Following the major battle, Sunagakure withdrew temporarily. However, Konoha remained undecided on whether to launch a full-scale offensive, leading to a lull on the battlefield.
Sakumo Hatake didn't stay in the Land of Rain. He had been reassigned as a "firefighter" commander, pulled from the Suna front and quickly dispatched to the Land of Water.
To bolster morale, Konoha's high command didn't hide the White Fang's departure, though the exact timing and route remained a state secret. Even though Sakumo had slain four Suna Jonin in this single engagement—bringing his total Jonin kill count to thirty-nine—his success had been achieved with support and cover. If his movements were leaked and he was cornered by four or five Jonin at once, he would still be in grave danger.
After all, the current Suna command had issued an "at all costs" bounty for the White Fang's head for killing thirty of their Jonin. They hadn't yet reached the point where they would be so broken as to issue the "Retreat on Sight" order that would come years later.
A Great Ninja Village has to be pushed to a desperate, shameful degree before they issue an order like that.
Frankly, the Third Hokage never managed to earn that kind of terrifying reputation throughout his life. Even "garbage" groups like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist would frequently declare their intent to kill him; they truly didn't respect him as a threat.
Hiruzen couldn't really complain, though. Since taking the seat of Hokage, he hadn't stepped onto a proper battlefield. He didn't yet have the title of "Strongest Hokage of All Time," and a "garbage" title like "Professor of Shinobi" had zero deterrent value when he hadn't refreshed his combat record in over a decade.
For Tetsumaru and the other Konoha shinobi, the biggest impact of Sakumo's departure was that Suna immediately pushed back. The good days of rotating back to the Land of Fire to soak up some sun were over.
Uchiha Akira, however, was in high spirits. His promotion to the two-tomoe Sharingan had earned him a massive reward from his clan—not just money, but several new jutsu, including Lightning Style techniques suited for the Land of Rain. He was eager to show them off.
Yet, this kid was an absolute anomaly among the Uchiha. Tetsumaru realized that Akira was only pretending to be arrogant; in reality, he was exceptionally cautious and lacked any trace of the typical Uchiha "rebellion."
However, Akira was no "Saint of Universal Love" either. He was ruthless when it came to silencing civilians to hide the squad's tracks. Where a simple Genjutsu would have been safer and more effective, Akira preferred to kill, burn the bodies to ash, and then either bury the remains deep or scatter them to the wind.
It was a style that made Tetsumaru both want to laugh and feel a cold shiver. The vibe felt incredibly familiar.
Tetsumaru mulled it over: Hmm... it smells like a "Main Character."
"New mission."
Tetsumaru took the mission scroll—a thin sheet of paper folded three times and sealed with wax. He verified the seal's integrity in front of the messenger before opening it. Once he had memorized the contents, he summoned a swarm of insects to devour the paper.
After signing the confirmation and sending the messenger on his way, Tetsumaru scratched his head. It was a Rogue Ninja Elimination mission.
It was common knowledge that Konoha was the most "lenient" village toward rogue ninjas. They rarely issued active pursuit missions, which resulted in a horde of Konoha rogues causing chaos throughout the world. By the time the Fourth Great Ninja War rolled around, it was basically a "Konoha Rogue Ninja All-Star Team" beating up the Five Great Nations.
Therefore, when Konoha actually did issue a rare hunt, it meant the situation was troublesome—super troublesome.
For example, the pursuit of Orochimaru a decade later was mostly for show. For the ninjas assigned to such "shows," it was a guaranteed mission failure on their record, exhausting, and paid poorly. Even worse, if you were "lucky" enough to actually stumble upon the target, you were done for. Every rogue ninja had a screw loose; they wouldn't hesitate to kill you.
Fortunately, this target was a Chunin—not a Jonin, and importantly, not a "genin" monster. Tetsumaru felt a bit more at ease; at least he didn't have to worry about being killed.
He organized his insects and equipment, gathered his subordinates, and Squad Aburame set off.
According to the intel, the rogue was named Hisamoto, aged thirty-three. He was a stationed ninja who had killed two teammates while on mission six days ago and defected. His last known sighting was two days ago, before his defection had been discovered, when he received a piece of "vital intelligence" from a local post.
The post was an intelligence center targeted at the Land of Earth, located very close to the Land of Rain camps, which was why the mission had been handed to the frontline troops.
During the journey, Tetsumaru briefed his subordinates. Akira said nothing, but his murderous aura grew thicker; he was clearly looking for blood.
The surprise was Kurama Yun. After hearing the briefing, her eyes flickered, and her entire aura shifted.
She was still the same scrawny, flat-chested little girl, but her gait and movements suddenly became... alluring. A lazy, seductive charm seemed to radiate from her. Even her voice changed to a slightly raspy, smoky tone as she murmured, "Root, huh? This is going to be a pain."
"!!"
Holy crap, another freak.
Tetsumaru continued forward without a word, but his mind was a mess. Gods, these two.
He knew the mission scroll was being deliberately vague about the "vital intelligence." It was normal not to list the specifics, but failing to provide a general category or an order to retrieve/destroy it was highly suspicious.
The logical mission parameters should have been: Eliminate the rogue and retrieve the intel. Instead, that part was missing. It was highly probable that the intel was something they weren't "qualified" to know, and someone else was handling the retrieval.
It was a classic setup for Root's dirty work.
And look at his squad: an Uchiha, a Kurama, and an Aburame. They were either targets of Root's persecution or "talents" Danzo was coveting.
Tetsumaru naturally suspected there was a catch. Perhaps a certain one-eyed man (who wasn't blind yet) wanted to kill two birds with one stone—eliminate the rogue, reclaim the intel, and take out an eyesore like Tetsumaru while making two "talents" "voluntarily" join the ANBU.
