Five days later, deep in the heart of the Land of Water, within a dense forest perpetually shrouded in thick moisture.
Sora concealed himself within the canopy of a giant tree, his presence almost merging with the surroundings. His gaze pierced through layers of leaves and branches, looking towards the outline of a village veiled in mist in the distance.
That place was Kirigakure.
Even from this distance, he could sense the strict and formidable aura emanating from that area.
'Indeed, as expected of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Their alert level during wartime is truly impeccable.'
Sora inwardly sighed.
Over these five days, he had tried various methods: infiltrating from the ground, using terrain for cover, even attempting to approach through the air by utilizing the mist. But he was repeatedly repelled by the ever present barriers and the keen patrols.
Kirigakure's defense system was several times stricter than the descriptions he had read in the Anbu archives.
Without a space time ninjutsu, that bug level ability, wanting to silently infiltrate the core area of a major shinobi village in a state of war readiness was almost a fool's dream.
'It seems, wanting to go in and see for myself is impossible.'
Sora was not too disappointed. This was within his expectations.
His main purpose for this trip was not necessarily to enter the village. Confirming the movements of Kirigakure's main force was the key.
After these five days of observation from the periphery, Sora discovered that there were not many powerful shinobi within Kirigakure. It was mostly chunin and genin. There were very few presences at the jonin level.
Most importantly, even the figures of the 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist', symbolizing Kirigakure's military power, were completely absent. Even the Third Mizukage, who only had one portrait in the original work, had not appeared.
All signs pointed to one fact: the elite forces of Kirigakure were indeed no longer there!
'It seems they truly went all out, to attack the Land of Wind.'
A glint of understanding flashed in Sora's eyes. However, after confirming this, Sora did not feel much relief at completing the task. Instead, a trace of regret arose in his heart.
He knew that Might Duy would die in the Third Shinobi World War. Therefore, before coming to Kirigakure, Sora had secretly considered whether to eliminate a few of the 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist' early.
But this trace of regret was quickly suppressed by reason.
'Enough, thinking about this now is useless. The main force of Kirigakure is not here. My reconnaissance mission is basically complete. The peripheral intelligence I've collected is enough to report back to Hiruzen Sarutobi.'
After lying in wait and observing for another half day, confirming there were no new valuable discoveries, Sora no longer stayed. He quickly disappeared deep into the forest.
...
After leaving the area around Kirigakure, Sora did not immediately set off to return to the Land of Fire.
He changed direction, heading towards the location of a secret underground bounty exchange within the Land of Water.
The Kekkei Mora plan required extensive experiments in its early stages. Whether researching an alternative to the Chimera Technique, or attempting to fuse Kekkei Genkai in the future, all required massive financial support.
Instruments, materials, venues, even some 'special' test subjects... none could be done without money.
As he traveled, Sora calmly planned.
The rewards he had accumulated from performing missions in the Anbu were not insignificant. But compared to his grand and costly plan, it was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket.
The bounty exchange, this grey organization spread throughout the underworld of the shinobi world, specializing in purchasing all kinds of valuable things, was undoubtedly one of the best channels for rapidly accumulating funds.
During his previous stay in the Land of Water, he had already obtained a bounty exchange credential through black market channels.
...
Several days later, Sora arrived at the bounty exchange outpost located in a desolate valley somewhere in the Land of Water.
The entrance here was concealed. A specific code and credential were required to enter.
The interior was dimly lit. All sorts of rogue ninja, wandering samurai, and bounty hunters gathered here, sizing up every newcomer with unfriendly eyes.
Sora had long since changed into a set of ordinary dark clothing. He wore that Vermilion Bird mask on his face. His aura was restrained, making it impossible to gauge his depth.
He walked directly to the mission bounty board. His gaze quickly swept over the densely packed bounties posted there.
Most were bounties on certain rogue ninja or shinobi of hostile forces. The rewards ranged from several hundred thousand to several tens of million ryo.
There were also missions requesting specific ninjutsu scrolls, rare medicinal herbs, or special intelligence.
Sora's goal was clear. Thanks to his strength and memories from his previous life, less than half a month had passed since he left Konoha to perform the reconnaissance mission. There was still plenty of time before the two month mission deadline.
He had ample time to operate within the Land of Water.
'Kirigakure's main force is on an expedition. The country is weakened.' Sora calculated in his heart:
'Those high reward, high difficulty missions might usually carry significant risk. But now, there probably aren't many powerful shinobi within the Land of Water that can threaten me.'
'After all, my inability to infiltrate Kirigakure doesn't mean I can't fight my way into Kirigakure!'
Finally, Sora's gaze locked onto two bounty notices posted side by side.
One was a bounty on a defected Kirigakure elite jonin. He mastered a certain water release secret technique. His whereabouts were mysterious. The bounty was as high as twenty three million ryo.
The other was to exterminate a group of pirates entrenched in a dangerous coastal area. Their leader was said to have quasi Kage level strength. He commanded many desperate men. The bounty was twelve million ryo.
Combined, the reward for the two tasks was exactly thirty five million ryo.
'Thirty five million ryo...' Looking at this number, the corner of Sora's mouth twitched slightly. His expression under the mask was somewhat odd. 'If I remember correctly, Asuma's head was also this price on the black market in the future, right? Tsk tsk, what a coincidence. This is equivalent to one Asuma?'
He commented inwardly, then without further hesitation, reached out and directly tore off these two bounty notices.
This action drew the attention of many people.
After all, these two tasks had been posted here for some time. Due to their high difficulty and high risk, few had inquired about them.
Now, seeing a person wearing a strange Vermilion Bird mask, with an unremarkable aura, accept both at once, many gazes looked over with scrutiny and suspicion.
Sora paid no attention to this. He walked straight to the reception counter and handed over his credential and the two bounty notices.
Behind the counter was an expressionless old man. He lifted his eyelids to look at Sora, then glanced at the bounty notices in his hand, saying in a hoarse voice:
"Code name?"
"Vermilion Bird."
Sora lowered his voice, reporting this name he had used in the Land of Demons.
The old man made a note, confirmed the credential was valid, then said:
"Mission time limit one month. Expires if overdue. Return here to exchange upon completion. The exchange takes a twenty percent commission."
"Understood."
Sora responded. He took the wooden token representing the accepted mission, turned, and calmly left this oppressive underground outpost under a mix of curious and wary gazes.
Exiting the valley, feeling the outside sunlight and air again, Sora let out a slight sigh of relief.
'The first step in accumulating funds... starts with this 'one Asuma'.'
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