"Yakushi Nonō?"
If Shin'un remembered correctly, that was the name of the woman in the photograph.
Passing the photograph to the Jonin beside him, Shin'un thought in silence.
He remembered that, besides being Kabuto Yakushi's adoptive mother, Yakushi Nonō was indeed also a veteran Konoha spy.
She even had the nickname "Wandering Miko" in the shinobi world.
He had not expected the Wandering Miko and the Konoha White Fang to have this sort of connection during the Second Shinobi World War.
Shin'un shook his head slightly at the thought.
"All right, we need to reach the designated rendezvous point within a week."
With that, Hatake Sakumo took out a map of the shinobi world, spread it on the ground, and began the discussion.
Five days later.
In a dense forest within Sand Ninja-controlled territory in the Land of Rain.
There was no wind that day, yet, inexplicably, the treetops in this sea of forest swayed from time to time.
A closer look revealed more than a dozen people concealed among the trees, moving swiftly between the branches like phantoms.
The entire team was equally quiet and sparing with words, but there were clear differences between its members.
Most wore masks and standard Anbu equipment. They moved nimbly, their presence restrained, yet harboring killing intent.
Aside from these people, a few were clearly different.
They wore only ordinary ninja clothing, with Konoha forehead protectors and the distinctive green vests of Konoha Ninja, clearly marking them as ninja from Konoha.
Shin'un and his squad were among them.
Suddenly, someone returned from the scouting squad at the head of the team and approached Hatake Sakumo.
"Reporting! We've found a Sand Ninja outpost ahead!"
Hearing this, Hatake Sakumo immediately waved for the entire team to stop, then looked at the Anbu ninja beside him.
"What's the situation?"
The Anbu ninja answered without hesitation.
"It's a small Sand Ninja outpost with twenty-one ninja: three Jonin, ten Chunin, and the rest Genin."
"We found no other ninja nearby apart from those in the outpost."
Hearing the Anbu ninja's words, Hatake Sakumo nodded in understanding, pulled a map from behind him, and spread it on the ground.
After studying it for a moment, he pressed a finger against a dense forest near the Land of Wind.
Clearly, the Konoha party had already reached the location beneath Hatake Sakumo's finger.
Shin'un stood beside Hatake Sakumo in the formation, so he could see the map Hatake Sakumo carried with him just by lifting his head slightly.
Looking closely, Shin'un immediately noticed that, besides the surrounding terrain, the map also recorded the Sand Ninja's nearby deployments in detail.
For instance, ahead of their current location, dots representing Sand Ninja outposts formed a line.
"Is there an entire Sand Ninja defensive line ahead?"
Seeing the markings on the map, Shin'un immediately understood. There was clearly an entire defensive line ahead, made up of countless small outposts.
Shin'un shook his head, inwardly marveling.
How did Konoha get such detailed information on the Sand Ninja's deployments?
Which veteran spy was it? Yakushi Nonō?
If it really was her, then her value and abilities were truly immense.
With intelligence this detailed, even if the Sand Ninja later discovered the leak and hastily changed their deployments, it would still be enough to give Konoha an enormous advantage.
No wonder the Third Hokage had sent Hatake Sakumo to infiltrate the Land of Wind just to rescue a spy whose cover had already been blown.
Abilities like hers were clearly worth recovering and using again. Why not send her to the Stone Ninja, Mist Ninja, or Cloud Ninja?
Hatake Sakumo sank into thought as he studied the detailed map before him, while everyone in the team watched, waiting for the Konoha White Fang's decision.
A few seconds later, Hatake Sakumo made his decision and began explaining as he pointed at the map.
"Ahead is an entire Sand Ninja defensive line made up of small outposts. Going around them would take at least two days."
"We don't have that time. We need to rendezvous with our operative as soon as possible."
Hatake Sakumo paused briefly, then stood and looked ahead.
"So get ready. We're going to wipe out that Sand Ninja outpost ahead."
Hearing Hatake Sakumo's words, the Anbu ninja who had returned from the scouting squad immediately headed back to relay White Fang's orders to his teammates.
Rustling sounded around them as the ninja who had heard the order prepared for battle.
Shin'un did the same. Although he was absolutely certain that all his ninja tools were in their familiar places, he still checked them over to be safe. This was the caution a ninja ought to possess.
A minute later, everyone was ready, and Hatake Sakumo led them to the scouting squad five hundred meters ahead of the main group.
The scouting squad's captain was a sensory ninja whose sensing method was unknown. Seeing Hatake Sakumo approach, he immediately reported the situation in the outpost ahead.
"Twenty-one ninja in total: three Jonin, ten Chunin, and the rest Genin."
"Their positions within the outpost are..."
"What we need to watch out for..."
The Anbu ninja were indeed efficient. Only three minutes had passed since they discovered the outpost, yet they had already thoroughly investigated it.
After listening to the scouting captain's entire report, Hatake Sakumo gathered everyone and began assigning specific targets to each person.
Once everyone had confirmed their targets, they began advancing toward the Sand Ninja outpost ahead.
Ninja moved extremely fast, and the Sand Ninja outpost was already very close. After just half a minute, they could already see it ahead.
At the front, Hatake Sakumo had already drawn his short blade, White Fang, while the Anbu around him made their own preparations to attack.
Shin'un likewise began preparing...
After three years of training in and developing Lightning Release, Shin'un's methods of attack were already different from his Genin days.
Tiny currents of electricity emerged all over his body, yet not the slightest crackle could be heard, revealing his extremely high proficiency in Lightning Release.
When Hatake Sakumo's short blade traced a brilliant arc at the head of the group and he leaped out of the dense forest, Shin'un stopped holding back his speed.
Pressing his palms together, Shin'un used one of the fruits of his three years of work.
With electricity coiling around his body, Shin'un seemed to truly become lightning. Flashing with electric light and leaving trails of current behind him, he passed the dozen or so Anbu ninja ahead in an instant and charged toward the Sand Ninja assigned to him.
"What?"
A blurred streak of electric light shot past them. Having never seen such speed, the Anbu ninja were stunned for an instant.
Their well-honed discipline quickly allowed them to regain their composure and identify the streak of electric light as an ally, returning their attention to the attack at hand.
As though riding intangible lightning, Shin'un sped toward his targets.
The next instant, Shin'un was already behind his two targets.
With the human-limit reflexes granted by [Extreme Reaction], the two Sand Ninja before him seemed to move in slow motion, drawing their kunai and turning at a snail's pace.
Watching the two before him, Shin'un pressed his palms together, and a Ninjutsu was already complete.
"Lightning Release: Electric Current!"