Was the Third Hokage actually agreeing to Haseo's seemingly unreliable "Operation Plan"? Normally, shouldn't he have scolded him for daydreaming, reminded him to focus on doing his job properly, and even told him to take more medicine?
…Ah, so Haseo did have a bit of self-awareness after all.
When Haseo submitted his next-phase Operation Plan to Konoha, he quickly received feedback from the Third Hokage—and the response surprised him slightly. The Third Hokage had surprisingly agreed to his plan without hesitation.
What about the procedures in between?
Shouldn't this involve the Hokage immediately objecting, earnestly advising him, while Haseo argued back, cleverly justifying each point, going through rounds of negotiation before finally getting approval?
Had the Third become unusually decisive, or was it that he now trusted Haseo so much?
Neither possibility seemed likely.
Yet the Third's approval wasn't merely superficial; Haseo had already been notified that soon, the Daimyo's delegation team declaring war would pass through the eastern frontline under his control… everything was real, too real for Haseo's comfort.
The real reason was about succession—the Third was pretty much flying solo.
His two advisors maintained complete neutrality, while the next candidate for Hokage, Danzo Shimura, would never align with the Third… they were already in a full-blown pissing contest.
Only Haseo could provide enough support for the Third Hokage.
Still, Haseo himself hadn't thought deeply about why the Third changed his mind. Regardless, having his plan approved was a good thing. He simply focused on the current situation and briefly considered whether to assign a squad of ninja as escorts for the delegation.
However, the moment the idea passed through his mind, he discarded it.
In theory, a regular diplomatic team should be safe. Passionate Kumo ninja wouldn't bother attacking a mere ceremonial civilian group.
That would be too lowbrow, unworthy of a great nation's dignity.
But if a ninja escort squad joined them, it'd be another story entirely. Then Mist might take that as the perfect chance to settle old grudges and new ones at once.
Therefore, everyone should do their own jobs without interfering with one another—that was the best protection for the delegation… at most, the Front Line could prepare a seaworthy vessel worthy of their status for crossing the sea.
Let them row it themselves then.
The purpose of sending such a delegation was clear and simple. To put it casually—
"Bro Leaf is furious, and the consequences will be dire."
If Kirigakure still dared to ignore Konoha's intimidation, continuing to prepare slowly and steadily for their next move…
then things couldn't get any better.
Mist probably couldn't imagine how bold Haseo's plan truly was. People always think conventionally—who'd expect another surprise attack right after the first one?
Now Haseo had only two things to do: first, stabilize the situation at the Front Line; second, wait for news from Uchiha Kushan.
Quickly enough, an envoy from the Land of Fire crossed through the Eastern Front and headed toward the Land of Water, delivering Konoha's determination regarding the war.
Unsurprisingly, Mist did not show weakness either. Although a large-scale offensive hadn't yet been prepared, skirmishes between reconnaissance units became increasingly frequent after the declaration of war... The difference this time was that these skirmishes had previously taken place within the Fire Country but were now shifting to the open sea.
This shift introduced a new element to the battlefield... Survival favored whoever felt more at home in the water.
...
All things considered, the current situation at the Eastern Front had turned into exactly the kind of very "stable" state that the Third Hokage most wanted to see. While minor engagements continued intermittently between Konoha and Mist without affecting the overall big picture, a month gradually passed by.
During this time, Uchiha Kushan living in Mist didn't send back any significant information, but Haseo was certain he hadn't been exposed either—otherwise he would've already received word since he had placed one of Katsuyu's slugs on the other man.
It wasn't difficult to understand how Uchiha Kushan managed to hide within Mist... In theory, Mist was actually a place connected with the Uchiha. Never mind hiding for just a few months—hiding there for years was entirely possible.
Just as the situation seemed calm on the surface, one day Haseo suddenly received intelligence summarized by his subordinates—they had discovered a suspicious ninja inside the camp, strongly suspected of being a spy sent by Mist.
And likely freshly recruited, judging by how clumsy the ninja seemed.
