Apanied by his two subordinates, Masashi strolled into a town near Kusa.

  "Captain, where are we headed?" Keita asked.

  "You talk too much," Yumi gred at him. "Just keep moving!"

  "Oh." Keita was merely asking out of habit and promptly went silent.

  Masashi didn't answer either.

  In fact, he how far he should take this.

  Historically, any powerful nation undergoing turmoil or a ge of leadership often faced probes—not from enemies but from its vassal states.

  Vassal states would try to test the new ruler's abilities, hoping to improve their standing or, if possible, grab some bes in the process.

  The retionships between ninja vilges were not all that different.

  He didn't know how Konoha's allies had tested them sihe manga never covered it.

  But in this timeline, Kusa's probing had already begun.

  Kusa had the audacity to deeutrality in the war between Konoha and Iwa, g their ret recovery from the Third Great Ninja War as a valid reason.

  They even politely requested material support from Konoha—a request that sounded ge servile.

  But to Masashi, who judged things solely by their outes, this was nothihan baring their fangs.

  Ohey ehe town, he led his two subordio a restaurant.

  After being out for so long, they deserved a hot meal.

  The sight of three ninja dressed in Konoha uniforms immediately drew all eyes iown.

  The townspeople avoided eye tact, their gazes filled with fear.

  Kusa ninjas may be the odd ones out in the ninja world, but the citizens of the town, like those of other smaller tries, feared war.

  Currently, with the Konoha and Iwa forces g in the Land of Rain, the citizeerrified that the flict might spill into their territory—just like a few years ago.

  To them, the sight of Masashi and his group felt like the precursor to war. But he felt no sympathy.

  Some nations were weak and deserving of sympathy; others did not deserve any.

  Kusa fell into the tter category. Masashi had witoo much of their peculiar behavior during his first go-around.

  A nation's general attitude often reflected the spirit of its people.

  Kusa eculiar indeed, but its people were no more likable than its ninja.

  Masashi actually held a better impression of the Land of Rain and Taki.

  Both were small nations, yet Taki had never been invaded sis founding. As for the Land of Rain, while it was in its current sorry state, that was mainly due to its harsh geographical envirohey had at least put up a fight.

  Pig a restaurant, he entered.

  The moment he walked into the dining hall, the noise inside quieted down, and all eyes turo him.

  Yumi aa felt unfortable, but Masashi remained posed.

  He chose a seat he liked and sat down, deliberately fag the kit entrance.

  "What are you two standing around for? e, sit down." he said to his subordinates.

  Yumi aa relutly took their seats, though the intense gazes from around the room made them feel utterly out of pce.

  "Captain…" Keita timidly voiced his , leaning in slightly. "Eating out like this… isn't it a bit risky?"

  "No worries, Yumi is here," Masashi replied.

  Yumi's Byakugan, while having an effective range of half a kilometer, was also well-trained for detail within that range.

  Any attempt to tamper with their food would be caught by her immediately. Even if, by some miracle, Kusa had advas teiques, it wouldn't escape Masashi's eyes.

  Though he didn't have a Mangekyō Sharingan, his Sharingan could already outperform most members'.

  The poisons of Kusa were no match for the nano-level poisonous is of the Aburame .

  "Excuse me," Masashi called out with a pleasant smile. "Could we get some service?"

  "Yes, yes! Right away." The restaurant owner hurried over, bowing slightly. Despite his deferential mahere was a slight tremor in his movements.

  "Do you have menus we could look at?"

  "Ah, my si apologies." The owner's smile wavered for just a moment. His hands fidgeted with his apron as he struggled to maintain his posure under Masashi's gentle gaze.

  "That's quite alright. Please bring us your house specialties then."

  The owner bowed again areated quickly to the kit.

  As the man disappeared through the kit doors, Masashi noted how little had ged in this try.

  Kusa ninjas were merely a distilled version of all the ive traits of Kusa.

  Paranoid to the point of xenophobia, impulsive aic, they acted insistently, proo pig fights yet crumbled at the first sign of resistance.

  In the face of the strong, they cked the spirit to resist. Among themselves, scheming and infighting were seen as a virtue.

  In Konoha, Masashi wasn't alone in his dislike of Kusa ninjas. Many shared his annoyah this vilge.

  After a while, the restaurant owner returned with staff, smiling as they brought dishes to the table.

  He ied them briefly. Everything seemed fine.

