Important Intelligence

As Goenji's performance continued to improve,

Danzo had begun placing greater importance on him.

In every mission, Goenji was assigned to critical positions.

And every time, he worked exceptionally well with his teammates.

His performance was outstanding.

Gradually, Goenji had completely entered Danzo's sights.

However, Danzo made no particular move. He merely issued orders methodically, directing the team to do what they were supposed to do.

"Danzo truly was a man even more sinister than Orochimaru."

Goenji inwardly sighed.

As Konoha stirred things up, the situation in the Land of Rain became increasingly turbulent.

His exceptionally powerful mind was also at work.

He began analyzing his current circumstances and the state of the war.

Naturally, the war was growing ever more intense.

Compared to Konoha's other battlefields, the team he belonged to was also relatively dangerous.

Three major forces had gathered here: Amegakure, Konoha, and Iwagakure.

At the same time, forces such as Akatsuki, the Underground Money Exchange, and the other three small nations might also intervene.

When he watched the anime, the forces of other nations had seemed to have no presence at all.

In reality, they indeed did not have much of a presence.

But that was only from a macro perspective.

On smaller battlefields, they were also an important aspect of the war.

For instance, Akatsuki would strike at foreign forces in the Land of Rain. Under the financial offensives of various factions, the Underground Money Exchange would draw in large numbers of bounty ninja, who would risk their lives to assassinate important figures from the villages for money.

War was not merely a matter for the Five Great Nations.

It involved an enormous number of forces.

The Five Great Nations could only secure victory from the broader perspective, while smaller forces also had no minor impact on the ninja villages.

The Underground Money Exchange in particular had no shortage of experts.

This world was not an anime world. There were quite a few ninja like those Jiraiya had encountered, whom Nagato had used to create puppets.

And there were even more bounty ninja like Kakuzu.

They might not necessarily be as powerful as Kakuzu, but there were still quite a few with Jonin-level strength.

Among them were many elites of the ninja world.

Such as rogue ninja from other major villages.

They could not avoid this kind of war, so many ninja entered the war zone to actively seize profits.

The Land of Rain was weak, yet located at the center of six nations. It was a strategic location; though dangerous, it also held considerable benefits.

Goenji had seen more than once how Danzo used money to hire ninja to do things that were inconvenient for them to handle. As a commander, Danzo could be considered qualified.

And being able to steadily develop his own plans amid so many forces, making moves from every angle, was Danzo's ability. Besides Konoha's own strength, Danzo's capabilities were also extremely important.

"Reporting to Lord Danzo, Hanzō seemed to have been prepared for some reason. The covert attacks achieved very little, reaching less than half the intended results."

A ninja wearing a cat-faced mask appeared before Danzo and reported.

Danzo nodded at this, then turned his gaze toward Goenji. "Goenji, what do you think caused this problem?"

"Uh... it was probably related to the Akatsuki organization we encountered earlier in the Land of Rain.

"If I'm not mistaken, they had already passed some of the intelligence to Hanzō. Combined with the disappearance of the spies around Hanzō, it aroused his suspicions, so Hanzō made some preparations."

With a quick turn of his mind, Goenji explained the reason.

Needless to say, Yahiko's Akatsuki was an organization devoted to peace. Its current strength was not particularly great, and it had little guard against a hero of the Land of Rain like Hanzō. They would definitely tell him.

This was the conclusion Goenji had drawn from his espionage activities during this period in the Land of Rain.

Danzo nodded and continued asking, "What do you think we should do next?"

The several ninja behind him were all greatly surprised.

Their gazes carried a trace of strange disbelief.

Lord Danzo had never asked anyone else such a question, much less sought advice on what to do.

Had this Uchiha caught Lord Danzo's eye?

"Our mission was to drive a wedge between the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth, preventing them from forming an alliance.

"At present, we disguised ourselves as Iwagakure ninja and invaded the Land of Rain, causing the Land of Rain tremendous losses. Even if they knew Konoha was behind it, they would never fully trust the Land of Earth.

"Because they could not be sure whether, among all the attacking ninja, there were Iwagakure ninja in disguise besides Konoha's people.

"And the same logic applied to Iwagakure. That old man Ōnoki was extremely cunning. He likewise could not possibly trust the Land of Rain when tensions were so high.

"Looking at the overall situation, we no longer needed to do anything. We had already completed Lord Hokage's mission.

"So we could withdraw."

Goenji was not afraid of displaying his abilities and drawing Danzo's attention.

He was an Uchiha. At present, the Uchiha were still among Konoha's central powers, one of its greatest clans.

Even if Danzo had his eye on him, he did not dare do anything now.

If this had been after the Uchiha clan's destruction, he might have concealed his abilities a little more.

But he had no need to. He only needed to display the abilities an Uchiha should possess.

At most, once Danzo recognized his abilities, he would find ways to have him carry out difficult missions at certain times.

Moreover, according to Hiruzen Sarutobi's requirements, their mission had already been completed. All they needed to do now was slowly withdraw from the Land of Rain.

Goenji was already looking forward to returning and learning new knowledge.

These days, his understanding of Fire Release had grown increasingly profound. Of the knowledge he had previously studied, he had already absorbed the parts that were easiest to digest into his mind.

Danzo nodded at his words. "You are right. The mission Hiruzen gave us has been largely completed. There is no need for a major disturbance.

"But... that is not my objective. Iwagakure still poses a great threat to Konoha. We need to reduce that threat."

"Then, how does my lord intend to do that?" Goenji asked in confusion.

Given the current situation, why should they still get involved?

To be honest, the chances of Amegakure and Iwagakure forming an alliance were unimaginably low.

In Goenji's view, if Amegakure and Iwagakure were to ally, it would have to be after Yahiko's Akatsuki had grown strong enough to enter Hanzō's sight and negotiate peace with Iwagakure.

No matter what, they had temporarily tied down part of Iwagakure's combat power.

Iwagakure did not dare casually withdraw the forces stationed at its borders.

This had greatly reduced Konoha's pressure.

"Next, I will continue leading the team to monitor everything in the Land of Rain. I have assigned you a new mission, one that has also been discussed with Hiruzen."

Danzo tossed a scroll from his waist to Goenji.

It was quite thick.

"This is a piece of intelligence. I want you to infiltrate the Land of Earth and deliver it to Ōnoki by some reasonable means.

"Remember, this is vital intelligence concerning the war. If you fail to complete it... there is no if. You must complete it."

What was going on? Why did this girl suddenly start talking about her ex while they were chatting? Damn it, this felt awful!