As Kagami said, if the Land of Fire went to war with the Land of Lightning, and the other major nations remained calm and unaffected, it would be quite dangerous. It might mean they had already reached some agreement behind the scenes, just waiting for Konohagakure to show a weakness before striking together.
Konohagakure was clearly much stronger than Kumogakure. So, even if it were a two-on-one fight, Tobirama, the Hokage, was confident in achieving victory. But now, there were three major nations still in a stable state.
As for the Land of Wind, they had been quietly researching Tailed Beast powers in the desert and implementing reforms, pursuing a strong military policy. They hadn't achieved significant results yet, so Tobirama predicted that the Land of Wind was unlikely to join the war, and even if they did, he wasn't afraid.
However, the Land of Water and the Land of Earth were different. These two countries were stronger than the Land of Wind. If they truly formed an alliance with the Land of Lightning, it would be very troublesome.
Therefore, Tobirama needed Hibari's team to 'confirm' the situation in the Land of Water and the Land of Earth. If these two could go to war, then he would have no further worries.
The mission Tobirama gave to Hibari appeared on the surface to be about confirming the situation, but the hidden meaning was already very clear, and Hibari understood it immediately.
With Konohagakure's main force ready for war, poised to deploy at any moment, would Hibari really just simply go to confirm the Land of Water's movements? Impossible. If it were that simple, would 'Second, Third, and Fourth' elite Anbu squads need to be deployed together? That would be underestimating Hibari and his team's 'professional' capabilities, wouldn't it?
Therefore, the deeper meaning hidden behind this mission was for Hibari to cause trouble in the Land of Water. Even if the Land of Water had no intention of going to war with the Land of Earth, he still needed to instigate a war between the two countries.
However, as the Hokage, Tobirama couldn't explicitly state this in the mission, or else if the hawk were intercepted midway and the mission intelligence leaked, and the Land of Water and Land of Earth found out, they might develop hostile intentions towards the Land of Fire even if they hadn't had any originally.
Indeed, the mission Hibari's team was carrying out, seemingly simple, actually had some difficulty: it was to incite war between two countries.
Fortunately, the Land of Water and the Land of Earth had long-standing grievances, so as long as the methods were appropriate and carried out cleanly, there wouldn't be any problems.
With a mission now on their hands, the Anbu squads couldn't leisurely soak in hot springs and eat barbecue like before. In a flash, the group of strong men quickly finished the entire goat. Then they packed their belongings, destroyed their traces, and swiftly headed towards the Land of Water's coastline.
After studying the map, Hibari had already determined their itinerary: they would take a boat from the Land of Hot Water's coastline to the impoverished Land of Waves, then change their identities in the Land of Waves, covertly infiltrate the Land of Water.
Once in the Land of Water, they would plan their next steps. The overall goal was to escalate the conflict between 'Water' and 'Earth' and make them start fighting quickly, so as to give Tobirama a signal that war could begin.
Three days later, at a port in the Land of Waves, Hibari and his group had already changed out of their Anbu attire. They were posing as Land of Waves merchants, having purchased some of their local specialties, preparing to sell them in the Land of Water.
"Blind man, take this box of goods onto the ship..." Hibari kicked a wooden crate and spoke to a blindfolded man in the distance.
The blindfolded man was naturally Hitenn Hyuga. In truth, he wasn't very suited for infiltration missions, as his albino-like large eyes were too recognizable. However, Hibari couldn't just leave him behind in the Land of Hot Water, and perhaps this mischievous mission would require his Byakugan to clear the way. So, he disguised him as a blind man, simply covering his eyes with a black cloth.
"Deputy... shopkeeper, the blind man can't see anything," Hitenn said, responding to Hibari's words.
"Hahahaha, you're right, the blind man can't see anything," Kagami said, laughing, as he walked over, lifted the box of goods, and carried it onto the ship.
"As if you really can't see anything..." Hibari muttered to himself.
If a kekkei genkai like the Byakugan could be completely nullified by a black cloth, what good would it be?
So, even though Hitenn was acting like a truly blind person, he actually saw things clearer than anyone.
Soon, Hibari and his team had filled the newly purchased large ship with Land of Waves specialties. Then, the group of Konohagakure Anbu shinobi all boarded the ship, adjusted the angle of the sails, and with Hibari's actions, this merchant ship, loaded with goods, slowly drifted towards the Land of Water.
It wasn't until they were out at sea that Hitenn removed the black cloth from his eyes, frowned, and asked, "Deputy Commander, if we just enter the Land of Water like this, won't we be suspected?"