It took a transmigrator like Tetsumaru quite a while to piece the political maneuvering together. Yet Kurama Yun had figured it out in the blink of an eye. If that wasn't a "freak" trait, what was? The most jarring part was her voice and aura shift. Was she possessed by an old ghost? Did she have an "Inner Persona" with a 300 IQ?
Another "Main Character" vibe.
I hope I'm just overthinking this.
The trio reached the intelligence post—a secluded general store in a small town. The town was quiet and business was slow, making it the perfect cover. They slipped past the drowsing clerk and entered the hidden passage to meet the resident intelligence ninja.
Catching a rogue in the Shinobi World wasn't like catching a fugitive on Earth. In most cases, rogue ninjas planned their defection well in advance, defecting during a mission where they wouldn't be missed for at least a day. By the time the hunt began, it was a battle of tracking vs. counter-tracking.
Rogues like Hiruko or Sasori were the gold standard; they were listed as "Missing" for years before they ever resurfaced. In contrast, the future defections of Orochimaru and Sasuke were massive failures—they were spotted before they even cleared the village gates and had to fight their way out. If it weren't for their deep backgrounds and the entire village collectively "throwing" the fight to let them go, they both would have died at the front gates.
According to the latest intel, Hisamoto was likely a spy rather than a simple rogue. He had vanished after killing his teammates and taking a report concerning Iwagakure.
The conclusion of defection was based on the fact that the two dead ninjas had been killed at close range and had consumed poisoned food—a clear "inside job." Two men dead by a friend's hand, one missing, and the intel gone.
Tetsumaru didn't waste time. He led his squad out immediately. Two and a half days had passed; the trail was cold.
They reached the site of the murders, but the tracks were blurred beyond recognition. None of them could glean anything from the scene. Finally, Tetsumaru's Kikaichu managed to catch a faint, lingering trace of Hisamoto's scent. At least the mission could continue.
However, the Kikaichu also picked up the scent of many other people—including a ninja hound.
Tetsumaru immediately thought of his classmate, Inuzuka Takeshi. The Inuzuka and their hounds were the specialists for this kind of work; the Aburame's insects were a tier below in pure tracking.
Undoubtedly, this was a "Competition Mission." Another squad was also on the hunt.
"This is annoying. We're competing with the Inuzuka. This won't be easy," Akira said, his brow furrowed. He lacked the confidence to beat an Inuzuka at tracking.
Tetsumaru interrupted him. "Follow our own rhythm. Don't assume defeat until the result is decided."
"Follow me."
Tetsumaru took the lead, pushing northeast.
By nightfall, Squad Aburame reached the border of the Land of Fire. A few more miles and they would enter the Land of Rice Fields. The target's scent grew strong here, appearing to loop and circle back multiple times.
Along with Hisamoto's scent, there were traces of the ninja hound, its master, and several other people. Are they playing hide-and-seek here?
It was strange, but Tetsumaru didn't let it stop him. He followed the freshest scent. This was the Land of Fire, after all; there shouldn't be too many surprises.
Surely I won't run into another Jinchuriki.
Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey.Don't set flags, Tetsumaru. You're asking for it.
The scent grew increasingly dense, and physical tracks became visible. Akira moved to the front of the formation.
Another half hour passed. The trio tracked the trail to the top of a small hill. Tetsumaru suddenly stopped. He had found something new.
A very obvious scent and trail led over the hill toward a village below. From the ridge, they could see tracks cutting through the rice paddies outside the village.
Akira was getting anxious. His keen eyes saw the tracks in the paddies; at least a dozen ninjas had recently run that way. They were clearly falling behind.
But Tetsumaru stayed at the crest of the hill, looking left and right, making no move to go down.
Akira finally snapped. "Captain, if we don't hurry, we'll lose them!"
Tetsumaru turned. He stared at Akira with cold, silent intensity before suddenly reaching out and grabbing Akira's face.
The explosion of speed was like a bolt of lightning; Akira had zero time to react. Tetsumaru stood at 171 cm, and his single hand was large enough to dwarf 150-cm Akira's entire head. It looked like a college student palming a volleyball.
Not only was Akira's head firmly caught, but a torrential surge of chakra erupted from Tetsumaru's hand. It slammed into Akira like a tsunami, shattering his internal circulation and leaving his body paralyzed and limp.
It was a brutal, raw imitation of the Hyuga's Gentle Fist—using sheer volume to overwhelm the enemy's chakra network.
Once he was sure Akira was "softened," Tetsumaru hoisted him up and shook him back and forth, making Akira's body flop around like a wet noodle.
"Pfft—AHAHAHAHA!"
Yun saw the usually cool, brooding, and arrogant Uchiha Akira being swung around like a ragdoll. She couldn't hold it in; she burst into a fit of laughter that sounded like a honking goose.
"..."
"..."
The two boys stared at her, but she couldn't stop. The serious atmosphere had evaporated completely.
As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to others.
Tetsumaru let that classic quote echo in his mind as he awkwardly dropped Akira to the ground. He went back to observing the environment.
By the time Akira recovered and climbed to his feet, Tetsumaru had finished his sweep and confirmed the problem.
Hisamoto wasn't alone. Along the flanks of his trail, there were tracks from three entire squads of ninjas lying in wait. Tetsumaru could even tell that these hidden ninjas had stood at this very spot to watch the dozen trackers chase Hisamoto, before calmly cleaning their tracks and withdrawing.
Lucky we were a step behind, Tetsumaru thought. Otherwise, I might not have spotted them.
His eyes narrowed. These ninjas were elites. Their concealment was flawless. If they hadn't slightly disturbed the original tracks while cleaning their own, even Tetsumaru might have missed them.
The mission had just been upgraded.