As soon as work ended, they'd either leave their station or retreat into their tent, up to who-knows-what, occasionally even sneaking glances at the command headquarters. Moreover, this "spy" paid particular attention to Commanding Officer Haseo's activities.
Despite no suspicious background records and seemingly no opportunity for contact with Mist, these movements were simply too strange.
Once internal intelligence at the camp noticed this situation, they didn't act rashly, directly reporting the matter to Haseo instead and leaving the decision up to him.
To be honest, Haseo didn't find this strange—if he could plant spies in Mist, it made sense that Mist could also infiltrate Konoha. Wasn't this exactly how ninja wars worked?
Thankfully, their spy had been discovered in time, meaning the enemy no longer had a chance to cause major leaks or damage.
After some thought, Haseo decided not to act rashly just yet, personally going to check out this spy—maybe this was a chance to use counterintelligence. Feeding the enemy false information through their own spy was a classic move indeed.
Without alerting anyone, he slipped into the spy's tent while the suspect was out carrying out a mission.
The tent had a very homely setup, yet carried that characteristic disorder of wartime camps. As soon as Haseo entered, he immediately formed two possible judgments: either the person staying here was a complete amateur with zero counter-surveillance capability, or a highly skilled expert.
But then again, if this person were truly a capable spy, how could they have been discovered so easily?
Haseo first memorized the placement of all items before starting his thorough search of the tent.
Most of the belongings were everyday personal items—could this person really be a spy? Could there have been a mistake? While thinking along these lines, he found a notebook tucked into the narrow gap between a simple wooden bed and the wall.
Was it intentionally hidden here? Or did it just fall into the crevice?
Haseo carefully avoided touching unnecessary objects, stood in place, and flipped open the notebook.
"Lord Haseo told me that some things can only be observed through human eyes; even the most intelligent species aren't always reliable. That's why I was 'activated.'"
Rather shocking—the spy actually revealed herself right on the first line.
"Lord Haseo seems like someone both serious and gentle, which is the impression I got after brief observation. At first, I thought he didn't even deserve surveillance..."
"..."
"I take back my earlier judgment. Lord Haseo isn't serious at all—in fact, he's somewhat... difficult to describe exactly with words. Most of the time, he pretends to work diligently but is merely spacing out, or pretending to oversee other ninjas' tasks."
"He's pretty laid-back about life, even a bit unfussy. Sometimes he speaks plainly, other times it's hard to tell what he really means. Perhaps only those close enough to him could understand his meaning."
...
You'd almost think Lord Haseo is someone who really needs looking after. Otherwise, he couldn't pull off being the overall commander.
...
"There's no doubt that Lady Uzumaki Shikou, who handles more concrete affairs, is actually supporting him. She's busy with work while simultaneously managing the commander's private affairs… frankly speaking, the commander himself is an unnecessary role—it just adds extra workload to the deputy commander."
"They are clearly familiar with each other, behave in perfect sync, and talk comfortably and casually—but aside from that, nothing particularly unusual has been found."
...
"I feel my secret mission is meaningless. Of course, perhaps it's because my observation wasn't detailed or discreet enough. Maybe I should extend my activities into nighttime."
"But... would discovering something be better, or not finding anything at all? I'm feeling confused."
After reading up to this point, Haseo snapped the notebook shut, leaned backward, and fell flat onto the "spy's" simple wooden bed.
There was no need to continue reading—and besides…
Let's just pretend I never saw any of this.
Totally pointless.
The woman was indeed a spy—and a woman at that. Yet Haseo simply stuffed the so-called 'classified intelligence' she had collected back where it was originally and decided to feign complete ignorance.
Not one of them was reliable—be it the spies, the Konoha Front-line's counterintelligence system, or Haseo himself.
After all, within the Front-line Camp, hardly anyone got to have a private, spacious single room.
You had to be someone with serious clout, like Haseo.
Or…someone from a unique unit, like the Medical Support Unit.
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