On the steep mountain peak in the distance, Reiji carried a massive sword on his back. He pulled an hourglass from inside his robe and checked the markings.
"Ten minutes, huh."
Even though he was almost certain that the Two-Tails was sealed within the Temple of Wind and Thunder, Reiji still made a trip to the remaining four forbidden sites.
Of those four, only the Valley of Clouds and Lightning—home to the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki—was guarded by stationed shinobi. The other three were completely unguarded.
Taking to the sky again, Reiji hovered in the air, the roar of thunder echoing in his ears as he glanced back toward Kumogakure.
He could make out Amegakure faintly in the center, with the Temple of Wind and Thunder to the south and the Valley of Clouds and Lightning to the north of Kumogakure.
With this view, Reiji was now almost certain—the Two-Tails was sealed in the Temple of Wind and Thunder!
But before anything else, he had to infiltrate Kumogakure.
Just thinking about the next series of tasks made his head throb.
Sure, both jobs involved dirty work and intelligence gathering, but ninjas and undercover agents were worlds apart.
Ninjas just had to sneak in, steal, sabotage, and escape—a sequence Reiji thought of as fairly simple.
After all, you could complete the mission without interacting with anyone.
But undercover agents? That was true infiltration. You didn't just sneak in—you had to blend in. And the more you interacted with people, the easier it was to slip up.
Most ninja missions were hit-and-run. Cowards, really.
Undercover agents, on the other hand, spent years in deep cover, stuck doing exhausting, dirty work—and they might not even make it out in the end.
Of course, if you were someone like Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, that wasn't infiltration. That was domination.
Thinking of that, Reiji felt he needed to start shifting gears too—aiming to be like them, making enemies kneel and sing "Conquest."
...
Night in Kumogakure was silent, broken only by the occasional rumble of thunder overhead.
Reiji, draped in a black robe with his hood up, moved slowly along the base of the mountain range.
Kumogakure was a strange village. All the important buildings were perched atop the peaks, while the commercial and residential areas sprawled out below.
This layout made infiltration tougher than expected.
He originally considered using the Nurarihyon Technique to sneak in, but then he remembered how, back at dusk near the Temple of Wind and Thunder, a sensory ninja had detected him almost immediately.
That alone made him lose faith in the jutsu.
Sure enough, Mizukuma-sensei was right. The technique was great—as long as there weren't any sensory types around.
But the moment the enemy had wide-range sensory capabilities, it became a one-way ticket to exposure.
With a sigh, Reiji rolled his eyes.
Guess he'd have to save this jutsu for peeking into women's bathhouses. For infiltration? Useless—just plain weak!
Or maybe... he could go back to the old high-altitude brick bombing trick?
But doing that too often—wasn't that a little low? Come on, it's not like I'm dropping bombs on harmless old ladies dancing in the square.
Forget it. The mission comes first!
With his mind made up, Reiji took up his greatsword and hugged the mountainside, slowly inching closer to the village.
...
Just as he crossed the border into Kumogakure, sudden bursts of lightning flared to life across the village. Beams of electricity surged toward him.
At the same time, a shrill whistle split the still night air.
Crap—Kumo had an anti-air barrier just like Konoha!
Reiji didn't have time to think. In a flash, he unleashed Jiraiya's signature move— "Throw-Everything-I've-Got no Jutsu!"
A barrage of bricks rained down on the village, thick and fast. Each one, big or small, bore the same inscription: "Goes where he pleases!"
At the same moment, Reiji formed a one-handed seal and triggered the Flying Thunder God Technique. His figure vanished without a trace.
The bricks landed with a chaotic clatter, and in no time, half the village was in an uproar, voices shouting and cursing filling the air.
When Reiji reappeared, he was already inside the village, hidden in a narrow, pitch-black alley.
"Sorry... Sorry... Didn't mean to wake everyone. Really, my bad."
Muttering under his breath, Reiji tiptoed forward, picking up a brick at his feet and peeking out of the alley.
Through his senses, he could feel the Flying Thunder God-marked bricks being gathered in one spot. Kumo's response was pretty fast.
But they didn't know the true nature of the Flying Thunder God Technique. As long as even one mark remained, the whole village was essentially his playground.
Zeroing in on his target, Reiji dashed toward his goal—Raimei's home.
According to intel from Konohagakure, Raimei lived on the outskirts of Kumogakure.
...
Click.
Reiji used Magnet Release: Iron Man Technique to unlock the apartment door.
It was a small place, less than thirty square meters—just a bedroom and a bathroom.
Inside, Raimei was still asleep, snoring softly.
With the Nurarihyon Technique cloaking him in gray mist, Reiji silently approached the bed.
The guy wasn't bad-looking, but that cocky look between his brows gave off a serious "stay away" vibe.
Standing beside the bed, Reiji carefully memorized the shape of Raimei's face and build.
Then, the skin on his own face began to shift, wriggling as clusters of Iron Sand gathered beneath the surface.
They pierced through cells, sliced open blood vessels, tore through muscle and fascia—causing pain to their host even as they arranged themselves just as he commanded.
Soon, a face identical to Raimei's took shape. The only difference was its slight stiffness.
Reiji lightly pinched his cheeks, frowning as he tested various facial expressions.
It didn't take long for the flesh to adjust, gradually adapting to the Iron Sand embedded within. His face quickly took on a more natural, lifelike appearance.
With everything in place, Reiji didn't linger. He marked a concealed Flying Thunder God seal on Raimei's door, then quietly left the village.
Everything was ready.
Now, all he needed was the right moment—something public, something undeniable. The perfect opportunity... for his dazzling debut.
Atop the mountain, Reiji looked down at Kumogakure and smiled coldly.