From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

“Intelligence!” Sakura raised a finger and analyzed in a seemingly serious manner: “One of the most basic and important rules for ninjas is intelligence. Konoha is one of the five great ninja villages, after all. The seniors at the mission issuance center are all experienced ninjas. They have strict review standards for classifying mission levels. How could they just accept whatever Uncle Tazuna says?”

"Although I don't know exactly how the village's intelligence network works, the Land of Waves is, after all, the closest neighboring country of the Land of Fire. With the village's intelligence capabilities, it's impossible that they wouldn't know anything about the situation in the Land of Waves, right?"

"If even an ordinary middle-aged man can deceive the seniors at the mission release center with just his one-sided story, and even fool the village's intelligence network, then we, Konoha, are unworthy of calling ourselves the head of the Five Great Ninja Villages!"

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, all sorts of conspiracies and schemes, true and false information flew around. If even an ordinary person could easily outmaneuver Konoha, how could Konoha repeatedly defeat the odds and achieve final victory in the Fourth Shinobi World War?

"So the village anticipated this situation long ago. If I'm not mistaken, hehe..."

At this point, Sakura smiled slightly, a sly look in her eyes.

"The village probably assigned us to this mission to train us, or perhaps the village has some other, deeper plan."

"Was my analysis correct, Kakashi-sensei?"

Sakura's eyes shone like stars as she asked expectantly.

"Sakura makes a lot of sense."

Before Kakashi could speak, Naruto answered first.

"Ahem, not bad analysis, Sakura." Kakashi coughed lightly, not commenting on whether Sakura's analysis was right or wrong, and looked at Sasuke, who had remained silent, asking, "And you, Sasuke?"

"The village will definitely carry out this mission."

Sasuke responded directly.

"Why are you so sure?" Kakashi smiled slightly. "Tell me your reasons."

Although Sakura seems to have been acting as the intelligence analyst since Team 7 was formed, Kakashi knows that the usually taciturn Sasuke is the one who sees things most clearly.

Even some of his words were difficult for Kakashi to understand, but after realizing what he said and reflecting on it carefully, they were like a sudden enlightenment, making him realize the truth.

"Have you read the newspapers from the past year? The Land of Water has been gradually opening up its various trading ports, and there are more and more merchants from the Land of Water appearing on the mainland."

This world has newspapers, not to mention newspapers, there's radio, television, movies, phonographs, and even computers.

Sakura was puzzled and hesitated for a moment before asking, "What does our mission have to do with the Land of Water opening its ports for trade?"

“Of course it’s related.” Seeing the three looking puzzled, Sasuke explained, “Although the Land of Waves is just a small country, its geographical location is extremely special. It’s situated in the middle of the coastlines of the Land of Fire, the Land of Water, and the Land of Tea. Whether these three countries want to trade with the Land of Water, or the Land of Water wants to contact the countries on the continent, they all have to pass through the Land of Waves. The Land of Waves serves as a link and transit point for normal trade to take place.”

"In the past, things were fine. Because the Land of Water had been closed off from the world, the Land of Waves' geographical location didn't have much of an effect. But now that the Land of Water has opened its ports for trade and decided to make contact with the countries on the continent, the Land of Waves has naturally become a hot commodity."

"Therefore, both the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the village's leadership need a peaceful and tranquil Land of Waves, not the chaotic Land of Waves it is in now!"

"Kakashi-sensei should have realized that long ago, right?"

I honestly didn't notice.

Although the Third Hokage had told him some details about the mission, he hadn't gone into the deeper aspects, and Kakashi himself hadn't looked that far ahead.

Kakashi nodded and said in a low voice, "Not bad!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. Although he didn't understand, he felt that what Sasuke said sounded very impressive.

Sakura frowned slightly, thought about it carefully for a moment, and then showed an expression of sudden realization.

'While my thinking was still confined to ninja intelligence and village-level censorship, had Sasuke already begun to consider things from a global, national, and economic perspective?'

'As expected of Sasuke! He's so cool!'

Sakura was filled with admiration and a red heart appeared on her face.

She felt that her analysis was based on the second level of thinking, while Sasuke had already reached the fifth level.

Thinking of this, Sakura glanced at Naruto, who was still looking bewildered, out of the corner of her eye, and snorted inwardly.

'Naruto is definitely in the basement!'

"So, Naruto, what about you?" Kakashi coughed lightly and asked Naruto, who looked completely bewildered.

"Um, I think... um..."

Naruto was speechless for a moment. He wanted to imitate Sakura and Sasuke, putting on a thoughtful and contemplative look and saying something that sounded impressive.

But after thinking for a long time, I couldn't find anything useful in my mind, so I simply gave up.

"I think Sakura and Sasuke's analyses are very reasonable, so I won't add anything here."

"I just simply feel..."

Naruto straightened his face and said with righteous indignation, "I am a taijutsu practitioner. When I encounter injustice, I must stand up for it. This is the original intention behind my learning taijutsu!"

Chapter 75 Black Hoshira

Thus, with the unanimous decision of the Seventh Squad, everyone chose to continue the mission.

After another day's journey, the members of Team 7 had crossed the border of the Land of Fire and entered the territory of the Land of Waves.

The environment of the small country of the Land of Waves is very beautiful. It is early morning, and thick sea fog rises from the water, making various kinds of sea fish and aquatic plants appear and disappear.

