The Suna squad travelled through the Land of Wind and then the Land of Fire to meet the Konoha squad in the Land of Waves.
There was no bridge built between the Land of Fire and the Land of Waves for now so they had water walked to cross the distance.
They silently entered the Land of Waves without alerting anyone. Fishing villages lined the coast and the people kept their heads down. Kiri probably had spies stationed all through the country considering it was the closest entry point for Konoha to the Land of Water.
Shota and his teammates stayed alert. They avoided the main roads and moved through the thin forests and rocky shores.
It did not take long for them to meet the Konoha squad. They had left traces for the Suna squad to be tracked that made it easy for them.
Small marks on trees and some footprints guided the way. And if that was not enough, a few insects appeared to guide them to an inn inside the Land of Waves. The tiny bugs flew in a clear line and waited whenever the Suna team paused.
It did not take a genius to realise they were kikaichū of the Aburame clan. The insects belonged to a skilled user who could control them from a distance.
As they entered the inn under disguises, they booked a room for four people with dual beds. The innkeeper asked no extra questions and simply took the payment.
The room was plain but clean with two beds and a small table. Not too long after they entered the room a knock sounded.
Spider opened the door. Four people in disguises entered the room. Their faces looked ordinary and their clothes matched common travelers.
With a collective nod everyone released their transformation jutsu. The false appearances faded and the true faces of both squads appeared in the room.
Shota looked at the Konoha squad and realised that they too had sent some heavy hitters for this mission.
They were also made of four people. The first was the one with sunglasses. Shota recognised him as Shibi Aburame. Father of Shino and an elite Jonin in strength and likely the one leading the squad considering he is also the clan head of the Aburame clan.
The man stood calm and silent with insects no doubt hidden under his coat. 'They likely sent him because they might have found my Dojutsu's weakness to Aburame clan and their insects. If we betray them with him, they have a chance to fight back. But with my Explosion Release hands insects are not that much of a threat for me now.' Shota thought as he turned to examine the second person in the Konoha squad who he believed to be the most dangerous threat to him if a fight broke out.
It was Shisui Uchiha. The young man carried himself with confidence and his eyes held the look of someone who had already seen too many battles.
'The Uchiha genius rival to Itachi. At this point of time he should have unlocked his Mangekyō. If I am not wrong there was this scene where Ao had seen Shisui during this time and had to retreat.' Shota thought as he remembered how Ao had revealed Danzo's hidden Shisui's eye during the Kage meeting.
The power of those eyes made Shisui one of the most dangerous people in the room. Shota thought further, 'If he hits me with his Kotoamatsukami, let's hope that my Erasure works on it and when I use Erasure on myself the genjutsu would break.'
He turned to the third person who was one of the Hyuga twins Hiashi Hyuga or Hizashi Hyuga. Considering how he was sent to a mission in a foreign country it was likely Hizashi as he was the branch member and did not have the responsibilities of a clan head.
'That makes three elite Jonin from Konoha side already.' Shota turned to the last member and thankfully it was not an elite Jonin but probably a Chunin.
But it was a canon character. It was Aoba Yamashiro who if he was not wrong in the future would be a Special Jonin from the intelligence division of Konohagakure.
Of most of the background characters of Konoha, he had impressed Shota the most with the variety of techniques he had in the future. Shota thought, 'He is likely here to help us gather intelligence.'
The presence of an information specialist made sense for a mission that needed planning and Intel inside enemy influenced land.
The Konoha squad also studied the Suna squad. They recognised all the four since they were also Jonin and Elite Jonin in rank and strength.
Even Spider was recognised despite him being an ANBU but before ANBU he was someone famous for his wind nature chakra threads. The mutual recognition created a moment of silence as both sides measured the strength in the room.
Shota decided to break the quiet with greetings. "Pleasure to meet you Konoha shinobi. Shisui san, Shibi san, Hizashi san and Aoba san." Shota said rattling the Konoha a little.
For him to recognise all of them even Aoba who was a Chunin meant that Suna had superb intelligence gathering themselves. The accurate names caused a small stir among the Leaf shinobi. They had not expected the young Suna Jonin to know every face so quickly.
Shisui recovered first and spoke with a bright and almost playful tone. "Yo I have heard about you so much. You are about my age and already an S rank. Shota senpai you make the rest of us look weak."
Shibi Aburame coughed politely to bring the meeting back to business. "Konoha is thankful that Suna had agreed for the joint mission. Let us proceed with the discussion on how to proceed."
--------Author Notes---------
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