how long I can keep it up. If Konoha pursues us afterward, getting away will be difficult."
In truth, Konoha didn't have many jōnin available to fight at the moment. Some had been sent out on important missions, but Feng Yao didn't know that.
He could only prepare for the worst. He looked at Zabuza and Hideyoshi, then called them over. He had a mission for them.
He planned to use a method that would openly draw Konoha Ninja Village's jōnin away.
What was this method? It was simple: money. Only jōnin could undertake missions ranked A or higher in Konoha Ninja Village.
An A-rank mission usually paid around five hundred thousand taels. He would send Konoha a large number of A-rank and higher missions.
It would cost a fortune, but it would be worth it. He took out ten million taels and handed them to Hideyoshi and Zabuza, telling them to find people to submit the missions in Konoha.
Since both of them were missing-nin, they would easily be recognized.
Feng Yao reminded them again,
"Draw away as many as you can, but don't go all at once. Submit the missions in several batches at different times."
At this, Zabuza studied Feng Yao without making it obvious.
The boss is not only powerful, but clearheaded, too. He's young, yet he can calmly plan things out even when facing a giant like Konoha. He's impressive.
Hideyoshi was also sizing Feng Yao up, but he was trying to figure out what kind of person Feng Yao was and what his connection to Konoha might be. Though he had joined the Immortal Organization, he knew nothing about it. And his very first mission was such an exciting plan to attack Konoha.
After a moment's thought, Hashiba Hideyoshi still couldn't figure anything out. He picked up half the money from the table and left. Zabuza didn't dawdle either; he headed out to carry out the mission.
Over the course of that week, Konoha received many A-rank and higher missions. Some were rejected because there wasn't enough information or manpower.
Others were accepted, and jōnin from Konoha kept heading out to carry them out.
In the dead of night, the three ran together.
Feng Yao looked up at the time. He planned to sneak into Konoha while most people were asleep and catch them off guard.
Then he glanced at the two beside him. "Once I'm inside, I'll handle the main attack. I'll unleash a wide-area attack to draw the attention of most of Konoha. One of you will provide support. The other will go to Konoha's intelligence department and find the mission to execute the doctor. We need to see who carried it out."
The two exchanged a glance and nodded together. For now, they were all in the same boat, so they naturally had to cooperate.
"Good. Operation Attack Konoha is underway."
Before you continue