I'm in Naruto, but the system says I'm in One Piece.

Hoshino Yu's face was tense, and her eyes were slightly unfocused.

Why are we suddenly heading to the Land of Rain?

Missions within the Land of Fire are fine; you won't encounter too much danger no matter what.

However, the Land of Rain is different. As the main battlefield of the Second Shinobi World War, the current situation is turbulent, and there are signs of a large-scale expansion of the shinobi army recently.

And just a few days ago, I heard Orochimaru say that Hanzo of the Salamander seemed to have secret contact with the nearby Iwagakure and Sunagakure.

Going there now is nothing but danger.

"Ahem," Hoshino Yu looked at Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils, feeling a little embarrassed. "Well, teacher, as you know, I've only been a ninja for two days, my strength is lacking, and I don't have much mission experience..."

Before he could finish speaking, Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked the corner of his lips, smiling somewhat mockingly:

"Oh? Really? I saw you had all your ninja tools ready, I thought you probably already knew what the mission was about."

"I didn't do this because..."

Halfway through his sentence, Hoshino Yu was speechless when he saw Orochimaru's gaze fixed on his ninja tool bag.

If I had known earlier that we were going to the Land of Rain, I would have preferred to rest for a couple more days.

It's not that I'm afraid of dying there, it's just that it's a bit of a hassle.

I thought following Orochimaru on missions would be a gradual process of development and experience accumulation, but I never expected to be thrust into high-level dungeons so quickly.

"Don't be nervous, Yu, as long as you stay close to me, you won't die."

Really? Hehe.

Then we must mention that brave ninja who was killed by an explosive tag.

Orochimaru then took out a map of the ninja world from under the table and laid it flat on the table.

"You already know the mission objective. The Land of Rain has been acting rather unruly lately. We're only going there to gather intelligence. As long as we don't cause any unforeseen problems, nothing will go wrong."

"The route has been decided. We'll start from here," Orochimaru said, pointing to the location of Konoha Village with his right hand. "First, we'll enter the Land of Rivers, then head to the Land of Rain."

Hoshino Yu nodded slightly as he looked at the map route Orochimaru pointed to.

Since the other party has confirmed that bringing me along is not a joke, there's nothing more to say.

The Land of Rivers is a small country in the ninja world located between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Its terrain is mainly composed of mountains, rivers, and dense forests, and it also serves as a buffer zone between the two major countries.

There are no large ninja villages, but there is a valley village in the southwest. Most importantly, the underground base in the cave near the river canyon is the meeting place of the Akatsuki organization in the original work.

It seems that Kakuzu's office of administration was also located within the territory of the River Country.

Using this as a buffer point before entering the Land of Rain is indeed much safer than entering directly from the border of the Land of Fire.

"The route to the Land of Rivers is fine..." Hoshino Yu muttered after observing for a moment, rubbing his chin with his right hand. "It's also a good opportunity to investigate the recent movements of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind."

"This is also the focus of this mission. Gathering intelligence on the Land of Rain is just a pretext. The main purpose is to investigate the movements of the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Sand Village."

"Although Amegakure's military strength has developed rapidly in the past two years, the Land of Rain is ultimately just a small country. Due to its unique geographical environment, it lacks arable land and mineral resources, and cannot support the economic consumption of a long-term war."

Orochimaru crossed his arms, looked at the location marked on the ninja world map, and said coldly.

"If war breaks out, the Land of Rain will most likely become a buffer zone between major powers."

"That seems to be true," Hoshino Yu thought, looking at the Land of Rain surrounded by the three kingdoms of fire, wind, and earth.

However, if Konoha would consider things this way, the other nations are certainly not mediocre either, and they will inevitably see through the intricacies and have their own plans.

As for why the war broke out, as mentioned before, one reason is the imbalance in the development of the various countries. More importantly, Konoha holds most of the continent's resources, which has long made others envious, and everyone wants a share of the pie.

Given the nature of the Land of Rain, it's highly unlikely that the Land of Fire would have the motive to invade and plunder its resources.

The only possibility is to fight for this strategic buffer zone. Controlling it would prevent the coordinated encirclement between the two kingdoms of Tu and Feng, thus avoiding a two-front war. This can be considered a preventative strategy.

Later, the main reason was that Hanzo the Salamander was too ambitious. He was like Gaddafi in his previous life, confident that he could take on five great nations at once. As everyone knows, he brought about his own destruction and accelerated the decline of the Land of Rain.

The main problem is that the individual strength wasn't up to par. If it were Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju instead, the outcome would have been very different.

However, Hoshino Yu disagreed with Orochimaru's statement that he looked down on the Land of Rain.

They're practically saying that the title of your future Three Ninjas was "bestowed" upon you by Hanzo the Salamander of Amegakure.

It's true that he was bestowed a title. During the Second Shinobi World War in the original work, when none of the Kage of the Five Great Nations intervened, Hanzo of the Salamander was indeed in a class of his own. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been called a "demigod".

Seeing Hoshino Yu's thoughtful expression, Orochimaru's lips curled into a slight smile:

"If it weren't for your excellent perception, I wouldn't have brought you along. Perfect, this mission will teach you what a true ninja is all about."

"Growth always comes at a price."

Upon hearing this, Hoshino Yu slowly raised his eyes, his gaze meeting Orochimaru's directly.

"Okay, teacher, I'll go, but you have to make sure I'm safe."

......

After leaving Konoha Village, Hoshino Yu followed Orochimaru and sped towards the Land of Rivers.

The two changed into different outfits and removed their Konoha headbands.

At first glance, he looks no different from those wandering ninjas who roam various countries.

Along the way, they eliminated bandit groups that were threatening the area, and Orochimaru also witnessed Hoshino Yu's understanding and growth in swordsmanship.

It was nighttime, in a village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire.

Watching Hoshino Yu wield the Kusanagi sword and instantly kill dozens of bandits, Orochimaru, standing on a tree branch, smiled meaningfully.

"Impressive, Yu." Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils narrowed slightly, his tone tinged with a playful inquiry. "Your Body Flicker Technique is incredibly fast. I, your teacher, have never really paid much attention to your abilities."

Despite the superficial praise, Orochimaru, as a Jonin and one of the few ninjas with maxed-out intelligence in the official guidebook, immediately saw the problem.

That is, Hoshino Yu just wields his sword and hacks and slashes without any trace of swordsmanship, and there is almost no progress whatsoever.

Against weaker ninjas, it's fine, but if they're evenly matched, then swordsmanship becomes especially important in close combat.

Moreover, the combination of the shaving technique and the instantaneous movement technique still made a rather loud sound.

After cleaning up the bandit group, Hoshino Yu shook the filth off his sword and then used a fire-style ninjutsu to burn the surrounding corpses to ashes.

Since he killed the person, it's natural that the body needs to be cleaned up; otherwise, it could cause trouble by leading to a plague or something similar.

As Hoshino Yu watched the surrounding flames radiate light, he was about to return to Orochimaru to report when the mission panel in his mind refreshed once again.

[You have received the main quest: Team up with Luffy and Zoro to defeat Marine Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan, who wields an iron axe.]

[Mission Reward: Silent Step]

Current progress: 0%

He glanced at the new task in his mind and then stopped paying attention to it.

Since there's no time limit, we can look for the water column after we get back.

However, he did discover a problem.

The sound of the Body Flicker Technique - Shave is a bit loud, which is largely due to the technique itself, aside from the fact that the user hasn't fully mastered chakra.

After sheathing the Kusanagi sword and sensing that there were no more surviving bandits around, Hoshino Yu vanished instantly and reappeared beside Orochimaru.