Chapter 327: Openly Entering the Star Ninja Village

He didn't want to bring dozens of clan members on a mission, only for it to end in failure, and have every single one of them recorded with a failed mission mark on their files.

"Approximately three hundred of them. The enemy infiltrated two days ago, and they are located here."

He picked up a stick and drew a rough map of the Land of Bears on the ground, poking it at the area closest to the sea:

"If we go from here, we can quickly get near some of the islands belonging to the Land of Water. The Mist Ninja's entry into the Land of Bears is easier than we imagined.

Fortunately, their pace is slow. They seem to be concerned about leaking information, and their large numbers make their progress even slower."

Normally, after two days, the enemy would have reached the Land of Fire's borders by now.

After all, the Land of Bears isn't that large, but it is close to Konoha's camp.

However, the Mist Ninja are also worried about being detected by Konoha, so their movements are discreet.

Unfortunately for them, every one of their actions is under Orochimaru's surveillance.

As for how Orochimaru managed to do that, Takuya figured it must have been partly thanks to the Anbu and partly because of those countless small snakes.

Jiraiya's toads and Orochimaru's snakes were both masters at collecting intelligence and tracking enemy movements.

Add in the various snakes and toads along the coastline, and they are practically innumerable.

The enemy can't just look at a snake or a toad and assume it's one of Orochimaru or Jiraiya's tricks.

Otherwise, Mist Village might as well drop everything and just start catching toads all over the place.

Looking at the somewhat ugly and abstract map on the ground, Uchiha Fugaku pondered for a moment:

"The enemy numbers are significant. If they scatter within the Land of Bears, it might not be easy to wipe them out. Besides, there's also the attitude of the Star Ninja Village..."

"Intimidate!"

Before he could finish, Takuya interrupted him.

"Aside from intercepting the enemy, our mission also aims to intimidate the Star Ninja Village. If the Star Ninja Village aligns itself with the Mist, it will be a significant disadvantage to us."

"Tell your clansmen to rest for an hour. After that, we'll enter the Land of Bears. We don't need to be too cautious in hiding our movements.

It would be best if the ninjas of Star Ninja Village knew that Konoha's forces have entered their country and are carrying out a mission."

The Star Ninja Village is nothing more than a small, insignificant village. Still, the intimidation and threat must be present.

Otherwise, if they truly side with the Mist Village, it won't be much of a threat, but it will be a huge annoyance.

Just like the Grass Ninja Village in the Third Shinobi World War from the original series.

They sided with the Rock Ninja Village. It didn't have much of an impact on Konoha, but it was incredibly irritating.

To prevent a similar situation, Takuya didn't mind giving Star Ninja Village a bit of a scare.

As for the enemy, it would be ideal if they could be eliminated. If not, driving them off would suffice.

The Mist Ninjas aren't fools; they won't just stand there waiting to be slaughtered.

One hour later, after their rest was over, Takuya led the group, swaggering into the Land of Bears.

"What's that?"

Not far from the border, there was a Star Ninja Village lookout post.

The bored ninjas at the post suddenly noticed movement ahead.

"It's the enemy—no, it's Konoha. A large number of Konoha ninjas have entered our country!"

Upon seeing clearly, the Star Ninja Village ninja in the lookout began shouting.

"Shut up."

The lookout captain scolded:

"Don't panic. Konoha wouldn't attack another country or village without declaring war first, especially not a small ninja village. If they're entering the Land of Bears, it's definitely because of the Mist. Just send the message back to the village. That's all we need to do."

The captain of the covert lookout post understood things well.

Neither the Mist Village nor Konoha were entities that the Star Ninja Village could afford to provoke.

Even if the two major ninja villages turned the Land of Bears into a battlefield, there wasn't anything they could do to change it; they would just have to endure it.

As for taking the initiative to fight back... well, forget it. He wanted to live a few more years.

"Looks like we've been spotted."

Uchiha Fugaku, who had activated his Sharingan, looked at the concealed lookout post.

Takuya continued walking without a care:

"Don't worry about it. We're walking into the Land of Bears openly to let them know we're here. This way, we can avoid misunderstandings."

Takuya had no interest in bullying the people of Star Ninja Village. As long as they didn't create trouble or obstruct them, he would pretend not to see them.

But if they overstepped their bounds, Takuya wouldn't hesitate to send them to the Pure Land to play shogi with the Sage of Six Paths.

"Keep moving!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Land of Bears, many Mist Ninjas had gathered.

The one in charge of this mission, Hozuki Jirō, frowned:

"Did the leader of the Star Ninja Village refuse?"

"Yes, sir. The Star Ninja Village leader doesn't want the village to get caught up in the war and just wants to develop peacefully."

"Hah."

Hozuki Jirō couldn't help but laugh:

"They don't want to get involved in the war, that's true. But wanting to develop peacefully? Yeah, right. They've got some nerve, calling themselves the Star Shadow."

"Sir, should we..."

"Forget it. Don't stir up any trouble. Our mission isn't about some small village like Star Ninja Village. Let them call themselves whatever they want, even if they're just a village that doesn't have enough Jonin to count."

The small Star Ninja Village was never a concern for Hozuki Jirō.

As long as the Star Ninja Village didn't cause trouble or interfere with Mist Village operations, like secretly informing Konoha, it would be fine.

It didn't matter if they sided with Mist or not.

After all, not every small village was like the Rain Ninja Village with a leader like Hanzo. Compared to Hanzo, the so-called Star Shadow was a joke.

"Any news from the Ice side?"

Hozuki Jirō was growing impatient.

Yagura had ordered him to lead his men through the Land of Bears and infiltrate the Land of Fire. Infiltrating was one thing, but on top of that, he was supposed to work with the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

That was fine, but what frustrated him was that he'd been waiting for several days without any word from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.

He had no choice but to stay in the Land of Bears, sending people out to try to contact them.

Due to the chaos at the scene, with some dead and others fleeing, Mist Village hadn't yet received the news that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were done for.

Konoha hadn't released that information either.

This led Mist Village to still believe that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were lurking in the Land of Fire, waiting for contact.

"No word yet, sir."

"Damn it! What are those fools doing? It's been so long, and there's still no contact."

Hozuki Jirō began cursing irritably.

He had already spent three days waiting in the Land of Bears, but there was still no news from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, not even from the messengers he had sent out—it was like they had vanished.

"I said it from the start, those guys are unreliable. Unreliable! But Yagura, that little runt, just wouldn't listen!"

"..."

Hozuki Jirō kept on ranting, while the others exchanged uneasy glances, turning their heads as if they hadn't heard anything.

Hozuki Jirō dared to curse Yagura because the Hozuki clan was strong enough within Mist Village, and there had been plenty of open and secret competition between the Hozuki clan and Yagura.

The Hozuki clan could afford to do this; others weren't as bold.