Tatsuma thought about it and then recalled that two months ago, when he returned to the village after recovering from his injuries, he had casually handled the matter of sending Hidden Mist Village ninjas with Tsunade. However, wasn't this matter supposed to be handled by the Reconciliation Division of the Interrogation Department? Why was ANBU involved? Moreover, the people required for the talks were Sakumo and Tatsuma.
It's understandable for Tatsuma to be involved, but as the ANBU Chief, Sakumo isn't someone who can be dispatched for just any mission. Tatsuma knew that Sakumo's few assignments were undoubtedly related to the situation in the ninja world and the stability of the Five Great Nations.
Sakumo frowned at this point. He knew his own weight better than Tatsuma, but he also knew that Yamanaka Inoichi's father was a reliable ninja. Since that's the case, it must be something significant.
He looked at Tatsuma and asked, "Can you give me a general idea?"
For the past two months, Sakumo had been on leave, spending each day training with Kakashi. Additionally, he had handed over the leadership of ROOT to Danzo, so his channels for acquiring external intelligence had diminished.
Especially since he had never actively sought out this information nor had the inclination to arrange his own intelligence network for investigations, if it weren't for Tatsuma's fishing plan, he wouldn't have known that Tatsuma was being watched by the other Four Great Nations.
As for the Hidden Mist Village ninja that Tatsuma and Tsunade brought back, Sakumo hadn't looked into such a minor character, let alone made contact.
Moreover, Tatsuma, Shikaku, Shikato, and others had only speculated about that matter at the time. Subsequent investigation tasks were arranged by others and had not been coordinated with ANBU, so Sakumo was completely unaware.
Tatsuma nodded and briefly shared his speculations with Sakumo. Upon hearing this, Sakumo frowned and said, "It seems your guesses are probably correct."
At the time, Tatsuma and the others speculated that there were signs of defection within Hidden Mist Village. If this speculation was accurate, then this matter was indeed related to the stability of the Five Great Nations and might even affect the situation in the ninja world.
In this situation, it was understandable for Sakumo to be involved.
Sakumo turned to Inoichi and said, "Let's go. It's been a while since I've seen Okane-san."
Inoichi nodded, relieved not to have to explain further. He quickly led Sakumo and Tatsuma toward the analysis team, not even giving Tatsuma time to change clothes.
Fortunately, since this mission was related to ANBU, Tatsuma quickly donned a mask and a beige trench coat to cover his backless outfit, and then joined the two.
If we're talking about the highest level of technological development within Konoha, it would be the now-closed Wood Release Research Institute. But if we're talking about the highest level of applied technology, it would undoubtedly be the Analysis Team.
Compared to the "flashy but impractical" equipment in the Wood Release Research Institute, the devices in the Analysis Team are crucial for the stability of Konoha and the Land of Fire. Additionally, the talent here covers a wide range of functions.
There are personnel for analyzing intelligence, monitoring communications, encoding encrypted messages, and Yamanaka Okane, who handles "interrogation." When the people in the Analysis Team saw Tatsuma, they showed no signs of confusion.
In fact, a few ninjas whom Tatsuma recognized gave him silent greetings. Clearly, these people were very familiar with Tatsuma's ANBU and public identities.
"Please wait a moment. I'll go inform my father," Inoichi said as he arrived outside an office and then entered. Tatsuma and Sakumo sat down on the seats in the corridor.
At that moment, an older man brought over two cups of tea. As Tatsuma took one, the man smiled and said, "Tatsuma, it's been many years since we last met."
"Sir, you're Yamanaka Tani-san?"
Tatsuma recognized him after a moment of thought. He was the person in charge of battlefield communications during Tatsuma's first deployment. Yamanaka Tani nodded and then chatted briefly with Sakumo.
Clearly, Sakumo also recognized Yamanaka Tani, though it seemed they were not well-acquainted. After a few polite words, Yamanaka Tani left.
After a while, the office door opened, and a blond man walked out. This generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio is about the same age as the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. However, neither Shikato Nara nor Yamanaka Okane showed the same signs of aging as Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Perhaps handsome men just remain handsome even as they age.
"Okane-san."
"Okane-sama."
Sakumo and Tatsuma both stood up to greet him. Yamanaka Okane waved his hand and said, "Don't be so formal. Come on in. Inoichi, pour tea for uncle Sakumo and Tatsuma-san."
Yamanaka Inoichi, inside the office, looked at Tatsuma with a puzzled expression. Wasn't this guy his peer? And younger than him too, so why is he being called "san"?
Although they were peers, Tatsuma and Minato were much more advanced than their contemporaries. They debuted too early, and in the eyes of someone like Okane, they appeared more mature than their peers like Yamanaka Inoichi.
After all, Tatsuma and Minato were rampaging on the battlefield while their peers were still in school.
Ignoring his son's strange look, Yamanaka Okane sat down at a somewhat messy desk, piled high with what looked like random encrypted documents. He then carefully extracted a single document from the precarious stack.
"This is an important part of Oka's memory and a follow-up progress report based on his recollections. Take a look at it first. I'll go arrange for the bodies Tatsuma brought back. Inoichi, make sure to take care of the guests."
Yamanaka Okane appeared to be someone who was quite unperturbed and even somewhat careless, but interestingly, the windowsill had several rare and valuable plants that were exceptionally well-cared-for.
He left in a hurry, while Inoichi silently prepared tea. Tatsuma removed his mask and sat next to Sakumo, looking at the encrypted document.
