The sky over the Land of Rain was always gloomy, casting a bleak atmosphere over the entire try. The stant drizzle seemed to seep into everything—wood, stone, even spirit.

  This try was almost entirely governed by a perpetual rainy season, with most of the nd drenched in rain nearly every month of the year. The endless downpour had turned what was once a prosperous nd into something barely reizable.

  The Land of Rain was littered with run-down towns, its unmaintained roads thick with mud. Every step sank into the muck, sometimes even exposing broken, discolored bones.

  The wind on the wastend was icy. Wild pnts seemed to thrive, eagerly soaking up the rain's nutrients, but the fields, once meant for rice, were rown with weeds.

  Nature had recimed what man had abandoned.

  The road from the Land of Fire's border to Ame was one of the few still someassable, though the surface was rough. Travelers had to skirt around rge puddles, some of which were craters left by explosive tags from battles, where an ordinary person could easily get stuck.

  Along oretch, the road passed by a hillside with an old watchtower, colpsed, leaving only a vine-covered, low wall.

  From this vantage, a voy could be seen slowly moving along the road below.

  From the hill's perspective, the voy seemed to be crawling, barely faster than a turtle.

  Beside the crumbling wall, the air twisted into a vortex, and a figure wearing a spiral-patterned, single-eyed mask appeared.

  The masked man wore a long robe without any identifying marks.

  After a moment, a humanoid figure emerged from the weeds beside him, its body distinctly divided—half bck, half white.

  "Is that... food?" it asked, looking at the voy below. "Are we robbing them, iving it to that kid?"

  The masked man ighe question, his single Sharingan fixated on the voy in the distance.

  Lost in thought, memories surfaced in his mind.

  "Obito, grats on being a ninja! Let me give you a bit of advice: Stop wasting food in missions."

  "You're asking how I awakened my Sharingan? Good question... Here's aip for you: Praise food."

  "Why waste time on Fire Release? Eating is the real deal. e o's use fire jutsu to grill some fish."

  "Obito, I submitted a request for this mission. Miiake it? I want to try some local food in Iwa."

  "Damn Hokage Office, always rejeg my requests. Stole my food, eh, money. Obito, py it safe—if you're hungry, use your teacher as a food delivery service."

  "Obito? Obito?" His partner's incessant calling stirred Obito's anger.

  you stop?!

  "Zetsu, who do you think you're calling?" The Sharingan gred menagly at him. "Want to die?"

  "Ah, sorry, Madara-sama." Zetsu gestured at the approag voy. "Shall we make a move? There are two Uchiha among them. Taking their eyes would be a good haul."

  "You telling me what to do?"

  "Just a suggestion. Hmm… seems like they've noticed us?" the Sharingahis far?

  Suddenly, a fireball shot up from the voy, slig through the rainy sky and streaking toward the remains of the watchtower.

  "A little… too far, maybe?" Zetsu muttered, watg the fireball soar closer.

  Boom!

  The explosio a shockwave that obliterated the st remnants of the watchtower, leaving a steaming crater. The bst scattered debris in all dires, some pieces hissing as they hit the wet ground.

  "It was quite accurate, though." Zetsu resurfaced from the earth nearby, looking around. "They must have pretty good eyes, Madara-sama… huh? Where'd he go?"

  The area was y, not a soul in sight.

  "Oh… he's gone…" Zetsu muttered in another voice.

  "I have eyes of my own; I don't need your reminders."

  Reverting to his inal voice, Zetsu sank bato the ground, and silence fell again.

  A few seds ter, a figure appeared in a fsh atop the hill.

  The newer carefully sed the area. That chakra signature...

  "Masashi." Anure arrived on the hill, nding silently behind him.

  "What are you doioo?" Masashi deactivated his Sharingan, finding nothing of note. "Who's watg the voy?"

  "It's passing below; I just came to check." Shisui examihe rge crater and the remnants of the building. His firaced the edge of a shattered stone. "Doesn't look like anyone's been here. Must be the rain pying tricks on our eyes."

  "There was definitely a chakra presence here," Masashi murmured, doubtful. Something familiar about it... "Could it have been a leftover chakra item?"

