Escaping the Mist Ninja starts with backstabbing your teacher.

The base of the leaves.

Danzo's one eye narrowed slightly as he looked at the information from the Fire Temple.

The Land of Grass?

Unexpectedly, the attackers were so cautious after the attack, fleeing the Land of Fire directly. But who are these two people really?

With such strength, there should be some who are not well-known in the ninja world. As a samurai wielding a sword, only a few in the Land of Iron possess such skill.

However, given their status, especially as a neutral party, it would be impossible for them to invade the Land of Fire, attack the Fire Temple, or provoke Konoha without a reason.

However, we should still send someone to investigate and verify whether those people from the Land of Iron have traveled there or are still in the Land of Iron.

"But that's not enough to explain to Hiruzen. We need to continue investigating."

Although somewhat displeased, Danzo still issued orders to continue their exploration of the Land of Grass.

After dealing with this matter, Danzo continued to keep an eye on the situation in Amegakure, especially on the owner of the Rinnegan.

"I never expected there to be such a naive organization among the Rain Ninja. I don't know how Hanzo could tolerate it."

Danzo hadn't paid much attention at first, but after investigating, he obtained some interesting information. If it were him, he would not be able to tolerate the existence of other forces in his ninja village.

"However, this actually makes it easier for me to operate."

Danzo sneered. He knew that Higanbana would never let him attack Amegakure, since it involved Sunagakure and Iwagakure.

Even though it's still during the war, and Konoha is under constant surveillance, if they do anything that attracts attention, Hiruzen will definitely say something.

Danzo didn't care whether the fight continued or not. In his view, if you're going to fight, you have to fight to the end until they're afraid.

If the Rain Ninja themselves are willing to cooperate with him, then the commotion will not be too great and the impact will be much smaller, since it is an internal matter of the Rain Ninja Village.

Danzo was merely an external ally chosen by the Rain Village, who were unable to deal with him.

"Looks like it's time to have a chat with that Hanzo guy."

With a plan in mind, Danzo sent a secret letter to Hanzo to see his reaction before proceeding to the next step.

……

The Land of Grass.

Near the Hidden Grass Village, in a secluded mountainside, Izumi was using medical ninjutsu to heal the wounds of the girl he had taken in.

"That's strange. Why do I always seem to pick up people who've been betrayed? I'm the one who betrays others."

It seemed that Yekura had heard his mutterings and looked over. Izumikawa felt the gaze and met his eyes.

"Perfect, I'll leave the bandaging to you!"

He made a slight step aside, beckoned, and handed the bandages to Ye Cang.

Since this guy made eye contact with her, and she's alright, he might as well help her out.

Yecang, somewhat puzzled, took the bandage and began to bandage the girl's wounds, asking her questions at the same time.

"Why didn't you use your healing ability from before? This kind of injury is clearly not a problem for you."

Izumi shook his head slightly and said simply, "Because you became one of us back then, you wouldn't reveal it after I showed it to you."

"Before that, I was just treating you with medical ninjutsu."

With this explanation, Yecang instantly understood, but the experience of becoming one of their own was simply too unforgettable.

Even now, she can sometimes feel a faint strange sensation in her back because one of her vertebrae has been replaced.

After some effort, Yecang dressed the girl and looked at Izumi Kawa sitting at the cave entrance before slowly walking over.

Leaning against the mountainside, he asked, "What are your plans next?"

Izumi stroked the stubble on his chin, pondered for a moment, and said, "Improve our strength and find an intelligence channel. Right now, we are basically completely in the dark about the outside world."

"As a ninja, intelligence is very important. No matter what you want to do, you need the support of intelligence."

He had many things he wanted to do, but now that he had left Kirigakure, he had fewer sources of information.

If all else fails, then the only option is to contact Mei Terumi through a summoning beast and obtain some information from her to temporarily fill the gap.

Yekura nodded slightly. Intelligence is indeed very important. For ninjas, knowing intelligence is equivalent to reducing danger and allowing them to prepare countermeasures in advance.

"Regarding intelligence, I do know that there are underground exchanges in the ninja world. As long as you have money, you can get anything, including intelligence."

"Does it cost money?"

"But we don't seem to have much money!"

Quan Chuan spread his hands, saying that he was now penniless, with only some mission funds he had saved up, which was enough for him to spend for the time being.

If it's used to buy intelligence, then it pales in comparison.

As for the bounties on those rogue ninjas in the underground exchange, we could consider giving them to the few predecessors who defected.

In particular, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who were famous among the ninja, were all killed by Dai, who had opened the Gate of Death, with four of them kicked to death, leaving only the three of them.

They are Juzo Biwa, who wields the broken sword Kubikiriboto; Suigetsu Hozuki, who wields the great sword Samehada; and Raiga Kurosuki, who wields the thunder sword Kiba.

Of the two, only Suigetsu Hozuki did not defect; the other two did. As for their whereabouts...

Juzo Biwa later joined the Akatsuki organization, while Raiga Kurosuki became a bandit, tyrannical and brutal.

The former has a good personality and could be recruited; he might be an asset in the future. After all, he was a ruthless person who dared to take a sword against a Tailed Beast Ball, so it's a pity he died.

The latter won't work; it seems to be in a village within the territory of the River Country. If there's a chance in the future, I might kill it and take the pair of thunder blades.

"Let's wait until that Uzumaki clan member wakes up. If she has mastered sealing techniques, let her stay for a while to learn and gather information."

"If not, then we'll go to Kusagakure to gather intelligence, wait for the war to end, and then return to the Land of Rivers. I need to find someone."

He doesn't really want to get involved in the Akatsuki right now; too many people are eyeing Nagato, and both he and Pakura are in trouble.

However, when the time comes, plans can never keep up with changes. But having a plan in advance at least allows us to proceed with more confidence.

Yahiko is too naive. He has good ideas, but he lacks the ability to put them into practice. He is neither strong nor mentally capable.

"Ouch, that hurts..."

A soft groan came from behind, and both of them turned around to look. Clearly, the girl had woken up.

Izumi slowly stood up. He wasn't sure if he had saved Karin's mother, but if she was, she shouldn't have died there.

Without his intervention, the girl would likely have died there, given the poison on her, which seemed to be from the Sand Village.

I have no idea where that old man got it from.