Chương 140

With every passing kilometer, the terrain grew steeper and more unforgiving. Towering cliffs replaced gentle hills, waterfalls thundered through narrow gorges, and dark mountains stretched across the horizon like enormous walls announcing the beginning of the Land of Lightning. By the afternoon of the following day, Rei had reached the first military checkpoint guarding the southern approaches to the Land of Lightning.

Unlike the borders of many smaller nations, this was no simple wooden gate with a handful of guards. Elevated watchtowers overlooked the mountain pass, hidden observation posts blended seamlessly into the cliffs, and patrols continuously moved between predetermined routes. Every traveler entering the country was questioned, documented, and observed by sensor shinobi stationed well behind the visible guards.

Rei remained hidden upon a distant cliff for nearly three hours, patiently studying every rotation before making his move. He noted the changing patrol schedules, the position of every sensor ninja, and even the brief moments when merchant caravans caused inspections to become less thorough. Kumogakure's reputation for security had clearly not been exaggerated. Any ordinary infiltrator relying solely upon speed or stealth would almost certainly be discovered before reaching the village itself.

That Raikage really was a tad bit military chauvinist. Once everything had been committed to memory, Rei quietly formed a single hand seal. His appearance gradually shifted into that of an unremarkable middle-aged traveler carrying simple trade goods. Immediately afterward, he suppressed his chakra until it became almost impossible to perceive.

His exceptional chakra control allowed him to reduce its presence to the bare minimum, while his unusually vast Uzumaki reserves ensured he could maintain that state without exhausting himself. To any sensor shinobi, he appeared no different from an ordinary civilian possessing only the faint chakra naturally present within every human being. The inspection proceeded exactly as Rei had predicted. One Kumogakure shinobi examined his travel permit while another casually questioned him about his destination.

Behind them, a sensor ninja briefly closed his eyes before reopening them with complete disinterest. Finding nothing unusual, the guards returned his identification and waved him onward without another question. Only after walking several hundred meters did Rei allow himself a quiet glance behind. Though it wasn't required, because he could sense people around regardless. That brief encounter had also been his first opportunity to observe Kumogakure shinobi in person.

They were noticeably different from those of Konoha. Most possessed powerful, well-built physiques and also much darker than them. And they also seemed a bit more alert than what normal patrol should have been. There was very little idle conversation among them, every movement carrying an efficiency that reflected a village built upon military strength instead of diplomacy. No wonder, Kumogakure was known to the strongest military force among the 5 nations.

Konoha was able to stand tall because of its history and some strong individuals who could turn the tide single handedly. The last one was Minato. And the next ones would be Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, along with Kakashi and Guy. Following the contingency instructions hidden within the mission scroll, Rei avoided the roads leading toward Kumogakure itself and instead traveled east until he reached a modest mountain settlement nestled beside a roaring river.

It appeared to be an ordinary mining village, yet every instruction pointed here. The first step required him to purchase a simple wooden wind chime from an elderly craftsman before hanging it beneath the abandoned shrine overlooking the village at sunset. Only after completing that seemingly meaningless act would the next stage of Root's contingency protocol reveal itself.

As the final rays of sunlight disappeared beyond the surrounding peaks, Rei secured the wind chime beneath the weathered shrine roof exactly as instructed. The wind chime swayed gently beneath the weathered roof, its soft metallic ring carried away by the evening breeze. Apart from that lonely sound, the abandoned shrine remained completely silent. Rei neither moved nor attempted to search the surrounding forest. The contingency instructions had been explicit.

Once the signal was placed, the next move belonged to the operative awaiting extraction. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Several long minutes passed before a faint disturbance finally entered Rei's sensory range. The newcomer had concealed his chakra well enough that most shinobi would never have noticed the approach, yet to Rei the presence stood out against the otherwise tranquil mountain.

Moments later, a figure dressed in Root attire stepped silently from behind one of the ancient cedar trees, a porcelain animal mask concealing every trace of his identity. The masked operative stopped several meters away, never lowering his guard.

"The leaves fall before the storm." Rei answered without hesitation.

"But the roots remain beneath the earth." Only then did the operative give a slight nod.

