I simultaneously traverse countless worlds

Not to mention that Kirigakure has spies planted by other ninja villages, even Konoha, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure all have spies planted by the other four major countries. In addition to the deep-sea ninjas who have been lurking for years and the ninjas who have been planted and bribed, people planted under the pretense of caravans, merchants, and bandits are very common methods.

On this point, the five great ninja villages are tacitly aware of each other. No ninja village would dare to accuse us of sending spies to our side, as that would be a huge blow to ninja villages that rely on their reputation to attract clients and place commissions. The five great ninja villages secretly use their ANBU to screen and eliminate suspicious personnel. One of the important tasks of the ANBU of each ninja village is to send spies to other ninja villages and to eliminate spies from other ninja villages within their own villages. As for their respective countries, they arrange ninjas to carry out various cleanup missions.

In this regard, the priority of the five major ninja villages is very clear. Each ninja village is a semi-military city, and most of the important secrets are located in the major ninja villages. Although the countries where the ninja villages are located have a great influence on them, apart from things like procuring and transporting supplies, the countries do not know much about the situation of their own ninja villages, and the other ninja villages have not spent too much effort on planning.

The five great ninja villages pay more attention to the other four great ninja villages, or smaller ninja villages with strong combat power like Amegakure. Apart from a few key outposts guarded by the ninja villages, they at most send some ninjas disguised as bandits to conduct reconnaissance or sabotage.

It's not that no ninja village tried to prevent this situation, but unless a ninja village was completely wiped out, turning all its ninjas into wandering ninjas, as long as the five great ninja villages still existed, they would naturally spy on and investigate other ninja villages. After the two Shinobi World Wars, although a few small ninja villages were destroyed by the war, the five great ninja villages and some small ninja villages survived. So, this spying and counter-spying drama could not be stopped, and over time, it formed a tacit rule of covert warfare.

Similar to ninjas disguised as bandits stationed in their respective countries, each ninja village used to carry out these operations through missions. This served two purposes: firstly, to train future ninjas for their own village and earn mission rewards; and secondly, because the overall environment of the ninja world was such that farmers, exploited by daimyo, nobles, samurai, and ninjas, would often find themselves unable to survive and would directly occupy a mountain and become bandits, creating a situation where killing was impossible.

The five major ninja villages and other smaller ninja villages would send spies from other ninja villages to their own villages. If they were captured by other ninja villages, they would simply disappear from the world. Only those who were valuable or had a special status would be tortured and thrown into prison to await exchange with other ninja villages. The fate of ordinary spies was mostly self-evident.

In any case, the various ninja villages in the Naruto world are definitely not as one-sided as the anime portrays them, or rather, they are greatly embellished!

As you can see, the anime only mentions a few light details or flashbacks about the Wood Release experiment in Konoha Village, saying that many ninjas died in this experiment. Although the specific details are not explicitly stated, you can still feel the cruelty of it.

Secondly, the human experimentation projects led by Orochimaru in Konoha, as well as the experiments arranged by Root, initially targeted captured spies and bandits from various villages. Later, countless people from Konoha and even the Land of Fire became victims. In any case, given Root and Danzo Shimura's consistent style of doing things, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the dark side of Konoha was full of bloodshed and corpses.

Similarly, other ninja villages are not much stronger than Konoha. For example, there's Kumogakure, which cheats and steals rare bloodline limits and various secret techniques from the ninja world; Iwagakure, which uses bounty hunter Kakuzu and the Akatsuki organization to attack other ninja villages; Sunagakure, which rises to power by stabbing its own comrades in the back; and Kirigakure, which carries out bloody internal purges. It can be said that none of these ninja villages have such methods; they can all be considered legitimate.

Of course, now that the Hidden Mist Village is facing the Sand Village's war against the Hidden Leaf Village, it is not foolish to ignore it or act as a peace envoy. Instead, it has increased its own war preparations!

Of these, the cleanup within Kirigakure was naturally the responsibility of the Anbu, but the bandits entrenched in the Land of Water and the surrounding islands were dealt with by Kirigakure through numerous ninja squads assigned by the village.

