I have a bunch of relatives who want to become Hokage.

"I see. If the attackers are ninjas from Amegakure, it will indeed be very troublesome."

"Oh?" The envoy's expression changed for the first time. "Your Excellency, you seem quite certain that Amegakure is more likely than Akatsuki."

“Our clan also has its own intelligence sources. The Akatsuki organization is very complicated, but so far, they are more disciplined than Amegakure.”

Uchiha Shingen said with a serious expression.

Uchiha Shisui, who was standing next to him, glanced at him, held back, and remained silent.

Seeing the changes in the expressions of the two men, the envoy smiled slightly, said nothing, and simply took out a map and handed it to Uchiha Shingen.

"Then, I wish you two ninjas a successful mission."

"I accept your good words."

After taking the map, Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Shisui opened the door and got out of the car.

The waiting guards closed the car doors again and then directed the convoy to set off.

After the convoy had driven far away, Uchiha Shisui finally spoke up and asked, "Shingen-nii, how come I didn't know about this information?"

Of course you don't know, I made it up.

"Because I made it up."

"Huh? Isn't that a lie?" Uchiha Shisui exclaimed in shock.

"It's only a lie if you believe them, but they didn't believe you." Uchiha Shingen scoffed, thinking, "This kid is too honest."

How can marketing a brand be called deception?

"What should we do? This special envoy probably won't trust us anymore." Uchiha Shisui was anxious and began to consider whether to use Body Flicker Technique to chase after them.

"What's the rush? Can't you see that others don't care at all? Besides, that's what he thinks too."

Uchiha Shingen kept shaking his head.

My little brother really needs to change his way of thinking.

Seeing that Uchiha Shisui still seemed to be struggling with the idea, Uchiha Shingen had no choice but to explain it to him more clearly.

"These supplies belong to the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, the people transporting the supplies are all from the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, our employer is also the Daimyo of the Land of Rain, the attackers must be Rain Ninja, the Uchiha clan's accurate intelligence is also a fact, understand?"

Chapter Twenty-Two: Arrival at the Border

Uchiha Shingen's conversation with the special envoy in the carriage wasn't very long, but through a few key pieces of information, he was able to be certain of one thing.

This mission was not to escort supplies, but a national military operation, and their task was part of that operation.

Those people from Daming Prefecture definitely weren't up to anything good.

Since it's all a smokescreen, it's normal to do some commercial hype along the way, since it's already been pre-arranged that the Rain Ninja are coming to steal the supplies.

The envoy from the Daimyo Prefecture was very cooperative, after all, Uchiha Shingen was also very cooperative with him.

However, if the Land of Fire were to genuinely help the Land of Rain, they would be completely out of their minds.

The Land of Rain is the most troublesome country in the Naruto world; it loves to cause trouble and has the ability to do so.

Before the Second Shinobi World War, Amegakure was firmly ranked first after the Five Great Villages. As a small ninja village, Amegakure launched the Second Shinobi World War, attacking Konoha while also provoking Sunagakure.

In the days that followed, Hanzo of Amegakure, Chiyo of Sunagakure, and Tsunade of Konoha fully demonstrated what the intense competition among ninjas truly meant.

After watching the special envoy's convoy depart, Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Shisui set off on their journey to the border territory's administrative center marked on the map.

Along the way, adhering to the principle of integrity, Uchiha Shingen began to instruct Uchiha Shisui on the methods of Yang Release training.

The Uchiha clan truly started at the forefront of the Naruto world. The existence of the Sharingan allowed the Uchiha clan's Yin Release power to reach its "ultimate" stage from the very beginning.

In contrast, the "Sage Body" is hell mode. Even with complete and mature knowledge of Yang Release cultivation, Uchiha Shingen started training at the age of three and only managed to cultivate the most basic "Sage Body" at the age of sixteen.

This led to an explosive increase in his chakra reserves, making him adept at learning, using, and even modifying ninjutsu. His physical abilities also increased significantly. The so-called Sage Body is a physical transformation that occurs as the power of Yang Release is fed back over a long period, resulting in a change in physical attributes akin to "evolution."

However, Uchiha Shingen never defined himself as a Yang Release type ninja throughout his life.

What he sought was simply to overcome the various "flaws" of the Sharingan by leveraging the enhanced abilities of the "Sage Body".

He told Uchiha Shisui about this without hiding anything from him.

Uchiha Shingen was unaware of Uchiha Shisui's views on Yang Release, but he hoped that Shisui wouldn't go astray or even reverse the order of things in the future.

Two days later, the two arrived at their destination, a large territory that bordered both the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass, and whose capital was a bustling metropolis.

The local magistrate greeted them, and the two finally met their "teammates" for the next three months.

That is, those ten monks.

The Land of Fire is the Land of Ninjas, meaning a country where ninjas are the main military force. However, ninjas are not the only profession that can fight using chakra.

In the Land of Fire, besides ninjas, there are also monks.

The monks were organized as scattered temples, which were not on the same level as the daimyo prefecture, but rather were managed by the genbanry, which was the state department responsible for managing them.

Another difference between monks and ninjas is that monks are not professional military personnel. They can use chakra, and the powerful ones can even create a giant Buddha statue to unleash a devastating attack. However, they are involved in the cultural industry.

