Tobirama Senju had the confidence to order Mito Uzumaki, the princess of the Land of Whirlpools, to cooperate with his mission for one simple reason.
He had long since seen through the Uzumaki Clan's motives for making such a grand show of force.
Uzumaki Ashina had dared to openly seize territory from other small nations under the pretext of helping the Senju carry out their mission.
Had Tobirama Senju read the Thirty-Six Stratagems, he would have needed only one phrase to describe the Uzumaki Clan's actions: "Borrow passage to conquer Guo."
As for his own plan, it was to "lure the victim into the trap."
But the victim he intended to lure was not Uchiha Izuna, their apparent target, but Uchiha Jing Xiu, the man he loathed most.
"Mito, let me introduce you. This is one of my guards, Moonlight Liuying of the Gekko Clan."
"Now, let's see what the Gekko Clan can do!"
Uchiha Izuna and his three companions were racing across the sea.
For ninja, moving across water was a basic skill, but no one had ever seen a ninja cross the sea using Water Walking.
Izuna's group had not run all the way back from the Land of Hot Water. Instead, they had abandoned their small boat as they approached the coast of the Land of Whirlpools.
This gave them more freedom to choose where to land.
The moment Izuna set foot on the beach of the Land of Whirlpools, Mito Uzumaki sensed a disturbance in the barrier.
Izuna and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, all merely chunin, still knew nothing of the wonders and power of barriers.
They thought their strategy had succeeded and were cautiously making their way toward the Land of Fire.
Unfortunately, in Mito's perception, the four of them shone as brightly as torches in the night.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Dozens of invisible wind blades shot from an Uzumaki chunin's mouth, separating Izuna from the young Ino-Shika-Cho trio and breaking their intact triangular formation.
Nara Yoshihiro knew things had gone wrong.
Unfortunately, his intelligence and composure could not offer any hope of victory.
Izuna had barely risen to his feet before a squad of Uzumaki chunin surrounded him.
The young Ino-Shika-Cho trio fared no better. Two genin squads led by Uzumaki chunin immediately closed in around the three of them.
Izuna drew his Ninja Blade from the Devouring Pouch bead, his One-Tomoe Sharingan constantly scanning his surroundings for enemies lurking in the shadows, waiting to ambush him.
The Uzumaki chunin wasted no words. Skilled in Wind Release, he sent streams of invisible wind blades with tremendous cutting power straight toward Izuna's chest.
Under the Sharingan's gaze, the wind blades formed from chakra lost their elusive mystery, and the Ninja Blade in Izuna's hand danced.
Though the wind blades came thick and fast, none could so much as scratch him.
Was this Uzumaki chunin's chakra endless? How could he use so many B-rank ninjutsu without exhausting himself?
Although Izuna sometimes seemed a little dim in front of Madara and Jing Xiu, the Uchiha's exceptional genes destined them to be well-rounded fighters.
With their cool heads and powerful ability to gather battlefield intelligence, ninja of the Uchiha Clan could often devise the most suitable battle plan in the shortest possible time.
His opponents refused to engage him at close quarters, instead taking turns wearing him down with ninjutsu.
Seizing an opening, Izuna used the ninjutsu he had developed, Lightning Release: Chidori, for the first time.
Needless to say, he had created this with Jing Xiu's help by stealing the idea from Hatake Ryuichi's junior, Kakashi Hatake.
Amid Chidori's shrill buzzing, Izuna became a streak of lightning, reaching the Wind Release-wielding Uzumaki chunin in the blink of an eye.
The Uzumaki chunin was prepared. Just as the Ninja Blade in Izuna's hand was about to pierce his heart, his chest suddenly drew back three inches.
Izuna knew he was in trouble. Immense wind pressure was already whipping his short hair into disarray.
He hurriedly pulled back his blade and crouched. The B-rank ninjutsu Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere skimmed over his scalp and slammed into a nearby reef rock.
The rock, as large as a water vat, shattered as though countless flying blades had slashed across it.
Chidori's failure made Izuna realize a very serious problem: the Uzumaki Clan must have already obtained intelligence on him.
Since mastering Chidori, he had never used it on a mission.
But quite a few people within the Uchiha Clan knew he had developed a new ninjutsu.
Did that mean someone in the Uchiha Clan had sold my intelligence?
The battle was turning increasingly against Izuna and his companions.
Although the young Ino-Shika-Cho trio worked together seamlessly, all three had already been wounded under the assault fueled by the Uzumaki Clan's absurd chakra reserves.
The Akimichi Clan's Multi-Size Technique had also been broken by the relentless bombardment of ninjutsu, leaving a gap in the Ino-Shika-Cho trio's unified formation.
Nara Yoshihiro looked at his wounded Akimichi companion, then at Izuna, who was all but cornered, and steeled himself.
He took out a small blue pill. His Yamanaka teammate caught his wrist. "Do we really have to do this? We still have plenty of chakra!"
After dodging a fireball, Nara Yoshihiro told his two companions, "While we're still in decent shape, taking the Forbidden Drug will give us a slim chance of breaking out."
"If we wait any longer, even if we escape, the drug's backlash will kill us!"
Ino-Shika-Cho acted as one. The boar and butterfly never doubted the deer's decisions.
All three swallowed their small blue pills at once, and violent chakra spilled from their bodies.
The Akimichi even sprouted a pair of butterfly wings. Both the effect of his Multi-Size Technique and his strength doubled.
Nara Yoshihiro's Shadow Imitation Technique grew faster and could control more targets.
With the Mind Body Switch Technique's assistance, one of the squad-leading chunin was killed instantly, while four genin were crushed beneath the enormous Human Bullet Tank, leaving no remains.
After breaking through the encirclement, the Human Bullet Tank did not turn under the guidance of the Shadow Imitation Technique. Instead, it charged straight through the combined Wind and Fire Release ninjutsu of two chunin and into the ring surrounding Izuna.
After working with his Yamanaka teammate to eliminate the other Uzumaki chunin squad leader, Nara Yoshihiro rushed through the opening made by the Human Bullet Tank and entered Izuna's battlefield as well.
The three did not linger to fight. The Akimichi released his Multi-Size Technique and began frantically burning the fat throughout his body.
In just a few breaths, he went from weighing two hundred jin to being a handsome, slim young man like Nara Yoshihiro. The butterfly wings on his back doubled in size.
He partially enlarged his hands, grabbed Izuna and his two companions, and flew into the sky.
This was the first time Izuna had seen that an Akimichi Secret Technique could produce such a powerful transformation.
Unfortunately, their good fortune did not last.
They had barely traveled a thousand meters beyond the encirclement before the Akimichi was forced to land, his chakra almost exhausted.
Nara Yoshihiro glanced at Izuna, used the Transformation Technique to assume his appearance, and ran off in one direction.
Izuna understood his intention perfectly.
He too used the Transformation Technique, taking on Nara Yoshihiro's appearance.
The Yamanaka carried the Akimichi on his back and ran in another direction alongside Izuna, who now looked like Nara Yoshihiro.
The Yamanaka cast a worried glance in the direction Nara Yoshihiro had disappeared. Looking at Izuna's back, he could only hope that fortune would favor Yoshihiro.
Atop a distant sand dune, red hair streamed in the wind. "To think Tobirama Senju's targets were merely these four brats. I really gave him too much credit!"
"And these four brats actually tried such pathetic tricks under the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. The Uchiha really do get worse with every generation!"
"I honestly can't tell whether they're stupid or naive!"
After inwardly disparaging the two men who would one day shape the Shinobi World's future, he leaped down from the dune and headed straight toward the current Ino-Shika-Cho trio.