"Identity confirmed." His voice remained low and emotionless, exactly as one would expect from a Root shinobi.

"I am Root operative Dajimu." Yeah, probably a fake name too like Yamato had. Rei studied the man for a brief moment before calmly speaking.

"You can remove the mask." The operative remained perfectly still. Seeing that Rei continued.

"Are you dense? If we're leaving the Land of Lightning together, the mask becomes a liability instead of protection. Every checkpoint between here and the border will force you to remove it anyway." For several seconds Dajimu simply stared at him before slowly reaching upward. The porcelain mask came away without protest, revealing an entirely forgettable face. Short blue hair framed features that would disappear into a crowd within moments.

His blue eyes showed clear signs of fatigue, while several days' worth of stubble covered his jaw. He looked exactly as an undercover operative should—ordinary enough that nobody would remember seeing him.

"Do you still have the intelligence reports?"

"I do."

"Then where are they?" Dajimu's expression became noticeably more serious.

"I no longer carry them." Rei raised an eyebrow.

"I was compromised. My cover wasn't completely exposed, but Kumogakure's counterintelligence grew suspicious after one of their secure facilities suffered an information leak. I escaped before they could identify me, but from that moment every patrol in the surrounding region began searching for a foreign infiltrator. The military checkpoints became far stricter than usual, and hunter squads started sweeping every likely escape route."

"Keeping the reports on my person would have guaranteed their capture if I were cornered. I sealed them inside a waterproof Root cache and buried it several kilometers from here. Unfortunately, the area has since fallen under intermittent surveillance. I transmitted an extraction request through Root's emergency communication technique before disappearing completely."

"Hmm.. No wonder you asked for help." Rei said. Dajimu reached into his vest and unfolded a hand-drawn map, indicating a narrow valley north of the settlement.

"The cache is here." Rei studied the location only briefly before rolling the map shut.

"Then that's where we're going." Dajimu's expression immediately stiffened.

"No." The answer came so quickly that even Rei glanced at him for a brief moment.

"There are no fewer than a hundred Kumogakure shinobi rotating around that valley," Dajimu continued in the same calm tone.

"Sensor units, patrol squads, hunter teams, and rapid-response forces. They've left the cache untouched because they're waiting for someone to retrieve it. The moment anyone approaches, every unit in the area will converge on that location. Going there now is suicide."

"I see." That was all he said. Dajimu frowned behind his exhausted expression.

"I've observed the area for four days. There isn't a single opportunity to retrieve it unnoticed. Even if we somehow reached the cache, we would never escape the encirclement afterward. The sensible course of action is to continue hiding until the surveillance weakens."

"Then stay here."

"... What?"

"I'll retrieve the cache and come back." The words were spoken so casually that Dajimu wondered whether he had misheard them. The young shinobi standing before him didn't sound arrogant or reckless. He simply stated it as though retrieving heavily guarded intelligence from the middle of a military cordon was an ordinary errand.

"... You're serious." Rei looked at him with mild confusion.

"Why wouldn't I be?" For the first time in years, Dajimu found himself completely speechless. Every instinct developed through Root screamed that the mission had already crossed into impossible territory, yet the teenager before him had accepted it without the slightest hesitation. Before Dajimu could think of another argument, Rei had already turned and disappeared into the darkness of the surrounding forest.

Moving silently across the mountainside, Rei gradually approached the marked valley while keeping his chakra active. Completely suppressing it, as he had done at the border, was no longer an option. Doing so would leave him unable to enhance his body, sense hostile chakra, or react instantly if discovered. Instead, he compressed his chakra as much as possible while remaining fully prepared for combat, carefully weaving between patrol routes until the location described on Dajimu's map finally came into view.

The valley appeared undisturbed at first glance. Moss-covered stones surrounded a cluster of ancient trees, while a narrow stream flowed quietly through the center. Following the landmarks drawn on the map, Rei quickly located a weathered boulder bearing three nearly invisible chisel marks. Digging only a short distance beneath it, his fingers soon struck a waterproof cylindrical container sealed with Root's distinctive security formula.

"So this is it."