Yin Xiang's Plan

After two days at sea, the group finally reached the docks of the Land of Honey. They left the boat on the shore for now, since they would need it for the return trip. To prevent it from being stolen, Shikaku had also set up a barrier around it.

"It smells so good." A gentle breeze blew, carrying a wonderful fragrance to their noses.

"This is the distinctive scent of the Land of Honey. The country is famous for its honey, so you can find fragrant, unusual flowers and plants everywhere. Their scents mingle with the wind, lifting your spirits when you breathe them in," Yamashin explained.

"All right, now that we're here, the mission officially begins. We have no support and no supplies. Our goal is to save a country." Shikaku turned to the others and briefed them.

"Yin Xiang, your plan is excellent, but you overlooked one thing." Shikaku looked at Yin Xiang.

"What is it?" Yin Xiang was puzzled. He was sure he hadn't missed anything.

"Soldiers. Every country has plenty of ordinary soldiers. They're no match for ninjas, but there are a lot of them. If we get caught up fighting them, it'll be hard to get away."

"Soldiers?" Yin Xiang frowned. Since this was a world of ninjas, he had assumed the enemy's fighting force consisted only of ninjas. He hadn't considered ordinary soldiers. That would make things troublesome.

"Actually, even though I overlooked the soldiers, I've already come up with a good solution on the way here. We can avoid them completely and gradually weaken the enemy's forces." Yin Xiang's lips curled into a smile that looked downright dangerous.

"Let's find somewhere to settle in first." Shikaku nodded. They should find a place to stay before discussing the plan.

"There's a cave over there. I saw it when I came up the mountain for the exam. Follow me." Yamashin led the way after the others nodded. A few hours later, they reached the cave.

"Finally! We've been traveling nonstop for days. I'm exhausted. At least we can stop now." After they entered the cave and lit a fire, Miji was the first to speak.

"Indeed, Your Highness." Yamashin nodded, then spread out the bedding Miji had brought along. She had slept that way throughout the journey, while Yin Xiang and the others slept in trees or on the ground—whatever worked.

"Yin Xiang, tell us your plan." Shikaku leaned against the wall as the others gathered around the fire.

"If the Land of Honey really has fallen, then they must be short on money. Especially for ninja supplies. The costs of war—supplies, medical expenses, compensation, and everything else—are all enormous. That's true of both large and small countries."

"Even though the Land of Filling has now annexed the Land of Honey and has the resources of both countries, it still won't be enough. They're using up resources on both fronts. So they need money. And how do they make money? By taking missions."

"Just like us—ninjas take on missions."

"So you want to post missions in the Land of Honey and lure their ninjas here one group at a time?" By the time Yin Xiang had explained that much, Shikaku understood. A smile appeared on his face.

Yin Xiang smiled and nodded. "Exactly. If we take a mission to wipe out bandits, for example, they'll send a squad: one jonin and three genin. If the mission fails and the squad is wiped out, they'll send another team to investigate. If that team disappears too, then the higher-ups will come to investigate."

"We'll draw their ninjas in this way and take them out. Even in the worst case, we can cut their numbers in half."

"That's a pretty good plan." Guy nodded in agreement.

"But this is a small country. If the mission is just to wipe out bandits, they probably won't send a jonin. They only have three jonin and eight chunin, so at most they'll send one chunin and three genin." Neji rested his chin on his hand.

"Actually, bandit-clearing missions are usually assigned to five genin. In a special situation like this, they'd send two chunin to finish the job quickly." Yamashin joined the discussion.

"Mm." Yin Xiang nodded. "Then our first step is to enter the village and find out how many enemy ninjas they have. Neji would normally be the best person for this, but the Hyuga Clan rejects other ninjutsu, so he can't use the Transformation Jutsu. And his Byakugan would attract too much attention."

"So I'll go. I'll use the Transformation Jutsu to enter Honey Flower Village and find out what's going on. Then I'll post the missions and prepare some supplies for us. We may be here for a while." Yin Xiang glanced around at the group. Guy's entire team specialized in Taijutsu, so this kind of mission wasn't suited to them. And he didn't want to trouble Shikaku by asking him to infiltrate the village.

After weighing it all up, he was the only one who could go.

"If you're going into the village, be careful. Even though this is a small country, they still have sensory ninjas. If they detect that you're using the Transformation Jutsu, you'll be in serious danger," Yamashin warned.

"Mm, I'll find a way to get in without being noticed." Yin Xiang nodded, then stood up.

"Are you going now? Don't you want to rest a bit?" Tenten asked as she watched Yin Xiang get to his feet.

"No. The sooner we finish the mission, the sooner we can go home. I'm starting to miss Ichiraku Ramen." Yin Xiang stretched, yawned, and walked out of the cave.

"You really did take on a reliable student, Shikaku," Guy said to the man beside him.

"Mm, Yin Xiang is reliable, but he has his shortcomings. He's never had to suffer a setback." Shikaku nodded, looking toward the spot where Yin Xiang had just left.

"Never had a setback? How is that a shortcoming?" Shikaku's remark left Guy baffled.

"Ah." Shikaku sighed and shook his head. "It's good for young people to suffer a few setbacks."

After leaving the cave, Yin Xiang headed toward Honey Flower Village. On the way, he had asked Yamashin for directions and even drawn a rough map of the village, so he knew the route fairly well.

Yin Xiang made his way to the outskirts of Honey Flower Village. It was far less developed than Konoha. Two ninjas stood guard at the entrance, both looking young, perhaps chunin.