Though the shinobi world was a mess and frictions flared between nations, the Third Shinobi World War hadn't broken out yet. The great villages weren't at war, so the Land of Rain still looked peaceful on the surface—an air of calm everywhere.
On a road within the Land of Rain, four figures advanced through the drizzle.
A unit of four—even in disguise—would read as a shinobi squad to anyone with a bit of experience. If they wanted to scout, they couldn't move as one.
They halted before a market town. Uenome beckoned Zhao Yi Qianming and the others over and spoke quietly: "Intel says shinobi activity showed up in this town. It's close to the Land of Wind, so it's likely Sunagakure shinobi have passed through."
"Byakugan."
Before he'd finished, Hyuga Keita activated the Byakugan. It was Zhao Yi Qianming's first time seeing it up close—the veins around Keita's eyes stood out, less misty than in the comics and far more feral.
"There are chakra fluctuations at seven locations," Keita reported softly.
Uenome pulled a scrap of paper and sketched a quick map of the town. Keita marked the approximate positions.
"Seven spots with chakra," Uenome assigned. "Qianming and Hoshinohara, take one each. Keita, you take two. I'll handle the remaining three. Your job is to identify which villages they belong to. As for what they're plotting—we regroup here at five this afternoon and plan from there."
"Yes!" the three answered.
It was a fair split. Zhao Yi Qianming and Hoshinohara weren't natural scouts; even one target each wasn't guaranteed to go smoothly.
Uenome signed a hand signal, and the four flickered into the trees.
The town was small but bustling. Shops lined both sides of the street; pedestrians came and went in steady streams.
Sitting at the junction of three great nations, the Land of Rain became their battlefield in wartime—but in peace, it was also the main thoroughfare for merchants traveling between countries.
The constant flow of caravans made the local trade thrive.
After a quick survey, Zhao Yi Qianming drifted, unobtrusive, toward his assigned mark.
He found it after a short circuit: a medium-sized merchant caravan with four shinobi escorts. The leader wore Sunagakure's uniform openly, with zero concern about advertising his village.
That was common enough. Wearing a great village's uniform on foreign soil deterred minor-nation shinobi and rogue-nin—no one wanted to cross a major village.
On the surface, it was a routine Sand mission. Nothing suspicious.
But if he reported just that, his abilities would be called into question.
Chapter Fourteen Intelligence Gathering (2 / 2)
The group happened to be eating lunch at a restaurant. Zhao Yi Qianming straightened his clothes and went in after them.
"Five dango, and a bowl of mung bean soup, please." He put on the look of a well-behaved kid ordering sweets.
Unsure whether the Sand team included a sensor-type, he didn't dare use the Transformation Jutsu. Any chakra use might expose him. Better to lean on his child's appearance, nibble something sweet, and look harmlessly greedy.
The Sand shinobi were wary and kept conversation to a minimum, revealing nothing. What surprised Zhao Yi Qianming was that the merchants themselves barely spoke to each other—odd behavior for traders.
"I'm done. Thanks for the food!" He paid and walked out without another glance, not lingering a second longer than necessary.
To be sure he wasn't being tailed, he wandered the town for a while, snacked at a few stalls, and only after roughly an hour did he leave for the rendezvous point.
At five in the afternoon, the four regrouped to compare notes.
"Just a few rogue-nin. Nothing special," Hoshinohara reported first.
"I checked two spots," Hyuga Keita said next. "One was a single shinobi from Amegakure. The other was a group of three from Sunagakure. By Byakugan read, one of those three is roughly jōnin level."
"Jōnin?" A hard glint crossed Uenome's eyes.
Jōnin were a village's elite force. If a jōnin was abroad, the task was important. Uenome himself was a Konoha jōnin here to gauge other villages' intentions—whether anyone meant to ignite war.
"And you? What did you get?" After parsing Keita's intel, Uenome turned to Zhao Yi Qianming.
"A Sunagakure escort for a merchant caravan," Zhao Yi Qianming said. "Leader looked like a chūnin, the other three genin. One thing was off. Merchants usually talk—business depends on it—but these ones barely spoke and were extremely guarded. I see two possibilities: either their cargo is very valuable, or the 'merchants' are disguised shinobi. Also, they didn't continue on the road when I left. That's not normal."
"I had three Amegakure targets—all Rain-nin. Not our priority," Uenome said evenly. "The ones worth watching are Keita's and Qianming's. Seven Sand-nin showing up in Rain isn't random."
He swept his gaze across the team. "Tonight, Keita and I will infiltrate the town and probe those two targets. Qianming and Hoshinohara, you're on extraction and support. This mission is beyond our current weight class—I'll request backup from the village. Unless it's absolutely necessary, do not engage."
"Yes!"