On the way to Konoha's entrance, Kaze asked curiously.
"Uncle Yuto, isn't Iwagakure currently in a power struggle with Kumogakure and why would they suddenly turn their guns on Konoha?"
Not long ago, a spy sent back news that dozens of elite squads from Iwagakure had passed through the Land of Grass and seemed to be planning a surprise attack on Konoha.
The mission Kaze and the others received this time was related to Iwagakure's surprise attack.
"Hey, what's so odd about this? They think they can profit from it," Yuto shrugged, looking quite accustomed to it.
"We fought tooth and nail with Sunagakure before, but now we're joining hands to deal with that Sanshōuo Hanzō."
"That's true," Kaze thought for a moment and found Yuto's words reasonable.
He realized he had been misled by the tales in the Naruto comics.
In fact, ninjas weren't as heroic as he thought. Most of them were cold - blooded people who chased after profit and lived on the edge of the blade.
"My young master, you need to fill the vacancy in our squad quickly," Yuto lazily reminded him. "Being short of a person puts us at a disadvantage in the mission."
"I got it, Uncle Yuto," Kaze replied helplessly.
He originally wanted to invite Ayako to join.
But then he thought that with Ayako's innocent and naive personality, if she joined Root, she probably wouldn't last an episode. So he gave up the idea.
However, now he had thought of a suitable candidate, a sophisticated and elegant blonde - haired, blue - eyed woman with glasses.
If this mission hadn't come so suddenly, he might have already tried to recruit her... Slurp.
The two of them skipped all the way to the village entrance when a graceful figure wearing a mask appeared and said coldly.
"My young master, Senior Yuto, you're late."
The two of them scratched their heads awkwardly and found that all the Root members had arrived except Yukino.
"Sorry, sorry, to keep you all waiting. It's my fault that something came up and delayed us," Yuto said with a big laugh.
He really knows how to handle social situations and made a great impression in terms of social skills.
"It doesn't matter," a Root squad leader waved his hand and then looked around at everyone. "Everyone understands this mission, right?"
Everyone nodded to indicate they understood.
"Officially, we're providing support to the team defending against the Iwagakure ninjas in the name of the Anbu. However, actually, we're here to keep an eye on those guys."
Looking in the direction the ninja was looking at, they could tell who he meant by "those guys".
The Uchiha Clan!
Among the team sent to defend against the Sand ninjas, more than half of the ninjas had the flame - fan emblem embroidered on their shoulders.
In the crowd, Kaze saw many familiar faces.
Besides the familiar side characters like Inabi, there were also Vivi, Hane, who were in the same class as him, standing in the line.
It seemed that the Uchiha clan noticed Kaze and the others' gazes, and whispers began to spread among them.
"Sure enough, Konoha has sent people to 'protect' us again. What an honor! Only our Uchiha clan gets this special 'treatment'."
"Hehe, it's better to say they're sent to monitor us. What's the point of deceiving oneself?"
"Konoha doesn't trust us, yet we have to fight for them on the battlefield. It's really not worth it for us to fight for them!"
A senior member of the Uchiha clan's face changed slightly. He controlled his voice and hissed.
"Watch your words! Don't say things that are not conducive to unity!"
The commotion within the Uchiha clan gradually died down.
Soon, dozens of squads left the village in an orderly manner and headed towards the Land of Grass.
Kaze and the others lagged far behind. The Root squad leader who had spoken before said.
"According to the plan, these squads will divide into two groups and guard the two passages connecting the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire respectively."
"Then, I'll lead two squads to take care of one side." As he said, he glanced at Yuto. "Murasame, you'll be in charge of the other side and protect My young master at the same time. No problem, right?"
Yuto patted his chest cheerfully and replied, "No problem. Leave it to me."
True to its name, the Land of Grass is covered with large lawns. As far as the eye can see, it's a sea of green.
After setting foot in the Land of Grass, the Konoha squads dispersed in an orderly manner, keeping a certain distance from each other, and continued to penetrate towards the target location.
If you were to overlook the ground from a high altitude.
The Konoha ninjas were like a square suddenly splitting in two, forming two horizontal lines and slowly advancing in two different directions.
The Root members at the rear quickly made adjustments.
According to the previous plan, eight of them followed the group going west, while Kaze and six others followed the other group.
The scenery in the Land of Grass is extremely monotonous. Besides green grass, there are only woods, all in the same hue.
At first, the vibrant green was quite pleasing to the eye, but after a long time, it became monotonous and boring.
Seven Root members followed behind the main force and whispered to each other.
"The quality of this batch of Uchihas is poor. It's a miracle if there's one with the Sharingan among seven or eight of them. Toyo Uchiha is really sneaky."
Toyo Uchiha, the father of Fugaku Uchiha and the clan head of the Uchiha clan.
"Yeah, sending such a bunch of good - for - nothings. Who are they kidding? Even ungraduated kids have been rounded up to fill the quota!"
No wonder the Root members have complaints.
Now that Konoha has been at war with the Land of Rain and the Land of Wind for so long, other great clans have made great contributions and suffered heavy losses.
But for some reason, only the Uchiha clan has been reluctant to go all out and only wants to preserve themselves as much as possible.
Sigh.
Kaze also felt a bit helpless after hearing this. Obviously, this is the result of the mutual distrust between the Uchiha clan and the village.
The Uchiha clan is worried that after suffering manpower losses, they will be exploited by Konoha, so they are reluctant to give their all.
But such a move, in the eyes of Konoha, is undoubtedly a sign that the Uchiha clan has ulterior motives, further deepening the rift between them.
At present, unless someone can forcefully break the rift between the two sides, if things continue like this, the Uchiha clan will surely be exterminated sooner or later.
The more they talked, the angrier they got. Kaze had no choice but to change the subject helplessly and said,
"Let's discuss how we should support the front - line team if they are attacked later."
"Support?" A Root Ninja was stunned when he heard this and looked at Yuto beside him with some confusion.
"Senior Murasame, didn't you explain to my young master what we're supposed to 'do' in this mission?"
"I..."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before Yuto could say a word, a deafening roar suddenly came from the front.
The ground cracked, and sand and stones flew everywhere. The terrifying tremors were like an earth dragon turning over. Even though they were dozens of meters away, the ground under their feet was shaking!
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" The shrill cries echoed in all directions.
At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, in the Underground Palace belonging to Madara.
A dark figure appeared and woke up the sleeping Madara.
"Lord Madara, I just received a piece of intelligence that you might be interested in."
Madara slowly opened his eyes, focused his pupils, and looked at Black Zetsu in front of him. "Tell me, what's the intelligence?"
"Not far away, Konoha Ninjas are fighting with Iwagakure Ninjas. Many of them are from your clan."
At this point, Black Zetsu paused. "Maybe there are some promising candidates that can meet your requirements."
"Oh, really?" Hearing this, Madara slowly stood up, and his originally somewhat cloudy eyes became bright.
"It seems that I need to go there myself."
He pondered for a moment, then pulled out the three tubes behind him that were connected to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and used to maintain his vitality.
He can only stay outside for an hour at present, and his strength is less than one - tenth of his peak, but it is enough!