It Seems the Kazekage Isn't Very Reliable, Either

Baki's bottom line seems inflexible.

He's even embarrassed to open his mouth.

Being too honest can be a disadvantage. How come such an honest person came from such a vast desert?

"No, Lord Shingen, I came prepared." Baki gritted his teeth and decided to abandon his bottom line.

As the most loyal henchman of the Fourth Kazekage, he believed in the Lord Kazekage's magnanimity.

"Actually, to be honest, the Fourth Kazekage was appointed temporarily, and his strength is somewhat inferior to that of the previous Kazekage ..." As soon as he finished speaking, Baki felt a sense of liberation. "If he were to encounter Nagato of Rain Village, he would definitely be dead, and then Sunagakure would also be plunged into internal strife."

After finishing the conversation, Baki was covered in sweat.

Uchiha Shingen could barely accept this explanation.

We can't push him any further. Look how we've driven this honest kid; this is probably his limit.

If you push him any further, he'll explode.

Bang!

The sound of fists slamming on the table echoed in the office. The boss was in trouble.

This startled Baki.

Several ANBU suddenly sprang out of the office, eyeing Baki menacingly. The room instantly filled with an atmosphere of "Please give the order, sir, to take his dog's head."

"Arrogant! Too arrogant!" Uchiha Shingen face, "The Kazekage is one of the Five Kage. To look down on the Kazekage is to look down on the Hokage. Such behavior that challenges the Five Kage's authority is absolutely unacceptable!"

The ANBU silently retreated to the side.

The new boss is truly a mixed bag...

They were a little embarrassed.

"Call Uchiha Itachi over," Uchiha Shingen ordered.

One of the ANBU disappeared into the room.

Uchiha Shingen stood up, walked to Baki's side, and naturally put on a smiling face.

"I'm sorry, Lord Baki, we'll have to trouble you to take us to the Land of Rain."

"Really... really?" Baki was utterly flattered.

He noticed that Uchiha Shingen used the word "we".

He finally completed the task Kazekage gave him, although it had a few minor flaws.

"Of course, we hope that Sand Village can understand our intervention. After all, this is no longer just a matter between Sand Village and Rain Village. Nagato of Rain Village must explain his inappropriate actions regarding the Five Kage system."

"We understand! We understand! We understand perfectly!" Baki nodded repeatedly.

Just then, there was a knock on the office door.

"Don't knock, just come in," Uchiha Shingen called out.

The door was immediately pushed open, Uchiha Itachi walked in, looking quite energetic.

He looked at Uchiha Shingen, and before the latter could speak, he said with a solemn expression but a hint of joy in his eyes, "Captain, they're all dead."

Uchiha Shingen: "???"

What's with this all this nonsense...?

"That's right, I was just about to report to you." Uchiha Itachi skillfully pulled out a report. "Some ninja organizations that initially joined Sand Village but saw the situation was unfavorable have recently been frequently sneaking into the Land of Fire, negatively impacting the security of border towns. Moreover, they are outwardly compliant but inwardly defying Leaf Village's control. For the sake of peace in the Land of Fire, I..."

"Alright, alright." Uchiha Shingen waved his hand. "Let's not talk about such trivial matters. Now gather everyone together and come with me."

"Okay, Minister, where are we going?"

"The Land of Rain," Uchiha Shingen said first, then looked at Baki, "It's the Land of Rain, isn't it?"

Baki's face immediately turned red.

"Actually, we have some where I live too."

Got it, the battle lines have been pushed back.

This move is called defeating Sand Village with Sand Village.

"Then let's go to the Land of Rain," Uchiha Shingen said to Uchiha Itachi. "Let's set off now. Get everyone here as quickly as possible and have them meet at the West Gate."

"Yes!" Uchiha Itachi's eyes blazed with fury as he dashed off at breakneck speed.

"You all arrange for people to go to the four Lord Hokage and report to them. I'll go first." Uchiha Shingen said to the ANBU in the room again, then grabbed Baki and disappeared from the office.