At least, the Hidden Mist Village, located overseas, has a significant advantage in this regard compared to the other four great ninja villages. The other ninja villages are already struggling to deal with the major ninja villages around them, and they simply won't use their precious manpower to attack the Hidden Mist Village. The spies they have stationed around the Land of Water are mainly there to monitor the general situation.

It is precisely because of this situation that the bandits in the Land of Water are actually quite weak. Most of them are armed gangs composed of fishermen who could no longer be exploited and pirates. Occasionally, there might be a few rogue ninjas among them, which is already quite remarkable. The spies that the other four great ninja villages have placed among them do not have any Jonin-level experts at all. Ordinary Chunin are already at the highest level. Their mission is not to cause damage or trouble in the Land of Water. At the critical moment, they just need to deliver an accurate message and retreat. The drama of fighting with the Hidden Mist Village is not something they are prepared for at all.

The Hidden Mist Village understood this as well, and naturally wouldn't waste its combat power by having elite Jonin or the Seven Ninja Swordsmen do such work. At most, it would be good to assign a squad of elite Chunin to carry out the cleanup mission. The Hidden Mist Village's elite combat power wouldn't be wasted on this kind of task. The squad led by the elite Chunin that Li Mo was in had just received a message from the village and could choose to accept a related cleanup mission.

This gave Li Mo a great opportunity. He found that he didn't need to think about finding a chance to escape at all. He simply chose to let the elite Chunin captain under his control take on the mission, and they set off together three days later!

Chapter 45 Li Mo's Escape

"kill!"

"Sir Ninja, spare my life!"

"Pfft..."

A few days later, on a small island in the waters surrounding the Land of Water, dozens of pirates were met with a ruthless slaughter. At the crack of dawn, three Mist Ninja infiltrated the island, and a bloody scene ensued.

Those dozens of pirates were mostly fishermen, but they couldn't bear the heavy taxes and ran away. They joined forces with the remnants of real pirates and became a new pirate group. They robbed merchant ships, fishing boats, and even went ashore to plunder fishing villages. In a short time, those former fishermen were stained with the blood of innocent people and became real pirates. Incidentally, this attracted the attention of the Hidden Mist Village, which listed it as a C-level cleanup mission.

When Li Mo arrived with the Mist Ninja squad he controlled, having gathered the general information and sensed that there were no other ninjas from other villages hiding on the island, he simply waved his hand and ordered his three subordinates to take action, easily wiping out the rampaging band of pirates.

After all, compared to the official ninjas of Kirigakure, one of the five great ninja villages, the strength of those water bandits was simply not up to par. Among them, only a few leaders seemed to have learned chakra refining techniques, but their strength was not even as good as the graduates of the Kirigakure Ninja Academy. They did not know ninjutsu and relied solely on chakra to amplify their physical abilities. They might be able to handle ordinary people or even ordinary samurai, but against elite genin or even elite chunin, that would be a joke.

The three Mist Ninja were very skilled at throwing ninja tools and wielding kunai and ninja swords. They would not use ninjutsu to attack unless necessary, but even so, they made the water bandits helpless. Five water bandit leaders who knew a little chakra were killed in one move, and the remaining dozens of water bandits were left to roam freely. In fact, the time that the three Mist Ninja spent searching the camp was longer than the time that spent clearing them out.

In less than half an hour, the island where the pirate camp was located became calm. Only then did Li Mo leisurely walk into the pirate camp. With the support of his three subordinates, he began to prepare to carry out his disguise project of "golden cicada shedding its shell"!

……

A moment later, Li Mo brandished a worn-out katana he had acquired. The sharp blade, its shimmering blue light, left conspicuous marks on the island camp, instantly turning the corpse of a pirate leader into a cloud of blood mist.

This is precisely the swordsmanship and wind magic that Li Mo excels at, as described in the Otherworld Assessment Guide. In the Naruto world, Li Mo not only gained wind-attribute chakra, but the two days he spent traveling by small boat also allowed him to change the nature of his wind chakra, enhancing its cutting and shattering characteristics. A single slash would penetrate an enemy's defense and cause them to explode. Compared to the Naruto world, this skill is at least at the level of a Special Jonin or even a Jonin.