  "Even if it was, with you bsting it to pieces, we wouldn't find anything now," Shisui pointed out, gesturing at the water rising steadily in the crater. "Though I have to admit, that was some fireball. Gettier with your aim."

  "Hm…" Masashi looked sourly at the muddy water seeping into the hole. "Staying in a pce like this for three months will be a nightmare."

  "I'd say it suits you—easy access to water for your Water Release."

  After a final sweep of the area and finding nothing, the two left the hillside.

  Back at the voy, the representative was waiting at the side. As the troached, a man nervously asked, "Was there any trouble?"

  "No, we just sensed some chakra up there and checked it out, but it was nothing."

  "That's good... nothing's good..." the man exhaled in relief.

  "Kusatsu, you're the leader here; try not to look so tense." Masashi g the civilian workers behind him, who were eyeing them uneasily. Your fear is spreading to them.

  They looked ready to bolt at any moment.

  The Land of Fire's workers, in parison, were noticeably steadier. Their movements showed the fidence of people who khey were protected.

  "I know…" Kusatsu nodded. "I'll be careful. This try now… well, never mind. It's already in such a state; there's no point in saying more."

  "How far are we from Ame?"

  "At this pace…" Kusatsu estimated silently, ting on his fingers, "awo days."

  "Any towns we rest in along the way?"

  "There are, though I'm not sure if the buildings are still usable." Kusatsu looked troubled. "The inal inhabitants dispersed long ago, and new vilges wouldn't register with the daimyō's office, so it depends on our luck."

  This pce is in plete disarray. Hardly a try anymore.

  Masashi shook his head. If it weren't for the Land of Fire official's preparations to roof the supplies and the Land of Rain's use of their transportation equipment, the grain would likely have been soaked and ruined by now.

  The try's administrative system had practically devolved intional self-governance, with the wilds devoid of any order. It was only by the intervention of the nearby major nations that it still operated uhe name of a try.

  What took only a few days in the Land of Fire had taken over half a month here. Every dey made the mission more dangerous, more costly.

  In some pces, they couldn't even find a detour without first drying the path with fire jutsu.

  He'd made up his mind—ohey reached the daimyō's pace, he wasn't setting foot anywhere else. What a godforsaken pce. Let someone else deal with this mess.

  When Masashi saw the grand vilge on the distant highnds, he let out a sigh of relief.

  "The terrain makes it perfebushes," Shisui noted quietly, sing the surrounding area with his Sharingan.

  "And perfect for watg us approach. We're exposed."

  At least the Rain delegates haven't tried anythihough that might be more ing, Masashi thought.

  He was surprised that they hadn't entered any attacks, the journey had been far from easy. The poor enviro was ohing, but the team from the Land of Rain articurly untrustworthy.

  Their chakra signatures had been unstable throughout the journey, suggestiher poor trol or deliberate deception.

  At the very least, both Masashi and Shisui had to stay stantly on high alert, maintaining a subtle defensive formation around the voy.

  Finally, their destination y before them.

  Still, everyone remained on guard.

  After all, there had been tless examples of people getting ambushed right before reag their goal.

  As the group he gates, they swung open, and an armed squad poured out in single file.

  The newers were all armed, samurai from the Land of Rain. Their armor oorly maintained, patches of rust visible even from a distance.

  "Wele to the Land of Rain. The daimyō awaits," the lead samurai announced.

  In today's shinobi nations, samurai were lower-ranking nobles without nds, often with respectable family backgrounds and higher education.

  They worked various jobs, with town samurai serving as nd surveyors, tax assessors, and w enfort officers, while vilge samurai took on roles in police security and administration. The elite among them could bee officials or trusted aides to daimyōs and local lords.

  They were known for both martial and schorly skills, and many trained in ninjutsu. Some even chose to bee shinobi.

  The envoy from the daimyō's pace whom Masashi and Shisui had met earlier was a samurai in an administrative role.

  Though they were also called samurai, they were pletely different from the purely bative samurai of the Land of Iron.

  pared to their terparts in the Land of Fire, the samurai of the Land of Rain seemed a bit shabby.

  Their spirits appeared low, and many looked visibly malnourished. Masashi doubted whether they could even perform their role in maintaining w and order in the vilge.

