"We're finally almost there," Inuzuka Midori sighed as she looked toward the nearby town.
Hakusei Tōya glanced at her and said, "Didn't you say your body was strong? You even wanted me to teach you Haki early. Now you're tired?"
Midori chuckled twice. "Not tired, really. Just… traveling is boring."
As they neared Kusagakure, the four of them changed their appearances, no longer wearing their ANBU uniforms.
They weren't stupid, marching into another village in another country while wearing ANBU uniforms was practically begging to be arrested.
Tōya observed for a while and noticed that Kusagakure, unlike Konoha, didn't have a barrier surrounding the entire village.
So he led the others through a quiet, out-of-the-way corner, slipping inside.
Despite being called a "village," a hidden village was usually the size of a town. Even Konoha couldn't post guards at every corner, it relied on barriers. Kusagakure? Not even close.
As a result, their infiltration went smoothly. No resistance at all.
"Kusagakure's this rundown?" Midori muttered, looking around at the weathered buildings.
Before Tōya could explain, Shiotsu spoke up, "One, we entered from a pretty beat-up section. Two, this place was a battlefield not long ago between Konoha and Iwagakure."
Tōya pressed two fingers together and tapped lightly on Midori's forehead. "Look at Shiotsu, why don't you know any of this?"
Midori puffed her chest out proudly. "I only know how to fight! Thinking too hard gives me a headache. Just point me at the enemy, that's all I need!"
Tōya was speechless. How could someone look so smug while admitting they had no brains and only knew how to fight? Such a cute girl, yet that mouth of hers ruined it.
"Kakashi, Shiotsu, keep an eye on her. Don't let her blow our cover," Tōya instructed.
If they were exposed, he'd just have to grab the intel by force. Not like anyone in Kusagakure could stop him anyway.
The perfect infiltration, just kill everyone who sees you. No witnesses, no trace. Perfection.
Kakashi and Shiotsu both nodded. Clearly, they were well aware their teammate wasn't exactly reliable.
Tōya glanced up. The sun was high. It was only early afternoon.
"We'll split into three teams. Kakashi, you're with me. Shiotsu, you team up with Midori."
There was a reason for this arrangement.
With his strength, Tōya didn't even need to sneak around. He could waltz in and out of anywhere. Of course he could go solo.
Kakashi had already been promoted to jōnin last year during the war, and with the Sharingan, his strength wasn't weak. One-man team? No problem.
Shiotsu had the brains, but not the muscle. Midori had decent strength but lacked smarts. Pairing them up balanced their weaknesses.
"I'll look for the Kusagakure ANBU base. Kakashi, gather intel on how the average ninja here feel about the war. Shiotsu, Midori, try to dig up any info on those three Kusagakure ninja we captured."
"We regroup here at sundown."
"If you're discovered, don't hold back. Make a big enough mess, and I'll come bail you out."
The three nodded. No objections to Tōya's plan. And so, the four split into three teams and began their mission in Kusagakure.
. . .
Tōya used the Transformation Jutsu to turn himself into an ordinary middle-aged man and wandered through Kusagakure.
No helping it, his handsome face just drew too much attention. If a female ninja spotted him and wanted to drag him off to "applaud" him in private… well, that'd be troublesome.
A guy's gotta protect himself out here.
As he walked the village streets, Tōya subtly studied the surrounding buildings.
Because he'd spent so much time laying low in the past, aside from being forcibly drafted to the battlefield, he'd never even left Konoha before, let alone entered another hidden village.
This mission was an entirely new experience.
To his surprise, Kusagakure seemed to be copying Konoha quite well.
They had a ninja academy, an ANBU force, and even a hospital called the Kusagakure Medical Center. The facility was decently large and impressively structured.
This actually shocked Tōya a little. Medical ninja were rare. Outside of Konoha, almost no village could properly train them.
Thanks to Tsunade's initiative, Konoha had long since built a full medical support system, each ninja squad during wartime had its own medic. That kind of setup was unheard of elsewhere.
And yet, this tiny village had a fully functioning hospital? That was honestly impressive.
If he weren't here to steal ANBU intel, he might've wanted to go check it out himself.
As he walked toward a more deserted area, Tōya activated Observation Haki to sense chakra signatures.
In Konoha, ANBU bases were usually built on the outskirts, far from crowded areas, probably the same here.
But when he entered earlier, that area didn't have many chakra sources. Mostly civilians.
He searched carefully and finally sensed a dense cluster of ninja signatures beneath a hidden underground structure on the village's western side.
The western terrain of Kusagakure was lower than the east, downstream from a river and covered in thick forest. Not many people came here.
Above the ANBU hideout was a typical Kusagakure-style courtyard.
Tōya sensed only two mid-level ninja nearby, likely guarding the place.
Maybe they figured the ANBU inside were strong enough to protect themselves, so they didn't post serious guards?
Tōya leapt lightly into the courtyard, silent as a shadow.
Just as he was about to enter the underground chamber, his Observation Haki picked up a powerful chakra signature approaching fast.
He quickly withdrew and perched atop the building, waiting quietly.
Soon, a ninja in Kusagakure ANBU uniform emerged. As he passed through the front gate, the two guards bowed and greeted him, "Lord Morishita."
The ANBU member, apparently named Morishita, said nothing, simply nodding before leaving the premises.
Tōya's eyes lit up. He silently followed.
Digging up intel would take days, maybe longer. Why not just assume an ANBU identity?
That "Lord Morishita" seemed to have some rank. He probably had unrestricted access to the base.
If Tōya took him out and used the Transformation Jutsu to impersonate him, the mission would get a whole lot easier.
If Morishita's position was high enough, he might even be able to summon the intel directly, let Kusagakure's ANBU hand him everything on a silver platter.
Tōya grinned.
Yeah… this might just work.
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter