Kirigakure has declared war.
This was far from good news.
Uchiha Jin couldn't help but frown.
He knew that the Yashiro had gone to defend against the Mist.
"Don't go dying on me," he muttered.
After all, he had grown up under the Yashiro's watchful eye as a child, so there was some sentiment there.
Just as the two were worrying about the Mist's situation, a group of people ran over.
"Master Ino, it's that kid."
A ragged crowd pointed straight at Uchiha Jin.
This left Jin bewildered. He hadn't offended anyone, had he?
He turned to look at White Fang, who silently took a step back, murmuring in a barely audible voice, "We're on a mission. No conflicts, and we must keep our identities as ninja hidden."
Jin's face darkened.
Was this intentional?
"Hey, you're the punk who said samurai are worthless, right?"
A burly middle-aged man stomped over, wrinkling his nose.
"It wasn't me." Jin immediately shook his head. He hadn't said anything; he was merely commenting on them being outdated.
"It's him!" the commoners behind the man chimed in, pointing straight at him.
"Yeah, that's him. I heard it with my own ears."
The chaotic voices from the crowd clashed into a noisy uproar.
"Quiet!!" the man shouted at the crowd behind him.
Finally, everyone quieted down.
Then the man turned back to Jin. "So, anything to say in your defense?"
"Would it even matter?" Jin spread his hands helplessly. These people clearly had it out for him and weren't about to let him go regardless.
"Good." The middle-aged man sneered, cracking his knuckles.
The next second, Jin turned and bolted.
But White Fang was already a step ahead of him, sprinting away.
The man's cheek twitched, and with a wave of his big hand, he shouted, "Get them!"
Immediately, everyone took off in pursuit.
Jin and White Fang ran wildly down the street.
"Why are there so many restrictions?" Jin asked as he ran, unable to comprehend these limitations.
"It's to prevent mission failure due to other incidents," White Fang explained alongside him.
"So we can't even fight back in a situation like this?"
Jin glanced back at the chasing mob, which seemed to be growing.
From behind came a faint shout, "Catch that kid! He's slandering the samurai!"
There it was—the reason.
But it didn't help.
"Catch... that kid?"
White Fang repeated what the crowd was saying.
Suddenly, with a quick sidestep, he moved aside and, in a welcoming gesture, pointed directly at Jin.
This had nothing to do with him.
"You bastard!"
White Fang, you're seriously dead!
Jin roared, pushing his speed even further as he sprinted toward a corner.
Meanwhile, White Fang stood nearby, directing the pursuing crowd.
"Over there, over there! Hurry, don't let him get away."
One of the pursuers turned to White Fang.
White Fang quickly raised his hand in a stopping gesture, looking at the man holding a wooden stick with a blank expression. "What do you want?" he asked.
"To beat the one who slandered Lord Samurai!"
"Oh." White Fang nodded, pointing. "If you want to beat him, he's that way. I'm just a passerby."
"Got it." The man blinked in realization, even thanking White Fang. "Thanks!"
As the crowd chased after Jin, White Fang wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Good luck."
The smile on his face was anything but sympathetic.
The moment he turned, a hand reached out from an alley, dragging him in.
"You bastard, what's the big idea?!"
Jin had already shoved a kunai launcher to White Fang's forehead.
He'd better have a good explanation.
Otherwise, this wasn't over!
"Let's talk this out, let's talk this out." White Fang forced a sheepish grin.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield in the Land of Rain...
Under Orochimaru's command, Konoha had temporarily withdrawn from the Land of Rain.
"Orochimaru-sama, when will we strike back?"
An impatient jonin next to him asked.
To abandon a hard-won Konoha outpost like this felt like an affront to Konoha's honor.
Orochimaru gave him a sidelong glance.
He wasn't the only Konoha shinobi with such thoughts. Many were dissatisfied, feeling they had the advantage but were ordered to retreat.
However, few understood the reasoning behind it.
"The Rain Village is like a rabid dog right now, attacking everyone. They're currently pushing into the Land of Wind. If we attack now, they'll abandon the Sand Shinobi and turn on us instead," Hyuga Kaze explained nearby.
The shinobi of the Rain Village were defending the Land of Rain with everything they had, fighting across the countries belonging to other villages.
This gave the Land of Rain a chance to catch its breath.
This was why Orochimaru suddenly abandoned the advantage in the Land of Rain.
Currently, the Rain Village was fighting three other shinobi villages, and Hanzo of the Salamander had come to be known as a demigod of the shinobi world.
The last shinobi to take on four villages at once was Hashirama Senju, known as the God of Shinobi.
Even though Orochimaru had pulled back, Hanzo still occasionally launched attacks.
Seeing no real gains, Konoha refrained from invading the Land of Rain again.
Hearing this, the questioning shinobi fell silent, though there was a hint of dissatisfaction and even a touch of contempt in his gaze toward Hyuga Kaze.
But he kept quiet under Orochimaru's scrutiny.
Orochimaru was still studying the casualty reports. Although Hanzo no longer appeared in the Land of Fire, small groups of Rain Shinobi still attacked Konoha.
These were suicide squads with no intention of returning alive.
Yet their attacks were causing increasing damage.
"Are the Rain Shinobi getting stronger?" a red-haired male ninja suddenly asked.
"Their strength does seem to have increased, and there are signs that..."
His voice trailed off as though uncertain of what to say.
"The Basic Internal Energy Technique" Orochimaru finished his sentence.
Every shinobi present felt a sinking feeling.
The power boost from basic internal energy technique was visibly effective.
"This information doesn't need to be reported to the village just yet," Orochimaru ordered.
"Orochimaru-sama?" Some were puzzled. It was rare for anyone to actively suppress such orders.
Seeing Orochimaru had no intention of explaining, they held their questions.
"The Basic Internal Energy Technique..." Orochimaru's face showed no hint of a smile.
It was unclear whether only the Rain Village had access to this, or if other villages had it too. If other villages did, then Tsunade and the others would have already noticed.
Although Konoha defended against leaks, some villages could extract memories from people, making it difficult to prevent.
In normal circumstances, this would warrant a full investigation to find the source of the leak.
But Orochimaru knew that those at the top would, of course, investigate, while simultaneously pinning the blame squarely on Uchiha Jin.
Then they'd drag the Uchiha clan into the mess, forcing them to make concessions.
This was standard procedure.
Whether there was a leak or not wasn't important; what mattered was having an excuse to deal with the Uchiha.
"I really don't understand what the Second Hokage's ideals were for."
A cold smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.