It's obvious that even a single elite genin might not be able to handle dozens of pirates (unless the genin is foolish enough to fight head-on). A combination of one elite chunin and two elite genin is already a very generous gesture towards them. Li Mo wouldn't even bother with these pirates; that would be like using a cannon to kill a mosquito. Naturally, he had no intention of fighting them.

However, Li Mo's deliberate act was not to vent his anger by desecrating the corpse. He had thrown his and his three subordinates' Mist Ninja headbands onto the pirate leader's body beforehand, turning it into a bloody mist and disfiguring the headbands beyond recognition!

"Mizuki-kun, what do you think of this scene?"

Looking at the scene he had created, Li Mo had one of the elite Chunin's subordinates come over to observe and see if there was anything that needed to be modified or improved in the scenario of the "foreign spy" killing the "Mist Ninja Team" on the island.

That's right! Li Mo's goal is to take advantage of this mission to leave Kirigakure and the Land of Water, escape this unfortunate place that is destined to be full of tragedies, and then develop his career!

Of course, preparing to run away is one thing, but how to run away is another. When Li Mo and the other Li Mo discussed this topic, they already had a general plan. He did not plan to defect directly from Kirigakure. That would not only make him a traitor in Kirigakure, but would also attract the Kirigakure's pursuit.

Although Li Mo was confident in his current strength, which was quite good—at least at the level of a Jonin or even an elite Jonin—it was still not enough compared to a major ninja village. Moreover, Kirigakure was not yet at the point where Obito Uchiha had destroyed it. Kirigakure was still recovering from the Second Shinobi World War, and the elites such as the major bloodline limit clans and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were still there. In addition, there might be Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu in the shadows. Naturally, Li Mo would not be foolish enough to jump out and reveal himself.

Li Mo was certain that if he defected and displayed the power of a Jonin or even an elite Jonin, Kirigakure would be extremely curious about why a Genin who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy would possess such power. Even Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu, who might be behind Kirigakure, would pay attention to this. Revealing his trump card like that would probably make him think he had too much time on his life and was preparing to dance on his grave.

Now, Li Mo plans to use the plausible excuse of "encountering a hidden master from an enemy ninja village" to fake his and his three subordinates' deaths and escape. The most crucial point is to ensure that the Hidden Mist Village will not suspect anything.

"Sir, I think we can clean up the traces. If it rains in the next couple of days, no one will suspect anything..."

Upon hearing Li Mo's words, the elite Chunin from the Mist Village checked the situation and confirmed that the master he served had not left any major flaws. He then respectfully replied to Li Mo.

"Okay, let's do it this way and leave by boat!"

Li Mo readily accepted the suggestion from the elite Chunin subordinate of the Mist Ninja. He directly used the technique of [Shadow World] to take away the useful supplies from the Water Pirate Camp, and then disguised himself and left the Land of Water with three subordinates.

In any case, Li Mo himself had no attachment to the Land of Water or the Hidden Mist Village. As for the Hidden Mist Village, which was about to usher in the Third Shinobi World War and the Blood Mist Era, Li Mo's reaction was to quickly leave this hellish place and find a suitable place to develop in a low-key manner. What he needed now was not fame or anything like that, but time to grow rapidly. As for ninjutsu and knowledge, he could use other means to gradually supplement the foundation he needed.

Li Mo wouldn't care too much about what happened after that. He only needed to check with the Hidden Mist Village spies he had fused with through the [Shadow Seed] to see if there was a warrant for his arrest and what the follow-up situation would be. That would tell him how effective his escape was!

……

"The squad led by Chunin Mizuki went missing on this island. Check for any traces immediately to find out what happened!"

Five days later, a team of Kirigakure ANBU wearing animal masks arrived on the island. At the command of the ANBU squad leader, the three ANBU ninjas quickly examined the battle traces of the water pirate camp and compiled a report for Kirigakure.

"A squad led by an elite Chunin was wiped out when they encountered lurking enemy ninjas. The culprit was identified as a Wind Release ninja based on the clues?"

