A Different Kind of Reconnaissance

Completely dismantling the hardliners was all but impossible. Every advance of the Sharingan brought a surge in power. With a Kekkei Genkai that bordered on cheating, even an ordinary person would find it hard not to grow arrogant.

Fugaku's earlier purge could not solve the problem at its root, but it could change the clan's outlook for a time. After all, a person's surroundings had an enormous influence on them.

Why, decades later, would Itachi Uchiha choose to join forces with outsiders to destroy the clan rather than persuade the Konoha leadership and Fugaku Uchiha to ease the tension? One major reason was that the problems had festered for too long.

Every Uchiha who died on the battlefield brought the clan another measure of glory and spurred other clan members to awaken the Sharingan.

If even one awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan by chance, the losses would be worth it to the clan. With the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars spanning twenty years, Fugaku had plenty of time to lay his plans.

After all, he was the future clan head of the Uchiha. Certain things would not be difficult for him to arrange.

No one would know his plan. To outsiders, he would be nothing more than the Uchiha's youngest prodigy, the hope of the clan's resurgence.

And in the future, he would be remembered only as the Uchiha's strongest and greatest clan head, not as a criminal who had persecuted the clan's own children.

The Uchiha leaders vented their dissatisfaction with Uchiha Tenka, but none dared suggest killing clan members at the meeting. Anyone who did might immediately be branded a traitor to the clan.

After seeing the leaders out, Fugaku returned to find only himself and his father left in the living room.

"I heard the Third Hokage summoned you today," Uchiha Tenjo said. "I assume you've been given a new mission."

Fugaku nodded. There was no reason to hide it.

"I'm going to the Land of Earth on an assassination mission. The Third Hokage promised to let me serve as a Jonin Instructor for a term once it's over."

Surprise flashed across Uchiha Tenjo's face. "It seems the Third Hokage thinks highly of your future. He's already trying to win you over. But going deep into the Land of Earth at a time like this is dangerous. Be careful."

"Don't worry," Fugaku said. "I'll come back alive."

Early the next morning, Fugaku equipped himself with the Ninja Tools he had prepared and left home.

As Fugaku arrived at the Training Ground where they had agreed to meet, figures appeared one after another.

Fugaku looked over the four who had gathered. They all seemed fully prepared.

"This mission will take us deep into the Land of Earth. None of us can guarantee we'll come back in one piece. If we want to return alive, the least we can do is stand together.

"If anyone wants to withdraw or has an objection, speak up now. I don't want anyone pretending to cooperate once we reach the battlefield, then undermining the team and causing trouble for everyone."

The Konoha Jonin remained still. It seemed they had looked into him after going home yesterday. Unless he made an obvious mistake, none of them would challenge him rashly.

"Move out. Our first destination is the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain."

The battlefield in the Land of Rain was the best place to forge their teamwork. If they could not make it through that, going deep into the Land of Earth would be a death sentence.

One figure after another vanished from the spot. Hyuga Ning repeatedly activated his Byakugan to watch their surroundings.

They were still in the Land of Fire, but shinobi from other nations could still cross the border to ambush local shinobi or assassinate important figures.

Gathering intelligence, assassinating key figures, and ambushing shinobi teams from other nations were all common tactics in the Shinobi World War.

Three days passed without incident. They encountered no shinobi from other nations and took detours whenever they came across Konoha shinobi.

This mission was dangerous, and spies were everywhere. A single stray word could reveal their objective and put all five of them at risk.

Rain still fell without pause in the Land of Rain. The five made camp near its border, on the Land of Grass side.

Given the choice of a dry, comfortable place to stay, who would want to go somewhere damp and gloomy?

"We'll rest here for a day and take turns keeping watch tonight. Hyuga Ning, Moonlight Shuichi, Yamashiro Kiyokawa—scout the area," Fugaku said. "Don't alert anyone."

Moonlight Shuichi's Transparent Release let him suppress his body heat and turn invisible, giving him a huge advantage in reconnaissance and eavesdropping. But it had a clear weakness: if his Chakra fluctuated too sharply, his body would become visible again.

Yamashiro Kiyokawa's summoned crows could also gather intelligence.

Three members of the team had reconnaissance abilities. The Konoha leadership had clearly put considerable thought into this mission.

The three nodded. Hyuga Ning activated his Byakugan and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.

Moonlight Shuichi gradually turned transparent until he disappeared before their eyes. If not for the wild grass bending beneath his feet, even Fugaku would have lost track of him.

Even in the Hayate Clan, few could learn Transparent Release. Fugaku had heard that Jiraiya had learned it to spy on bathhouses, though he had no idea whether that was true.

Yamashiro Kiyokawa formed hand seals and summoned a flock of crows. They circled him before following him out of Fugaku's sight.

With the scouts dispatched, Fugaku closed his eyes to rest and waited quietly.

About two hours later, the three returned one after another. Fugaku opened his eyes. "What's the situation nearby?"

"The Land of Grass is fairly quiet," Hyuga Ning said. "There's a village ahead where we can replenish our rations."

"I followed the border for a while," Yamashiro Kiyokawa said. "From what the crows found, the situation isn't promising. Stone shinobi and Sand Shinobi have been entering the Land of Grass.

"We need to watch out at night for Stone shinobi and Sand Shinobi crossing into the Land of Grass to rest. It rains year-round in the Land of Rain. Even the strongest shinobi would want a change of scenery after spending too long there."

Fugaku understood. It was not just Stone shinobi and Sand Shinobi. Mobile Konoha teams also crossed into the Land of Grass to rest. He had done the same thing on a previous mission.

"I got close enough to overhear a Sand Shinobi team," Moonlight Shuichi said after a moment's thought. "Sunagakure seems to be developing a highly toxic poison to coat their puppets. It's particularly deadly to humans."

That was an unexpected find. Still, Fugaku knew the Sand Shinobi's poison would not accomplish much. Tsunade's antidote pills were too effective. Even the early version was more than enough to neutralize their new toxin.

In many ways, Tsunade's abilities were a perfect counter to Sunagakure's Puppet Technique. Between her medical skills and immense physical strength, many Sand Shinobi puppeteers were helpless against her.

"Yamashiro Kiyokawa, send the intelligence about the Sand Shinobi's new toxin back to Konoha. Anything we can do to reduce casualties will help."

Though he knew the toxin would not cause Konoha heavy losses, some things still had to be done. At the very least, he needed to show others that he wanted to keep Konoha's casualties down.