Battlefield Suspicions

His contact with Might Guy had gotten off to a good start. After all, Hyuga Iwa was just a child; even if he had approached them with an ulterior motive, Might Duy would never have suspected it.

What was more, Hyuga Iwa genuinely wanted to befriend them. The future Blue Beast of Leaf Village—wasn't he worth investing in?

Moreover, Hyuga Iwa had thought further ahead. He knew that Might Duy practiced the Eight Gates, a secret technique that removed the body's limitations to obtain immense power—but it came with enormous flaws.

The Eight Gates with all eight gates opened was like a brilliant shooting star. But was the Eight Gates truly impossible to control?

Hyuga Iwa did not know, but he wanted to study it. What if he succeeded someday?!

As the saying went, when three walk together, one can be my teacher.

With Hyuga Iwa providing ideas, the Byakugan's assistance, and Might Duy's own experimentation, Hyuga Iwa believed that one day, they would develop controllable Eight Gates!

After that day, Hyuga Iwa came to see Might Guy as promised every day. The two trained their bodies, practiced taijutsu, and occasionally worked on chakra control and shuriken. It was tiring, but their days were fulfilling and carefree.

To improve the efficiency of their training, Hyuga Iwa even persuaded Might Duy to make some special training tools for them. Those were auxiliary devices that had never existed in the Shinobi World before, yet were extremely helpful for training.

After watching Hyuga Iwa and the others use them a few times, Might Duy found them useful as well and made a set specifically for himself.

Seeing Might Duy's enthusiasm, Hyuga Iwa wondered whether he could consider selling training equipment.

After thinking it over carefully, he decided against it. Most people in the Shinobi World were civilians struggling to survive every day—where would they find the time or energy to exercise? And if wealthy merchants and nobles needed such things, wouldn't they simply have their servants make them? Why would they buy them from him?

However, Hyuga Iwa also discovered that the Shinobi World currently lacked specialized knowledge about health maintenance, physical care, and fitness. Perhaps he could get involved in that field someday if the opportunity arose.

The Shinobi World was simply too chaotic. From the Warring States Era to the current age of shinobi, war had always burned across this land and had never truly ceased.

Living in such an era, almost no one could settle down and conduct research. Many things lacked any systematic foundation.

Take shinobi, for instance. Most treated their ninjutsu as secrets never to be passed on and rarely exchanged knowledge with others. After all, letting an opponent know your abilities in battle was no different from courting death.

The Shinobi World had developed for a thousand years. Although it had made tremendous progress compared to its earliest days, in Hyuga Iwa's eyes, its development was still far too slow!

Still, the founding of the hidden villages had greatly accelerated technological development in the Shinobi World, while several Shinobi World Wars had produced large numbers of researchers.

By the time of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, the Shinobi World was even using computers!

As Hyuga Iwa thought, he realized that his mind had wandered again. Still, making money was indeed something he needed to consider carefully.

Unlike Hyuga Iwa, who could peacefully contemplate the future, the border of the Fire Country was tense enough to snap. Conflict between the Fire and Lightning Countries continued unabated, and war was on the verge of breaking out.

Inside Leaf Village's command tent, Sarutobi Shinnosuke, the frontline commander, stood before a map assigning missions.

Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin, sat nearby, with her lover Dan Katō at her side.

Dan Katō's strength was beyond doubt. As a Jonin, he had mastered a special ability—the Spirit Transformation Technique.

It was a ninjutsu that could activate one's soul, project it from the body, travel regardless of distance, and kill enemies. It could also be used to control another's body and enter someone else's spiritual world.

For a man to suppress both Dan Katō and Tsunade of the Legendary Sannin and become the battlefield commander, his strength was self-evident.

The mission Tsunade had received from the Hokage was to maintain pressure on the Lightning Country along the frontal battlefield, drawing their attention and creating the conditions for Orochimaru to infiltrate the rear.

But the frontline situation changed by the moment and required constant adjustments. This was where the commander's role came into play; to a certain extent, he could represent the Hokage and exercise authority.

Naturally, the pressure a commander had to bear was enormous. But this was no problem at all for Sarutobi Shinnosuke. Not only was he a powerful shinobi, he was also a member of the Sarutobi Clan!

The current Hokage was from the Sarutobi Clan!

Seated at the head of the tent, Sarutobi Shinnosuke flipped through the reports gathered from all sides, occasionally discussing the frontline situation with Tsunade and his deputies.