For Baki, after a dizzying spin, he was already standing outside the west gate of Leaf Village.

When Baki landed, he swayed slightly. He steadied himself and looked at Uchiha Shingen's black yukata, and couldn't help but remind him, "Shingen, there's really no rush. You have time to change your clothes."

"It's alright, I have backups of anything I need." Uchiha Shingen pulled his sleeves down to his elbows, and Baki noticed that there was a strip of cloth tied around Uchiha Shingen's wrist with sealing runes drawn on it.

Seeing this, Baki stopped arguing.

After waiting for a while, figures came running out of the night.

Those were members of the Special Operations Team.

"Minister." Uchiha Itachi was the first to arrive.

Following them were the other members of the Special Operations Team.

Baki's eyelids twitched as he watched.

The team that had already lined up and assembled in front of him looked to be more than just well-disciplined.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell they were a group of elite warfighters.

"Thank you all for coming on this mission so late." Uchiha Shingen looked at everyone. "Our target is Rain Village, but until I give the order or Rain Ninja ninjas enter your safe distance without permission, do not attack Rain Ninja."

"Yes, sir!" the Special Operations Team members responded in unison.

"Alright, let's go."

Chapter Nineteen: It seems Lord Kazekage isn't very reliable when he speaks.

Uchiha Shingen led his Special Operations Team out of Leaf Village's west gate without any hesitation.

After all, he was there to mediate, not to assassinate someone.

However, given how terrible the outdoor environment is in this world, it's understandable that he brought some manpower.

Naturally, news of Uchiha Shingen personally leading Leaf Village's killing squad on their westward journey spread like wildfire.

While Uchiha Shingen was still within the Land of Fire, spies from various factions had already exerted every effort to ensure that the news spread throughout the entire Ninja World.

Uchiha Shingen was already a huge bombshell, but adding the Leaf Village killing squad makes it incredibly explosive.

The Special Operations Team of Leaf Village's ANBU are no longer called ANBU by anyone.

They're called the Killer Squad.

Every time these guys went out, someone was bound to die. The one leading them Uchiha Itachi, was simply called the Killer Ghost by everyone.

Everyone thought that this guy must be a perverted man addicted to killing, so much so that even the Uchiha Clan bloodlust was already quite strong, couldn't stand him and simply sent him to the ANBU to satisfy his addiction.

It's common knowledge that Uchiha Clan ninjas are either in the Konoha Military Police Force or in the Jonin Council; what legitimate Uchiha Clan would go to the ANBU?

The Uchiha Clan, well, they're a bunch of people who practically die if they don't show off. Asking them to wear masks when they fight is practically asking for their lives.

Although Uchiha Shingen was also in the ANBU, he was there to become a leader, so he didn't need to wear a mask.

But now, this head of the ANBU, who should be sitting in his office, is out with the recently infamous Killer Ghost.

For a time, the Ninja World paid more attention to this ANBU than to the war between Sand Village and Rain Village.

On the border of the Land of Rain, many Rain Ninja are active here.

Their mission was singular: to find the whereabouts of Uchiha Shingen and the Leaf Village Killer Squad.

Even more important is the whereabouts of the Leaf Village Killing Squad.

Uchiha Shingen was a great demon king, but at least he could speak human language, while that Killer Ghost was simply a lunatic.

If he manages to sneak into the country, who knows what might happen to him and he might suddenly kill someone?

However, finding such a unit is not easy.

There was a reason why Senju Tobirama limited the size of the Anbu to less than a hundred people when he established ANBU; he created this force to kill people.

Even ninjas, if there are too many of them, will find it impossible to hide their whereabouts.

Many of the Rain Ninja lingering on the border between Rain and Fire are elites who have just returned from the front lines. The confidence they built up with Sand Village was quickly dashed by Leaf Village.

