Five days later, deep within a dense forest perpetually shrouded in thick moisture in the heart of the Land of Water.
Lin Ze hid in the crown of a massive tree, his presence almost blending into his surroundings as he peered through layers of foliage at the outline of a village veiled in mist in the distance.
That was Kirigakure.
Even from so far away, he could sense the formidable vigilance emanating from that area.
As expected of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Their wartime security really is watertight.
Lin Ze sighed inwardly.
Over the past five days, he had tried various methods, infiltrating by land, using the terrain for cover, and even attempting to approach from the air under cover of the mist, but the ubiquitous barriers and sharp-eyed patrols had forced him back every time.
Kirigakure's defenses were several times tighter than the descriptions he had read in the ANBU files.
Without an ability as game-breaking as Space-Time Ninjutsu, slipping silently into the heart of a major shinobi village on war footing was practically a pipe dream.
Looks like getting inside to see for myself is impossible.
Lin Ze was not too disappointed. He had expected this.
His main objective on this trip had not been to enter the village at all costs. Confirming the movements of Kirigakure's main forces was what mattered.
Through five days of observation from the perimeter, Lin Ze discovered that there were few powerful shinobi inside Kirigakure. Most were Chunin and Genin, with very few Jōnin-level presences.
Most importantly, there was no sign whatsoever of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who symbolized Kirigakure's military might. Even the Third Mizukage, who had only a single portrait in the original story, had never appeared.
All the signs pointed to one fact-Kirigakure's