It opened the eyes of Class 7, who were visiting the sea for the first time.

Sakura couldn't help but sigh. If it weren't for that evil guy Gato controlling the Land of Waves, even if the Land of Water remained closed off, the Land of Waves could have become a popular tourist destination and gradually prospered thanks to its beautiful scenery.

Who exactly is that ninja that Gato invited?

Sasuke sat on the small boat heading to the Land of Waves. With his superhuman eyesight, he could already see the small islands that were faintly visible in the thick fog in the distance and the bridge that was not yet completed.

But he didn't relax at all; he remained vigilant, constantly thinking about who the newly appeared ninja was.

'Could it be him?'

A name popped into Sasuke's mind.

'But shouldn't he be exploiting those poor miners and villagers at the Woody Grass Gold Mine in the Land of Rivers right now?'

While they were deep in thought, Sasuke suddenly sensed two pairs of eyes filled with killing intent and indifference looking at them from within the thick fog.

It looks like they're about to make their move!

Sasuke's gaze darkened slightly. His biggest worry was that Zabuza and his crew would attack them at sea while they were on the boat. Although the members of Team 7 had all learned to walk on water, apart from Sakura and Kakashi, they were still able to do so.

Both Sasuke and Naruto would be somewhat hampered in sea battles, while Zabuza and his comrades could unleash their full fighting power at sea!

In addition, they need to protect Tazna, who is an ordinary person.

"Be careful!" Sasuke said. "Someone's watching us."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in Class 7 became alert.

Kakashi looked wary, about to ask something, when suddenly his heart skipped a beat.

Swish!

A massive guillotine emerged from the thick fog, spinning and whistling as it hurtled towards Sasuke and his group.

"Get down!"

Kakashi reacted extremely quickly, shouting loudly. Sakura and Naruto were not slow to react either; before Kakashi could even finish speaking, the two of them had already dropped to the ground in perfect unison.

Only Tazuna, an ordinary person, was still stunned and at a loss.

Seeing this, Sasuke, who was closest to him, grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, dodging the attack of the Executioner's Blade.

However, just as everyone had dodged the decapitation blade...

A deafening roar erupted!

The next moment, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from the thick fog high above, and a lightning blade slashed straight down at the small boat with astonishing speed!

"spread!"

Kakashi shouted, and the group leaped forward simultaneously, while Sasuke lifted Tazuna and leaped backward by himself.

The lightning blade struck the center of the small boat, while Sasuke and Tazuna, who were further back, had no choice but to retreat.

With a loud bang!

The small boat was cleaved in two by the lightning blade.

"So it's Kakashi, the Sharingan user known as Konoha's number one stunner..."

As soon as Kakashi and the others landed, a cold, sharp voice came from the thick fog. Kakashi looked up and saw a tall, muscular, bare-chested, masked man walking out of the fog, carrying a huge slashing sword.

Judging from his slightly gloomy eyes, he was clearly mocking the group's somewhat disheveled appearance.

"I never expected to encounter the famous Copy Ninja here. How interesting..."

Zabuza, wielding a massive guillotine, stood on the water's surface without the slightest discomfort or sway. His deep, cold voice brought a sense of oppression to the crowd.

Zabuza casually glanced at Naruto and Sakura, then looked at Kakashi and said indifferently, "Excuse me, could you hand over that old man behind you to me?"

Kakashi smiled slightly and said perfunctorily, "Although I really don't want to fight you, I'm sorry, I refuse!"

With that, Kakashi pulled up his headband, revealing his bright red three-tomoe Sharingan.

"Sakura, Naruto, hurry up and go support Sasuke, and protect Uncle Tazuna! This is my battle with him, don't interfere!"

Naruto was taken aback, but Sakura immediately realized what was happening.

"As ordered!"

Just as the two were about to go to Sasuke's aid, the surrounding water suddenly rippled, and streams of water instantly transformed into countless ice crystal senbon that attacked the two of them, forcing them to quickly dodge.

Ice Release: Thousand Kills Water Flight!

"I'm sorry, although I don't want to fight you two, you can't go over there now."

A petite ninja wearing a mask from the Hidden Mist Village assassination squad blocked Sakura and Naruto's path.

.........

At the same time, Sasuke looked into the distance and saw a green-haired man with long hair, holding weapons that looked like steel forks in both hands and covered by a huge black cloak. He thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

Black Hoshi Raiga!

This guy was originally an original character created by the TV anime team, but was later introduced into the manga by Masashi Kishimoto, becoming one of the first "Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist" in Kirigakure and the first user of the Raito Kiba!

However, there are inconsistencies between the manga and anime regarding this character's portrayal. For example, in the manga, Raiga Kurosuki dies at the hands of Ameyuri Ringo, who then becomes the second user of the Raiga.

In the anime, Raiga Kurosuki was still alive and well many years after Ringo Ameyuri's death, and even became a rogue ninja.

Finally, he lost the will to live and was knocked off a cliff by Naruto's "Naruto Uzumaki Barrage". During the fall, he used Lightning Release to "hold a funeral" for himself and committed suicide.

Over the years, in addition to obtaining news from outside Konoha through newspapers and television, Sasuke himself has also frequently purchased a lot of information about the ninja world from Granny Cat.