This time, Hibari and his team didn't even go back to the Land of Waves. They simply sailed back to a port in the Land of Fire without stopping, day and night.
Five days later, a merchant ship gently docked at a port within the Land of Fire. Hibari and the others casually disembarked.
After being on the road for so long, suddenly returning to their home territory, the tense feeling vanished instantly. The entire team felt an indescribable sense of relief.
"Hey, hey, watch it! Inside that pot is the younger brother of the Second Mizukage! Can't you be a little gentler? A VIP, understand? A VIP! Show some of our Land of Fire's warm hospitality, okay??" As Hibari stepped off the ship, he saw Kagami casually drop the large pot containing Reigetsu onto the ground with a thud. He quickly began to lecture him.
Kagami heard him, kicked the pot with his foot, and said with some amusement, "Even if you're enthusiastic, they have to be willing to come first. And you, electrocuting him all day, still have the nerve to tell me to be gentle?"
Hibari shook his head disdainfully. "What do you think Reigetsu-dono came to our Land of Fire for? To be treated, of course. This is electrotherapy; you wouldn't understand. Your cultural level is too low to comprehend such advanced concepts. This is a method researched by a famous doctor I met before. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him since. Oh, right, his name was 'Professor Volta.' If anyone meets him in the future, remember to invite him back. I'm thinking of recommending him to the Intelligence Division..."
Hitenn had just disembarked from the ship and heard Hibari's words. He asked with some curiosity, "If he's a doctor, why would you recommend him to the Intelligence Division, Deputy Commander?"
"I believe he can fully utilize all his talents there... Alright, enough about that. Let's go, take your things, and let's get back to the village as soon as possible. After being missing for almost a month, Hokage-sama must be wondering what we've been up to, right? We still need to report on our work during this period," Hibari said with a grin.
Meanwhile, in Kirigakure in the Land of Water, the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu, wore a grim expression. In his office, two Anbu shinobi appeared to be reporting something.
"Still haven't found Reigetsu?" Gengetsu asked irritably.
"We found some traces by a lake about a day's journey from Bōran Port. Although they were somewhat cleaned up, some information was left behind. Through investigation and deduction, we infer that Reigetsu-dono engaged in a battle with someone there," the Anbu shinobi quietly reported.
One could say Gengetsu felt like he was having a streak of bad luck lately. First, the Kaguya clan head and his son went missing together, most likely dead. Then, the Daimyō of their Land of Water was blown to smithereens, and two Guardian Ninja died with him. And just a few days later, his younger brother, Reigetsu, also suddenly disappeared. How much more unlucky could one get?!
Upon hearing this information, Gengetsu quickly asked, "Bōran Port? Why would Reigetsu appear in such a remote place? Did he receive some intelligence?"
The Anbu shinobi swiftly replied, "According to our investigation, some individuals at Bōran Port responsible for investigating Iwagakure reported suspicious circumstances to Reigetsu-dono. Reigetsu-dono then quickly proceeded there, and that was the last time Reigetsu-dono contacted us... and there has been no contact since."
Gengetsu's eyes nearly shot fire hearing this. Five days had passed; everything should have settled down, but his younger brother still hadn't appeared or contacted them. What did that mean? As a shinobi, he understood: his brother was either killed or kidnapped!
"Iwagakure... you've gone too far!!!" Gengetsu roared furiously, then slammed his palm onto his desk, nearly shattering the atomic structure of the table.
He didn't ask any more questions. Gengetsu quickly asked, "How are the combat forces?"
"They've already boarded the ships near the coastline and are ready to depart at any moment..." the Anbu member swiftly replied.
"Is that so? Then depart immediately. Effective today, we launch war against the Land of Earth and Iwagakure. We must secure victory and avenge Daimyō-sama and... my brother!" Gengetsu said with chilling eyes.
"Yes, Second Mizukage-sama!" the Anbu shinobi quickly replied.
Then Gengetsu added, "You all go back and prepare as well. Once I've arranged everything in the village, I will personally head to the battlefield!"
Two days later, in the Hokage Residence in Konohagakure, Tobirama was looking at the latest intelligence report he had just received. "The Land of Water's fleet has moved out. We could observe their movements in the port, but once they enter the open sea, it'll be difficult to track them... Alright, there's no need to continue investigating that. They're definitely heading for the Land of Earth, so we don't need to worry about them."
Tobirama placed the intelligence on the table and said to Harano Yamanaka, the head of the Intelligence Division.
