Hidden Mist's fangs, the acting captain's charge

The Land of Fire had the finest land and water in the entire Shinobi World.

Crops flourished in its fields, its mountains stayed green all year round, and the weather was neither too hot nor too cold. It was a truly comfortable place to live.

That miserable Hidden Rain Village had rain pouring down all year long.

Hidden Sand was even worse. Step outside and there was nothing but sand, and when the wind blew, you could barely open your eyes.

Hidden Stone was one enormous rock from end to end. Just looking at it made you feel sore.

Go through those villages one by one, and every last one had its shortcomings. Only the land beneath the Hidden Leaf was genuinely hard to fault.

So whenever a war broke out in the Shinobi World, the surrounding villages all eyed it hungrily. The first target they wanted to sink their teeth into was the Hidden Leaf.

With meat that rich, who could catch its scent and not drool?

The wilderness was much the same. Weeds and wild trees grew like mad, rabbits and pheasants darted about, and sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering gold across the ground. A gentle breeze brushed against their faces, making them feel lazy right down to their bones.

In the convoy, the requisitioned civilians bustled about, bent over their work and run off their feet.

The accompanying shinobi were another story. They sprawled every which way across the supply wagons, dangling their legs and idly surveying the scenery.

Fair enough.

They had not even left the Land of Fire yet. There was not so much as a hair of an enemy in sight.

People could not keep themselves wound as tight as bowstrings every day. When it was time to relax, they naturally did.

At the rear of the supply convoy, Jin Uchiha sat cross-legged.

He had no interest in the scenery around him. His brow was slightly furrowed as he kept turning over what he had said to Shisui earlier.

Even he could not say for certain whether he had done the right thing.

For one thing, after keeping his head down for all these years, the frustration bottled up inside him had nearly burst his chest. He wanted to pour it out to anyone he could find.

For another, he had wanted to test Shisui and sound him out.

Even in the worst-case scenario, if Shisui really blew the whole thing wide open, the trouble that landed on Jin would be limited.

With his reputation as a genius, Fugaku would not bear to punish him over someone already dead and buried.

The same went for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Put plainly, this was an internal Uchiha matter.

The Hidden Leaf's rules were clear. The Hokage had no authority to interfere in what clans handled behind closed doors.

What the Hokage could do was deploy their people during wartime.

As long as Fugaku did not order action against him, his life was perfectly safe.

At worst, the Third Hokage and his crowd would start watching him.

But with the abilities he currently possessed, there was no way Hiruzen Sarutobi could openly deal with him unless he abandoned all pretense of decency.

The only one he needed to guard against was that old dog Danzo.

That man's hatred of the Uchiha had seeped into his very bones. There was no curing it.

If word of this reached his ears, he would absolutely strike at Jin from the shadows.

Still, that was no big deal.

As long as Danzo did not personally take the field or throw all of the Root's resources at him, Jin could escape even if he could not win.

Taking that little risk to get a read on Shisui was a bargain no matter how he counted it.

Shisui had treated him with genuine, wholehearted kindness. He simply could not stand by and watch the boy march toward his death.

If he could not figure Shisui out, then when the time came, he would just risk his own life to save him.

But if his read proved right, and he mattered more to Shisui than he had thought...

Then there was still a chance to bring Shisui around.

Sooner or later, he would have to stand against Hiruzen Sarutobi and his crowd.

He was not afraid of standing alone, but it would still leave him short-handed.

Pulling Shisui over to his side would give him another strong arm.

Among the younger Uchiha, Shisui was a genuine genius. As long as he did not die young, no one could say how far he might go.

Those Mangekyo eyes of his held Kotoamatsukami, reputed to be the most powerful ocular jutsu.

"Shisui..."

"I've laid the road out for you. Don't make me regret it bitterly."

"The rest depends on how things unfold."

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

The convoy had just reached the Land of Fire's border and was considering where to find a boat to cross the sea when two Hidden Mist squads suddenly burst out from the flank.

"Hidden Mist Technique!"

The two squad leaders' fingers flew through hand seals as they sprang out.

The next second, their cheeks puffed up, and great billows of thick mist rolled toward the convoy.

"Protect the supplies! Weapons out!"

Shin Kudo roared, turning his hands over and beginning to form seals as well.

"Earth-Style Wall!"

A dull rumble came from the ground. The earth seemed to come alive, rising into a towering wall in the blink of an eye and shielding the convoy securely behind it.

Shin Kudo did not stop. Gritting his teeth, he slammed his hands into the ground twice more.

He forced two more walls up before finally stopping, his face drained of every trace of color.

His chakra had bottomed out. He could not squeeze out another drop.

There was nothing he could do.

For an ordinary Chunin from a civilian background, doing this much was already beyond reproach.

With those three walls, the convoy really had managed to keep both Hidden Mist squads outside.

Unless the enemy had a formidable fighter hidden among them, ordinary shinobi would have a hell of a time cracking this turtle shell.

Having two shinobi capable of using the Hidden Mist Technique among these two dispatched squads already made them standouts by Hidden Mist standards.

Freshly graduated Hidden Leaf Genin knew little beyond the Three Basic Jutsu when they first ventured out.

The Hidden Leaf was the leading shinobi village, and even its rookies were like that. It took no effort to guess the caliber of those from the Hidden Mist.

When ordinary Hidden Mist shinobi ran into trouble, they mostly grabbed a kunai and charged. Their grasp of the Three Basic Jutsu was even worse than the Hidden Leaf's.

While Shin Kudo was acting, the convoy also drew into a circle, and the squad gathered together.

"I'm out of chakra. I need fifteen minutes to recover."

"Keep a close watch until then."

"And don't get too nervous. Those Hidden Mist shinobi won't dare push forward lightly."

Having said his piece, Shin Kudo took out a Soldier Pill, popped it into his mouth, and sat cross-legged on the ground, closing his eyes to recover.

Jin Uchiha, Kazama Nara, and Itsuki Ishikawa exchanged glances, their brows all furrowing slightly.

"Jin, what do you think?" Kazama Nara asked in a low voice.

Jin Uchiha paused before answering. "They're hidden, and we're exposed. We hold our position."

Kazama Nara nodded. He agreed.

The Hidden Mist shinobi were concealed in the fog. Charging recklessly into it would only let the enemy split them up and pick them off one by one.

But just as the two of them settled on their approach, Itsuki Ishikawa could no longer contain the anger boiling inside him.

He had disliked the sight of those two throughout the journey, and he was already full of pent-up frustration.

Now they had chosen the turtle tactic he despised most, and he exploded on the spot.

"You two spineless cowards!"

"It's just two squads of Hidden Mist small fry! What the hell are you scared of?"

"Don't forget, I ranked in the top three of our class!"

"I came to the battlefield to kill enemies and earn merit. I don't have time to play in the mud with you!"

"Relax. If things really go wrong, I, one of the top three in our class, will bail you out."

"And don't any of you forget."

"We agreed beforehand that if the captain went down, I'd be acting captain."

"Now I'm making the call. No more waiting. We're going out there to fight them!"

"I'll twist the heads off those two Hidden Mist squads and show them how hard a Hidden Leaf shinobi can hit!"

"Charge with me!"