Anbu Shisui

Konoha

At the Konoha Cemetery, Kakashi wiped the Obito off the cenotaph, picked up the withered flowers from the vase beside it, and offered a fresh spider lily, a symbol of longing from the Land of Fire.

"Obito, I'm sorry I haven't visited you in a while. It's not that I've forgotten you, it's just that I've been in charge of a classified mission."

"I kept my promise and vowed to protect Rin with my life. However, Rin is currently working in the Medical Emergency Squad at Konoha Hospital, and she generally won't be leaving the village for missions anymore. Rin told me that Lady Tsunade greatly admires her."

Kakashi spoke softly to Obito's gravestone, seemingly in remembrance.

In the dense forest near the Konoha Cemetery, a gust of wind rippled, and a masked figure appeared eerily. With a glance, the figure noticed Kakashi, and quietly crept behind a tree, watching his former best friend.

"Although this matter is being handled as a secret, Minato-sensei's child is about to be born, and his generation... will not experience war."

Performing guard duties and witnessing the birth of new life did indeed make Kakashi much more cheerful, and he became less aloof and unapproachable.

Kakashi stood up, stood in front of the tombstone for a while as if in remembrance, then turned and left.

After Kakashi left, Obito, wearing a mask, came to his own tombstone, grabbed the spider lily, and violently threw it away.

"Kakashi! You've forgotten your promise to me, and you still dare to come and worship me!"

"Minato-sensei's child, Kushina, the Nine-Tails..."

The Masked Ninja's single eye was scarlet, with bloodshot veins filling the white of his eye.

Land of Fire

The outermost defensive outpost of the Northwest Fortress was shrouded in jungle, where four ninjas wearing animal masks and Anbu uniforms leaped through the forest.

What's unique about the team is that one member is much shorter than the other three, and appears to be a teenager.

"The Land of Rain is just ahead. Be careful. This investigation mission was personally issued by the Lord Hokage; Lord Hokage's very concerned about the situation here."

The squad leader, codenamed Iron, Anbu gave instructions to his team members.

"Hi!" X3

The three agreed and followed closely behind their captain, Tie.

After crossing the forest, the team arrived at the stronghold where the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain meet. Outside the stronghold, dozens of villagers dressed in the attire of the Land of Rain seemed terrified and had set up camp outside the Konoha stronghold.

It seems that setting up camp outside the Konoha stronghold provides a sense of security.

With three subordinates, Tie leaped several times and arrived at the wall of the Konoha stronghold.

"Who goes there!?"

The ninja guards at the base saw someone burst through the wall and shouted questions. After seeing the person's attire, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Where is the outpost captain?

Iron coldly questioned the Konoha Ninja guarding the curtain wall.

"I am the captain of the outpost's defenses. May I ask what orders the Lord Hokage may give me?"

The Anbu squad jumped onto the city wall, and the garrison captain of the stronghold sensed it and rushed over with two team members to question the Anbu.

The Anbu, the Hokage's direct subordinate unit, typically handles classified missions or relays the Hokage's orders.

"I've been ordered to investigate the refugees from the Land of Rain here. Have you had any contact with Land of Rain before?"

Uchiha Tekka, codenamed Tetsu, was somewhat baffled by the investigation mission assigned to him by Naraku and didn't know how to begin.

"No, anyone from the Land of Rain who tried to approach the curtain wall was driven away by us Kunai warning."

The outpost garrison captain replied with a hint of pride, as if repelling the refugees from the Land of Rain was something to be proud of.

"Okay, let's go."

Tie hesitated for a moment, then turned and jumped toward the refugee camp of the Land of Rain.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

With a few high-speed movement sounds, Tekka led his Anbu squad into the refugee camp of the Land of Rain.

Inside the camp, dozens of tents were pitched. Most of the refugees from the Land of Rain looked on with fear and unease as they stared at the four of them, including Tekka.

After observing for a while and seeing no threat, Tekka relaxed his guard.

"Is there someone in charge of the camp?"

He gathered his Tekka Chakra in his throat and roared.

As Tekka finished speaking, a middle-aged man came out of the largest tent in the camp. Upon seeing Tekka and the others, he immediately stepped forward.

"Master Ninja! Please save us!"

The middle-aged man walked while calling for help.

"If you need protection, you can go to Konoha to request protection missions. I would like to ask you what's going on and why you're camping outside Konoha's stronghold?"

Uchiha Tekka asked in a deep voice, because these people could not fathom Tekka's thoughts due to his mask.

"We want to issue a mission, but because there are too many of us, we can't get past the Konoha Ninja defense outpost..."

The middle-aged man said with a hint of bitterness.

"Why are so many of you gathered here? Has something happened in the Land of Rain?"

Tekka didn't forget his main task: investigating the latest information on the refugees and the Land of Rain.

The middle-aged man pursed his lips, seemingly hesitant. After about ten seconds, as if he had made up his mind, he said in a deep voice:

"Konoha ninjas, if we offer you our treasures, can you guarantee our safety?"

"Treasure? What treasure? If we need it, I think the Lord Hokage will protect you."

Tekka was unimpressed by the refugees' treasures; what treasures could mere refugees possibly possess?

"You will definitely need this. I am a member of the Ibuse Clan. Our leader, Salamander Hanzo, has been missing for many days, and our village has been attacked by ninjas."

Those Amegakure are worse than beasts. They don't even spare the old, weak, women, and children in the village. When Lord Hanzo, no one would dare to bully our clan like this!

We suspect that Lord Hanzo, the guardian deity of the Land of Rain, has been murdered. Our enemies purged Lord Hanzo's clan, and the Hanzo Ibuse Clan ninjas were almost entirely wiped out. I am a servant of Lord Hanzo's second son, a member of the scattered clan, who managed to escape here by sheer luck..."

The middle-aged man spoke slowly and deliberately, his words carrying a great deal of information, which shocked the face behind the Tekka mask.

"Salamander Hanzo dead? The Ibuse Clan has been wiped out?"

Tekka asked in disbelief.

"Yes, the Ibuse Clan has been wiped out, but the Amegakure missing-nin not only Hanzo's clan, but also..."

Even Hanzo's subordinates, friends, servants, and everyone connected to Hanzo are to be killed. The Land of Rain is in complete chaos...

The middle-aged man seemed to recall something unpleasant, and a look of terror appeared in his eyes.

"Iron, this matter must be reported to the Lord Hokage as soon as possible."

The short, Anbu nearby, after receiving this information, quietly offered a suggestion to Tekka.

"Shui, write a letter now and send it back to the village via the messenger hawk, reporting the situation here!"

"Hi!"

The boy responded in a deep voice. The short boy, codenamed Water, was none other than Uchiha Shisui, the genius of the Uchiha Clan. At only ten years old, he was already Special Jonin.

The middle-aged man saw the two Konoha Ninja but did not answer his question. Instead, he continued to communicate and exchange messages on his own, seemingly not very willing to protect them.

The middle-aged man gritted his teeth:

"We possess treasures. If you protect our safety, we are willing to offer them to you. These are the treasures left behind by Lord Hanzo!"