Chapter 39: The Experts of Kirigakure
Whoosh!
Deep within the forest, beneath a patch of grass, an eye suddenly opened.
It remained completely concealed by the surrounding environment.
The eye shifted slightly.
"Byakugan."
Ao circulated his chakra and activated his Byakugan once again.
His field of vision rapidly expanded.
A hundred meters.
A thousand.
Only after confirming that there were no Konoha shinobi nearby did Ao finally emerge from the grass.
His expression was grim.
"Uchiha..."
The scene from earlier remained fresh in his mind.
Those greenish chakra signatures.
That crimson chakra.
They lingered in his mind like a nightmare.
Long-range genjutsu.
Body Flicker.
Swordsmanship.
Powerful Fire Release.
Taijutsu.
The two Uchiha had displayed abilities that were genuinely frightening.
Now that he had witnessed the strength of the Uchiha firsthand, Ao couldn't help feeling that even the Byakugan implanted in his right eye no longer seemed quite so extraordinary.
If only Kirigakure had a large number of Uchiha and their Sharingan...
"No."
Ao quickly shook off the thought.
"I need to get this information back to the Mizukage immediately. Otherwise, the village could make a serious strategic mistake."
As a jōnin and senior officer with real authority within Kirigakure, Ao naturally couldn't afford to ignore information of this importance.
He had already begun considering its implications for the war.
Whoosh!
Ao activated his Byakugan once more and immediately left the area, rushing toward the Land of Water.
Not long after he disappeared, five figures emerged at the place where he had been standing.
They crouched down and carefully examined the traces left behind.
"Judging from the tracks, our target has probably already gone a long way."
Gōenji frowned.
"What a shame."
Uchiha Shisui strongly agreed.
"There's nothing we can do. Although the Sharingan is one of Konoha's most powerful dōjutsu, it still can't match the Byakugan when it comes to pure reconnaissance."
"Exactly."
Gōenji looked toward the direction Ao had fled.
"If we'd had more people surrounding this area, we might have been able to capture him."
"That would also have allowed us to recover the Hyūga clan's Byakugan. It's far too dangerous for an enemy village to possess such an ability."
The Byakugan falling into enemy hands was indeed a serious loss for Konoha.
Its reconnaissance capabilities were extraordinary.
Just like this time.
If Ao hadn't possessed the Byakugan, he almost certainly wouldn't have been able to escape from the combined pursuit of Gōenji, Shisui, and the others.
As for whether killing him would alter the original storyline...
Gōenji didn't care.
If someone was his enemy, he would kill them.
That way, he could accumulate more accomplishments, exchange them for contribution points, and gain access to more ninjutsu knowledge.
"Since the enemy has retreated, let's head back."
Shisui smiled warmly.
"Brother Gōenji, tell me about what happened today. It must have been interesting."
Gōenji was momentarily stunned by that gentle smile.
Then he laughed.
"Of course. Let's have a proper chat."
"It's been a long time since we've seen each other because of the war. This is the perfect opportunity to catch up."
Shisui's smile remained gentle.
Just like the Uchiha in the original story...
He was still a member of the Uchiha clan.
And there was no way Gōenji would allow such a rare, kind, and talented Uchiha to fall into darkness.
Me, Itachi, and Shisui...
The three of them were already powerful members of the clan.
Gōenji simply couldn't believe that anyone would dare attempt to exterminate the entire Uchiha clan if the three of them held enough influence.
Or, more precisely, as long as they controlled the clan's direction, no one within the Uchiha would be able to force the conflict with Konoha to escalate beyond control.
That way, the tragedy of the clan's destruction could be avoided.
Therefore, he needed to build stronger relationships with those members of the Uchiha who were unlikely to deliberately escalate the conflict.
He needed to understand them.
That way, if circumstances changed in the future, he would have enough influence to guide their thinking.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Along the way, Gōenji and Shisui chatted pleasantly.
Aside from classified information, they talked about almost everything—battlefield experiences, the development of ninjutsu, different applications of techniques, and more.
