Magnet Release.

A few weeks had passed...

After realising the situation in Sunagakure, Ryuu and Jiraiya saw too many risks for Shisui and had to send him back to Konoha, he was understanding and didn't complain.

'Jiraiya-sensei and I continued the mission without him.

We traveled around the land of wind; we scouted multiple bases around the land of wind, most of them were around their borders and searched around using disguises but before entering Sunagakure, we needed existing identities.

A year had passed before entering Sunagakure, we had to build a small reputation just to make things easier.

I took the identity 'Ryuji Kurosaki'.

A teenage shinobi who grew up close to Sunagakure there was an orphanage, but because of the war, it got attacked by bandits and got burned down.

The identity I stole didn't have any friends or living family growing up and was adopted by a merchant named Hiroto Kurosaki, the merchant had hired a jonin to train Ryuji so that he would protect him he was involved in some scams.

I killed the real ones and stole their identity and memories with mind-transmission Jutsu, I wouldn't make the rookie mistake of leaving their bodies around so I burned them with Phoenix Flame.

I gave Jiraiya-sensei a summary of his life.

I used contacts to hide my Sharingan and carried a gourd of sand to blend in.

Usually, it would be useless because I can't control sand, but one day, we found the Kazekage fighting off an army, and I copied his magnet release.

That's when I started carrying the jar of sand, it had multiple metals and I used the magnet release to control the sand.

Jiraiya took the identity of 'Hiroto Kurosaki', the fat merchant who grew up in Sunagakure but has been traveling around the land of wind.

The merchant had an obsession with buying expensive items and always spending the night at the bar, unfortunately for us, this information gave Jiraiya-sensei an excuse to go out drinking, but I have to admit, he always gets Intel even after all those drinks.

I wore less formal clothing than him.

We stayed in a hotel near the Kazekage's office; I made a deal that got us nearer to the Kazekage's office; I avoided using Genjutsu to sway the hotel owner because if anyone found out, we would be in trouble.'

Early in the morning, both of them sat for breakfast.

Jiraiya would gather Intel from bars and other merchants who were just there to spend their money, some of them were criminals too, but nothing could be done because it would risk exposure.

Ryuu would gather information as a shinobi, he was a Jonin and would also not be given enough information, but he would do his missions well and hope to get closer to the Kazekage, but so far, nothing much had happened.

Ryuu connected his mind so that no one heard their discussion.

"Have you found anything yet?"

Ryuu asked.

"Some shinobi were celebrating how they captured Konoha shinobi and were sent to interrogate them, I think we should break them out."

Ryuu nodded.

"Just not today, the Kazekage has called me to his office, he expects me there in a few minutes, it's why I woke up this early." Jiraiya nodded.

"Well, I'll be gone now, I don't want to make the Kazekage wait, I have a decent feeling about this meeting."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Good luck, sensei." Jiraiya nodded.

"Good luck to you too." Ryuu left.

Meanwhile, the Kazekage was having a meeting with his apprentice Rasa and the honored siblings of Sunagakure…

"Konohagakure's attacks have lessened in the past year, I figure they're planning something, especially knowing that the white fang of the leaf is leading their attacks.

I should be out there leading the attack against them, you know what he's done to my family."

An old lady said.

She was the Head of the medical department and one of the village elders known as Lady Chiyo.

And her brother Ebizo.

"I understand how much you loathe Sakumo Hatake but don't let it cloud your judgment, attacking Konohagakure right now is foolish, especially when we don't know what they're planning.

They might have some sort of counterattack or trap that they're luring us into.

That's what I believe is happening. Look who they have leading their battle."

She frowned.

"You might be right, however, if we do nothing soon, I can't promise to be so patient again." She stubbornly replied.

"Anyway Kazekage-sama, why did you call for a meeting, it can't be because of Sakumo Hatake, we already knew about him and his army."

He nodded.

"Right as always, Rasa." He grabbed some documents and handed them to the elders.

"Ryuji Kurosaki? What's interesting about him?" Rasa asked.

"In the past year, his name has grown a little, I looked into his background and noticed some suspicious info."

