Just as Ning Feng was deep in thought, Kakashi spoke calmly from behind his mask, "Looks like you ran into trouble as well. The question is—where exactly did these fake ANBU come from?"
"They even knew about our plan to infiltrate the Hidden Rain Village."
"Yeah," Inuzuka Hana nodded in agreement. "When I came over earlier, I also ran into ninja impersonating ANBU. Fortunately, I noticed in time, or I might've been killed by them."
Although Inuzuka Hana was wearing an ANBU mask, it did little to hide the beauty beneath it.
Uchiha Itachi said nothing. He simply stared at the corpses on the ground. Moments later, the bodies suddenly puffed apart, exploding into thick poisonous mist—clearly leaving behind no valuable clues or evidence.
Seeing that no one spoke, the corners of Ning Feng's lips curled slightly upward.
Although none of them mentioned Danzo, he was certain they had already grown suspicious of him. After all, only Danzo could possibly have known their movements.
"Alright," Kakashi said, breaking the silence. "No need to dwell on this. Since we've been assigned an infiltration mission, our priority is to complete it properly."
As he spoke, Kakashi leapt forward, heading straight into the distance. "We don't have much time. We need to reach the Hidden Rain Village as soon as possible. Anything else—we'll discuss on the way!"
The moment his words fell, Uchiha Itachi and Inuzuka Hana turned into two streaks of light and followed after him.
Ning Feng couldn't help but sigh inwardly—ANBU really were professionals. No wasted words, no hesitation. A moment later, he quickly caught up as well.
"This mission is an infiltration-type operation, carried out in squad formation," Kakashi explained as they moved. "Each squad is generally equipped with a support or sensory-type ninja, a genjutsu specialist, and an offensive combatant."
"For this operation, I'll be acting as the commander. My temporary codename is Number 6. I specialize in Lightning Release ninjutsu, possess the Sharingan, and can copy ninjutsu. Eight years of ANBU experience."
Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi promptly introduced himself as well. "My temporary codename is Number 7. I specialize in genjutsu, possess the Sharingan, and have five years of ANBU experience."
Inuzuka Hana followed right after. "My temporary codename is Number 8. I'm a sensory-type ninja. By infusing chakra, my sense of smell can be amplified tens of thousands of times. I'm fairly professional when it comes to tracking scents. Three years of ANBU experience."
Listening to his teammates, Ning Feng nodded inwardly.
ANBU squads weren't fixed long-term teams. As such, when carrying out missions, members addressed each other by codenames and shared their areas of expertise.
Only by doing so could the squad operate at peak efficiency.
"My temporary codename will be Number 9," Ning Feng said. "I specialize in Lightning Release ninjutsu, just mastered the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, possess the Sharingan, and my ANBU experience is… today is my first day."
When he said "first day," the other ANBU members all shot him surprised looks. None of them had expected that the person who had just fought so skillfully had only joined ANBU today.
Uchiha Itachi, on the other hand, revealed a relieved smile beneath his mask.
When he arrived earlier and saw that Ning Feng was unharmed, he had already been completely at ease.
Even so, Itachi had still been worried—after all, this was Ning Feng's first mission as an ANBU operative.
Now, seeing that Ning Feng had already mastered several new techniques, Itachi felt both shocked and delighted.
"Those guys earlier were reserve members of the Root organization," Inuzuka Hana said in astonishment. "They're pretty formidable. And you managed to see through them on your very first day in ANBU?!"
"No wonder," Kakashi added, equally surprised, "when I asked the Fourth Hokage, he gave me that mysterious look. So you're that kid—the one who joined ANBU at only five years old?!"
"I was just lucky," Ning Feng replied, deliberately putting on a humble expression, which instantly earned him even more goodwill.
Behind his mask, Uchiha Itachi's eyes softened with an almost indulgent fondness.
As the group sped toward the Hidden Rain Village, Ning Feng didn't waste this rare opportunity. With several elite ANBU experts around, he took the chance to ask all the cultivation and training questions that had been troubling him.
Sure enough, Kakashi—an old ANBU elite with nearly a decade of experience—spoke endlessly about training, benefiting Ning Feng greatly.
As for Uchiha Itachi, he didn't verbally instruct him, but the light flickering in his Sharingan had already betrayed his thoughts.
The group traveled at full speed and soon reached the border of the Land of Fire. One step further, and they would enter the Land of Rain.
Seeing that they were close to their destination, Kakashi ordered everyone to take a brief rest at a small inn near the border before continuing onward.
Ning Feng paid special attention and noticed that the moment they entered the Land of Rain, the number of players he saw increased dramatically.
Along the way, many players were hunting wild boars and other monsters, or even fighting rogue ninja, gaining large amounts of experience and ninjutsu scrolls.
Perhaps because of the abundance of monsters and missing-nin, players in the Hidden Rain Village seemed to be higher level than those in other countries.
The highest-level Rain Village player had already reached level 22.
Although there was still a significant gap compared to Ning Feng, it was clear that many players had obtained valuable opportunities in the Naruto world.
It was worth noting that in the Naruto setting, the Land of Rain was a small country, surviving between major powers. With constant internal strife and division, its ninja were generally quite strong and especially proficient in assassination techniques—making it an extremely dangerous place.
Of course, precisely because of this, the major nations often hired Hidden Rain ninja to carry out assassinations.
Danzo, the leader of Konoha's Root organization, maintained exceptionally close ties with the Hidden Rain Village, frequently cooperating with them to assassinate Konoha ninja in secret.
"This is the Land of Rain," Kakashi said once they were settled in a small inn. After setting up a soundproof barrier, he issued orders. "One step ahead lies the Hidden Rain Village—our mission target."
"However, before we begin the mission, we need to eliminate the Hidden Rain ninja that have been tailing us."
Hearing that they were being followed, Ning Feng frowned slightly. He had vaguely sensed someone watching them, but hadn't expected it to be real.
Just as he was thinking, Ning Feng suddenly noticed something outside the building—
Several names glowing blood-red were rapidly approaching their location.
"It looks like," Ning Feng said suddenly, "they're already here."
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