After wiping out that small stronghold of Sand Ninja and destroying all evidence, Hatake Sakumo led his team on a journey that lasted all night.
Finally, after seven hours of high-speed travel, led by an experienced elite Anbu Ninja, the group crossed the border of the Land of Wind without incident.
They arrived at the rendezvous point a full day ahead of schedule.
"Stop!"
In a low-lying desert, Hatake Sakumo ordered the entire team to halt, then took out a map and began to study it.
A few seconds later, Hatake Sakumo nodded, confirming that the small border town ahead was the rendezvous point mentioned in the letter.
Hatake Sakumo summoned a squad of Anbu and gave the order:
"Your team will infiltrate the town 600 meters ahead to investigate whether there are any traces of our personnel, and also to find out about the Sand Ninja's deployment in the town."
"Yes!"
The three Anbu responded, disguised themselves, stepped out of the ranks, and headed towards the town ahead.
Watching the Anbu depart, Hatake Sakumo stood up and looked behind him. Seeing that many of them were exhausted from several days of stealthy travel, he immediately gave an order.
"You've all worked hard. Take a short rest and get back into shape."
"But let us not forget that we are now in the Land of Wind; we must never forget to be vigilant!"
After Hatake Sakumo gave the order to rest, Shin'un heard many people around him sighing with relief.
This also included several usually taciturn Anbu Ninja.
Seeing this scene, Shin'un secretly made a guess.
Like this mission, rescuing one's own spies across borders during wartime is probably a very rare experience even for Anbu Ninja...
The intense infiltration these past few days has not only tormented Shin'un and his team, but also the Anbu Ninja.
Even the Anbu Ninja are still human. They will feel pressure and tension, and their movements will cause them fatigue and soreness.
besides.
The animal masks they wore had only two holes for the eyes; the rest of the masks were completely sealed, making Shin'un feel suffocated just looking at them.
Furthermore, I wonder if there are any rules or regulations in place.
Since the start of this mission, Shin'un has never seen a single Anbu remove their mask. Those animal masks are like they're permanently attached to their faces; they don't even take them off when they sleep.
For some inexplicable reason, Shin'un suddenly thought of a classic line.
"Does the El Toro Fuerte never take off his mask?"
"Heh~"
Thinking about it, Shin'un laughed, shook his head to stop his wild thoughts, and turned to look at the people around him.
Seeing that everyone had found a spot on the sand to lie down and rest, Shin'un also casually found a place where he wouldn't be exposed to the sun and lay down.
Speaking of which, the geography of the Hokage world is truly amazing.
When Shin'un graduated from the Ninja Academy and first stepped into the Land of Rain, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion countless times.
The Land of Rain truly lives Land of Rain; six out of seven days a week are cloudy, and five days are rainy.
The Land of Wind truly is the Land of Wind, from the moment you step across its borders.
As far as the eye could see, there was only desert, nothing but sand, with only the occasional sweltering winds that gave it a sense of reality.
The weather was also different from that of the Land of Rain; the midday sun was extremely scorching, almost unbearable.
Thinking of this, Shin'un felt a stifling heat all around him.
I felt a little better after pulling my feet, which were exposed to the sun, back in.
Time passed slowly as everyone waited.
Several hours later, after Shin'un had changed his posture several times to avoid the sun, the several Anbu who had gone to scout the town finally returned.
"How about it?"
Upon seeing the return of the Anbu he had sent out to investigate, Hatake Sakumo asked the first question.
Three captains from the Anbu stepped forward and reported the situation to Hatake Sakumo.
"Report! No rescue targets have been found in the town ahead."
"Yeah?"
Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo fell into deep thought, his brows furrowing.
Although the spy may not have shown up because they arrived a day early, as the person in charge of this rescue mission, he had to take responsibility for the lives of the ninjas he had brought to carry out the mission.
After all, she was a spy who had been infiltrating the Sunagakure for several years, so it's no surprise that the Sand Ninja would spare no effort in pursuing her.
Once that spy is captured, even if she doesn't reveal any information, the Shinobi World has countless ways to extract information from her mind.
At that point, the rescue workers who were summoned by a letter will be in danger.
After much deliberation, Hatake Sakumo finally decided to wait until the agreed-upon time in the letter.
"You've worked hard, take a rest."
After telling the few Anbu heading to town to rest, Hatake Sakumo turned to face the dozen or so ninjas behind him, his gaze sweeping over them.
Finally, he pointed to two people among the dozen or so ninjas.
Shin'un, and another female Anbu.
"You two, disguise yourselves and come with me into town to wait for our target."
Yes! Yes!
After that, the group began to disguise themselves.
Even if the Transformation Technique is mastered perfectly, there will always be flaws in the details, so the three of them used real disguises.
I changed into some tattered clothes I'd found, applied a thick layer of face mask to alter my bone structure, and then took out some cosmetic-like substance that I'd always carried with me and started applying it...
During this process, Hatake Sakumo and the female Anbu ninja inevitably...
Hatake Sakumo is alright; he looks just like he did in the original work—composed and dignified. Despite his serious expression, he exudes a kind and gentle aura, making him a handsome man with a mature, sophisticated charm.
The female ninja was unfamiliar to me; she didn't seem to have appeared in the original work. However, her well-proportioned features and high ponytail gave her a dashing and heroic appearance.
It seems the selection process for Anbu Ninja is indeed rigorous; not only must they meet the required skill and experience standards, but even their appearance is taken into account...
Unlike the previous group of Anbu, this time they put a lot of effort into their disguise because they were going to stay in the town overnight. Each of the three had several ninjas surrounding them to help them with their disguise and to check for any flaws.
A dozen minutes later, the disguise was complete.
A dark-skinned, honest-looking middle-aged man, an ordinary-looking, slightly overweight middle-aged woman, and a petite but adorable little girl—these three form a newly formed family of three.
It was obvious that the Anbu Ninja were highly skilled in disguise; their disguises were so realistic that not a single flaw could be detected.
Several Anbu Ninja looked at Shin'un, nodded in satisfaction, and then dispersed, revealing Shin'un who had been surrounded by the crowd.
"Pfft~ Ha~"
Upon seeing Shin'un's disguised appearance, Yūichi's suppressed laughter immediately rang out, attracting the attention of several people around him.
Shiina Kō also saw Shin'un's current appearance immediately, and for some reason, his eyes lit up instantly.