"Something feels strange… Everyone, stop for now. Wait until the reconnaissance team checks the situation before we act."
About one kilometer away from Kannabeyama, a Konoha unit rushing to reinforce Kannabeyama Stronghold stopped.
No other shinobi present questioned the decision made by their leading jonin, because they knew that as a captain from the Nara clan, he would not give such orders casually.
After hearing Shikaku Nara's order, Shibi Aburame, who served as the reconnaissance team captain within this Konoha unit, stepped forward and asked in a low voice.
"What is it, Shikaku? Did you notice something wrong?"
"Shibi, is today a day when mist would form?"
Shikaku Nara narrowed his eyes and looked at the thin layer of mist shrouding Kannabeyama beneath the moonlight. His expression was grave.
"No. It has only just entered autumn. Within the Land of Fire, there is no weather that would support naturally forming mist."
The moment Shikaku Nara said that, Shibi Aburame knew roughly where the problem lay.
He pushed up his black sunglasses and looked at Kannabeyama Stronghold in the distance, where lights swayed and everything seemed peaceful.
Carefully, he released the kikaichu he raised.
Several tiny, extremely inconspicuous kikaichu flapped their wings and slowly rode the wind toward Kannabeyama Stronghold. From time to time, they even landed on nearby leaves and pretended to gnaw a few bites in order to deceive any enemy sensory or reconnaissance methods that might exist.
About ten minutes later, the kikaichu controlled by Shibi Aburame finally infiltrated the outer wall of Kannabeyama Stronghold.
He had the insects climb up from different directions, incorporating as much of the stronghold's interior into his field of vision as possible.
Inside the stronghold, there were normally shinobi on night watch in shifts. Judging from their clothing, they were indeed the Konoha shinobi stationed in this stronghold.
But for some unknown reason, Shibi Aburame could feel an odd sense of disharmony from them.
Tch.
When a kikaichu crawled past a very young-looking shinobi, it somehow attracted the other party's attention.
The boy, who possessed a pair of calm eyes, stared at the crawling kikaichu for quite a while before suddenly throwing out a kunai and pinning it to the wall.
"This is troublesome, Shikaku…"
Shibi Aburame did not cling to the lucky hope that the enemy would not discover the other kikaichu.
After seeing one of his kikaichu deliberately killed, he immediately turned to Shikaku Nara and spoke in a low voice.
"Our comrades stationed at Kannabeyama Stronghold have probably all died in the line of duty. The ones moving inside the stronghold now are Kirigakure shinobi wearing their clothes… My kikaichu was discovered by a boy with eyebrows that were only two dots. There is a high chance they will realize we have arrived."
"We were just one step too slow, and the enemy took it first?"
A somewhat self-reproachful and regretful expression appeared on Shikaku Nara's young face.
After taking a hard drag from his cigarette, he shouted his order.
"The situation has changed! Everyone, remain on guard and return by the original route… Kannabeyama Stronghold has already been occupied by Kirigakure's shinobi. We must bring this news back and have Lady Kushina allocate forces to prioritize taking Kannabeyama back!"
…
"Why did you suddenly attack, Rei?"
Mei, having changed into a Konoha jonin uniform and disguised herself as the female Konoha jonin skilled in Water Release, looked at the kunai pinned to the wall and cast a puzzled gaze toward Rei, who had launched the attack without warning.
"That insect was probably a secret insect controlled by the Aburame clan. Our disguise has been seen through. They won't come today."
As Rei said this, he removed the head cloth wrapped around his long black hair and spoke regretfully.
"The enemy commander discovered the problem… After taking this stronghold, I originally wanted to put in a little more effort and eat the support unit coming afterward as well. I didn't expect the enemy commander's instincts to be that sharp."
"It was probably the Hiding in Mist Technique you released that drew their attention, right?"
Mei patted Rei's shoulder helplessly.
"The Land of Fire is different from our Land of Water. During this season, there aren't many places where mist naturally forms at night… Although you already lowered the density of the mist as much as possible, as long as someone in their team noticed the existence of mist, they would definitely become suspicious."
"You think I wanted to?"
Rei kicked the stronghold's outer wall in displeasure and said unhappily.
