"I want you to lead a squad and secretly head to the waters near the ruins of Uzushiogakure."
As Rasa spoke, he took out an intelligence scroll and handed it to Pakura.
She accepted the scroll and began reading the contents recorded inside.
At this moment, her proud chest pushed against her clothing, her long green hair tied up casually with a hairpin. Only a few orange-yellow strands slipped from her temples and gently framed her face.
In terms of beauty, Pakura was striking—an undeniable woman of elegance.
But the expression she wore carried a heroic sharpness, the aura of a woman who spoke decisively and acted with unwavering swiftness.
Pakura quickly skimmed through the information. With her intelligence, she instantly understood Rasa's intent.
When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman profits.
For Suna, whose current situation was extremely difficult, this was the most advantageous strategy.
"This mission cannot fail. Do you understand?"
Rasa spoke again.
Whether child, wife, or even the so-called hero of the Sand, nothing could be allowed to jeopardize the village.
Everything was secondary before Suna's survival.
"I understand, Lord Kazekage. I will personally pick the personnel and guarantee the mission's success."
Pakura replied in a low, steady voice. As she turned to leave, her long hair swayed gently behind her.
Rasa watched her departing figure, his eyes flickering with unreadable emotion.
Sending Pakura was both a recognition of her ability and her rising prestige within the village but also a way of making use of her… and subtly restrain her.
Her growing fame as Pakura of the Scorch Release was rising rapidly.
And for him, the Kazekage, that was not entirely a good thing.
The intelligence earlier had already confirmed that Orochimaru was personally overseeing the battlefield.
That alone meant they needed to proceed with extreme caution.
…
Meanwhile, on a jagged, rocky island dozens of nautical miles away from the ruins of Uzushiogakure, the sea fog thickened to an oppressive degree.
Within the heavy mist, the vague silhouettes of Mist shinobi flickered in and out.
Different from the ninjas of other villages, every one of them carried a faint but unmistakable smell of blood about them.
At the forefront stood a middle-aged man whose face looked slightly aged, yet whose eyes were sharp like a hawk—Gokurō.
(TN: Not sure who this is.)
He stood with both hands behind his back atop a massive reef, staring at the distant sea horizon swallowed by fog.
For Mist shinobi, who were experts in Water Release, moving swiftly across open sea as though walking on flat land was nothing difficult.
From here to the ruins of the Uzushiogakure, if they pushed themselves at full speed, it would take no more than eleven to twelve hours.
And beyond that hazy horizon lay the Konoha defensive line they intended to breach.
"Lord Gokurō, based on my sensing, a large number of Konoha shinobi are gathered ahead."
A fat shinobi emerged, wearing a shinobi cap, red glasses, and blue markings painted on his cheeks.
"Chūkichi, how many Byakugan users are there?"
Gokurō turned his head toward him.
Chūkichi was one of Kirigakure's most outstanding sensory shinobi. His perception was sharp enough to feel even the smallest trace of chakra. He had often made extremely accurate judgments of enemy movements thanks to that talent.
Although Kiri possessed no Byakugan, sensory-type shinobi were indispensable to every village.
Thus, Kiri had many who excelled in this field.
"Hmm… the number of Byakugan users is small. Definitely no more than fifteen. I can't distinguish main house from branch house, but most should be Hyūga branch family."
Chūkichi spoke while a string of red prayer beads hung loosely around his neck.
"I see…"
Gokurō immediately thought of Ao.
It was said Ao had encountered a Hyūga from the main family and even acquired the rare Red Eye bloodline limit.
But in the end, he still failed—whether he died at the hands of the White Fang's son or at the hands of one of his companions remained unknown.
The corpse had been destroyed beyond recognition—even the brain was thoroughly crushed.
That was done by an extremely cautious individual.
During war, shinobi usually focused on escaping alive or delivering intel; very few would waste the time needed to destroy a corpse so thoroughly.
According to Mei's report, she believed there was a high possibility Kiyohara was responsible.
