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The Land of Fire is rich in resources. As Byakuya passed through the vast forest, he spotted a bustling iron mine. Nearby, Hidden Leaf Village ninjas were patrolling and keeping watch, with lookout towers erected on the high ground. To pass through here, one would need to be a ninja skilled in infiltration—unfortunately, Byakuya was not.

He appeared openly within the sight of the patrolling ninjas, producing his Anbu pass and Hidden Leaf headband.

To confirm he was indeed a Hidden Leaf ninja, the patrolmen asked a barrage of questions regarding the customs and culture of the Hidden Leaf Village. Perhaps this person was a fan of Ichiraku Ramen, as he even asked Byakuya which flavor of ramen Teuchi was best at making.

"Tonkotsu ramen. Actually, I don't like Tonkotsu ramen."

"Huh? There's actually someone who doesn't like Teuchi's Tonkotsu ramen? Then tell me, which kind do you like?"

"Definitely the one with special miso paste and chashu."

"Oh, oh, right. Come to think of it, I like miso ramen too, but I still prefer Tonkotsu a bit more."

Byakuya's handsome face was hidden behind the sinister Shuten-doji mask: "Is that enough? I need to get going."

"Judging by your direction, are you heading to the Land of Rivers?" one asked.

He did not answer. Regarding such questions, both answering and denying were mistakes; silence, however, might leave them unable to fathom his intentions.

"Who told you to ask such questions? Kid, these are kunai forged at the mine. Take them."

The patrolling ninja who had asked about the ramen unbuckled his ninja tool pouch and handed it to him.

"Thank you."

"Safe travels."

"You too."

Stowing away the tool pouch, Byakuya took back the Anbu pass and headband that the patrolmen had inspected, along with the iron mine pass they had provided.

This mysterious attire inevitably drew stares.

Akimichi Todo, who was returning to the rear to transport important ninja tools from the front lines where the Hidden Leaf was resisting the Kumogakure offensive, intercepted him.

After some questioning, Akimichi Todo roughly guessed which department Byakuya belonged to.

"You're not very old, are you? Executing a mission all by yourself?"

He did not speak.

"Namikaze Minato has returned to the Hidden Leaf to rest. Did you see him?"

He did not speak.

"What a boring ninja. Tell me your codename; perhaps we'll have a chance to work together someday."

Byakuya remained silent, merely pointing at his own mask.

"Is your codename Shuten-doji?"

Akimichi Todo tossed the Anbu pass back to him, "Don't be reckless on the battlefield. Since your superiors dared to order you to execute a mission alone, you are either exceptionally capable or just expendable material being wasted. Regardless of the situation, I hope you survive..."

"You youngsters are, after all, the hope of the Hidden Leaf."

His chubby face was marked with curved lines, and his eyes were narrowed as he spoke.

The Akimichi Clan is one of the founding noble families of the Hidden Leaf, the "Butterfly" in the "Ino-Shika-Cho" trio, possessing the secret Multi-Size Technique and Butterfly Mode. However, Byakuya was more interested in the Akimichi Clan's Three-Colored Pills.

The green Spinach Pill unleashes potential, the yellow Curry Pill grants physical strength, and the red Chili Pill increases one's power by 100 times.

Although all three pills have severe side effects, they are undoubtedly trump cards for turning the tide.

Byakuya remembered that this Akimichi Todo before him had once formed a combat squad with Namikaze Minato to face the famous AB Duo of Kumogakure—the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, Killer B.

He wondered if, with the Third Shinobi World War having progressed to this point, the AB Duo had already clashed with Namikaze Minato.

In the Hidden Leaf, he was merely a warehouse manager at the Ninja Academy and had no real news from the battlefield. As for the rumors circulating in the streets, they were, without exception, all about the Hidden Leaf ninjas winning, winning, and winning.

Byakuya also affirmed the village's approach; only by stabilizing public morale could this brutal war, so cruel for the Hidden Leaf, have any chance of continuing.

One must realize that not long after the war began, the names on the Memorial Stone in the Hidden Leaf Village had increased rapidly.

Successfully leaving the mine, he entered another forest.

Beyond the forest lay endless farmland. The village that came into view was comparable in scale to a town, but Byakuya did not enter, choosing to bypass it instead.

He had been on the road for several days in a row, and this time, Byakuya had gained experience and brought a camping tent.

Hidden Leaf ninjas were also stationed at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. There must have been sensory-type ninjas, as he was surrounded by a three-man squad.

Two Hidden Leaf ninjas kept a cautious distance from him, while the person standing in the back had their Byakugan activated.

Ninjas from the Hyuga Clan were in a league of their own when it came to reconnaissance.

The Byakugan, in particular, was even more "hot-swappable" than the Uchiha's Sharingan—plug and play. It was no wonder other ninja villages coveted the Byakugan so much. If not for the Caged Bird Seal, which Hyuga clansman would dare to travel alone? There were plenty of ways to gouge out their eyes.

To say he wasn't envious would be a lie.

Byakuya withdrew his gaze from the Hyuga Branch Family ninja and tossed his Anbu pass to them as they stood in high alert.

"Is this an Anbu pass? Why does it look like this?"

After carefully verifying the anti-counterfeit chakra within, one of them stepped forward and respectfully returned the pass to Byakuya.

They accompanied him to the border checkpoint and allowed him to enter the Land of Rivers.

The border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers is long, but there are only a few places where one can pass; the rest are either canyons, continuous mountain ranges, or forests with harsh environments...

Byakuya possessed an Anbu pass, so why go looking for trouble?

Even if he were executing a mission for Root, if one thought about it from a different perspective, would a mission handed to him really be the kind of top-secret operation that required all information to be hidden?

Therefore, he chose to be kind to himself.

Even his intentional leaking of his tracks was a form of "playing it safe."

I'm already this incompetent, so don't go giving me those dangerous missions.

Upon arriving within the sparsely populated Land of Rivers, he was in no rush to hurry along.

He spent time finding a valley with a babbling stream to complete his Fate Grid mission first, as the final deadline was approaching.

Heaven Rewards Diligence, The Persistent Succeed
Time Limit 6 Days: Throw Kunai Ten Rings (200/200)
Reward: Minor increase in chakra control

Fate Choice Two: Establish a Foothold in the Anbu Training Department (Time Limit 19 Days)
Reward: Significant increase in chakra quality

He drew a target on a sufficiently wide tree trunk with a kunai and threw two hundred times.

Byakuya's current chakra reserves, stamina, perception, reflexes, and other stats were all worlds apart from before, making the completion of the task exceptionally easy.

Before falling asleep that night, he mused to himself, wondering if his current strength was enough to reach the level of a Konoha Chunin...

Adhering to his philosophy of caution, his status as a Genin was an excellent disguise; there was no need to cater to the eyes of others or raise his ninja rank just for better treatment.

Solid, reliable skills and the combat power to survive crises were the core keys.

Woken by footsteps in the night, he slaughtered a wild bear about to attack his tent with his ninja sword. Upon waking at dawn, he packed up his tent and trekked over mountains and through rivers to reach the vicinity of the surveillance unit where his target, San-Dan-Kun, was located.

The Land of Rivers lay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind; its mission was to serve as a buffer zone between the two nations, so there were not many ninjas within its borders.

Ninjas from Sunagakure in the Land of Wind could come, and ninjas from Konoha in the Land of Fire could do the same, but if the ninjas of the Land of Rivers wanted to make any dangerous moves, they had to weigh their own strength carefully.

Byakuya found a small village, gave the villagers two hundred ryo in exchange for clothes worn by mountain herb gatherers, and crept toward the Konoha surveillance unit.