The procession led by the Second Mizukage continued moving across the sea surface, clearly proceeding in a highly secretive and cautious manner.
This group of ninja first entered the inland sea through the strait between the Land of Hot Springs, the Land of Whirlpools, and the Land of Iron, then quietly moved northwest along the coastline of the Land of Iron.
Their movements were incredibly slippery—if it hadn't been for Haseo Squad latching onto them from the very beginning, such a tailing mission would have been impossible to complete.
Later on, the Mizukage's group crossed the Land of Moon situated between the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Lightning, moving from the eastern coastal waters of the continent into its northern seas. After continuous travel across open water, they finally made landfall at the Land of Frost, before heading toward the Land of Waterfalls.
This journey lasted a full five days, during which time the Haseo Squad remained in an intense state of alertness, carefully executing their tracking mission.
Stalking a ninja like the Second Mizukage was undoubtedly an immense psychological challenge. Even though Haseo dared attempt an assassination against someone like Hanzo of the Rain Village, he'd never even consider pulling something like that on the Second Mizukage.
Looking ahead twenty years, Hanzo of the Rain Village would come to be known as "Semi-god," but looking back twenty years… yes, he had indeed been an extremely powerful ninja back then—yet calling him semi-god? That's a joke. Was Hanzo of the Rain Village equal to half of the First Hokage?
By now, Haseo had completely figured out the Second Mizukage's intentions… This group had taken such a massive detour purely to secretly slip into the Land of Earth.
The Second Mizukage must've either loved or hated the Second Tsuchikage deeply—otherwise, there's no way he'd risk his life like this.
At this point, Haseo's squad had paused within a dense forest in the Land of Waterfalls. More than ten minutes earlier, the Mizukage's group had just passed through here. Both the pursued and the pursuers had already circled around the periphery of the Land of Fire, yet neither side had ever actually stepped foot upon its territory.
"To this point, I think the Second Mizukage's goal has become clear," said Haseo. "He must be planning to infiltrate the Land of Earth and assassinate the Second Tsuchikage." He was nearly certain about what he had previously guessed—that the Second Mizukage really had come out here asking for it.
"Water Shadow personally carrying out a covert infiltration and assassination mission?" Nagisa Nara first expressed disbelief, but soon nodded her head. "No, when it comes to the Second Mizukage, it seems like something he truly might do."
Although not widely known across today's Ninjutsu World, the feud between the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage, along with the Mizukage's personal style, had already stirred plenty of whispers among many ninja.
"Yes," Haseo replied, "although this is only my guesswork with no confirmation yet, I believe it's likely correct. We're already in the Land of Frost now. Just ahead lies the Land of Waterfalls, where things will get considerably more complicated—not only does the Hidden Falls Village exist there, but also the battlefronts between Cloud and Rock are intricately intertwined.
"If we keep chasing them," he said, "our chances of getting exposed—and the danger we're in—are going to skyrocket."
"If the Second Mizukage went deep into the Land of Earth specifically to meet with the Second Tsuchikage," Chichio asked, "how would he locate him across such a vast territory?"
"It must have been through spies," Renjiro offered a reasonable explanation. "The Mist had already planted agents inside Iwagakure. With knowledge about the Tsuchikage's movements, the Mizukage probably only set out after confirming his location." Haseo and Nara agreed with this interpretation and thus nodded in acknowledgment without further speculation.
Haseo actually believed that not only had the Mist placed spies within Iwagakure, but it was likely there were reverse operations happening too—double agents passing information to both sides simultaneously. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain the subsequent ambush between the two Kages.
He continued, "The following mission will be extremely dangerous. Therefore, I suggest we split into two groups. To ensure the safety of the intelligence we've gathered, Nara and Chichio should return to the village with the current updates. You'll retrace our original path back; that route is relatively safer.
As for Renjiro and myself, we'll continue scouting ahead."
Haseo's decision made sense. Although other methods existed to deliver the intelligence back to the village, Haseo had simply chosen this arrangement to minimize risk for the whole team. Two members withdrawing while two continued the mission left one reconnaissance ninja plus himself. With fewer people, their actions would become more flexible and efficient.
Nara opened his mouth as if to say something, but unexpectedly, Chichio spoke up first: "I disagree with this arrangement. If someone just needs to deliver the message back, Nara acting alone would be better. As for me...I'm more of a team-oriented ninja, having only one specialty skill. So sticking with Nara could put him at greater risk if something goes wrong."
Frankly speaking, her argument held merit—Chichio was merely a female archer with poor close-combat skills and weak survivability, making her a potential liability to her teammates.
Although her view contradicted Haseo's plan, it was difficult to argue against. After thinking about it, Haseo realized she made sense—Chichio being alongside him would actually be safer than staying with Nara.
So Haseo turned to Nara. "Guess I didn't think that through properly. Then, Nara, I leave the intelligence delivery to you."
Nara remained silent briefly before reluctantly nodding.
"Then I'll head off immediately."
No time was wasted once the decision was made. The squad divided: Nara took the intel back while the remaining three continued tracking.
Haseo and the others pressed forward. Just as they approached the border of the Land of Earth, he realized his earlier concerns were somewhat unnecessary—turns out it wasn't hard for the Second Mizukage to track down the Second Tsuchikage. Before even entering the Land of Earth, the Tsuchikage had led his team right at the border to intercept the Mizukage.
Everything looked just like an after-school brawl waiting to happen. Obviously, both sides' spies had fully played their roles here.
"This intel's mind-blowing…"
Haseo and the other two had hidden themselves on a mountainside at a distance, watching both sides confront each other. A moment later, he continued, "Let's go. Now that we've confirmed the Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage have encountered each other and identified their battlefield, it's time for us to withdraw. This location isn't safe for us anymore either."
He remembered that the Second Mizukage possessed [Steam Imp], a devastating, limitless explosive ninjutsu—and Haseo definitely didn't want his team caught in such an indiscriminate attack.
"What about the battle outcome? Don't we need to stay behind and confirm it?" Renjiro asked.
"I have other ways of finding out, so there's no need for us to remain here," Haseo replied.
He had already secretly left one of his Katsuyu clones behind to monitor the battlefield… Although Haseo had a good idea how this fight would end, who could say whether things would always play out the same way?
He was in a world governed by cold reality—how could he possibly trust so-called 'plot-related information'?
After confirming the encounter between the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage, according to Haseo's orders, his squad quietly began retreating—that had been his original plan from the beginning… As for what happened next, regardless of the outcome, it could be left entirely to Katsuyu to observe.
Haseo's plans were usually very thorough, but they never seemed to execute perfectly—and things weren't any different this time either, although now events were beyond his direct control.
Haseo wanted to pull back in time—but he had no idea that ahead, a ruthless ambush lay in wait.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>