Chapter 29: High Mountains, Rugged Ridges, and the Outpost
At the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Earth, Gōenji sped through the rain.
A heavy cloak fluttered in the wind.
How am I supposed to deliver this thing to Ōnoki in a way that looks completely natural? This is giving me a headache.
Gōenji continued forward at high speed, using the Body Flicker Technique.
It wasn't completely impossible for him.
Among the many shinobi in Danzō's unit, Gōenji wasn't the most skilled at espionage, but he was still one of the more capable operatives.
During their operations in the Land of Rain, Gōenji had frequently relied on his espionage abilities to make deductions and analyze situations.
He could gather a tremendous amount of intelligence while simultaneously leading his team in what were ostensibly ordinary missions.
And since Yui and the others ultimately answered to Danzō, they would naturally report Gōenji's performance back to him.
With the war raging, it was only natural to make full use of every available talent.
Danzō was particularly good at that.
Gōenji guessed that the more experienced espionage specialists had probably been assigned to other missions.
Those are all minor details. The real problem is how I can get this information to Ōnoki without anyone noticing, while making the whole thing look completely natural.
This mission was anything but ordinary.
Gōenji found it genuinely troublesome.
Sometimes, he really didn't want to keep doing this.
He wanted to become a rogue shinobi, find some remote place to hide, and simply watch the events of the shinobi world unfold from the sidelines.
Unfortunately, reality wouldn't allow that.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, he couldn't simply defect.
He wouldn't only have to worry about Konoha's pursuit squads. He would also have to worry about the Uchiha hunting him down—and the Uchiha were currently at the height of their power.
And because he possessed a Kekkei Genkai, countless shinobi from other villages, not to mention bounty hunters operating through the underground market, would inevitably covet his power.
After all, that Kekkei Genkai was the Sharingan.
If he wanted to enjoy its power, he also had to bear the burden that came with it.
Villages such as Iwagakure and Kumogakure had coveted the Sharingan for a very long time.
Just look at the original story. Uchiha Sasuke had become an object of desire for countless nobles simply because he was an Uchiha.
As an Uchiha jōnin who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Gōenji would naturally attract even more attention.
He might even become a target for Uchiha Madara.
After all, Madara was an Uchiha living out in the wilderness.
Compared with the entire shinobi world, Gōenji was still far too weak.
Haa... There's nothing I can do about it. I guess this is fate.
If he wanted a stable life, he needed to rely on the strength of Konoha and the Uchiha clan.
Otherwise, merely imagining the Five Great Nations hunting him in the future—and the bounty placed on him through the underground market—was enough to send a chill down his spine.
That kind of life would be miserable.
Even if he survived and eventually became extremely powerful, living like that would still be painful.
He wasn't a masochist.
If he could live a good life, why wouldn't he live according to his own wishes?
Why insist on making himself an enemy of the entire world?
Before long, Gōenji entered the territory of the Land of Earth.
The rain clouds overhead gradually dispersed.
Whoosh!
Gōenji shook his arm and took off his rain cloak.
With a powerful throw, he sent it flying into the distance, where it landed on a drooping tree branch.
After wearing this thing for more than a month, I can finally get rid of it. Even though it's been washed by rain every single day, it was starting to stink.
Gōenji took a deep breath, as though he wanted to draw the fresh air of the Land of Earth deep into his lungs.
The air in the Land of Rain had been far too humid.
Even a shinobi like him couldn't avoid feeling uncomfortable after spending more than a month in such an environment.
The outside world felt much better.
Back when he'd watched the anime, he'd always found the Land of Rain rather fascinating. He had admired how its people could survive as a nation in such an incredibly damp environment.
Now that he'd experienced it personally, he understood just how difficult it was to adapt if you hadn't grown up there.
He felt as though he'd been soaked through from the inside out.
"The next step is figuring out how to infiltrate the Land of Earth and deliver this thing to Ōnoki in a reasonable manner."
A scroll appeared in Gōenji's hand.
He was tempted to open it and take a look.
He wanted to know exactly what kind of information required such a carefully arranged delivery to Ōnoki.
Danzō had also imposed a deadline: half a month.
He had only fifteen days to complete the mission.
That was a daunting deadline.
Ōnoki was one of the most cunning figures among the leaders of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Moreover, both his political experience and his battlefield experience were far beyond what an ordinary person could match.
After all, he was an old man who had survived from the Warring States era.
Just thinking about how he was supposed to earn Ōnoki's trust gave Gōenji a headache.
"Let's gather intelligence first."
Of course, Danzō wouldn't expect him to handle such a difficult mission completely alone.
He had support.
Gōenji pulled another scroll from his waist.
This was the final thing Danzō had given him—a coded scroll.
It contained the codes used by Danzō's spies stationed within Iwagakure. It was an important tool for communicating with them.
The scroll contained several different methods of contacting the spies, making it an invaluable tool.
Gōenji quickly memorized its contents.
His enhanced mind allowed him to memorize most of the codes after reading them only once.
Still, to make absolutely certain he hadn't made a mistake, he carefully went over them several more times.
A quarter of an hour later—
Tiger Seal.
Gōenji refined his chakra, and flames rose from his hand, instantly reducing the scroll to ashes.
"First, I need to head to Iwamine Mountain in the Land of Earth."
The Land of Earth was dominated by towering mountains and rugged ridges, with more imposing peaks than any of the other Great Nations.
At the same time, those mountains formed a natural barrier around Iwagakure.
Thanks to that natural defense, Iwagakure itself had never suffered any major attacks from the Warring States era to the present day.
It could be said that, thanks to its geographical advantages, Iwagakure possessed the strongest defensive position among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Whoosh!
Gōenji passed through a small forest.
A vast range of towering mountains appeared before him.
Vegetation was sparse across the peaks. Most of the mountains consisted of jagged rock formations that pierced straight into the clouds, and the landscape was dominated by shades of ochre and brown.
"These mountains are ridiculously high. There must be plenty here that are taller than the Himalayas."
Even Gōenji found the sheer scale astonishing, despite the enhanced vision provided by his Sharingan.
He leaped across rooftops and walls, carefully memorizing the terrain he passed.
There were far too many mountains that rose several thousand meters into the sky.
Whoosh!
When he reached a mountain pass, Gōenji's figure gradually came to a halt.
He activated his Sharingan and swept his gaze across the area.
Something was wrong.
There were several details that didn't quite fit.
Among the jagged cliffs in the distance, a protruding rock suddenly seemed to tremble.
Under the Sharingan's enhanced vision, Gōenji immediately saw through the deception.
It was a camouflage cloth designed to blend perfectly with the surrounding rock.
"This should be one of Iwagakure's outposts, much like the outposts surrounding Konoha."
Gōenji concealed himself and carefully observed the terrain.
His gaze shifted from side to side.
The surrounding mountains completely enclosed the area, leaving almost no openings.
The only relatively easy way in was the passage directly in front of him.
"Let's find a way to climb up and take a look. After all, a ninja's tree-climbing skills are still pretty useful."
Gōenji knew that getting inside wouldn't be easy.
Even so, he needed to inspect the area personally.
Only then could he make sure nothing went wrong.