After Yue Yan finished packing up, he headed to the mission location.
Since this mission required going deep into the Land of Water and, considering the current war period where the fewer people involved, the better, Yue Yan was the only one assigned to this mission.
In the current Mist Ninja Village, the Fourth Mizukage with a baby - face should not have taken office yet. It should still be under the rule of the Third Mizukage.
In the original work, there isn't much description of the Third Mizukage. Even during the Edo Tensei army's appearance, he didn't show up. All that's known is that he belongs to the Mizuuchiha clan, which uses the Ice Release. It's said that he was also the bodyguard of the First Mizukage, Bai Lian. He's the squint - eyed guy who stood beside the bearded Kyohō Hohozuki during the first Five Kage Summit.
Generally speaking, the bodyguards of the First Kages usually became the Second Kages of their respective villages. In the Third Ninja World War, except for Konoha and the Stone Ninjas, the Third Kages of the other three villages died.
"With the template of Zeraora, I should be able to assassinate the Third Mizukage. If I kill the Third Mizukage, the Mist Ninjas will fight among themselves due to the vacancy of the Kage position. After all, the Mist Ninja Village isn't a united place."
Right after he muttered to himself, Yue Yan slapped his own forehead.
He just gained a little strength and started to get cocky, thinking about causing trouble. He needed to change this kind of thinking.
Although he said so, he'd see when the time came. If there was a chance, Yue Yan wouldn't let go of a golden treasure chest.
The ferry entered the Land of Water. After Yue Yan took off the Konoha - representative insignia, he changed into the unique clothing of the Land of Water for disguise.
Taking another look at the map, Yue Yan headed to the location indicated in the mission briefing where the Sand Ninjas and Mist Ninjas might meet.
However, when he arrived at the location, Yue Yan was in a quandary. The main problem was that the marked area was too large. It basically only indicated that it was in this forest, but the specific location hadn't been explored. Plus, he didn't know the exact time. Yue Yan could only rely on luck.
For several days, Yue Yan wandered around this forest with his sensing ability activated. Although he sensed people, after his investigations, except for some ordinary people who entered the forest to hunt, he basically didn't see any Mist Ninjas. Even if there were Mist Ninjas, there were only a few. If they were going to discuss something with the Sand Ninjas, this number of people was definitely not enough.
Moreover, to avoid raising suspicion, Yue Yan didn't attack the few Mist Ninjas he encountered.
Feeling that just waiting like this wasn't the right thing to do, Yue Yan created several kage clones and told them to stay in the forest with minimal chakra consumption. They were supposed to notify the main body after the Mist Ninjas and Sand Ninjas arrived.
As for Yue Yan's main body, he started wandering around the nearby towns.
Compared to the prosperity of the Land of Fire, saying that the situation in the Land of Water was one of people living in misery might be an overstatement, but life there was truly not good.
Outside the towns, bandits roamed freely, and there were pirates on the sea. During the war period, they couldn't hire ninjas to solve the problem. To survive, the townspeople had to take the risk of being looted by bandits and pirates to go fishing or hunt in the mountains.
If you really encounter bandits or pirates, at best, you'll be stripped of all your belongings except for your underwear, and at worst, you'll be killed on the spot.
You might ask why the Fang Daimyō in the Land of Water doesn't do anything. Well, why should the Fang Daimyō bother? As long as the annual tax revenue is collected, that's enough.
Thinking this way, Yue Yan casually threw a piece of dry food to a child on the verge of starvation and then left, shaking his head.
Yue Yan wanted to take action, but being self - aware, he knew he couldn't single - handedly change this distorted world as he lacked the ability. So, he could only wait for the future savior to make a difference.
Watching the sun gradually setting, Yue Yan planned to find a place to stay for the night. It wasn't that he couldn't rough it in the wild for one night. Since he had money and wasn't restricted in his activities, there was no need to suffer unnecessarily.
However, after looking around, Yue Yan found that there wasn't a single open inn in this large town.
Helplessly, Yue Yan had to find a family to ask for lodging.
Of course, to avoid trouble, Yue Yan looked for a family on the outskirts of the town that didn't seem to be well - off.
He knocked on the door, and a gentle and beautiful woman with traces of the vicissitudes of life on her face opened the door.
The woman sized Yue Yan up and down. Seeing that his clothes were clean, his face was fair, and he was young, she thought he must be the child of a wealthy family.
Thinking this, the woman let down her guard a bit and asked, "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"
Seeing this, Yue Yan showed a friendly smile he had learned from Minato Namikaze.
"I got separated from my companions. I'd like to stay at your place for one night. I'll pay."
Looking at Yue Yan's smile, the woman's expression was a bit strange. How to put it? If Minato's smile was as warm and amiable as the sun, Yue Yan's smile could only be described as "a smile that could charm everyone".
Moreover, what bothered the woman was that Yue Yan should be a boy.
Although thinking like this, the woman still stepped aside to let Yue Yan in.
"Mister, there aren't any extra rooms in my house. If you want to stay, you'll have to make do in the living room for the night."
"That's okay."
As soon as Yue Yan replied, he was surprised to realize that the woman had addressed him as "mister", a term for men.
Except for the big snakes in the Ryuchi Cave and Jiraiya, who went missing while enjoying himself in the ninja world, this woman in front of him was actually the second person who could tell his gender at a glance.
Following the woman into the house, Yue Yan finally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked.
"May I know your name? And you could tell at a glance that I'm a boy."
"My name is Akiko," the woman said with a gentle smile. "Mister, even though you're really good - looking, you don't seem like a girl at all."
Hearing this, Yue Yan scratched his head. He really didn't expect that one could distinguish gender by temperament. He wondered, If Master Sakura were here, would she mistake this person for a boy?
Huh? Wait! What did she say her name was just now?
After confirming that he heard right, Yue Yan's expression became rather subtle. Although the woman in front of him had some wrinkles left by the years on her face, it's not hard to tell that she was a beauty. The name Akiko just seemed too out of place.
Yue Yan, who really couldn't bring himself to call her Akiko, sighed.
"Auntie, it's impolite to call you directly by your name. I'll address you by your family name instead."
After Yue Yan finished speaking, he could clearly see a momentary panic flashed across Akiko's face, which she quickly composed herself, forcing a nervous smile.
"Well, sir, I don't have a family name. You can just call me by my name."
After saying that, Akiko stared at Yue Yan, fearing that he would dig deeper. Fortunately, Yue Yan just nodded to show that he understood.
After noticing that she was hiding something, Yue Yan just silently speculated without asking. After all, it wasn't good to embarrass an ordinary person.
After all, he had used Senji to sense her energy before, and this woman in front of him was just an ordinary person. There shouldn't be anything special about her.
Just as Yue Yan was thinking this, a delicately - looking child about three or four years old timidly stood at the door of the room, curiously looking at Yue Yan.
At this time, Akiko also noticed the child.
"Haku, this is the sir who is staying at our place tonight. Say hello to your elder brother."
"Hello, elder brother."
Haku greeted politely.
As for Yue Yan, when he heard this name, the words "What a cute little girl" that was about to come out of his mouth were immediately swallowed back.