According to the intelligence they had just received, the Lightning Country had actually deployed the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki!

Someone had seen Blue B leave Kumogakure with over a thousand people!

What Leaf Village did not know was that the Lightning Country had indeed sent Blue B to the front line. But not long after he arrived, he felt that something was wrong with his body. After reporting it to the Raikage, he had actually returned to the village. Naturally, this was precisely what gave Orochimaru, who had infiltrated Kumogakure, hope of completing his mission.

"Have you located the Jinchuriki?"

"Lord Sarutobi, not yet. Hidden Cloud Village's camp is protected by a barrier technique, so our sensory shinobi cannot detect anything within it."

"However, a group of people seemed to have left the camp this morning, though they were headed back toward Kumogakure."

"Oh? Can you confirm who returned?"

"Yes, but it will take time."

"Mm. Go give the order."

"Yes, sir!" After saluting, the deputy left the command tent.

Once he was gone, Sarutobi Shinnosuke looked at Dan Katō and said, "Katō, according to the intelligence we received, Hidden Cloud Village will receive a shipment of important supplies today. I need you to destroy them."

Dan Katō exchanged a glance with Tsunade and said, "Yes, Commander."

Tsunade looked at Dan Katō, then at Sarutobi Shinnosuke. After thinking for a moment, she said, "I'll go too. I happen to be free right now."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke knew about Dan Katō and Tsunade's relationship. After a brief hesitation, he agreed.

After the two left the tent, Dan Katō thought for a moment before saying, "Tsunade, you really don't need to come with me. After all..."

Tsunade said nothing. She merely shook her head and pressed a finger against Dan Katō's lips, her expression somewhat desolate, tinged with reluctance.

As Tsunade's lover, Dan Katō knew that her younger brother had died not long ago and that she must be in a poor state of mind. He pulled her tightly into his arms and softly comforted her.

Before long, Kunugi Mokume and Iwata Hajime found Tsunade and Dan Katō. They would form a four-person squad with them and head for Hidden Cloud Village's rear.

Hidden Cloud Village Main Camp, Lightning Country

Yotsuki Raku, commander of Hidden Cloud Village, looked over the intelligence his subordinate had delivered and frowned. "How is the barrier coming along?"

"They have all been activated. The Byakugan will not be able to see through them."

"Good. Also, how is the Heavenly Transfer Technique preparation going? I just received a message from the Raikage. He will personally come through the Heavenly Transfer Technique. What we need to do now is maintain secrecy. Once Lord Raikage arrives, we will launch a surprise attack on Leaf Village's camp."

"The formula for the Heavenly Transfer Technique requested by Lord Raikage has been completed. It can be activated at any time."

"Mm, good. Pass down the order—everyone, stay alert! Hmph, those people from Sunagakure really are useless. They actually let someone outflank their rear so easily and destroy their logistical supplies! If they do not come, fine. But if they do, wipe them all out!"

"Yes, sir. I will pass it on."

In a cave deep underground, darkness filled the air, broken only by the intermittent drip of water. At the end of the cave was an enormous hollow. In one corner of it, an old man sat in a stone chair with his eyes closed.

Suddenly, a huge pitcher plant emerged from the ground before the old man. A completely white figure stepped out from it.

"Ah, Lord Madara, it's terrible, it's terrible..."

"Mm~ Did something unexpected happen?"

"No, Lord Madara. I can't poop."

"If you want to die, I'll grant your wish!" Madara drew a breath and said darkly, "How did the mission go? If you did not complete it, then go die."

Honestly, if this White Zetsu had not been created by him, he, Madara Uchiha, would have killed it a thousand times over already. How could it still have the chance to chatter nonsense in front of him?

"Lord Madara, don't worry. I completed the task you gave me ages ago. Leaf Village and Hidden Cloud Village are about to fight."

"If you completed it so long ago, why are you only returning now?!"

"Ah, Lord Madara, I wanted to know what pooping felt like, so I went to watch how other people pooped. By the way, Lord Madara, do you know what pooping feels like? Why can't I poop?"

"I may need to go out for a while. Stay here and monitor the situation over there. Continue driving a wedge between the two sides, but do not get discovered."

"Lord Madara, don't worry. They will never discover me."

Madara rose from the stone chair and walked toward the other side of the cave, slowly disappearing into the darkness.