Harano nodded upon hearing Tobirama's words. "Yes, Hokage-sama. We will reassign those personnel."
"Kumogakure has once again deployed a large number of personnel to the front lines. It seems the Second Raikage has been forced into a corner, wanting to risk everything to settle things with us, eh? That's fine. Our combat forces have already departed for the front lines as well, and I've arranged all my work. It's time to head to the front lines," Tobirama said with a smile.
Unlike others, Tobirama possessed the Flying Raijin Technique, a Space-Time Ninjutsu. As long as trustworthy individuals carried his special kunai on the battlefield, he could instantly travel from Konohagakure to the front lines at any time. Thus, he had no regrets whatsoever.
"Then I wish you good fortune in battle, Hokage-sama," Harano said with a smile.
Tobirama nodded, then looked out the window at the village and murmured softly, "The only thing I'm still worried about is Hibari and his team. I don't know what they did inside the Land of Water. They've been out of contact for almost a month..."
Harano also rubbed his chin with some concern. Although he hadn't explicitly told anyone else, as the head of the Intelligence Division, he knew some of the inside story. Therefore, it wasn't just Tobirama who suspected Hibari and his team were behind the series of incidents in the Land of Water; Harano did too. He strongly suspected that Hibari and his team were responsible for the Land of Water's Daimyō's demise.
If that were truly the case, their situation certainly wouldn't be good. They would undoubtedly be fully hunted down by the Land of Water, and it would be hard to say if they could even leave the Land of Water smoothly.
"Hokage-sama, Hibari is so clever, he handles things very systematically, and his strength is formidable. There won't be any problems. Perhaps it was simply inconvenient for them to contact us. I think they should be returning soon. If they do return, I will inform you immediately," Harano said, comforting Tobirama.
Tobirama nodded, not saying much. Just then, Torifu Akimichi suddenly burst into the Hokage's office without a knock, excitedly saying, "Second Hokage-sama, Hibari and their Anbu team are back! They've reached the village gates..."
Hearing Torifu's words, Tobirama's expression instantly relaxed, a smile gracing his lips. Harano also chuckled and said, "See? They're back, aren't they?"
Hibari didn't make Tobirama and the others wait long. He arrived at the Hokage Residence with Hitenn and Kagami, the two squad leaders. As for the other members, of course they couldn't all crowd in chaotically. They first returned to their own Anbu headquarters, handed over their items, and could then begin their leave.
As he stepped through the door of the Hokage's office, Hibari saw both Harano and Tobirama. A bright smile involuntarily spread across Hibari's face as he greeted them, "Ojiisan, Harano-san, we're back..."
Although Tobirama was pleased to see Hibari safe and sound, he still sternly said, "What 'ojiisan'? Call me Hokage-sama! You disappeared for a month; do you still have the nerve to come back? I was almost about to engrave your names on the Memorial Stone!"
Hibari didn't mind, instead chuckling, "Isn't this a major affair? Information transfer has its risks, and what we did this time couldn't have even a whisper leaked, otherwise, it would have been huge trouble. So we couldn't just contact you casually; we could only report the situation face-to-face like this..."
As Hibari spoke, he glanced backward. Seeing this, Kagami smartly closed the office door tightly.
Tobirama's expression also became slightly more serious as he asked, "Tell me, how did the mission go... well, your mission was just to investigate whether the Land of Water had any intentions of war, right? I guess the mission failed, then? Because you've been gone for a month, and now the Land of Water's warships have already set sail towards the Land of Earth, so we don't need your information anymore!"
Hibari chuckled upon hearing Tobirama's words. "I've long heard that you political bigwigs are ruthless when it comes to turning faces, and it's truly so, Ojiisan... cough, cough, Hokage-sama. Put your hand on your heart and tell me, was your mission really that simple?"
"Simple or not? It's clearly written in black and white. Are you overthinking things?" Tobirama said, feigning ignorance.
Harano couldn't help but laugh at this exchange. After some light-hearted banter, the few of them got down to business.
"Hibari, you guys were out of contact with us for an entire month this time. What exactly did you do?" Tobirama asked.
Hibari grinned and said, "Hokage-sama, you should have already guessed..."
As his words fell, both Harano and Tobirama's expressions froze. It seemed they had indeed guessed correctly...
"You... you didn't actually take your squad and assassinate the Daimyō of the Land of Water, did you?" Tobirama asked in a deep voice.
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