"That bastard Fuguki Suikazan calculated that I could only use a frontal assault to take Kannabeyama Stronghold, so he simply didn't assign me even a single sensory-type shinobi. If I had one usable sensory shinobi, even if it were a half-baked one like Mikazuki, why would I need to use this half-complete modified Hiding in Mist Technique to sense approaching enemies…"
"No choice. Who told you to be a member of the Kaguya clan, Rei? Everyone thinks you only need to listen to orders."
Mei teased him by poking Rei's lower back, then continued asking with curiosity.
"But where did your inspiration for this modified Hiding in Mist Technique come from?"
"I thought of it when I went to the Land of Whirlpools before."
Rei caught Mei's mischievous little hand and squeezed her soft, boneless, slender fingers before answering at an unhurried pace.
"However, this technique with wide-area sensory effects will probably still need some time before it is fully perfected…"
The principle behind the modified Hiding in Mist Technique sensing enemies was very simple. He mixed a large amount of chakra into the mist he created.
While increasing the density of the mist, he used the principle that enemies passing through the fog would change the distribution of chakra within it to capture their specific positions.
The main reason Rei had suddenly thought of this modification plan was because he had unexpectedly met Nagato in the Land of Whirlpools. From Nagato, he recalled a technique that would play an important role in Amegakure's anti-spy and anti-infiltration work in the future.
Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
Although Rei did not have the Rinnegan like the Deva Path Pain, fortunately, he had a sufficiently enormous amount of chakra.
Even if he could not perform operations as detailed as blending chakra into every falling raindrop, he could still make the mist he created obtain a similar effect.
After listening to Rei clearly explain the development direction and specific use of the modified Hiding in Mist Technique, Mei, who had originally been enthusiastic about joining in and learning from him, immediately lost interest.
She shook her head regretfully and said helplessly.
"Rei, there's definitely nothing wrong with the direction of the ninjutsu you're developing. But for a technique that requires the user to possess an enormous amount of chakra in order to display its true effect, I'm not very optimistic about its future… If the Hiding in Mist Technique is a D-rank ninjutsu, then this modified version of yours has to be at least B-rank or above, right?"
"When I develop a new technique, the first thing I consider is whether I can use it myself. As for how to modify it afterward to lower the learning difficulty and broaden its usage range, that is something the village's ninjutsu development department should be worrying about. What does that have to do with me…"
As Rei gestured to the surrounding Kirigakure shinobi, indicating that they should begin normal night watch shifts and that those not on duty should find places to rest, he looked in the direction where Konoha's reinforcement unit had disappeared and spoke faintly.
"Rather than worrying about that now, it would be better to think more about how we'll face Konoha's counterattack in the next few days…"
"Kannabeyama is still quite important to Konoha's current defensive line. There is no other place like this, where the attacker's methods are restricted until only a frontal assault remains."
"If they still want to maintain their defensive line in its previous position, then they must take Kannabeyama back at any cost."
"In other words, there is a very high chance we'll have to face that Nine-Tails Jinchuriki lady directly?" Mei blinked, sounding both expectant and nervous.
"If the stalemate lasts a little longer, we may even see Konoha's future Fourth Hokage."
Rei clasped his hands behind his back and spoke with a somewhat wicked sense of amusement.
"Future Fourth Hokage? Rei, are you talking about Minato Namikaze?"
Mei widened her emerald-green eyes.
"You're lying. Why are you so certain he'll become the Fourth Hokage?"
"If you were Konoha's Third Hokage, Mei, would you feel at ease letting the village's only Nine-Tails Jinchuriki marry someone other than the Hokage?"
As Rei amused himself by teasing Mei with what could only be considered twisted logic, he could not help thinking of Orochimaru, the number one scientist of the shinobi world, who had become increasingly extreme after losing the competition for the position of Fourth Hokage and eventually chose to defect from the village.
Should I extend an olive branch to him before Akatsuki does when the time comes?
No. Nagato has already believed my nonsense and comprehended the principle that only when your fist is big enough will others obediently sit down and listen to you. Then after he sharpens his resolve to grow stronger, will he still be schemed against by those two old things, Danzo and Hanzo, who abandoned their original ideals and no longer know what they're doing, until he turns dark and falls?
This stage of fate, gradually becoming unpredictable even to a transmigrator like me, really makes one look forward to it…