Land of Water
The salty sea breeze rippled across the ocean's surface, creating dense, fish-scale-like waves.
By afternoon, the mist over the sea began to dissipate, revealing a fully loaded cargo ship slowly emerging from the thinning fog.
Dressed as a fisherman, Rinjin had his wide sleeves and pant legs tied up with rope. He was pulling hard on the reins, controlling the sails.
Around him, people bustled about, working together to steer the heavily loaded ship toward the dock.
At the bow, the dark-skinned ship captain was busy issuing commands while simultaneously dealing with the cargo owner's incessant questions.
Soon, the irritable captain directed the crew, including Rinjin, to dock the fifty-meter-long ship at a small island's harbor.
As soon as the ship docked, the cargo owner eagerly disembarked with his hired ninja entourage, heading into the nearby town adjacent to Kirigakure.
The captain assigned some sailors to guard the ship while dismissing the rest.
A wave of cheers erupted as the sailors, grinning from ear to ear, left the deck in groups of three or four, heading into the town.
After a tiring voyage, the best place to unwind was, of course, the local taverns.
Despite being a newcomer aboard the ship, Rinjin had quickly bonded with many sailors thanks to his knack for telling bawdy jokes.
Arm in arm, the sailors headed for taverns, inns, and even more questionable establishments.
Meanwhile, aboard the now-empty ship, a short figure wearing a cat-faced mask entered the captain's private cabin.
Creek~
The sound of the door opening caught the captain's attention as he was busy drawing nautical charts at his desk.
Looking up, the captain's initial displeasure quickly morphed into a sycophantic smile.
"Lord Reo, welcome."
The masked figure, Reo, coldly nodded, his gaze piercing through the mask's narrow eye slits and locking onto the visibly uneasy captain.
"The information on these outsiders," Reo demanded in an icy tone.
The captain hurriedly nodded and retrieved a scroll from his nearby backpack.
The scroll contained detailed intelligence on the cargo owner and his hired ninjas.
Reo took the scroll without hesitation and opened it in front of the captain, scanning its contents.
The cargo owner was an anonymous figure, referred to simply as "Mr. Cargo Owner" by his hired ninjas. He hailed from the Land of Hot Water and dealt in charcoal and pig iron.
Throughout the journey, his behavior wasn't particularly suspicious, but he showed a keen interest in the Land of Water's resources and market trends.
He was generous with his spending and seemed quite intrigued by the local customs on various islands.
As for the hired ninjas, their backgrounds were relatively clean, being reputable mercenaries from exchange offices.
In summary, the captain believed there wasn't much cause for concern.
After a cursory review of the intelligence, Reo said nothing, calmly tucking the scroll into his wide sleeve.
"Keep gathering information," he ordered coldly before vanishing into thin air.
Staring at the open cabin door, the captain let out a long sigh, muttering to himself:
"This trade route is getting tougher by the day. I just don't understand what these ninjas are up to.
Guarding against this and that, sealing off the village—what a bunch of lunatics. They should focus on business instead!"
At the tavern, Rinjin and several sailors he had recently befriended were drinking heavily, sprawled across the table, completely unresponsive despite the bartender's attempts to wake them.
Eventually, the relatively sober sailors paid the bill and arranged for the tavern staff to escort the group to the inn next door.
Night quickly fell, and thick white fog began to envelop the entire town.
In the pitch-black room, Rinjin slowly opened his eyes, devoid of any trace of drunkenness.
It had been a month since he bid farewell to Tsunade and Rii.
During this time, Rinjin had traveled across the various islands of the Land of Water, observing their unique customs and traditions.
He had also infiltrated Kirigakure three times, studying this mysterious village.
Eventually, Rinjin reached a conclusion:
For general infiltration without specific mission objectives:
The difficulty level for Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) was 1.
The difficulty level for Konoha (Hidden Leaf Village) was 2.
The difficulty level for Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village) was 10+.
Kirigakure covered an area about two-thirds the size of Konoha, with a relatively small population dominated by clans possessing Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limits).
If Konoha's ratio of clan ninjas to civilian ninjas was 1:2, then Kirigakure's ratio was 5:1.
In other words, Kirigakure was primarily composed of clans with Kekkei Genkai.
Prominent clans included the Hōzuki Clan, Kaguya Clan, and the mysterious Yuki Clan.
Smaller clans were too numerous to count.
(Note: In both the databook and the anime, Haku's name is always just Haku, with no mention of the Yuki Clan.
Haku is a descendant of the Yuki Clan, but his parents' names remain unknown.
There's no official statement about Yuki Clan members merging into the Snow Clan—that's purely fanfiction.
Also, Haku is a boy, just like Nezha!
The original story features a character named Mizunoyuki, who was Itachi's squad leader and was killed by Obito.
Additionally, the second generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen includes Ringo Ameyuri, who is a woman, as clearly stated in the databook.)
The abundance of clan ninjas posed significant challenges to Rinjin's infiltration efforts.
Reflecting on this, Rinjin slowly got up, feigning a hangover as he stumbled out of the inn.
The town was lively even at night. Perhaps due to its proximity to Kirigakure, the local economy was thriving, attracting merchants to do business.
Wobbling his way through the streets, Rinjin arrived at a hot spring inn called Sea Flower Inn.
He entered, changed into slippers, grabbed a locker key, and undressed—all in one fluid motion.
Soaking in the warm water, Rinjin closed his eyes, contemplating the mission ahead.
Although his strength was considerable, his opponent was likely the legendary Madara Uchiha, leaving no room for complacency.
Moreover, his goal wasn't merely to locate Madara.
His ultimate objective was always those eyes.
As Rinjin's thoughts deepened, his plan became increasingly clear.
Between Konoha Year 8 and Konoha Year 10, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha clashed.
Madara sacrificed one of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to obtain a piece of Hashirama's flesh.
From then on, he began integrating this flesh.
According to his words to Obito, Madara only awakened the Rinnegan when he was near death after merging Hashirama's cells.
However, Rinjin didn't fully believe this.
Madara's dying words to Obito were riddled with lies, serving only as vague references.
During the Second Great Ninja War, Jiraiya discovered Nagato's Rinnegan and mentored Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan for three years.
This indicated that Madara had already awakened the Rinnegan by then.
If Madara was near death at that time, relying solely on the Gedo Statue to sustain himself, then who controlled the Third Mizukage to implant the Three-Tails into Rin?
Who engraved the sealing curse on Rin's heart to prevent her from committing suicide?
Black Zetsu? Possibly.
But it was far more likely that the ever-distrusting Madara did it himself!
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