The Rain Ninja dared not cross the border, but this was also the effect of the Uchiha Clan Killer Ghost's actions, because he would hunt down every ninja who crossed the border without Leaf Village's permission like a madman, and even if the other party gave up and ran back, he would still pursue them relentlessly.

The Rain Ninja have been searching their territory on the border side for two days.

This is enough time for Konoha Ninja to appear on the land of Land of Rain.

A torrential downpour was falling on this land, with large raindrops falling densely from the sky. When they hit the ground, they created a misty, fog-like spray.

Long streaks of lightning flashed across the sky from time to time, their pale light illuminating the rain and revealing the figures of the Rain Ninja within the rain curtain.

The Rain Ninja don't really live in the rain. Faced with such torrential rain, their work is also difficult to carry out, and most of the Rain Ninja have retreated to their outposts.

These outposts were all established during the Nagato era.

On a hilltop, a young Rain Ninja looked at the raging wind and rain outside, feeling a little resentful.

"Captain, maybe Leaf Village isn't after us."

"Don't question the decisions made above." The Rain Ninja who served as the captain was a veteran Rain Ninja who had lived through the Hanzo era. He envied the young people of today for being born in such a good time, but he didn't comment on their often overconfident attitude.

"Captain, how long do you think it will take before we defeat Sand Village?" the young Rain Ninja couldn't help but ask. "I really want to stay on the front lines."

"Don't underestimate the ninjas of a great nation." The Rain Ninja captain decided to offer this advice, "Back then, Hanzo declared war on a great nation, everyone thought the same thing."

"Don't worry, Captain, I won't act rashly. However, I believe that a great power won't always be a great power." The young Rain Ninja was full of enthusiasm, and the Rain Ninja Captain could only envy his youthful vigor.

"Of course, everyone hopes that such a day can come one day," the Rain Ninja Captain said. "Now it's rest time, you should rest well, it'll be our turn to go out soon."

"Captain, didn't they give us a deadline?"

"Of course not, because Leaf Village will definitely come," the Rain Ninja captain said. "You haven't met White Ghost, so you don't know his style. He always prioritizes suppressing Rain Village. Our mission is to treat him with courtesy if we meet him."

Seeing his subordinate's resentment, he sighed and pulled him to sit down by the fire.

"Kid, don't be angry. Times have changed. That's why we have people like Nagato and the White Ghost, who are stronger than an entire village. For them, the difficulty in destroying a village lies only in how to gather everyone together. So the outcome of our war with Sand Village depends on whether Nagato and the White Ghost can reach an agreement."

Young Rain Ninja listened, somewhat lost in thought.

Suddenly, I felt that all my efforts were worthless.

"An old man from the Hanzo era? Judging from your voice, you're quite old."

The sudden sound broke the silence of the outpost, startling all the Rain Ninja.

However, they all remained seated, for their necks were bound with white blades or Kunai.

A group of Leaf Village ANBU had infiltrated the outpost without the Rain Ninja noticing.

The Rain Ninja Captain's gaze shifted downwards, and the reflection of the person behind him was seen on the smooth, gleaming blade of his sword.

He recognized the other person.

"The Killer Ghost of Leaf Village..."

Behind him, Uchiha Itachi's expression remained unchanged, but he deeply disliked the title.

These people outside the village are so shallow...

But Uchiha Itachi didn't blame them, since they didn't possess the Will of Fire.

Therefore, he would forgive their shallowness.

"Where are our lookouts?" the Rain Ninja Captain asked.

His gaze had already fallen upon one of the people in the room; it was this same person who had spoken earlier.

Leaf Village of White Ghost, Uchiha Shingen, Amegakure... no, there's no ninja in the Ninja World who doesn't know him.

There were fewer than ten Rain Ninja in the outpost, but there were a considerable number of guards outside the outpost.

"Don't worry, everyone's alive." Uchiha Shingen knelt down in front of the Rain Ninja captain. "I'm here to find Nagato. You should know where Nagato is, right?"