"Suspicious?"

He nodded.

"I talked to some people who gave me access to his past, from the orphanage to his adoptive family.

If you look at his background, you will also find it strange, as a child, he had nothing out of the ordinary, and in fact, you could call him below average the only thing he seemed to be good at was ninjutsu, and even in that, he was only above the normal, nothing out of the ordinary.

He grew up in the orphanage after his parents were killed in battle.

At the orphanage he was one of those children who would fall into the background, he couldn't make a friend or bond with anyone, but then he got adopted by this merchant after they burned it down.

He raised him but the merchant doesn't have a background of being a shinobi and so he hired a Tokubetsu jonin to train him, Ryuji ended up being a genin and then becoming a chunin in the past year."

"Kazekage-sama, where are you going with this?" Chiyo asked.

"In the past year, this Ryuji has changed dramatically, all his missions are successful and his peers say his plans are flawless, and that he's always two steps ahead of the enemy but they also say sometimes he looks like he's been holding back his power."

Their eyes widened.

"Something is off with him, there's something I'm not seeing."

"Tch!"

Ebizo clicked.

"If you suspect him to be a spy, make your move quickly, in times of war, Sunagakure cannot afford to have other villages infiltrating us."

The Kazekage nodded.

"I will confront him by myself, I need to confirm something before I do so."

They nodded.

'That gourd of sand, why does he carry it with him, could he also have it?'

Ryuji arrived.

"You've all been dismissed, including you, Rasa." They Bowed and left.

"Have a seat, we need to talk."

Ryuji nodded.

He put his gourd of sand on the ground and then sat down.

"Is something wrong, Kazekage-sama?"

"No, not really.

I've been impressed by your work recently, who did you say was your sensei?"

"Oh umm, I didn't say his name, it was such a long time ago, I must've forgotten." He nodded.

Ryuu found this question odd and knew what was happening, luckily, he had already prepared for such a situation.

'I see… The Kazekage is suspicious of us.' He said to himself.

"Kazekage-sama, have I done something wrong?"

"You tell me, you see I've been looking into your past and I found no records of how you became this talented shinobi suddenly."

Ryuji frowned.

"You're right, it's because…" He clenched his fist.

"I'm not supposed to tell someone this, Hiroto-sama is the only other person who knows what I can do, but I guess it's alright with you too."

"And what can you do?"

He controlled the sand from the gourd and made a blade.

The Kazekage's eyes widened.

"As I suspected, you have magnet release too." He nodded.

"I too can use magnet release, Hiroto-sama and I traveled around the land of wind looking for books that have any mentions of how to use iron sand.

The more we found them, the more I learned, and then one day on our travels, we saw you fighting off an assassination attempt, and I tried to mimic you."

Ryuji folded his fist, and a sharp blade of iron sand formed.

'So this is why they say he always looks like he's holding back.

It must've been difficult on missions to always rely on other ninjutsu.'

"You hid such a powerful Jutsu from Sunagakure and this could potentially change things for the war. Why?!"

"It's because, unlike you, I can't use this very well, I always end up over-exhausting myself, that's why I don't use it and that's why I practice in private." He nodded.

The iron sand fell back into Ryuji's gourd.

"I need you to show me how well you can control that sand, and I have the perfect mission to get the best out of you."

He nodded.

'If this is what will get me closer to the Kazekage, I'll do anything.'

"I sent a team of Jonin to Amegakure and they haven't returned yet, go there and bring them back alive.

You will have one partner with you but there's a risk of Hanzo of the salamander interfering with you two, but you two are the only ones who can get this done."

He nodded.

"May I ask who's my partner for this mission?"

"Pakura of the scorch release."

His eyes widened.

"So, you're already familiar with her?"

He nodded.

"Good, I've already sent Anbu to get her, prepare for your mission, and don't let me down, use whatever Jutsu you can to complete this mission."

Ryuji nodded and left.

"Anbu, tail him and see how he does in this mission." They nodded and left.

(Authors Note: I'm finally done editing the first arc, I'll edit the rest too but not soon, anyway, join the discord, link is in my bio.)