In the wilderness of the Land of Iron...
Madara Uchiha was leisurely enjoying the series of exaggerated expressions playing across Reiji's face.
Suddenly, both of them froze. Their expressions shifted in an instant.
Madara's brow furrowed sharply, while Reiji broke into a beaming grin.
Hehe~ Nailed it!
At the mountain graveyard, Reiji's numerous clones had just ganged up on and beaten the wooden clone left behind by Madara Uchiha, seizing a massive batch of White Zetsu clones.
Even though the real White Zetsu wasn't among them, this haul was still an absolute win.
They exchanged a glance. Reiji's lips curled into a wide grin. Though his eyes remained closed, he still raised a playful brow.
"Old man, no need to see me off—I'm out!"
The moment he finished, Reiji formed a one-handed seal and vanished just as Banshō Ten'in was about to activate.
Staring at the empty surroundings, Madara slowly clenched his fists.
He was dying to curse out loud—but remembering who he was, he swallowed it down.
Konoha, 66 Tea Street. Reiji looked down at the neatly packed White Zetsu in front of him, the corner of his mouth pulling into a smile like a farmer admiring his harvest.
Nice!
Fantastic!
Even though he'd been caught off guard...
He had the Flying Thunder God Technique. He could tuck himself away in any remote corner—no one would ever find him.
The only problem now was, he didn't really have a good place to stash all these White Zetsu.
Thinking about that, Reiji couldn't help but feel envious of Obito's Kamui Sharingan.
Still, he had zero desire to gouge out someone's eyes. On the contrary, he was actually looking forward to Obito unlocking them himself.
Once that happened, he could finally put his upgraded Flying Thunder God Technique to use.
It had been nearly three years since Reiji infiltrated Kirigakure. Over that time, he'd climbed the ranks from one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to captain of the Intelligence Division.
Kirigakure's Intelligence Division wasn't just responsible for gathering and compiling intel from other villages—they also handled a significant amount of research and were equipped with plenty of high-end tools.
On top of that, Reiji had Hōzuki Gengetsu, the Second Mizukage, at his side—someone who was surprisingly adept at research and tinkering.
And most importantly, Reiji had a deep, comprehensive understanding of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
With the right tools, a capable partner, and seasoned skills, Reiji's technique evolved.
Through extensive comparative research into Fūinjutsu, the Summoning Technique, Flying Thunder God Technique, and Heavenly Transfer Technique, Flying Thunder God 2.0 was born.
At first glance, it didn't seem much different from the original.
But—unlike the old version, which couldn't lock onto alternate dimensions like Shikkotsu Forest—
The new one could. Now, Reiji didn't need a Summoning Technique to reach places like Shikkotsu Forest or Mount Myōboku. As long as there was a Flying Thunder God formula at the destination, he could go.
He'd finally achieved true teleportation freedom: go wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
The only catch was, these Flying Thunder God marks required his blood to create.
For a normal person, pricking a finger would be enough. But Reiji… he had to cut—
Which was exactly why he was hoping Obito would awaken his Mangekyō Sharingan soon.
Once he did, Reiji could mess with him a little, get himself dragged into the Kamui dimension—
And then? Who the space actually belonged to was anyone's guess.
It's just a storage room.
You borrow from me, I borrow from you. Who owns it doesn't matter.
Using Fūinjutsu, Reiji sealed most of the White Zetsu clones into scrolls for later use.
Happy moments always fly by. In a blink, two days had passed—it was time for Class 11 to gather.
Early that morning, at 66 Tea Street, three boys with large backpacks appeared at Reiji's doorstep.
"Reiji-sensei! Open up!"
"Come on, open the door, Sensei!"
"Sensei, stop sleeping! My back's killing me from carrying all this stuff!"
Their noisy shouting and banging drew curious stares from passersby.
Before long, Reiji opened the door with a yawn. His eyes lit up as he saw the gear the three kids were lugging around.
Hey now~
These little brats are actually pretty self-aware! They know we're heading out on a long trip?
What he didn't realize was that Shikaku Nara had already spilled all his secrets.
Then again, it wasn't that surprising. In a world where kids could go to war as young as seven or eight, the three nine-year-olds in front of him had long been privy to a lot more than they let on.
Not to mention, they were all sons of current clan leaders and the next in line to lead the Ino–Shika–Chō trio—there really wasn't much point in keeping things from them.
So naturally, they already knew about Reiji's three-year mission.
Seeing how on point Shikaku and the others were, Reiji didn't waste any time. He casually threw on a black long-sleeved shirt and led them toward the Hokage Tower.
...
In the Hokage's office, the middle-aged man Hiruzen Sarutobi was holding a quick meeting with the other top officials.
With the situation growing increasingly tense, even the civilians could sense that war was on the horizon, not just the upper ranks of Konoha.
The leadership now held three minor meetings a day and five major ones every two days. The moment any intel came in, they would immediately scramble into yet another strategy session.
You couldn't really blame Hiruzen for being so on edge. Sure, his political and military instincts were top-tier—
Even the wisest person can be drowned out by enough noise. Three fools can outvote a genius—or put another way, it only takes three idiots to outsmart Einstein.
No matter how sharp he was, there were bound to be blind spots. Which is exactly why meetings like this—pooling everyone's thoughts—were essential.
Right now, the high-ups were locked in a heated debate over battle preparations.
Even though Sunagakure and Iwagakure hadn't made any overt moves to attack...
Better safe than sorry.
Troop deployments, logistics, enemy response strategies, reconnaissance methods, battlefield selection—every one of these had to be ironed out beforehand, in case war broke out suddenly and caught them flat-footed.
This was especially true for a village like Konoha, where the power structure was layered and complex.
In contrast, in Kumogakure, the Third Raikage could just sprawl out on the couch and say,
"I've decided to go to war with Konoha. Anyone got a problem with that?"
...
Just as the Konoha leadership was at each other's throats over where to station forces, an ANBU member appeared next to Hiruzen Sarutobi using the Body Flicker Technique. He leaned in and whispered something in his ear.
Moments later, the ANBU vanished again.
Noticing Hiruzen fall silent, Danzō, standing nearby with a dark expression, pressed him in a low voice.
"Hiruzen, we must send troops to the border with the Land of Rain. I request to take command personally!"
Hiruzen furrowed his brows but said nothing at first.
After a long pause, he finally replied slowly.
"Reiji Sakuhō will be here soon. Ask him yourself."
At that, Danzō and Homura Mitokado—who also supported fortifying the border—shrunk back slightly in tacit understanding.
The two exchanged glances and fell silent.