The restless Kumogakure

Night fell, and Tetsuya lay in his room, cultivating with his eyes closed.

His Husky Cheat really was unreliable. Other people received all sorts of rewards from their cheats and instantly gained enlightenment, learning every kind of Ninjutsu and Secret Technique in a single second.

But that damned Husky of his mostly gave him scrolls.

He still had to learn the Ninjutsu on those scrolls bit by bit. Only things resembling physical traits, such as the Evil God Immortal Body and Fire Release Ninjutsu Enhancement, were granted directly.

Fortunately, he did have some talent for learning Ninjutsu. Coupled with the long life his Evil God Immortal Body gave him, learning Ninjutsu really was not that difficult.

As long as a technique did not require a particular bloodline, he could theoretically learn every Ninjutsu in the Ninja World.

"Hm?"

While cultivating senjutsu with his eyes closed, Tetsuya suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation in the natural energy around him.

He immediately opened his eyes. He knew someone had arrived.

"Heh, did what I said during the day get under her skin? Was she so worried that she sent someone to look into me?"

Before Tetsuya could act, another figure appeared on the rooftop.

It was Izuna. Clearly, he had also noticed the visitors' ill intentions.

He was a Ninja who had been active during the Warring States Period.

Izuna's ability to sense danger surpassed that of many people in this era. It was an instinct he had honed in the dangerous, chaotic times of the Warring States Period.

Clearly, those two dim-witted fools had yet to realize that danger had silently descended upon them.

Just as Izuna was about to kill the two petty intruders outright, Tetsuya's voice sounded in his ear.

"Spare those two dogs. Control them with genjutsu and bring them over so we can have some fun."

Since Tetsuya had spoken, Izuna said nothing more. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared right in front of the two foolish intruders.

"Who's there?!" they both shouted.

Before the two foolish intruders could figure out what was happening, they sensed something suddenly appear in front of them and instinctively looked up.

That one glance brought a pair of scarlet Sharingan into their view. The three tomoe in each eye spun, joining into a distinctive pattern.

Sharingan Genjutsu activated. With Izuna's formidable ocular power, controlling two unremarkable Ninjas could not have been easier.

“Hmph. Stupid Land of Lightning Shinobi. Who gave you the nerve?”

Izuna snorted, then turned and led the two toward Tetsuya's room.

"You're here."

Seeing Izuna walk into the room with two masked shinobi, Tetsuya greeted him with a smile.

"Why keep these two around instead of killing them?"

Tetsuya tilted his head and smiled.

"To get information, of course. Aren't you a Ninja? Don't you know what you're supposed to do in a situation like this?"

Izuna curled his lip.

"Of course I know. But small fry like these probably don't know anything important. What could you possibly get out of them?"

"Hehe, I know. I just wanted to experience what being a Ninja feels like. Don't you think interrogating people for information sounds fun?"

"Does it? I don't."

Izuna spoke with a hint of smugness.

"No information can be hidden from these eyes."

Indeed, one application of Sharingan genjutsu was far more convenient for extracting information than the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Techniques, unless the target had prepared in advance.

Once the target was controlled with genjutsu, one could simply ask whatever one wanted to know without worrying about being deceived.

Tetsuya did not mind, however, and walked up to the two masked shinobi.

"Who are you? Who sent you?"

The two Ninjas answered respectfully.

“We're from Kumogakure. Lady Okai sent us to investigate Chiba Tetsuya.”

“Oh, Okai?”

Tetsuya rubbed his chin, thoroughly intrigued.

“Who is this Okai? Is she that courtesan, Mikiko?”

“Yes. Lady Okai is a special jōnin from Kumogakure who handles infiltration missions. Mikiko is her cover name while operating undercover in the Land of Fire.”

"Hey, she really is! Did you hear that, Izuna? That courtesan really is from the Land of Lightning. You've got a good eye."

Izuna raised his chin smugly.

"I told you not to doubt me. I'm an Uchiha. There's nothing an Uchiha's Mangekyō can't see through."

Ignoring Izuna's smugness, Tetsuya continued his questioning.

"Then why is this Okai of yours operating undercover in the Land of Fire? What's your objective?"

"We aren't too sure about that."

"All we know is that the village drew up a series of detailed plans that concern Kumogakure's development and future."

"After the Shinobi World War ended, the Second Raikage was dead, and the Second Hokage aggressively demanded a huge sum in compensation from our Cloud Shadow over the Kinkaku and Ginkaku incident. That severely affected our Cloud Shadow's development."

"So Kumogakure's leadership drew up a series of plans, including the Plan to Infiltrate the Great Nations."

The two dim-witted Ninjas took turns speaking, revealing every piece of information they knew without holding anything back.

After listening to them, Tetsuya had a pretty good grasp of what Kumogakure was thinking.

Kumogakure had gained nothing from the First Shinobi World War. Because Kinkaku and Ginkaku had caused trouble, and because Tetsuya himself had intervened, the surviving Second Hokage had gouged Kumogakure for a hefty sum.

Could that den of bandits in Kumogakure possibly swallow such a thing? Not a chance.

But a war had only just ended. Even if they wanted to cause trouble, they lacked the ability.

Still, although they could not cause trouble right away, nothing stopped them from making a few covert moves in preparation for future trouble.

So they drew up a series of plans, planting undercover agents in the various nations to collect intelligence and prepare for their next round of trouble—the Second Shinobi World War.

"Those brutes from the Land of Lightning really can't behave themselves. They just have to stir something up."

As the Uchiha Clan's second-in-command during the Warring States Period and the brains of the clan, Izuna had naturally figured out their objective too.

"The war has barely ended, and they're already planning the next one."

"That's normal. When has the Ninja World ever truly been at peace?"

Before the Shinobi Villages were established, the great Ninja clans fought year after year. Barely a decade or so after the villages were founded, the First Shinobi World War broke out.

Twenty years after the first war came the second. Then, barely ten years after the second war's hasty conclusion, the Third Shinobi World War erupted.

After the third war, the Ninja World finally settled into something resembling stability, but that stability was only superficial. Beneath the illusion of peace, undercurrents continued to surge until the golden boy Naruto grew up and took part in the Fourth Shinobi World War.