When the Third Mizukage received the report from the Anbu squad at the Mizukage Building in Kirigakure, he glanced through the mission report and the general intelligence, his brow furrowing slightly before settling back down. He casually gave his approval and then sneered, "It seems the other ninja villages don't trust Kirigakure either. They've managed to find such skilled agents outside. Are they preparing to support their spies stationed within Kirigakure?"

Neither the Hidden Mist Village's ANBU squad nor the Third Mizukage connected Li Motong to this matter. One judged the culprit's situation based on the traces of the pirates' temporary camp, while the other simply judged from the current chaotic situation in the ninja world and pointed the finger at the other four great ninja villages.

After all, judging from the fragments of headbands and the traces of the camp, the Kirigakure ANBU squad determined that the culprit was a ninja skilled in Wind Release, whose strength was at least at the level of Special Jonin. Otherwise, a Kirigakure squad tasked with clearing out the water pirates would not have been wiped out. Furthermore, the Third Mizukage understood the current situation. With Sunagakure already at war with Konoha, the ninja world was in turmoil, and it was not surprising that elites from other ninja villages were spying on the Land of Water.

Based on their own judgment, neither the Third Mizukage nor the Anbu squad had any doubts. The Anbu squad naturally sent the report up, and the Third Mizukage immediately decided to crack down on spies from other ninja villages in the village again, and to search for and eliminate any hidden agents that might be hiding in the Land of Water. Even if it was impossible to eliminate all these hidden dangers, at least it would ensure that Kirigakure would not have any trouble when it went into battle.

As for the news of Li Mo and the Kirigakure squad's "death," it was naturally ignored by the Third Mizukage. After casually approving that the normal compensation procedures should be followed, the Third Mizukage didn't take it to heart at all, and didn't think there was any problem!

Chapter 46 Leaving the Land of Water

When the ANBU squad from Kirigakure arrived at the pirate camp to conduct an investigation, and the Third Mizukage received the investigation report and made the judgment that the death was due to an "accidental encounter with enemy spies," the overall situation was not unexpected for Li Mo. In other words, the life or death of a squad led by an elite Chunin was really nothing in Kirigakure.

At the very least, the number of Chunin in the five great ninja villages is definitely not small. Most Genin, unless they are eliminated in various missions or die in the Fourth Shinobi World War, will naturally obtain the Chunin qualification granted by the ninja village during their youth.

You mean the Chunin Exams with their extremely high elimination rate?

That's right. The Chunin Exams, held twice a year by the five major ninja villages, are indeed a way to select and promote ninjas. However, the actual promotion path for ninjas is still in the hands of each village. Procedures such as the promotion of genin to chunin and chunin to special jonin are decided by each village itself.

Naturally, the genin from the five great ninja villages who graduate from the ninja academy around the age of ten—not to mention the geniuses or those with bloodline limits or secret techniques—generally, after completing missions and growing in strength, not all genin have a chance of being promoted to chunin. However, unless you're extremely unlucky and die during a mission, or are unfortunate enough to encounter a conflict between ninja villages or the Fourth Shinobi World War, most ordinary ninjas from the five great ninja villages around the age of 20 can reach the average level of chunin. Therefore, the number of chunin in each ninja village is indeed not small, and the same is true for Kirigakure at present.

According to the investigation by the Kirigakure ANBU squad, the perpetrator was clearly a foreign ninja skilled in Wind Release. The headband fragments, which are highly valued by ninjas from various villages, further prove that the Kirigakure squad that carried out the mission should have been completely wiped out. The ANBU squad's report, based on common sense, was submitted just as the Sunagakure village declared war on the Hidden Leaf Village. Naturally, the Third Mizukage would not have thought there was anything wrong with this.

This made it easier for Li Mo to escape. He and his three subordinates successfully left the Land of Water by boat and headed to a country they had previously considered. At that time, they received good news from the Hidden Mist Village's spies through the [Seed of Shadow]!

………………

On the high seas, a small two-masted boat sails along. The old sailor, acting as the navigator, squints to observe the direction, while two elite ninjas temporarily acting as sailors are pulling the sails to better control the wind direction and guide the small boat toward its destination.

