Konoha Village, Afternoon, at the Village Gate, as Usual.
The radiant sunlight filtered through the treetops, scattering onto the ground like the fragmented bangs of a young boy.
The cicadas hidden in the shadows of the trees chirped tirelessly, creating a noise that was both slightly irritating and oddly serene.
Rinjin looked at the three warriors standing before him, fully equipped and ready to go. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Very good, your spirit is commendable."
Opposite him, stood the trio of Shikaku, whose backs were already bent under the burdens of life and their backpacks. They tacitly pretended to be members of the Hyūga clan.
"Commendable spirit? Where exactly did you see that?"
"Are you blind? Or are you just blind?"
Unaware of the trio's internal complaints, Rinjin spoke boldly.
"This mission could last anywhere from a day to three years. Your task ends when you've infiltrated the upper echelons of Kirigakure and stolen intelligence that satisfies me."
"Of course, this might be a little challenging for you."
"So, I've broken the mission down into three parts: infiltration, blending in, and escape."
"Doesn't it seem much simpler now?"
Struggling to lift his head, Shikaku glanced at his gloating teacher, his lips twitching uncontrollably.
"Simple???"
"You think it's simple to assign such a mission to us, who have just graduated early from the ninja academy???"
Beside him, Chōza Akimichi, who was busy reducing his burden by stuffing food into his stomach, subconsciously nodded and said:
"Simple, it's indeed simple. Just walk in, smile a bit, steal something, and walk out, right?"
"Hehe~"
Hearing this, Rinjin immediately laughed, nodding his head rapidly.
"Exactly, Chōza is absolutely right. It's just that simple."
"So, here's your first task! Within one week, infiltrate Kirigakure. Collect intelligence and disguise yourselves; that's all on you. As long as both your feet step into Kirigakure, I'll consider it a pass. Of course, getting caught doesn't count."
After finishing, Rinjin placed three miniature slugs, clones of Lady Katsuyu, on their shoulders and patted their heads with his slime-covered hands.
"These are clones of Lady Katsuyu, your ultimate lifeline. If you encounter an irreversible situation, immediately seek help from her!"
"However, if you fail to complete the mission within a week, it will be considered a failure, and you must return to Konoha's village gate to start over. Moreover, for each failure, you owe me a ten-chapter, twenty-thousand-word mission reflection!"
"Alright, that's all. Off you go! Oh, and don't forget to feed Lady Katsuyu with fresh greens!"
With that, Rinjin decisively formed a hand seal and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
At the gates of Konoha, Shikaku and Inoichi exchanged helpless glances.
Still, their families had already said their piece, and since they were on this boat, they had no choice but to sail it to the end.
On a distant rooftop, Rinjin watched the three slowly departing figures, his eyes filled with anticipation.
The Ino-Shika-Chō trio—support, control, and offense; a very balanced team composition.
However, there was one flaw: the three clans were prone to being picked off one by one, and in surprise battles, they were likely to face opponents they weren't adept at dealing with.
What Rinjin aimed to do was to enhance their overall synergy and strengthen their individual abilities.
Infiltrating Kirigakure would be extraordinarily difficult for them, akin to climbing to the heavens.
Relying solely on Shikaku Nara to devise a plan would be extremely taxing.
This was where Chōza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka needed to step in.
After all, even the wisest could make mistakes, while even fools might occasionally stumble upon the right answer.
Moreover, the battles they would encounter along the way required the three to work together seamlessly, rather than leaving Chōza, the chubby one, to bear the brunt alone.
And with shadow clones helping to babysit, there really wasn't much to worry about.
With that thought, he formed a single hand seal and disappeared in an instant.
The Land of Water, Kirigakure.
Rinjin, now in the guise of Kisame Hoshigaki, returned to his intelligence office on the first floor of the Mizukage Tower.
The desk was piled high with documents, yet they were organized neatly and systematically.
Casually picking up a stack of reports, he began skimming through them absentmindedly.
The Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
A top-secret pre-war meeting was underway, attended by the Third Kazekage, senior advisors Chiyo and Ebizō, along with other high-ranking members of Sunagakure.
Scanning the room, the Third Kazekage spoke first.
"What did Ōnoki say?"
Beside him, Ebizō, in charge of intelligence, cleared his throat to remind everyone, then looked down at the document in his hands and began reporting.
"Intelligence from Iwagakure has arrived. The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, has agreed to the collaboration and has even designated the battlefield."
"Where?" the Third Kazekage asked gravely.
"Iwagakure plans to attack from the direction of the Land of Grass," Ebizō replied.
Hearing this, the Third Kazekage's brows furrowed slightly.
The Land of Grass!
That Ōnoki—what a cunning strategy.
The Land of Grass, whose Kusagakure had already been toppled by Konoha, was practically defenseless, unable to muster even a single jonin squad. It would be a piece of cake.
Moreover, the Land of Grass was sandwiched between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, which meant Iwagakure's supply lines would be significantly shorter.
It was common knowledge that even a one-kilometer reduction in supply lines could greatly reduce losses for the logistics division.
But! The Land of Grass was separated from the Land of Wind by the not-insignificant Land of Rain!
This meant that if the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth wanted to join forces to pressure Konoha, the Land of Wind's supply lines would become a major issue.
With this in mind, the Third Kazekage looked up at the others in the meeting room.
"What do you all think?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Chiyo shook her head, her gaze sharp as a blade fixed on the table.
"I oppose using the Land of Grass as the primary attack direction.
First, it's too far from our borders, making it easy for our vanguard to be detected!
Second, and most importantly, the supply line would be stretched too thin!"
As soon as she finished, a man wearing a white mask and headscarf tapped his index finger lightly on the table and said sternly:
"I disagree. The current terrain of the Land of Rain puts both us and Iwagakure at a disadvantage!"
Hearing this, many nodded in agreement.
The Third Kazekage recalled the intelligence recently received from the frontline reconnaissance team.
The Land of Rain might no longer be aptly named.
Most of its central region, nearly three-quarters of its land, had sunk into a massive lake.
Amegakure, located in the center, had become a large isolated island.
However, Amegakure was still connected to the three great nations of Wind, Earth, and Fire by three massive bridges.
It could be said that Amegakure's mysterious new leader had almost single-handedly transformed the Land of Rain into terrain completely unsuitable for large-scale warfare.
The Land of Rain could now be aptly called the Sea of Rain or Lake of Rain.
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