  The dishes were prepared with care—after all, they were still running a business, and money was money.

  Masashi hahe owner a wad of cash.

  "Eat up," he said, pig up his chopsticks and starting to eat.

  Although Yumi aa were still unfortable, hunger eventually won, and they began to eat as well.

  However, it felt like the most unpleasahey'd ever had.

  "You two are supposed to be jonin, right?" Masashi said, notig his subordinates' unease. "Are you really this shaken by some stares?"

  "No, it's just… you knotain," Keita tried to expin, his chopsticks trembling slightly.

  "There's nothing to feel awkward about. Being a ninja from a great vilge means being looked at like this is normal," Masashi said. "If this already gets to you, how will you handle Kusa ninjas ter? Throw up on the spot?"

  "Captain, it seems you really don't like Kusa ninjas." Yumi's eyes narrowed slightly.

  "Wait until you meet them; you'll dislike them more than I do."

  Masashi chuckled.

  Ba the day, Konoha had two opes.

  One was the stant csh between the Uchiha d the Hokage's office, always at each other's throats and nearly ing to blows.

  The other?

  The Inuzuka —while they were known for their ninja dogs and trag abilities, what most outsiders didn't realize was that they were the bae of Konoha's militant fa. When it came to dealing with "problematic" allies like Kusa, the Inuzuka were usually the ones sent to hahings.

  The three of them tinued eating, and sooable was cleared.

  But no one came to up.

  The restaurant owner, along with his staff, had disappeared.

  Footsteps echoed from the entrance.

  The trio turo see a ninja from Kusa standing at the door.

  Seeing them look his way, the Kusa ninja forced a seemingly friendly smile onto his fabsp;"Are the three of you passing through here for a mission?"

  ---

  Keita had a feeling— His captain really uood him.

  He had never seen Kusa ninjas before. Now that he had, he realized he really didn't like them.

  "Yes, indeed. Kusa has beautiful sery, so I stopped by for a look," Masashi said with a smile. "And of course, I'm here to visit an ally."

  "Oh? Could it be that you're carrying a fidential message from Hokage-sama? But showing up like this seems a bit informal, doesn't it?"

  "Why so formal? We're allies, o make things so distant," Masashi said heartily with a wave of his hand. "Why bother with all the pomp?"

  Yumi, who was sitting to the side, almost couldn't hold in her ughter.

  Keita, oher hand, turned bright red. He had just taken a sip of water and ended up choking on it.

  Luckily, the Kusa ninja's face turned even redder than his, so at least he didn't stand out too much.

  "You must be joking," the Kusa ninja forced a smile, though it was clearly strained.

  "Hmm? Are you implying I'm not wele here?"

  "No! Of course not! You're free to go wherever you like!" the Kusa ninja quickly replied, taking a half-step back.

  "Well then, that settles it. So why are you still bbbering?" Masashi gave him a reproachful look.

  The Kusa ninja mustered an awkward yet polite smile, his hands trembling slightly at his sides.

  "Masashi-sama, please uand. A powerful ninja like you requires proper preparation for your visit. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful of us."

  "No worries, I don't mind," Masashi replied.

  "No, no, it's necessary! As a vilge under Konoha's prote, Kusa must show proper hospitality. Please allow us to do so," the Kusa ninja said, gritting his teeth.

  He was starting tret taking on this job. The more he spoke, the more likely he was to get himself beaten. And if the White Ghost hit him even o'd be over for him.

  The people ba the vilge would just say, "Thank you for ridding us of a pest."

  "Alright, how long will it take?"

  "We won't keep you waiting for long—three days at most!"

  "Good. Three days from now, I'll visit Kusa."

  "Uood! I'll start the preparatiht away!"

  With that, the Kusa ninja hurriedly left without daring to stay for even a moment. As soon as he was out of sight, Yumi let out a long sigh of relief.

  Keita, oher hand, coughed loudly and finally mao recover from choking.

  Choking on water was the worst.

  "You two are so weak…" Masashi remarked. "It's fair to say you're a perfect match."

  "Really, Captain?" Keita stopped coughing.

  Yumi rolled her eyes. But for someone from the Hyūga , that particur gesture didn't work very well.

  "Alright, enough fooling around. You heard what he said. The Kusa ninjas hree days, so you'll be busy until then."

  "Captain, what are we supposed to do?" Keita asked, straightening up at the ge in atmosphere.

