"Boss Ryosuke, don't attack, it's me!"
Just as White Snake's palm was about to strike down, two mercenaries hurriedly shouted. With two poof sounds, they released their Transformation Technique, revealing two somewhat familiar faces.
Ryosuke recalled their names, Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu.
These two were members of Morino Ibiki's Interrogation Division. Since Ibiki was close friends with Yamanaka Inoichi, Ryosuke had met them a few times during his training period in Konoha, Lesson 2, Golden Rotation phase, and they'd even greeted each other before. So they could be considered acquaintances.
"What are you doing here?" Ryosuke asked.
"It's Lady Tsunade's secret mission."
Konoha had officially declared that it would not participate in the war, but Tsunade was not the Third Hokage. She understood very well that some things could be avoided with neutrality, but others could not.
Refusing to participate was itself a political statement, it meant she no longer intended to obey the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
And once she'd taken a side, anyone who didn't act was just being foolish.
Almost immediately after the Fire Country's envoy, Watanabe, left, Tsunade issued more than ten missions in rapid succession. When she signed the action documents, she even used Watanabe's expensive signature pen.
One had to admit, the pricey pen did feel different when writing. The smoothness of each stroke was so satisfying that Tsunade ended up sitting in her office a bit longer, coming up with several more mission ideas.
One of those missions was given to Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu,
To infiltrate the Fire Country's border, gather intelligence on troop movements, and carry out appropriate disruptions.
Even before the warship set sail, Kamizuki Izumo had already contacted Konoha's allies in the Land of Hot Water. When the ship docked, they were to coordinate from inside and outside, working together with the Hot Water Country's army to launch a surprise attack.
Both of them were special jōnin from Konoha. With the Land of Hot Water's ambush in play, even if they couldn't wipe out the entire ship, they could at least significantly delay the Fire Country's invasion progress.
"But stopping this one batch is already our limit."
Kamizuki Izumo gazed at the fish swimming in the seawater beneath his feet, feeling an indescribable mix of awe and relief.
With the presence of the frenzy fish, this stretch of sea would now become a natural barrier.
The Fire Country would either have to spend an enormous amount of time clearing the seabed or take a long detour to reach the Land of Water.
And once it came down to a long-range voyage, a sea battle, that would fall squarely into the Land of Water's area of advantage.
"Kamizuki, Kotetsu, can I trouble you to help me out a bit?"
Ryosuke handed each of them a stack of discs.
Naturally, they didn't refuse. Kamizuki Izumo had long been fascinated by these memory and ninjutsu discs. He played with one in his hand while casually tossing others into the sea to feed the fish.
On the other side, Hagane Kotetsu originally wanted to explain that his surname was "Hagane," and his given name was "Kotetsu", not "Hagane Kotetsu" as one full name.
But seeing Ryosuke standing with his hands behind his back on the vast ocean, seemingly deep in thought, Kotetsu was afraid of disturbing his contemplation. So he sighed and gave up on explaining, walking in the opposite direction from Izumo and tossing fish feed into the sea.
———
Ryosuke began to sort through his harvest from this battle.
[Killed Kitsuchi. Gained 850 soul fragments]
Just from the number of fragments alone, one could tell, if it weren't for running into Ryosuke, with Kitsuchi's strength and his large-scale Earth Release techniques, he would absolutely qualify as a strategic-level humanoid weapon on any battlefield.
Ryosuke didn't have the heart to feed Kitsuchi's ninjutsu disc to the fish. He planned to hand it over to the Extinction Army once he returned.
After that, there wasn't much worth noting. Cannon fodder was cannon fodder. In total, the rest barely brought Ryosuke a bit over five thousand soul fragments.
[Current total soul fragments, 21,056]
Converted, that's about 210 limited-time draws, but still not enough for a safe guarantee. If he got unlucky and pulled a five-star in 160 draws, the remaining fragments wouldn't be enough for another.
'This is what cannon fodder is…'
The mercenaries whose strength was too far below Ryosuke's were even awarded just one soul fragment each, meaning that, in the system's judgment, even though they carried the title of mercenary, in reality, they were no different from ordinary civilians.
"Pick up a kitchen knife, you're a civilian. Pick up a machete, you're a mercenary."