Although it was encoded, Sakumo read it as easily as if it were ordinary text. He was very familiar with it. Tatsuma wasn't as familiar with the encryption, but his quick mind and fast translation allowed him to keep up fairly well.
Inoichi, who was making tea, looked at the two with a strange expression. He had been at the Analysis Team for half a month, and even finding files for his father was challenging, often requiring a long time and reference tools to interpret the filenames.
Let alone the content of the documents, some of the encrypted symbols were completely unrelated to regular text. He could already foresee spending the next year or so constantly with reference books.
But these two—are they really reading encrypted documents? They seem to be reading faster than reading regular texts!
"Have you finished reading?"
When Inoichi set down the two cups of tea, Yamanaka Okane had returned and pointed towards the door, saying, "There are two cups outside; go clean them up."
"Yes, Father."
Inoichi wearily stood up and left the office. Although he was relieved not to have to deal with the intelligence, it was still unpleasant to be tasked with menial work.
Sakumo looked at Tatsuma, who nodded and said, "Finished."
The document did not fully transcribe Oka's memories but only included a small portion related to the defection. It mostly aligned with Tatsuma's speculations, with additional names and personnel information.
This is extremely important for Konoha. After all, intelligence from Hidden Mist Village is difficult to obtain, and Tatsuma only had a small portion of the Jonin information from Hidden Mist Village. With this list, he learned much more.
Subsequent actions by Konoha also followed Shikato's earlier proposal to establish connections between Hidden Mist Village rogue ninjas and the Land of Lightning. Over the past two months, the two sides have collaborated several times and expressed intentions for further cooperation.
"Hmm."
Yamanaka Okane nodded, was about to say something, but suddenly frowned and called out to the door, "Inoichi!"
"Is there something else, Father?"
The office door opened, and Inoichi peeked in. Yamanaka Okane tapped his desk and asked, "Where is my tea?"
"You asked me to make tea for Sakumo-sama and Tatsuma. You didn't say you wanted any yourself, so I thought you didn't want any and didn't prepare it."
Inoichi answered honestly. Yamanaka Okane took a deep breath, suppressing his rising anger, and waved his hand, saying, "Don't be in the way here."
"Alright!"
Inoichi nodded quickly, closed the door, and Tatsuma couldn't shake the feeling that Inoichi was doing this deliberately to make his father uncomfortable.
Swallowing and clearing his throat, Yamanaka Okane continued, "Next, Konoha has two options. One is to strengthen monitoring of transactions with the Land of Lightning. The second is to infiltrate the Land of Water to investigate the rogue ninja headquarters.
Do you have any thoughts?"
Sakumo, not skilled at making decisions but not foolish enough to admit it, responded, "Both tasks will require ANBU assistance, right?"
"That's correct. That's why I asked you to come," Yamanaka Okane confirmed with a nod.
Sakumo frowned and said, "This is a tough one. The Land of Lightning will definitely strengthen its checks on outsiders in the near future, and the movements of the Mist Village rogue ninjas are likely under surveillance by the Hidden Cloud Village.
If Konoha's ANBU also wants to get involved, Hidden Cloud Village might not just stand by."
"And as for infiltrating the Land of Water, since the Bloody Mist Policy was implemented, the Land of Water has been extremely careful. Many of Konoha's secret operations have been removed, making infiltration now as difficult as sneaking into Hidden Cloud Village."
Sakumo analyzed the difficulties of these two options as much as possible, but Yamanaka Okane had already considered these issues. He waited for Sakumo to continue.
After a moment of silence, Sakumo looked at Tatsuma and asked, "Tatsuma, do you have any thoughts?"
Tatsuma nodded and said, "Indeed, as Sakumo-sama mentioned, it would be extremely challenging for ANBU to undertake this mission. Moreover, if exposed, it would make future infiltration much more difficult.
Therefore, my suggestion is not to deploy ANBU for the infiltration team."
Upon hearing this, Yamanaka Okane frowned. The reason for bringing Sakumo was to leverage ANBU's superior infiltration and reconnaissance capabilities compared to other ninja teams. One person is evading the issue, while the other is outright rejecting it—what's going on here?
Seeing Yamanaka Okane's expression, Sakumo raised an eyebrow, about to take over the conversation. After all, Yamanaka Okane wouldn't get angry with him, but he might with Tatsuma.
Before he could speak, Tatsuma continued, "At this current time, both the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water are extremely sensitive to foreign ninjas.
However, normal commercial transactions are not. I suggest using legitimate commercial exchanges, specifically merchant convoys. After thorough screening, these convoys can normally enter these two countries."
Yamanaka Okane frowned, not getting angry but contemplating the feasibility. After a while, he asked, "Merchant convoys have far inferior intelligence-gathering capabilities compared to ninjas, and their personnel are complex and difficult to control. How do you plan to address this?"
"The purpose of the merchant convoy is to gain entry into these two countries. As long as they can reach their destinations, Konoha ninjas can also enter."
"But you also mentioned that both the Land of Water and the Land of Lightning will certainly scrutinize foreigners, including merchant convoys. If ninjas are mixed in with the convoy, they are likely to be discovered, right?"
Yamanaka Okane was still a bit puzzled. Tatsuma shook his head and said, "There's no need to infiltrate the merchant convoy. We just need to have the convoy carry the Flying Thunder God jutsu Mark inside. As long as the Flying Thunder God jutsu Mark is in place, Minato and I can continuously transport Konoha ninjas in, bypassing the infiltration process entirely."
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