Towering Mountains and Outposts

Hum--!

Swish, swish--!

At the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth, a figure sped through the rain.

A thick cloak rustled loudly.

To deliver this to Ōnoki in a logical manner, what a difficult task to give me!

Goenji moved quickly using the Body Flicker Technique, marveling in his heart.

It was not truly too difficult for him; among the many ninja in the team, although he was not the one whose espionage skills were maxed out, he was still one of the best.

During the operations in the Land of Rain, Goenji fully displayed his spy capabilities and performed various deductions and analyses.

He was able to analyze a great deal of intelligence.

And he led his own squad to complete so-called missions.

As for Aburame Fuzei and the others, they were Danzo's subordinates after all, and they would naturally report Goenji's situation back to Danzo.

Since they were currently in a state of war, resources had to be used to the fullest.

Danzo utilized this aspect very well.

Goenji deduced that other ninja with even stronger spy-type traits surely had other assigned missions.

Those are all minor matters. Now, how can I deliver the intelligence to Ōnoki without arousing any suspicion or appearing out of place?

This mission was unusually difficult.

Goenji felt a severe headache coming on.

Sometimes he really wanted to quit, become a rogue ninja, hunker down somewhere, and watch the turbulent currents of the Shinobi World from the sidelines.

It was just that the situation did not allow it!

As a member of the Uchiha, he could not simply defect at will.

There was not only Konoha's pursuit force, but also the hunt from the Uchiha at their current peak.

Because of his Kekkei Genkai, many ninja from other villages, and even underground bounty hunters, would certainly covet him greatly.

That was the Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai.

While bearing its power, he also shouldered its pressure.

Various villages, such as Iwagakure and Kumogakure, had coveted the Sharingan for quite some time.

He knew that, according to the original story, Sasuke Uchiha ended up attracting the attention of nobles from all over the world simply because of a single reputation.

As a Jonin, and an Uchiha who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he would definitely be targeted by even more people.

He might even be targeted by Madara Uchiha.

After all, he was a stray Uchiha.

Compared to the entire Shinobi World, his current self was still far too lacking.

Sigh!

There was no help for it; it was all fate!

If he wanted to settle down now, he needed to borrow the power of Konoha and the Uchiha.

Otherwise, just imagining the future pursuit of the Five Great Ninja Villages and the bounties from the Underground Money Exchange made that kind of life sound thrilling.

Even if he survived and grew very powerful.

Facing that kind of lifestyle would probably be extremely miserable.

He was not a masochist.

With the prospect of a good life, why would he not live according to his own wishes?

There was no need to go against the world.

Soon, Goenji entered the territory of the Land of Earth.

The dark rain clouds in the sky gradually dissipated as well.

Swish--!

Goenji gave a sharp sweep of his arm, casting aside the raincoat on his body.

Propelled by his strength, the raincoat flew a long distance away, catching on an extended tree branch.

"After wearing it for over a month, I've finally gotten rid of this raincoat. Even if the rain washes it every day, it was starting to stink."

Goenji took a deep breath.

It was as if he wanted to draw the fresh air of the Land of Earth deep into his own lungs.

The air in the Land of Rain was far too humid, and even as a ninja who had spent over a month in the Land of Rain, he inevitably felt a bit uncomfortable.

The external environment was still much more suitable.

In the past when he watched anime, he only felt that the Land of Rain was magical and its people were formidable to manage to let a nation survive in such a humid environment.

Now, having experienced it himself, he knew that without growing up there, it was truly hard to adapt.

It made him feel as though his entire body was soaked through.

"Next is how to infiltrate the Land of Earth and logically deliver this item to Ōnoki."

A scroll appeared in Goenji's hand, and he desperately wanted to open and look at it.

He wondered what vital intelligence could be so important that it had to be delivered to Ōnoki without seeming the least bit out of place.

Moreover, Danzo had given him a strict time limit.

Half a month.

He only had half a month to deliver this piece of intelligence.

This was no ordinary level of difficulty.

Ōnoki was the most cunning fellow among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

Furthermore, whether in governing experience or wartime experience, he was not someone ordinary people could compare to.

After all, he was an old fellow who had survived from the Warring States era.

Just thinking about gaining Ōnoki's trust gave Goenji a headache.

Let's gather intelligence first!

Naturally, Danzo would not send him alone to execute such a difficult mission; there was support provided as well.

Goenji retrieved another scroll from his waist; this was the final item Danzo had handed him.

A cipher scroll.

This was a spy cipher scroll deployed by Danzo within Iwagakure, serving as a crucial tool for communicating with spies via ciphers.

It recorded various methods of secret codes for contacting spies.

It was also a very important item.

Goenji quickly committed the information inside to memory.

Possessing a super-powerful brain, his memory was exceptionally good, and after going through it just once, he roughly memorized the ciphers within.

To confirm he had not remembered wrongly, Goenji scanned through it a few more times.

A quarter of an hour later.

Tiger Seal.

Kneading chakra, a flame rose from his hand, and the cipher scroll in his palm was instantly burned to ashes.

"First, head to Peak Rock Mountain in the Land of Earth."

The Land of Earth was dominated by lofty and precipitous mountains, with towering peaks rising straight from the ground—the most numerous among the Five Great Nations.

At the same time, they formed Iwagakure's natural barrier.

Relying on this natural barrier, Iwagakure's headquarters had not suffered any substantial attacks from the Warring States era up to the present.

It could be said that with this natural defense in place,

Iwagakure's defensive strength was the strongest among the Five Great Nations.

Swish, swish--!

Goenji crossed a short forested region, and many towering peaks appeared before his eyes, their vegetation exceptionally sparse.

Most of them were soaring rock peaks shooting straight into the sky.

Earth-yellow was the predominant tone here.

Too damn high. There must be plenty of mountains here higher than the Himalayas.

With the vision of the Sharingan, looking up at them made his neck feel somewhat strained.

Leaping across walls and bounding over roofs, Goenji did not forget to record all the terrain he passed.

There were simply too many mountains several thousand meters high.

Swosh--!

Arriving at a strategic mountain pass, Goenji's figure slowly came to a halt.

A sweep of his Sharingan revealed numerous discordant details within this pass.

Meanwhile, amidst the distant mountain cliffs and crags, upon a bulging rock outcrop, a peak suddenly twitched.

Through the perspective of the Sharingan, that was merely a piece of camouflage cloth dyed to match the colors of the surroundings.

This should be one of Iwagakure's outposts, just like the outposts outside Konoha.

Goenji concealed himself and analyzed the terrain of the area.

His vision swept left and right.

The surrounding mountains completely encircled the interior, leaving not a single gap.

The only accessible point of entry was the pass right before his eyes.

I'll find a way to climb up and take a look; ninja tree-climbing skills are quite useful after all.

Goenji knew it could not be as simple as just walking right in.

However, he still needed to scout it out first to know for sure.