As a group that left the Land of Water, Li Mo had already decided on his goal from the beginning. Naturally, he would not regard the Land of Water, which was full of hidden dangers, as his base. He did not even consider the central and coastal areas of the ninja world. He simply relied on the general map of the ninja world in his memory, as well as the information he obtained from his subordinates and other channels about various countries, to confirm the situation and choose to establish himself overseas. He did not get involved in the mess of the Third Shinobi World War.

Without a doubt, the isolated Land of Water and the four great nations of the continent are all participants in the Third Shinobi World War. At this time, it would be pointless for Li Mo to go to the Land of Fire or the surrounding small countries. Even with a suitable disguise, it would be difficult for him to develop. He knows how brutal the Third Shinobi World War is. Even six- or seven-year-old children in Konoha Village were on the battlefield. The number of troops deployed by other ninja villages is probably also huge. Who knows if Li Mo would encounter a ninja war and be killed if he went to the Land of Fire or other places to develop under these circumstances.

After all, Li Mo considered his current strength to be decent, but compared to the entire ninja world, he wasn't considered a top expert. Moreover, there were many strong individuals, even Jonin, in the ninja world who had ways to counter his [Shadow Release], [Black Shadow Power], and [Wind Release]. He didn't intend to encounter those strong individuals right now; he needed to find a safe place to settle down and acquire resources to grow stronger and develop his power. Therefore, he needed to carefully select a suitable location.

Therefore, before Li Mo left the Hidden Mist Village to carry out this mission, he carefully recalled the plot of the Naruto world from his own memory. Based on the general information he had already learned, he determined a seemingly remote but suitable place to stay!

How long until we reach the Rainbow Country?

Seeing the boundless sea, Li Mo, who had grown tired of it after more than ten days, paid no attention to it at all. He looked at the situation, except for the sun in the sky to make out the general direction, and asked the old sailor he had "recruited" from the Sea Kingdom five days ago.

"My lord, it usually takes a month and a half for a merchant ship to travel from the Land of the Sea to the Land of the Rainbow to make a round trip, and that depends on whether the winds are favorable!"

Upon hearing Li Mo's words, the elderly sailor, who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties with graying hair, bowed respectfully to Li Mo and then carefully recounted his past experiences trading with the Rainbow Kingdom. Based on the speed of his ship over the past few days, he gave a rough estimate: "Our small boat is quite fast; we expect to arrive in the Rainbow Kingdom in about a week..."

The old sailor was very cautious. He had been "invited" from his hometown, the Sea Kingdom, where he was about to retire, by Li Mo with money and force. He immediately knew that this trip was quite risky. However, faced with the huge reward that would make anyone drool and the other party's ambiguous smile, he still obediently worked hard on this voyage.

There was no other way. After decades of trading, the old sailor had seen a lot and knew that haggling with powerful people was suicidal. Just like the merchant guild he had been with for half his life, the boss had tried to negotiate a price with a nobleman from the Land of Water a few years ago, but inexplicably, six months later, they were attacked by "water pirates" and both the ship and the crew were wiped out. If the old sailor hadn't been sick and stayed on shore at the time, he probably would have died at sea in the same inexplicable way.

Later, the old sailor witnessed his merchant guild being directly bought up at a low price by a high-ranking nobleman from the Water Kingdom. Knowing there was definitely something wrong with it, the old sailor quietly left. He naturally knew there was something fishy going on, but the other party was not only a high-ranking nobleman from the Water Kingdom, but also had a team of fierce warriors following him. Not wanting to lose his family's lives for nothing, he could only quietly leave the merchant guild where he had been for almost twenty years and start making a living on the docks again.

This time, the old sailor, who was "invited" by Li Mo, was somewhat unwilling, but seeing the other party throw down 50,000 taels of paper money, he had no choice but to step up again and do his best to show his value.

"Very good, you continue to steer the ship, let's head to the Rainbow Country as soon as possible!"

