After Senju Hashirama carefully finished reading the entire intelligence report, the lighthearted expression faded from his face. He might act unreliable at times, but when the matter was truly important, few in the world were more dependable than him.
According to the intelligence, a mysterious organization had begun developing and deploying highly advanced scientific ninja tools.
Such tools were common in the modern Ninja World, but they were far from the central focus they held in the original Boruto-era. Naruto's policies had steered development toward stability, regulation, and responsible innovation.
Even so, based on the gathered data, Kara's technological capabilities were far above standard, and the power of their scientific ninja tools surpassed anything the villages currently possessed.
Naruto had originally planned to send a different team.
But after the mecha incident at the exhibition—and the fortunate timing—he decided to entrust the mission directly to Shodai-sama.
A figure of overwhelming weight was needed to prevent unforeseen complications.
Especially because the real concern was not Kara itself…
…but Isshiki.
And no one knew when Kinshiki and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki might descend. Whether the timeline would match the original events—or arrive far earlier—was completely unknown.
For now, the only option was to strengthen the Ninja World's combat readiness as much as possible.
"Leave this matter to me," Hashirama said solemnly.
—Nakamurachō—
Hashirama's team slipped quietly into the bustling town.
Despite technically being a "town," Nakamurachō had expanded rapidly in the past few years, to the point that it functioned more like a small city.
Hashirama disguised himself as an ordinary middle-aged man. Jiraiya accompanied him as deputy commander for the operation.
Two legendary masters moving together—clearly, Naruto regarded this threat with utmost seriousness.
The intelligence pointed to a suspicious company on the outskirts.
On paper, it was a legitimate business.
In reality, it was almost certainly a Kara branch base.
The facility lay backed against the mountainside, its proximity to the cliffs providing both concealment and an easy escape route. This base belonged to none of the small emerging organizations scattered across the modern Ninja World. Its secrecy far exceeded theirs, making it nearly impossible to infiltrate by conventional means.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary corporate complex.
Hashirama frowned, scanning the surroundings. Security was present but not excessive. Nothing appeared outright suspicious.
"Shodai-sama," Jiraiya murmured, "the absence of abnormalities is itself the biggest abnormality."
Something was being hidden.
Jiraiya crouched, placing a palm on the ground.
A delicate ripple of sensory energy spread outward, invisible to the naked eye.
Moments later, his brows furrowed. He detected nothing—but that only strengthened his unease.
"Good timing," he muttered. "I just got my hands on a new piece of tech. Looks like we'll need it."
From his storage ring, Jiraiya pulled out an instrument—compact, intricate, and extremely precise.
The ring itself had been a hard-won prize from Naruto.
A full one thousand cubic meters of storage space—ten meters in length, width, and height. A treasure by any standard.
Hashirama squinted. "What is that thing?"
"A newly developed electromagnetic wave detector," Jiraiya explained. "Ninjutsu is useful, but it can also deceive your senses. Something simple like this can reveal what chakra-based detection cannot."
As he operated the device, a black-and-white terrain map slowly materialized on the screen, depicting the surrounding structures with remarkable accuracy.
Their team consisted of Hashirama, Jiraiya, and five elite shinobi—each at Elite Jōnin level, with one already near Kage-class.
Everyone studied the displayed image carefully, comparing it with the real scenery around them.
Nothing alarming appeared.
But intelligence reports confirmed that mysterious individuals had been repeatedly seen entering and leaving this area.
A spark glinted in Jiraiya's eyes.
He narrowed his focus, scanning every corner of the readings—until a subtle anomaly caught his attention.
A faint smile curved onto his lips.
"Found it."
He pointed to the top-right area of the terrain map, near the mountain wall.
"This section… the image didn't render completely. It's like a chunk has been bitten out. That's not a malfunction—something is preventing the detector from scanning it."
His voice dropped.
"This place definitely has a problem."
As Jiraiya spoke, he turned his gaze toward the distant mountain ridge.
That was the anomaly.
The group nodded silently before vanishing from their original position. Jiraiya stored away his equipment and followed closely behind.
Upon reaching the location indicated by the scans, the squad began their infiltration. Guided by Jiraiya's earlier readings, they arrived at an open clearing.
It didn't take long for everyone to sense something was wrong.
The area looked deserted—but in reality, seven Jōnin and three Elite Jōnin were hidden nearby, suppressing their presence with considerable skill.
For a simple "company," this level of security was far beyond excessive.
This was unmistakably a concealed stronghold.
But where was the entrance?
Jiraiya and Senju Hashirama exchanged a glance, both turning their eyes toward a seemingly ordinary wall—or rather, the mountain directly behind it.
The truth was obvious:
the enemy had hollowed out the mountain and constructed the base inside.
Jiraiya signaled with a few swift hand gestures, ordering the escorting shinobi to retreat. The infiltration beyond this point would be handled by him and Senju Hashirama alone.
Given the strength of the guards outside, the ones inside would undoubtedly be stronger.
The Chakra Refining Technique had elevated the overall combat ability of the modern Ninja World—but it had also strengthened many ambitious individuals. Aside from the truly dangerous ones, most had been released due to time constraints; the world needed manpower more than perfect screening.
Soon, the rest of the squad withdrew, leaving only Jiraiya and Hashirama.
The two exchanged a sequence of hand signs, silently agreeing on the next step:
temporarily subdue the guards using genjutsu.
Though neither of them specialized in illusion techniques, controlling a handful of shinobi who weren't even close to Kage-level was trivial.
With the guards subdued, it was time to find the entrance.
"How do we get inside?" Hashirama asked calmly.
Under genjutsu interrogation, the guards quickly revealed the method of entry.
But the answer was… inconvenient, though not surprising.
There were two security layers:
Authorization scan
Password authentication
With modern technology advancing rapidly, such systems had become common in covert facilities.
Unfortunately, the guards knew neither the password nor possessed proper authorization clearance.
Jiraiya let out a quiet breath.
"So much for subtle infiltration."
With no legal access, no credentials, and no working codes…
They had only one method left.
Forced entry.
Physical, direct, and unmistakable.