"Suspected of what? My paperwork is all perfectly in order. Each of us has a genuine Land of Waves merchant identity. Even if they investigate, they won't find any problems. Don't worry, as long as we don't expose ourselves, no one will suspect us," Hibari said with great confidence.
The Land of Waves was a very corrupt place. This country was truly poor and dilapidated. Hibari's Mitsumine Group happened to have some business there, so it was incredibly easy to spend some money and get 'real' identities from this corrupt country as a cover.
Kagami also found a box to sit on, enjoying the sea breeze, and said with a chuckle, "While our identities are fine, it still feels a bit silly. What kind of specialties did we even buy? Sea fish? Scallops? Well, yes, they're Land of Waves specialties, but would the Land of Water really lack these things?"
"Why are you worrying so much about that? We're not actually becoming merchants, are we? What, are you still thinking of selling these goods to make a profit? Time is tight. Do you expect me to transport a batch of valuable goods from the Land of Fire for you? Let's just get to the Land of Water quickly. Once we're there, we can ditch these things. Finishing the mission as soon as possible is what's important," Hibari said, glancing at Kagami with some annoyance.
In truth, he didn't want to make it look so foolish either, but the damned Land of Waves truly had no other decent products, which was precisely why they were in such a miserable state.
After a bit of joking about these matters, apart from the few controlling the ship, everyone else gathered together and began discussing the plan to cause trouble in the Land of Water.
"Although the Hokage didn't explicitly say it, I believe everyone understands the meaning. Therefore, I suggest we don't foolishly go around investigating. We can just make this matter a 'fact' and then withdraw. At that time, we might even have time to return and participate in the war," Kagami said, after thinking for a moment, being the first to speak.
Hitenn, ever the 'Mr. Serious,' nodded in agreement, then said, "Exactly. Given the already unfriendly relationship between the Land of Water and the Land of Earth, we can plan a few attacks, eliminate some Kirigakure shinobi, and then frame Iwagakure, escalating the conflict between the two sides..."
Sakumo, though not a 'leader,' found Hibari and the others to be approachable, so the entire Anbu squad was very harmonious. Any opinions or doubts could be raised at any time.
Thus, Sakumo was also sitting on a small wooden box at this moment, thinking for a moment before saying, "If we are indeed planning several assassination operations, then we should choose some relatively special or influential shinobi. That would further escalate the conflict."
Kagami nodded upon hearing this, "That's right, that would be more effective..."
He paused slightly, a glint flashing in his eyes, then said, "Oh, right, Hibari, didn't you have some vendetta with the Hozuki clan of Kirigakure? What was his name again?"
"Reigetsu," Hibari said, a smile spreading across his lips.
"That's right, Reigetsu! That guy's status has soared. He's currently the Second Mizukage's brother! If we go and eliminate him, and set it up cleverly, wouldn't the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu, go absolutely insane? Wouldn't that start the war?" Kagami said excitedly.
"If just killing him isn't enough, we can kill a few more. The Kaguya clan also seems to hold a high position in Kirigakure, don't they? We could eliminate some of them too," Hitenn said, his words chillingly serious.
After listening to their discussion, Hibari clapped his hands and said, "Quiet down a bit, and listen to what I have to say, okay?"
After everyone's gaze turned to Hibari, he chuckled and said, "You're right, I do have a vendetta with Reigetsu. That bastard almost got me killed back then, and if I get a chance to take him out, I won't hesitate. However, this mission is quite important, and we can't drag our feet. Planning multiple attacks certainly makes sense, but on one hand, the Hokage is waiting for us, so we don't have much time. On the other hand, one or two such attacks are fine, but once the number of these assaults and assassinations increases, it will inevitably raise suspicions. We might end up doing more harm than good, thus leading to..."
Hearing Hibari's words, the others thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Hitenn then said, "Indeed, my consideration was not thorough enough. So, Deputy Commander, what is your idea?"
A wicked smile spread across Hibari's lips, and he then said, "If you ask me, let's just go straight for it, and cause a major incident that will 'shake' the entire Land of Water. The war will naturally follow..."
Kagami listened, somewhat confused, and asked, "A major incident? What do you mean? Hibari, are you thinking of assassinating the Second Mizukage?"
"That's too difficult. Gengetsu isn't just strong; the payoff wouldn't be proportional to the risk. We can go for something even bigger..." Hibari said, raising an eyebrow with a grin.
Sakumo now understood Hibari's meaning and said with a shocked expression, "Commander, you're not planning to assassinate the Daimyo of the Land of Water, are you???"
As Sakumo's words fell, all the other members stared at Hibari with stunned expressions. Hibari, however, said self-righteously, "Why are you looking at me so surprised? What? Is there some rule that says we shinobi can't kill a Daimyo?"
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