"Wow. You became a chūnin at ten and you're already a jōnin now?"
Gōenji laughed after hearing Shisui's history.
"That's impressive, Shisui. You're a lot like me."
Fūjin lightly tapped a tree trunk before leaping down beside Gōenji.
"Captain, you became a jōnin a year later than Shisui."
"He's stronger than you."
Shisui immediately shook his head.
"No, no. There are still many things I need to learn from Brother Gōenji."
He smiled modestly.
"For example, just as Brother Gōenji said, compared with someone like Minato-senpai, we're still far from reaching that level."
"Hahaha..."
The three laughed together.
Even while traveling at high speed through a war zone, their laughter wasn't diminished in the slightest.
During their conversation, Gōenji also learned more about the situation on this battlefield.
In fact, Kirigakure's strategy was similar to Sunagakure's.
There had been no large-scale assault.
However, compared with the badly battered Sunagakure, Kirigakure was slightly more aggressive.
The main forces of the Uchiha clan, supported by other Konoha shinobi, were jointly fighting against the enemy.
They had successfully locked down most of Kirigakure's combat forces.
Only a small number of shinobi had managed to break through the defensive line and enter the Land of Fire to gather intelligence.
According to Shisui's analysis, Kirigakure's mentality was similar to Sunagakure's.
They were waiting.
Waiting for Kumogakure and Iwagakure to launch a massive assault.
Once Konoha was surrounded and its defenses collapsed, Kirigakure could take advantage of the chaos.
They weren't interested in attacking head-on like Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
Instead, they preferred to make use of the natural strengths of shinobi—stealth, assassination, infiltration, and covert operations.
That short, youthful-looking man, Yagura...
As the Fourth Mizukage, he's actually quite capable.
Gōenji knew better than to underestimate Yagura because of his youthful appearance.
Gōenji recalled the few scenes from the original story that involved Kirigakure during the Third Shinobi World War.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist appearing near Konoha.
Might Duy confronting them.
The subsequent deaths of most of the Seven Swordsmen.
Even in the flashbacks, there hadn't been many other scenes showing Kirigakure's direct involvement in the Third Shinobi World War.
Even the Seven Ninja Swordsmen's attack seemed to have occurred relatively late in the war, when Konoha's forces had already suffered severe losses.
There simply wasn't enough information about Kirigakure in the original story.
Gōenji could only make reasonable deductions based on the information available in reality.
In any case, compared with the battlefields against Kumogakure and Iwagakure, the fighting here wasn't particularly intense.
Before long, they successfully returned to the Konoha camp and immediately reported their findings.
...
Far out on the turbulent sea, a small ship raced forward against the wind, its sails billowing.
Before long, it passed the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools and traveled through the waters between the Land of Hot Springs and the Land of Whirlpools.
Soon, it entered the territory of the Land of Water.
Ao returned to the Land of Water without hesitation and immediately hurried toward Kirigakure.
"What happened?"
"Why are you in such a hurry?"
The short, youthful-looking Yagura looked up at Ao's hurried arrival.
"Mizukage-sama..."
Ao carefully recounted the entire mission.
He presented every important piece of intelligence in a concise and organized manner, making it easy for Yagura to understand the key points immediately.
"Uchiha Shisui..."
"And another Uchiha..."
Yagura frowned upon hearing Ao's report about the two Uchiha.
There was no denying that the Uchiha clan was extremely powerful.
He hadn't expected a handful of people to completely eliminate the small force led by Ao.
That was almost unbelievable.
"Yes."
Ao gritted his teeth.
"What should we do about those two?"
"They're too talented. We have to prepare for them now."
"Otherwise, they'll eventually become figures like the Three Sannin, the White Fang, or the Yellow Flash."
Konoha's talent was truly enviable.
Yagura fell silent for a moment.
Then his expression became serious.
"Hmm..."
"Give the order."
"Bring Kazuki, Kaguya Sei, Fubuki Shirō, and Munashi Hachiba here."
"I have a mission for them."