After a quick chat with Fugaku, Masashi ed up his team formation.

  F teams within the shinobi s was quite flexible; everyone knew each other well, so just letting others know was enough. The Hokage office didn't interfere in these matters—if you wao team up, they would just assign you a team mission.

  However, Masashi's goal was not to teach others; he was after an S-Rank mission.

  As everyone knew, Shisui has siderable influen the Hokage office.

  And it worked out very well, meeting his expectatioirely. The notification from the Hokage office came quickly.

  Unlike A, B, d D-rank missions, S-rank missions are only assigned directly in the Hokage's office.

  Whewo Uchiha arrived at the Hokage's office, the Fourth Hokage was sitting on a sofa, chatting with an emissary from the daimyō's mansion.

  Due to his skillset, Minato often handled missioed to esc national fidential dots or items, resulting in frequent dealings with the daimyō's office, far more than any other Konoha jonin.

  Over time, he made many friends there.

  The emissary from the daimyō's mansion was well-acquainted with Minato.

  "Hokage-sama, are these the didates you reended?" The emissary looked at the two Uchiha. "e to think of it, when we first met, you were around their age."

  "Time flies."

  "Indeed," Minato replied with a smile. "Back then, I had just bee a jonin, and it was your first time visiting Konoha as well. But don't uimate these two—they're both elite shinobi of Konoha."

  "The border situation is delicate. That's why I reehem specifically."

  Using nostalgia to build trust—clever, Minato, Masashi noted.

  "Oh, you must be joking," the emissary replied with a modest smile. "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave. I still o brief these two before heading back to Kyoto."

  "Of course. Just a moment." Minato hen walked over to Masashi and Shisui, pg a hand on their shoulders.

  "I won't say much more; your mission this time is to escort a shipment of supplies for the daimyō's mansion. The destination is he border of the Land of Rain. The area has been unstable retly, so be cautious."

  "Yes, Hokage-sama," the two Uchiha replied.

  "Very well then, Hokage-sama, I must take my leave now." After Minato finished his instrus, the emissary rose a.

  Masashi and Shisui followed him out of the Hokage building.

  A rge carriage was waiting at the entrance. A guard opehe door, and the emissary climbed in, but the guard didn't immediately close the door.

  "This lease," the guard gestured formally.

  "Please join me ihere are matters requiring... discretion," the emissary said with a smile from ihe carriage.

  So the real briefing begins, Masashi thought, noting the careful choice of words.

  Naturally, the two Uchiha plied, entering the carriage and sitting opposite the emissary.

  The guard closed the door, muffling the noises outside. The interior lush but not ostentatious—exactly what one would expect from a careful courtier.

  "What instrus do you have for us, my lord?" Masashi asked, maintaining the proper etiquette.

  "There's no need for suality; I'm merely a humble servant. I'm only here to rey messages." The emissary first looked at Shisui, who showed ion, so he addressed Masashi, firming him as the leader for this mission.

  He took out a scroll from the carriage and ha to Masashi.

  "This mission is issioned by the daimyō himself. Retly, there has been u in the Land of Rain, and our try has received a letter from him requesting aid. After discussions, he and the ministers have decided to reject their request for military support, opting instead for material aid."

  "Here's the list of supplies."

  Masashi opehe scroll for a brief gnce.

  The list didn't tain anything unusual; it was mostly food and basic supplies, with a small amount of onry.

  However, oem was not a material good but a service.

  An escort team would remain to protect the daimyō of the Land of Rain, requiring Masashi and Shisui to stay for approximately three months.

  "The mission is clear," Masashi said, handing back the scroll. "But with only the two of us, it will be challenging to escort such a rge shipment. Could you tell us more about the strength of the escort team?"

  "There are ten monks and 150 samurai, all of whom were inally from the Land of Rain and are highly familiar with the terrain."

  "And what about those handling the transport itself?" Masashi tinued.

  "The supplies have already been transported to the territory neighb the Land of Rain. The regional officials will arrahe manpower," the emissary expined calmly. "Rest assured, istrates are known for their reliability."

  "What about the route and schedule?"

  "Our responsibility ends at the border. The Land of Rain will provide transport from there. Rumor has it that a group called 'Akatsuki' has emerged retly, colleg supplies around the area. Ame is also dug simir activities, and both pose potential threats to the safety of the supplies."

  "I see. If Ame's shinobi attack, it could indeed be troublesome."

  "Oh?" For the first time, the emissary's expression ged. "You seem certain that Ame, rather than Akatsuki, would be more likely to strike."

  "Our has its own sources of intelligence," Masashi replied early. "Akatsuki is a plex anization, but for now, they follow rules better than Ame."

  Shisui g Masashi but stayed silent.

  the shift in their expressions, the emissary smiled slightly without saying more. Instead, he took out a map and ha to Masashi.

  "Then, I wish you both a successful mission."

  "Thank you," they replied, accepting the map and disembarking.

  As they exited, the guard closed the carriage door and directed the voy to move.

  Watg it leave, Shisui turo Masashi. "Why didn't I know we had that intel?"

  "Because I made it up."

  "What? Isn't that lying?" Shisui was shocked, his moral pass clearly troubled.

  "Only if they believe it. He didn't, so it's fine," Masashi replied with a smirk.

  "But what if this means the emissary won't trust us anymore?" Shisui worried, sidering going after them.

  "o worry. Didn't you see he wasn't really ed? Besides, he probably thought the same thing."