  "plete the mission, of course. Did you really think followi here was just about patrolling?" Masashi said.

  "Our mission isn't to deal with Iwa ninjas?"

  "That's only part of it. If we don't enter any Iwa ninjas, then it's just a patrol. But now that we've run into them, we execute the pn."

  Seeing that Keita had more questions, Masashi waved him off.

  "Stop asking. If you have questions, ask Yumi ter. She's sharper than you. For now, e with me."

  With that, he stood up, leading the two out of the restaurant and away from the town.

  After that, they resumed moving at a speed more fitting for ninjas, passing through town after town.

  At each stop, Yumi aa gathered intelligence about the area, mapping out defensive positions, noting troop movements, and gauging the loinja popution.

  Three days had passed.

  The Kusa ninjas reappeared before Masashi and his two panions.

  This time, however, the ninja who came was a jonin from Kusa.

  "Masashi-sama," the jonied. pared to the previous ninja, he had a more dignified demeanor.

  But to Masashi, it was like putting lipsti a pig—it didn't fit at all.

  Kusa was inally formed by a group of peripheral s with inplete ninjutsu systems. Their survival depended on appeasing rger powers, and they were highly sensitive to geopolitical shifts.

  When the era of "One Vilge-Oion" took shape, they quickly realized the role of satellite nations aablished Kusa by seg the support of surrounding major powers.

  Due to their inplete ninjutsu system, the Kusa ninjas had to resort to underhaactics, like "stealing" teiques from their neighbors.

  While they couldn't touch the core teiques of the major ninja vilges, they mao cobble together their own patchwork system.

  But their skill level was what it was. Even a jonin from Kusa might not be a match for a special jonin from one of the major vilges.

  Take the jonin before them, for instance. Despite his pretentious air, if Keita were to fight him to the death, the Kusa jonin would definitely lose.

  "Is everything ready?" Masashi g him before turning to Yumi aa. "Have you gathered all the intel on this town?"

  "Yes, Captain," the two replied, their expressions professionally bnk.

  "Good. Let's go." Masashi didn't pay any more attention to the Kusa jonin, signaling for the other two to follow as they headed straight toward Kusa.

  The Kusa jonin watched their backs.

  He couldn't afford to provoke the White Ghost.

  Kusa couldn't afford to provoke this man.

  And if he was really carrying a fidential message from the Hokage, they had to be even more cautious.

  Kusa had never publicly shown hostility to any ninja from a major vilge. Even when forced into flict, it was out of y.

  This was the survival strategy Kusa had built for itself—a ral image in the ninja world.

  He followed behind them.

  Masashi didn't pay any attention to the tailing ninja. He was busy sidering how best to plete this mission.

  Of course, there was no actual "fidential message" from the Hokage. That was just the Kusa ninja's own assumption, and it had nothing to do with him.

  The mission itself couldn't be stated ht either.

  This was actually a "request" from Konoha's pro-war fa, not an official mission.

  To be fair, Konoha had always had a pro-war fa, but it had never gained signifit influence. From the First Hokage to the Fourth, every Hokage had been cautious about war, treating it as a means of proteg is rather than gaining them.

  Danzō was the first high-ranking figure to openly advocate for solving problems through war. For a brief moment, the pro-war fa, tered around Danzō, gained some momentum. But it didn't st long.

  Because everyone realized he wasn't a true pro-war advocate.

  After Fugaku became a Hokage Advisor, the pro-war fa began aligning themselves with the Uchiha, though his stance was difficult for them to navigate. After falling into Danzō's pitfalls, the fa had also grown more cautious.

  This led them to notice Masashi.

  Among the ninja s, the Inuzuka were the most pro-war—almost all of them.

  During the Third Hokage's tehe Inuzuka wasn't explicitly targeted by the Hokage's administratiohey ended up at the bottom of the hierarchy due to their inpatibility with Konoha's mainstream political ecosystem.

  By trast, pacifist s like the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi thrived.

  But even within the Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi s, there were pro-war advocates. Previously, they were scattered and cked cohesion.

  This time, the pro-war fa, led by the Inuzuka , approached Masashi, hoping he could use this opportunity to gauge the true strength of Kusa.

  If Kusa was found to be shirking its obligations as an ally, the pro-war fa po unite aion the Fourth Hokage to forcibly drag Kusa into the war.

  These individuals hoped that, uhe Fourth Hokage's leadership, they could finally make their voices heard in the vilge.