A Perilous Mission at Every Step

Sakumo summoned Muzan as part of a three-man squad and assigned them a mission: investigate Hidden Cloud Village's supply transport route.

"Remember, I'm not asking you to destroy their supplies. I only want you to investigate it thoroughly, then return to camp and report to me."

Muzan's squad was not the only one present. There were also many teams led by Chunin. Based on Sakumo's analysis, Hidden Cloud Village's supply route was somewhere within a certain area, but its exact location needed to be determined.

The Jōnin were all occupied fighting the enemy and guarding against sneak attacks from Hidden Cloud Village. They could not spare the time, so Chunin had to be sent to investigate. Once the location was confirmed, the Jōnin would go in and destroy it.

"Remember, do not launch an attack without authorization. If you are discovered, do everything in your power to kill the enemy!"

The matter of destroying supplies concerned the battle situation on Konoha's front lines. It absolutely could not be exposed.

Once the orders were given, many ninja chose a direction and began scouting. This was an extremely dangerous task. The Cloud Ninja were no fools; they could guess that Konoha would target their food transport routes, so they would have ninja stationed nearby for protection.

Just like when Muzan had returned to the village alongside a ninja unit.

"For the next mission, you need to stay alert. The Military Rations Pills we brought can last seven days, but we must begin heading back by the fifth day."

With no squad leader to guide them, Muzan took on the role of captain. War was not merely about charging at the enemy with kunai in hand; it also required strategic planning, winning with the smallest possible cost.

The first matter was planning their route, searching within the area his father had designated.

Muzan took out a map, pointed at a river, and began outlining the plan.

"We'll search along the river. This area is fairly dangerous, but the advantage is that the enemy's transport teams may come here to replenish their water supply."

It was a place where danger and opportunity coexisted.

There was another advantage as well—do not forget their strength!

Aside from Muzan, whose strength rivaled that of an Elite Chunin, the other two were still Genin. Their squad could not clash head-on with the Cloud Ninja. If they could eliminate the enemy, that would be best. If not, they could jump into the river and use the current to leave the battlefield, then quickly return to camp and report!

Following the map, they soon reached their destination. It was a river flowing down from high mountains. The terrain of the Land of Lightning differed from that of the Land of Fire. Its landscape was made up of jagged rocks, leaving it without large lakes. Meltwater from the snow atop the mountains formed rivers that flowed in every direction.

"So there are places like this beyond Konoha."

It was Anko's first time leaving the Land of Fire, and her eyes sparkled with wonder. But she soon grew bored.

"Why is it all rocks here? There isn't even a single plant."

Although Anko's question was rather foolish, it concerned the main cause of every Shinobi World War.

"The area where Konoha is located has the best geographical environment among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. It has mountains, rivers, vegetation—everything. The other ninja villages all have their own problems to some extent. You can't grow food from these rocks. They need enough land, so they can only wage war against others."

Muzan's explanation broadened the horizons of the two of them. Wars were fought over resources. Even the formidable Third Raikage would not start a war for no reason, watching the people in his village die one after another on the battlefield. But if he did not wage war, the village would slowly decline.

"Remember this: there are no winners in war. It is merely a contest to see who loses more, until one side has nothing left to lose and finally surrenders."

Seeing their half-understanding expressions, Muzan sighed. Why was he even explaining this to these little brats?

According to their original plan, they did not approach the river. Instead, they moved through the Stone Forest beside it. The closer they got to the Land of Lightning, the more traces they found of Cloud Ninja activity.

There were even bloodstains in places they had just passed through.

They did not know whether they belonged to Konoha or the Cloud Ninja. "Slow down from here on. Mari, listen carefully to the sounds around us. Wild beasts rarely appear in this area, so they shouldn't interfere with you much."

As for Muzan's sense of smell, they were currently upwind, which greatly reduced its usefulness. They could only rely on the squad's sole sensory ninja.

"Got it, Captain."

They moved very slowly afterward, needing to stay wary of enemies that could appear at any moment. Muzan held a kunai as he vigilantly watched ahead. By now, the Cloud Ninja's main force had already assembled, which meant there would be many people transporting supplies. To speed things up, they would certainly choose relatively flat terrain.

Based on the terrain investigated beforehand, most areas could be ruled out.

In that highly focused state, night fell before they realized it. The three huddled together, hiding behind a large rock.

"These Military Rations Pills are so hard and taste awful. This isn't the war I imagined. It's so hard!"

"Bear with it, Anko. I still have two soft flatbreads here. Drink some water, and you should be able to swallow them."

Mari took out a baked flatbread from her clothes, split it into three portions, and handed them out. Investigating in the wilderness was no joke. It was unlike their last patrol in the Land of Fire; even if they found enemies there, the other side would not send a large force after them.

But now they were within the Land of Lightning. Once discovered, they would face pursuit from several times as many ninja.

After eating the dry provisions, the two recovered some of their strength. Muzan told them to rest for a while, while he kept watch to prevent enemy ninja from appearing.

Given Muzan's current body, going without sleep for extended periods did not affect him much. Besides, nighttime was when Muzan was at his strongest. His black clothes allowed him to blend completely into the darkness.

He climbed onto a taller boulder, where he could see the river not far away. After calculating their position on the map, he determined that they had covered one-fifth of the distance. The farther they went, the slower they would have to move, always wary of incoming enemies.

"What's that?"

Under the moonlight, Muzan clearly saw something reflecting on the river. He used Body Flicker and arrived at the riverbank.

"Looks like someone got here before us."

A Konoha Ninja corpse was floating in the river. The reflection he had seen was the man's forehead protector. He pulled the body out of the water and noticed that the fatal wound was on the chest.

"It wasn't an injury from a bladed weapon piercing through him. It looks more like someone punched him in the heart."

The dent in the chest was obvious, and all his ribs had been shattered. This indicated that there were Cloud Ninja ahead, including a taijutsu expert.

"This is bad."

Fortunately, no one had brought mission scrolls for this mission, so the Cloud Ninja had not obtained any useful intelligence. Still, they needed to pick up the pace. Once the enemy realized what was happening, they would widen their search area and clear out Konoha's scouts.

The sand beside the river was relatively soft. Using Earth Release, Muzan dug a deep pit and threw the body inside, giving it a proper burial.