Nagato

Honestly, if Shimizu had been in Rasa’s position, he definitely would not have put his hostility on display.

He would have only pretended to reconcile with them first, showing the outside world his magnanimity.

As long as you were willing to support me, then even if we had conflicts in the past, I would let bygones be bygones.

If I could tolerate even those who had grievances with me, then what about everyone else?

Those with no grudges would naturally receive benefits, while those who had firmly followed me from the start would receive even more.

Once everything had settled, all it would take was for a few accidental incidents that appeared completely unrelated to him to happen.

Of course, that was what Shimizu would do if he were in Rasa’s situation.

Rasa was not strong enough and was at a disadvantage in this game, so he had to do everything possible to draw in every force he could.

If he had an absolute advantage in strength and could win simply by charging straight ahead, Shimizu would not hold grudges overnight either.

Baki went to find Sada, while Shimizu notified Sasori before bringing Pakura over as well.

More than ten minutes later, the four-person team gathered at a side gate outside Sunagakure.

Sunagakure now had two entrances. One was First Line of Heaven. As an important defensive point of the inner city, so long as First Line of Heaven was not breached, Sunagakure was almost impossible to conquer.

With the canal opened and Chakra Energy Vehicles introduced, the once-cramped First Line of Heaven was no longer suitable as Sunagakure’s main gate.

If Sunagakure wanted to develop, it had to improve its transportation. Quite a few buildings had been erected across the vast stretch of land outside, surrounding the broad river, and Chakra Energy Vehicles could occasionally be seen speeding along roads reshaped with Earth Release.

In the end, driven by merchants’ spontaneous commercial activities and the powerful productivity of ninjas, a commercial city open to the outside world was built beyond the original Sunagakure, eventually forming an inner city and an outer city.

The place where Shimizu’s group of four had gathered was not the outer city’s main gate, but an out-of-the-way side gate.

There was too much foot traffic there, with too many eyes around. The confidentiality of their mission was not as extreme as Rasa and Ebizo’s, to the point that it could not see the light of day, but it was still quite high. It was not suitable for others to see them.

"Lord Shimizu."

A tall, slender, remarkably handsome young man walked up to Shimizu.

In an instant, Shimizu became wary of this young jonin.

Damn it, this guy was a little too handsome. His looks were actually no worse than mine!

"You must be Jonin Sada. You really are an impressive-looking man."

Shimizu put on a smiling expression and shook Sada’s hand.

"You flatter me, Lord Shimizu."

Sada flashed a handsome smile in response.

Lord Shimizu was not bad-looking either!

He was only one level below himself.

But judging from the looks of it, he seemed rather close to the equally young female jonin beside him.

"Well, then I’ll introduce myself and Pakura first. No need to introduce Baki—everyone should know him already."

Shimizu pointed at Pakura.

"Pakura, jonin. She specializes in Wind Release and Fire Release, possesses the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai, and also knows some swordsmanship."

"As for me… I’m quite skilled in Wind Release and Lightning Release. I possess the Separation Release Kekkei Genkai, and I’m also fairly skilled in Puppet Technique and swordsmanship. My Medical Ninjutsu and Sealing Technique are so-so, but they’re generally enough."

Sada’s brows twitched.

Was there really such an all-rounder ninja?

Chiyo was also a renowned all-rounder ninja. Her ninjutsu, Puppet Technique, Medical Ninjutsu, and Sealing Technique were all among the very best in Sunagakure.

Still, he knew quite well about Shimizu’s Puppet Technique, Separation Release Kekkei Genkai, and swordsmanship.

He had not been present for Shimizu’s spar with the Third Kazekage at the training ground, but he had heard others recount it.

Thinking about it, it was fairly reasonable for Shimizu, as Chiyo’s disciple, to know all those things…

It was just that at his age, could he really keep up with all that training?

It was like he had split himself into three or four people!

"Sada, twenty years old. I specialize in Fire Release and Earth Release, and I’m decent at Genjutsu too."

"Alright, I’ll explain the rest on the way."

Shimizu waved a hand.

During Naruto: Shippuden, even when Kakashi ran at full speed, it took him three days to travel from Konoha to Sunagakure.

By then, old Kakashi had made considerable progress after three years of training and was already a genuine Kage-level expert.

The distance from Sunagakure to the Land of Grass was actually a little shorter now, and this team consisted entirely of experts at jonin level or above, so the journey would likewise take around three or four days.

But before that, they first had to cross the Land of Rain.

"Impressive, Senior Hanzo. You actually saw through our disguises. It seems you have an extraordinary Sensory Ninja under your command."

In a forest within the Land of Rain, Shimizu stood before Pakura, Baki, and Sada, smiling as he looked at the old man standing ahead in the woods, surrounded by a group of Amegakure ninjas.

"Shimizu-kun, sneaking around is not a good habit. Amegakure is very grateful to you for opening that canal, which made our postwar economic reconstruction much smoother. But a ninja of your strength—no ninja village would feel at ease watching you lead a group of jonin into its country disguised and concealed…"

Hanzo carried a chain sickle as he stepped out from among the Amegakure ninjas and spoke to Shimizu.

Shimizu silently removed the rain hat from his head, then reached up and peeled away the mask disguising his face.

This mask was similar to Orochimaru’s Vanishing Facial Copy Technique. Both were used to conceal one’s identity.

It simply was not as convenient or quick as the latter, which could directly peel off someone else’s face and use it. Instead, it required lengthy processing and painting to create a mask.

He had made everyone on the team wear them precisely to hide their identities.

Many ninja villages were prepared against Transformation Jutsu, and Sensory Ninjas could detect it quite easily.

But if they used facial masks directly, then unless the opponent was a special Sensory Ninja exceptionally sensitive to human Chakra, or possessed a dojutsu Kekkei Genkai such as the Byakugan or Sharingan that could directly see through the Chakra in a human body, it was difficult to detect through ordinary sensory methods.

Logically, small countries like the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain should not have the foundation to produce such specialized talents.

They did not want to leak any information and alert the enemy, which was why they had disguised themselves as soon as they left the Land of Wind. Unexpectedly, they had still been recognized.

Shimizu quietly used the Transparent World to observe a somewhat shorter figure among the Amegakure ninjas.

The other party seemed to sense something and slightly raised his head to glance at Shimizu.

This guy… had something to him.

But if it was him, then it made sense.

After all, he had the Rinnegan, Uzumaki bloodline, and Senju bloodline.

The current ninja world was already vastly different from the one Shimizu remembered from the original timeline.