Li Mo didn't find the old sailor's cautious attitude strange; in the ninja world, it was considered a smart move. After observing the surrounding sea with a sea eagle controlled by the [Shadow Seed] and confirming that his group's approximate location was correct, he praised the old sailor and gave him instructions.

Seeing Li Mo's praise, the old sailor readily agreed and respectfully escorted Li Mo back to his cabin before continuing his own sea condition observations!

……

It must be said that Li Mo and his group were very lucky. They did not encounter any bad weather during their voyage. Otherwise, a two-masted ship sailing in coastal waters would have capsized and sunk if it encountered rough seas.

This was also what the old sailor was worried about. He had seen many terrible sea conditions. The merchant guild he used to work for had heard of wealthy merchants who tried to develop trade routes on the open sea, only to have their entire fleet destroyed by a major storm. For a journey from the Land of the Sea to the Land of Rainbows, a three-masted sailing ship was much more reliable. A small two-masted boat was simply gambling with one's life.

However, the old sailor not only saw Li Mo and his three former Mist Ninja subordinates walking easily on the sea and catching some fish as food, but also saw that Li Mo skillfully saved the ship when they encountered an undercurrent. He realized that his ordinary sailing experience was completely useless against these people who might have chakra powers. So he cleverly used his years of accumulated sailing experience to get his group to the Rainbow Country as quickly as possible.

For Li Mo, the past ten days at sea had not been idle. Although he was unable to fully practice his martial arts, and even his mastery of ninjutsu, shadow escape, and swordsmanship was difficult to use, he secretly pondered his awakened Shadow Escape bloodline limit and absorbed the extraordinary power cultivation experience passed down from the other Li Mos. This allowed him to quickly forget the boredom of the sea voyage.

Upon hearing the old sailor's excited voice and seeing the large island, roughly the size of a tropical region, and the surrounding scattered islands, Li Mo stepped out of the cabin with a slight smile on his face and said softly:

"We've finally arrived! The Land of Rainbows..."

Chapter 47 First Visit to the Rainbow Country

The Land of Rainbow!

This is an island nation in the Naruto world. It is separated from the Land of Water and the Land of Fire and Land of Wind, which are located on the mainland, by the sea. It doesn't even have its own ninja village. It can be said to be a rather remote island nation.

To the major ninja nations like the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Lightning, the Land of Rainbows was just a small overseas country that they'd only occasionally heard of. Occasionally, a merchant ship from the Land of Rainbows would come to trade there. Its fame was probably even less than that of a tiny country like the Land of Waves. At least in the Land of Fire, which bordered the Land of Waves, quite a few people knew about the Land of Rainbows, but in the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, practically no one knew about it.

Even the Land of Water is indifferent to the Rainbow Country, which is too far away. The reason is that the Rainbow Country was originally a new island that the Land of Water exiled to, and it was only discovered by chance by the Sea Country, the place of exile. However, the distance was too far, and the newly established Land of Water had no interest in developing it.

After all, in the modern world before Li Mo's transmigration, developing unfamiliar primeval forests or islands could cost lives. In the Naruto world, developing islands, not to mention the costs, just the initial losses of the relocated colonists were a major problem!

Based on Li Mo's experience in the world before his transmigration, particularly regarding the Age of Exploration and colonialism, even with adequate supplies and relocated personnel, the mortality rate in the early stages of a colony was as high as 30% to 50%. Moreover, this high mortality rate would persist for several years. Only when the colony had adequate sanitation infrastructure and established good hygiene regulations would the mortality rate decrease significantly. Otherwise, if you wanted to carry out colonial expansion and development, you would have to keep feeding people with your lives.

—A little-known fact about the Age of Exploration and colonization in Europe: In the early days of the Age of Exploration, sailors could lose half or more of their crew on a single voyage, which led to their willingness to spend lavishly on land. As for the mortality rate of colonists during the Age of Exploration, there were instances where a group of colonists died within three years of establishing a colony with harsh conditions. It was only when sanitation and medicine were readily available that things got better.

In the world of Naruto, before the Age of Exploration in Europe, the five great nations, including the Land of Water, and various smaller nations were focused on the conflicts and wars surrounding the most important ninja continent. The Land of Rainbows was an exception.