  This was the current state of the Land of Rain. The ninjas cked the power to fulfill their military duties to proted support society, and the nobility failed tanize produ activities and maintain social order. The mutual support meism between them had pletely colpsed, creating a vicious cycle.

  Kusatsu went ahead to meet the lead samurai from the Land of Rain.

  Uhe samurai's guidahe voy slowly ehe vilge. Upoering, Masashi hat the vilge wasn't as desote as he'd imagined.

  But g rural eic support, it wasn't particurly thriviher.

  At the very least, it faced a she of essentials, especially food.

  A samurai soon approached to vey an order from the daimyō, inviting their guests from the Land of Fire to his pace.

  Called a pace, it was actually a fortress in the vilge.

  Uhe Land of Fire, buildings in the Land of Rain were mainly stone, with metal drainage pipes both inside and outside, making it far less aesthetically pleasing than the wooden architecture in the Land of Fire.

  The daimyō also looked different from what Masashi had imagined. He'd thought the daimyō would look like a frightened, nervous man.

  But that wasn't the case.

  The man was rotund, his face shining with oil, and didn't seem unfortable at all, which trasted pletely with the atmosphere of the vilge.

  Masashi had assumed the samurai would resemble the ragged men he'd seen at the gate, but he was wrong again.

  The samurai around the daimyō were in robust health. True to form for the daimyō, despite the widespread hunger in his nation, he mao maintain his dignified upper-css image.

  pared to the five great daimyōs, he made them look humble by parison.

  "Hohoho," the daimyō ughed awkwardly. "The journey must have been difficult for you. Please take your time a in my pace."

  "Daimyō-sama, we will protect your safety for the hree months," Masashi replied, seeing that Shisui wasn't pnning to speak. "Could you tell us more about the vilge's situation?"

  "Oh... thank you both for your trouble." The daimyō nodded 'graciously'. "After all, those ninjas from Ame are pletely unreliable. I also don't like how they talk to me. They show no respee as the daimyō."

  Best to assume he wasn't just pretending.

  "I uand. Then, if we may, we'd like to explore the yout of the pace," Masashi said.

  "No problem. Please, go ahead."

  He took a step forward and vanished, wasting no time. The daimyō was bound to be one of those difficult types to work with.

  Behind him, Shisui caught up.

  "Masashi-nii, not in a great mood?"

  "He's definitely going to be a challenging t." Masashi sighed.

  "Yeah, even though he looks easygoing, he clearly doesn't trust us."

  "It doesn't really matter; our mission is just to protect his life. I'll go check out the vilge. You examihe pace."

  "Be careful, Masashi-nii. Something feels off about this pce."

  "That's precisely why I want to iigate personally."

  After splitting up, Masashi left the fortress auro the vilge, familiarizing himself with its streets and alleys.

  The vilge had a fair number of beggars, making it easy for eo sneak in. However, his ninja attire seemed to have a certaierrent effect, as no one dared to bother him.

  The vilge's buildings were mostly high-rise, while the streets were wide, but manhole covers were everywhere.

  Masashi created a few shadow es, each of which lifted a manhole cover and jumped inside.

  By evening, his es reported back. The results weren't promising.

  The vilge's drainage system was extensive, with overly spacious seipes that spread out like an underground maze.

  Apparently, Ame was the same way. In any case, there were far too many factors unfavorable to his mission. Moreover, the anomaly on the hill had tio bother him.

  After running it through his mind multiple times, he was now certain he hadn't seen wrong.

  He mentally made a list of people who could threaten his mission in the Land of Rain.

  Wait, could it be Obito? Hadn't he goo the Land of Water yet?

  As a reinator, Masashi naturally wao ge Obito's fate. They actually had a pretty good retionship; their houses were close, and they practically saw each other every day.

  But no matter how he looked at it, Obito had no reason to interfere in the Land of Fire's operations.

  The guy was entirely focused on colleg tailed beasts, and at this stage, Akatsuki was still a dream-filled anization.

  If he was genuinely ied in the daimyō's head, though, it would be troublesome. His Mangekyō ability was eously powerful.

  Masashi couldn't afford to fail his first S-rank mission; he he money for food.

  If Obito shows up, standard tactics won't work. I'll need something ued. I'll just have to use that teique as a precaution.

  After all, I already know Water Release teiques, so it's perfectly normal to know a few others, right...?