Ryosuke sighed.
Although the two sides were enemies, he couldn't help thinking,
If the world weren't in chaos and ordinary people still had a way to survive, who would willingly throw away their life and fight with nothing but grit and desperation?
"If Kohaku and the others hadn't met me, maybe, to stay alive, they would've ended up taking this path too."
Ryosuke shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the thought.
Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu had finished throwing the discs.
"Boss Ryosuke, this ship's group is wiped out. The ones near the Fire Country border, should we take them out too?"
Kamizuki Izumo lifted his hand slightly, then lowered it, the killing intent in his eyes unmistakable.
Ryosuke wanted to move as well, but he couldn't.
The White Zetsu clone hidden within Kitsuchi's palm was extremely hard to detect. White Zetsu's familiarity with the "earth" was no less than Ryosuke's own, even after he'd consumed the Dragon Pill and gained mastery over the power of the land.
Perhaps only if the White Snake Sage were resurrected could they truly capture the White Zetsu hidden underground.
If Ryosuke attacked the tens of thousands of people in the Fire Country using a large-scale technique, there would be no avoiding civilian casualties in nearby cities. And if any of the enemies carried White Zetsu clones, his presence here would definitely be exposed.
Then, Pain and the others, wherever they were, would immediately take advantage of that to launch a strike, killing his comrades and weakening his forces.
Compared to soul fragments, Ryosuke cared far more about the lives of his friends.
"See you."
Ryosuke bid farewell to his two Konoha allies, then rose into the air, flying toward the Land of Water.
The flight was dull and monotonous. He didn't know how much time had passed, the sun had set and risen again, when he finally saw the continent of the Land of Water. If he kept flying for another half a day, he should reach Kirigakure by this afternoon.
Just then, a "chittering" sound came from the Ghost Room.
Ryosuke reached his hand inside, rummaging for a bit before pulling out a palm-sized scroll.
It was the communication scroll given to him by Hayato Kamihara.
When he opened it, the summoning jutsu sealed inside activated automatically. With a poof of smoke, three small ninja mice appeared, each carrying a tiny backpack and wearing a forehead protector.
The trio raised a letter high above their heads and flatteringly offered it to Ryosuke.
"Thanks."
Ryosuke took the letter, then pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds from the Ghost Room and handed them to the mice. While the three little ninja mice busied themselves cracking the seeds, he opened the letter.
The letter wasn't long. The handwriting was messy, it was clear Kamihara had been in an excited or anxious state while writing it. There were only two points mentioned, but after reading the first one, Ryosuke's expression immediately turned serious.
"1. According to informants in the Land of Lightning, Sasori of the Red Sand and the Masked Man are currently fighting in the Land of Lightning. The battle has lasted for several days, moving from the central region all the way to the western border, and is still ongoing."
Normally, ninja battles were characterized by high attack power and low endurance, swift, fierce, and decisive. Most fights ended in one move, and even long battles rarely lasted more than ten minutes.
But these two were far from ordinary.
Sasori, master of puppet techniques, his body itself was a puppet. Wherever he was damaged, he simply replaced that part. As long as his core survived, his soul would not perish.
Obito, with his Kamui phasing, forget Sasori, even Ryosuke himself found it difficult to kill Obito.
Too many survival tricks, too many hidden cards, too many backup plans. Because of that, the two of them had been fighting nonstop ever since leaving the Evil God White Snake's base, and the battle still hadn't ended even now.
What's more, Sasori seemed completely unhinged this time, ignoring the risk of exposing his position to enemies, clinging to Obito relentlessly.
Below this section, Hayato Kamihara suggested that Ryosuke refrain from acting rashly. Two Akatsuki members fighting openly and publicly was suspicious, it was hard not to suspect a trap meant to lure Ryosuke into the Land of Lightning.
Ryosuke nodded.
He agreed with Kamihara's judgment. Whether it was Sasori or Obito, they were both enemies. And when enemies fought each other, he had no reason to interfere.
He continued reading the second piece of intel.
As he finished, Ryosuke's brows slowly furrowed.
"2. The Akatsuki organization launched an attack last night, on both Kumogakure and Konohagakure."