A series of black shadows swiftly passed over the territory of the Land of Fire, heading north.
Logan was at the rear of the team, watching the three teams ahead in formation as they advanced, and smiled bitterly, 'All these nine people were from the teams, so now, they were all operating within familiar circles, except for me, I have to be alone at the end. Being tasked with 'overseeing the overall situation' sounded fine, but in reality, it meant I was left to my own devices.'
There was nothing he could do about it. Logan was always a lone wolf on missions, and trying to cooperate with this bunch was futile. So it was better to just stick to his own ways.
Logan and the others had already set out from Konoha Village for two days. They were all Jonin and worked in the ANBU, so their experience was more than that of ordinary Ninjas. While ensuring their combat power, they were traveling very fast. And at this time, they were about to reach the northern border.
After another two hours of climbing over cliffs and walls, they verified their identities with Ninjas guarding the border, and after a thorough check, they set up camp to rest at the foot of a mountain.
The chirping of cicadas and the croaking of frogs echoed amidst the mixed woods and marshes. After climbing over the mountain, they will reach the Land of Rice Fields.
"Tomorrow at seven, we'll disguise ourselves and enter the Land of Rice Fields, cross-checking the information brought by our colleagues, and then go to the so-called Ninja Village in the evening." Amidst the campfire, the Captain of the four teams sat together discussing their temporary plans. The tall and burly Ishida Kappei spoke in a rough voice.
It was a straightforward decision, met with no objections. As the only lone commander, Logan felt quite awkward joining this tactical meeting. Everyone said very well during the meeting. After all, they are all experienced people. So Logan could only simply nod along, playing the role of a mascot.
They were all in the same department. So after telling each other their names, the information became clear. Logan was roughly familiar with the characteristics of his temporary teammates. Ishida Kappei was good at Earth Release and had great strength, Minamino Shuichi specialized in Wind Release, and Kakashi, well, there was no need to say much, he was known as the Copy Ninja and is said to have copied tens of thousands of Ninjutsu.
Logan wasn't particularly interested in the rumored abilities of others. He actually wanted to learn more about the swordsmanship of the Hatake Clan. After all, the fact that Kakashi's father, Konoha's White Fang can achieve such a great reputation speaks volumes of it. Unfortunately, with Kakashi having gotten the Sharingan, his clan's swordsmanship seemed to have been overlooked.
Kakashi didn't study swordsmanship very much, and he might not be generous to share such information with outsiders, so Logan could only suppress his thoughts.
After deciding on the watch order, everyone settled down for the night. Each Captain on more responsibilities voluntarily, while Logan reluctantly complied. Ishida Kappei and Minamino Shuichi were on duty in the first half of the night, while Logan and Kakashi were on duty in the second half of the night.
In the undisturbed wilderness, the early hours of the morning were extremely quiet. When Minamino Shuichi approached Logan with soft steps, Logan sensed his presence and opened his eyes.
"It's time to switch shifts." Minamino Shuichi said softly. He didn't seem surprised when he saw Logan got up without waiting for him to call.
Having traveled a considerable distance during the day and remained alert for several hours at night, Minamino Shuichi went straight to bed after Logan nodded.
As Logan climbed a tree and saw Kakashi completing the shift change with Ishida Kappei and moving to the opposite tree, he noticed they were about the same height.
Kakashi glanced at Logan, showing no particular reaction, and then turned his attention elsewhere.
'Looks like he's not interested in chatting. Maybe, that 'glance' was his way of acknowledging his colleague.' Logan remembered their encounter at Ichiraku Ramen, where he had carelessly warned Kakashi about Danzo.
'Well, thank you for last time.'
The voice suddenly rang, startling Logan.
Unexpectedly, Kakashi suddenly spoke. Logan looked back in shock, and wondered if Kakashi could read minds.
Regarding the topic about Danzo, both of them were from Konoha, so it was not easy to say anything, so Logan waved his hand and dismissed it.
'It's nothing.'
'It seems that Kakashi's entanglement between Third Hokage and Danzo is still the same as in the original work.'
The late night remained quiet, with even the sound of frogs croaking disappearing. Logan scratched his head, 'Is Kakashi a block of wood? There was a rumor that he kissed a beautiful woman during a mission, and then acted as if nothing happened? Oh well, things would change in a few years. From being obsessed with Icha-Icha books to walking further down the path of laziness.'
Time continued to pass quietly. When a faint white light began to appear on the distant mountains and the horizon, Logan found an excuse to go to the bathroom.
When he walked to a spot where his teammates wouldn't notice, Logan took out a scroll from his backpack, performed a few hand seals, and tapped the scroll covered in symbols.
A wave of chakra fluctuations vibrated into the earth with a special frequency and spread out.
Logan was familiar with the method of contacting the Akatsuki, so he waited patiently.
Five minutes later, the nearby soil trembled, then cracked open, and a white figure emerged.
It looks the same as White Zetsu, as this is one of White Zetsu's numerous clones.
Logan looked at the clone calmly and then handed over a scroll with something written on it.
The White Zetsu's clone took it, nodded, and said nothing, disappearing into the ground once again.
The process was swift, lasting less than a minute. Logan breathed a sigh of relief, glanced around, covered his tracks, and casually returned.
This was one of the communication methods agreed upon between Logan and the Akatsuki, to be used only in special circumstances. Logan's trip to the Land of Rice Fields this time is expected to take a lot of time. If he can't contact Akatsuki on time, he might cause misunderstandings. There is no chance in the village, so he can do it now.
In the scroll, Logan also said that he was targeting Orochimaru this time, showing his loyalty and honesty to the organization. He also wanted to know Akatsuki's stance on Orochimaru's defection.
As the sun rose, a new day began. Logan and his ANBU's teammates made final preparations, then split up, infiltrating the Land of Rice Fields in sequence.
Time passed, and when everyone returned to gather in the evening and discussed the information, Logan took advantage of the rest time to leave the sight of others once again.
'The response from the Akatsuki came quickly this time.' Then, Logan couldn't help but be stunned when he saw the words written on the paper.
Nothing much was said, there's only one sentence.
'His ring is yours.'
After a few seconds of silence, flames emerged, and Logan watched as the 'instruction' turned to ashes in the fire.
'The meaning is easy to understand, but why does it feel like they're testing how capable I am?'
'Another probation period, another test. It seemed that even Pain and the others weren't entirely confident in me.'
Logan shook his head nonchalantly and walked away. He had had already planned to cause trouble for Orochimaru during this trip to the Land of Rice Fields. He had a strong desire to learn those Forbidden Techniques, and besides, he did lack a ring.