As for those whom Uchiha Shingen encountered, their part-time jobs were even more extensive; they had to use the guise of monks to conduct espionage work for the Daimyo Prefecture.

However, this is a good match for my major.

After meeting Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Shisui, the monks generously declared that they would follow the ninja's lead.

Uchiha Shingen then skillfully said, "We're all on the same side, let's communicate more."

However, now that the two sides have met, it's time to set off.

Everything was ready, and the grand procession left the city and headed towards the border.

A long line of over a thousand laborers formed a supply convoy. For the impoverished and chaotic Rain Kingdom, these supplies were a considerable fortune, especially since most of them were food.

Ten monks led the procession, while Uchiha Shingen and Uchiha Shisui followed behind the monks along with the samurai.

Uchiha Shisui silently absorbed the Yang Release knowledge he had learned along the way, while Uchiha Shingen was considering other things.

I wonder what level that demigod has reached now.

As a contemporary of Hiruzen Sarutobi, this person's peak period was before the Second Shinobi World War.

Back then, Hanzo was the epitome of a domineering protagonist, and he especially liked to play the tactic of appreciating talent. Unfortunately, he failed to fool any of the truly talented new generation.

Later, when it came time to deceive people, he pulled another stunt.

Therefore, ninjas should really refrain from doing anything too fancy or flashy. Not only does it ruin their character, but it's also a thankless task.

To be honest, Uchiha Shingen wasn't really afraid of this guy.

Firstly, Hanzo is not only old, but also completely demoralized by the two Shinobi World Wars. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is now a skeleton in a tomb.

Secondly, Hanzo's skill set poses little threat to Uchiha Shingen.

In the following days, as the group gradually approached the border, the weather became increasingly similar to that of the Land of Rain.

The sky over the border is always gray, and it rains from time to time.

But compared to the heart of the Land of Rain, this is nothing; the Land of Rain has the highest rainfall frequency in the Naruto world.

The group that reached the border finally met up with the people from the Land of Rain.

The people of the Rain Country wear raincoats year-round, and these people who make contact are no exception.

Behind them was a large crowd of people who looked at the long convoy from the Land of Fire with eyes full of hope.

The constant warfare has led to a severe food shortage in the Land of Rain.

In this country, even nobles cannot waste food, not because of morality, but simply because of food shortages.

Even nobles have large families to support.

The only place that doesn't lack food is probably Amegakure, because nowadays Amegakure robs people from their own country.

Only the people of the five great nations can enjoy a peaceful and prosperous life. Even the poorest country, the Land of Wind, is peaceful despite the fact that Sunagakure seems to be cursed, with either the death of a Kazekage or the loss of a war.

"These people are truly pitiful," Uchiha Shisui remarked.

Then, quite naturally, they entered a state of combat readiness.

"Bad luck, there's nothing we can do." Uchiha Shingen looked ahead as the monks walked towards the leader of the Land of Rain. "Let's go, the mission has begun."

Chapter Twenty-Three: What a Shabby Place!

The sky over the Land of Rain is always gloomy, and the whole country seems to be shrouded in a desolate atmosphere.

The country is almost entirely dominated by the rainy season, with most of its territory shrouded in rain for twelve months of the year.

Today, the Land of Rain is filled with dilapidated towns, and the poorly maintained roads are covered in mud. Every step you take is a muddy mess, and occasionally you'll find a few broken bones.

The wind in the wilderness was cold and whistling, blowing in gusts, its chill tinged with cruelty. Wild plants were happily absorbing the nutrients brought by the rain, but the fields that should have been growing rice were overgrown with weeds.

The road leading from the border of the Land of Fire to the capital is one of the few main roads in the Land of Rain that can still be barely functioning, but the surface is uneven. When you encounter a large puddle, pedestrians must go around it—it may have been blasted out by ninjas using explosive tags, and ordinary people who fall in will not be able to climb out.

One section of this road passes over a hill where there used to be a sentry post, but now only a low wall remains, covered with vines.

Looking down from here, you can see a convoy of vehicles slowly moving along the road.

From the perspective of the hillside, the pace is truly slow, barely faster than a tortoise crawling.

Beside the low wall, the space twisted like a vortex, and a person wearing a spiral-patterned single-eyed mask appeared there.

The masked man wore a robe with no markings that could identify him.

After a while, a humanoid creature emerged halfway out of the weeds beside him. Its body was half black and half white, with a clear boundary.

"This is...grain?" it looked at the convoy below. "Should we rob them? Or give it to that brat?"

The masked man seemed not to hear, and a scarlet Sharingan was visible through the single eye hole on his mask, staring at the convoy in the distance.

Ignoring his companion's persistent questions, past memories surfaced in his mind.

"Obito, congratulations on becoming a ninja! Let me give you a piece of advice: If you have no woman in your heart, you can defeat five Kage with one hand."

"You ask how I opened my eyes? Good question! Brother, let me give you another piece of advice: there are three jade beads in the tea!"

"What's so fun about Fire Release? Raising fish is the real deal! Come on! Let's learn Water Release together!"

"Obito, I've submitted a request. Can I have this opportunity? I've never even seen what an Iwa ninja looks like."