  Masashi shook his head, realizing Shisui's thinking needed adjusting. Still tohtforward. He o lear of diplomatic deception.

  Seeing Shisui still troubled, he expined more clearly.

  "These supplies belong to the daimyō. The oransp them are his people, and so are we. If aacks, it will likely be Ame shinobi. Our 's intelligence is spot-on, so it's justified, right?"

  Masashi's versation with the emissary in the carriage wasn't very long, but with a few key pieces of information, he was already certain of ohing.

  "The timing of this aid is iing," he remarked.

  This mission wasn't simply about esc supplies; it was a military operation, and their task was just one part of the whole.

  The daimyō's people definitely had ulterior motives.

  Si was all a front, naturally, they were pretending it was a ercial affair. After all, it was already predetermihat Ame shinobi would e for the supplies.

  The daimyō's emissary was quite cooperative, seeing as Masashi was willing to py along. But holy, if the Land of Fire was genuinely helping the Land of Rain, they'd have to be out of their minds.

  The Land of Rain was notorious for its disruptive influen the world of shinobi and had both the desire and the power to stir up trouble.

  Before the Sed Great Ninja War, Ame held the top spot among the lesser vilges and even initiated the war, challenging both Konoha on one side and Suna oher.

  In the days that followed, Ame's Hanzō, Suna's Chiyo, and Konoha's Tsunade brought the term ninja rivalry to a whole new level.

  After watg the emissary's voy leave, Masashi and Shisui set off toward the marked border territory. On the way, Masashi began to teach Shisui the teiques of Yang Release, all while adhering to the principle of iy.

  "The Sharingan is both reatest strength and limitation," Masashi expined as they traveled. "We rely too heavily on its power. Yang Release plement it perfectly."

  The Uchiha started with unmatched advantage in the shinobi world; their Sharingan grahem extraordinary Yin Release powers from the outset.

  In trast, mastering the Sage Mode was like hell mode. Even with prehensive knowledge of Yang Release training, Masashi took from the age of three until sixteen to master the most basi of the Sage Mode.

  This led to an explosive increase in his chakra, making it easier for him to learn, use, and even modify ninjutsu. His physical abilities improved signifitly—essentially, his body transformed through the tinuous enha of Yang Release.

  But Masashi never sidered himself primarily a Yang Release ninja. He simply aimed to use the bes of the Sage Mode to overe the limitations of the Sharingan.

  He en about this goal with Shisui, hoping he wouldn't go astray and miss the main purpose.

  Two days ter, they reached their destination—a major territory b both the Land of Rain and Kusa.

  The regional official weled them, and they finally met their teammates for the hree months.

  While the Land of Fire rimarily filled with shinobi, there were others besides them who could use chakra in bat. Monks, for instance, were anized in scattered temples.

  Unlike shinobi, monks were not primarily military persohough some were skilled enough to create rge Buddha-like figures, they were primarily cultural workers.

  Yet, those Masashi met here had an even broader job description—they had to work as spies uhe guise of monks for the daimyō.

  "We defer to shinobi expertise in this matter," the lead monk stated formally.

  "Let's dispeh the formalities. We all knoe're really here." Spies pying monks pying spies...

  After meeting Masashi and Shisui, the monks decred readily that they would defer to the shinobi on the mission.

  "Your role isn't just observation," Masashi stated. "What intelligence do you already have?"

  "The situation in Ame is... plicated."

  In response, Masashi adeptly replied that they were all on the same side and should unicate openly.

  With both parties alighey departed.

  Everything was set, and the vast voy left the city for the border.

  A thousand borers formed a long liransp supplies—a signifit amount of wealth for the war-torn and impoverished Land of Rain, especially since most of it was food.

  The monks led the way, followed by Masashi and Shisui alongside some samurai.

  Shisui silently absorbed the Yang Release teags while Masashi poher matters.

  That Samander—he wondered how strong he was now. As a porary of Hiruzen, Hanzō was at his peak before the Sed Great Ninja War.

  Back then, he was a near-mythical figure, a powerful shinobi who valued talent above all else. Yet he never mao recruit any of the truly talented younger geion. By the time he tried, he ended up making another misstep.

  Holy, Masashi wasn't afraid of the Samander.

  For ohing, Hanzō was not only old but had also lost his fighting spirit after two ninja wars. It wouldn't be a stretch to call him a deg relic.

  And his abilities didn't pose much threat to Masashi.

  Over the following days, as the voy he border, the weather grew more like that of the Land of Rain. The skies at the border were always overcast, with occasional rain showers.

  But this was nothing pared to the Land of Rain's interior, where rainfall was the highest in the shinobi world.

  As they arrived at the border, they entered people from the Land of Rain.

  Ame's people always wore rain gear, and these greeters were no exception.

  Behind them was a rge crowd of civilians, their eyes filled with hope as they watched the long voy from the Land of Fire.

  Years of flict had led to a severe food she in the Land of Rain. In this try, even the nobles couldn't afford to waste food—not because of any sense of morality, but because of the sheer scarcity.

  The only pce with a stable food supply was likely Ame, which at times would even plus own citizens.

  Only the people of the five great nations could live iive peace. Even the poorest of them, like the Land of Wind, were at peaestically despite the turmoil in Suna.

  "These people have it rough," Shisui said quietly, before instinctively going into bat readiness.

  "Some people just have bad luck," Masashi replied, looking ahead. The monks had already begun walking toward the leader of Ame's ti. "Let's go; the mission begins now."