"What about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"They are still moving according to the predetermined route. They will arrive at the rendezvous point roughly a day later than us," Chūkichi answered respectfully.
This mission was taken very seriously by the upper ranks of Kiri.
They even gathered the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, who usually operated across different battlefields.
The goal was to form an unstoppable spearhead.
With one decisive strike, they would pierce through Konoha's defense line at the Uzushiogakure ruins and then advance deep into the fertile heartland of the Land of Fire.
If they succeeded…
the other great villages would certainly seize the chance to bite into the Land of Fire's fertile territory as well!
"Good."
Gokurō nodded with satisfaction.
"Zabuza, this mission is critical. Don't start fighting with your team members again. Mei, you as well—stop dwelling on your previous failure."
He turned to look at Momochi Zabuza and Terumi Mei.
The two were not originally from the same squad, but for this operation they had been placed into the same unit.
Kiri had gathered many shinobi for this invasion, planning to infiltrate Uzushiogakure through multiple routes.
This terrain was extremely unique. Once captured, it would secure Kirigakure's logistics and create a stable foothold to invade the Land of Fire mainland.
"I know."
Zabuza said, arms folded, his face wrapped in bandages.
"That's good," Gokurō replied.
After all, this was the same Zabuza who, during his graduation exam, slaughtered every other student once they all stepped onto the testing floor.
An extreme shinobi indeed.
"With the lesson from last time, I will not fail again."
Mei declared firmly.
Last time, they had completely failed to anticipate Kiyohara's strength and had no choice but to leave Ao behind to cover their retreat.
By the time she returned home, all she received was the report of Ao's death.
That memory had lodged itself in her heart like a thorn.
Unlike other Mist shinobi who distrusted each other deeply, Mei held a dream—
to reform the "Village of the Bloody Mist,"
to restore Kirigakure to normalcy,
to eliminate betrayal between comrades,
and to build bonds of true companionship.
And everything would begin with this mission.
At the same time, she also hoped—
that she could meet Kiyohara once more.
This time, she would wash away her humiliation and prove her strength!
…
The next day, early morning.
The sea mist had yet to disperse fully.
Kiyohara's squad and Kakashi's squad moved along their assigned patrol route, carefully checking potential blind spots like any other day.
Suddenly, Pakkun—who had been quietly walking at the front—abruptly froze. His moist round nose twitched intensely.
The other ninja hounds also grew restless, letting out low uneasy growls.
"Something's wrong…"
Pakkun lifted his head, his tiny face under the straw hat turning solemn.
"Kakashi, the smell in the air is chaotic… there's the scent of seawater, but also something else—
something foreign… carrying killing intent.
A lingering trace of chakra. Very faint… but it can't escape my nose."
"Can you determine direction and numbers?"
Kakashi asked in a low voice.
Pakkun and the other hounds sniffed the air again. After a moment, Pakkun responded:
"The sea breeze has blown away most of the scent, so I can't get an exact number.
But it's at least two squads.
As for direction… they're heading toward the abandoned port along our defensive flank."
"The flank port…"
Kakashi mentally recalled their deployment maps.
That location had complicated terrain and was difficult to defend.
The forces stationed there were relatively weak.
If Kirigakure elites slipped in through that route… the consequences would be disastrous.
"We must warn the others immediately and move to intercept!"
Kiyohara tightened his grip on his shinobi blade, feeling the chakra surging within him.
What should come, had finally come.
Perfect—this would be a proper real battle. Time to test his strength.
…
There were usually three ways to obtain a summoning contract:
First, inheritance from a master.
Second, taming the creature yourself.
Third, buying one.
For example, the Summoning Island was known to distribute many types of summoning beasts.
According to the anime, there was even an Uzumaki descendant—Uzumaki Honoka—living there.
"Money… I'm short again."
Kiyohara sighed inwardly.
He wanted to contract a summoning beast—but unfortunately, his wallet was empty.
He could only hope to plunder some high-quality equipment from the enemies they were about to face…
(End of Chapter)
TN: Not sure about this last part but I double check and it was there.