Naruto: How to Be an Undercover Shinobi

Just as Danzō was sobbing under his blanket, Reiji had already returned to the Land of Grass.

Fortunately, everything had gone smoothly—no surprises this time.

After leading Team Eleven back across the Land of Fire border, the group found a cave and settled down to rest.

Seeing the three kids exhausted and barely keeping their eyes open, Reiji took it upon himself to stand watch at the cave entrance.

It was already late into the night.

Before long, the sound of even breathing came from within—no doubt about it, the three of them were completely worn out.

Not surprising. With Reiji as their squad leader, "taking it easy" wasn't really an option.

At the entrance, Reiji sat cross-legged on the ground, staring absentmindedly at the setting moon.

A light footstep approached from behind and stopped beside him.

Tsunade sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around her knees as she stared into the distance.

"Reiji, what are you looking at?" Her voice was soft and gentle.

Reiji shivered and turned sharply to look at her.

"Hey, Tsuna, can you not talk in that cutesy voice?"

This guy's hopeless.

Tsunade, who had been trying to create a peaceful moment, instantly covered her face and rolled her eyes hard.

After a long silence, she looked up again, glared at Reiji, and scooted closer in mock revenge.

"From now on, no talking."

Reiji stiffened and nodded obediently.

Satisfied, Tsunade smiled and turned her gaze to the sky.

"You're always like this—completely unreliable when it matters. Sometimes, I wonder what it is you're trying to avoid.

Hey, Reiji, I have a little brother now.

His name's Nawaki. He's all chubby and super cute~

But, like me, he can't carry the Senju surname.

My parents are always busy. After they left him with Grandma, they've hardly come home.

Grandma's gotten really old these past few years too. The Uzumaki are supposed to live long, but maybe it's the Nine Tails' influence."

Reiji listened silently as Tsunade rambled on, sighing inwardly.

"Say, Reiji... do you think you'll stay in Konoha forever?"

"..."

"I'm asking you something!" Tsunade gave him an annoyed look.

Reiji shrugged and mimed zipping his lips.

Tsunade pouted. "Come on, say something~"

"I don't know. Probably not," Reiji finally said.

"After all, I am the daimyō of the Land of Rain. I've got a whole population waiting for me to figure out how to feed them."

Tsunade giggled.

"Yeah, right. Who are you trying to fool? Everyone knows daimyōs are just piggy banks with legs~"

"Heh. Then you haven't met the one from the Land of Lightning—tightfisted doesn't even begin to cover it."

The two of them chatted casually as the horizon slowly turned pale.

As the first rays of sunlight broke across the sky, Tsunade suddenly beamed at Reiji.

"Morning, Reiji~"

"Mm. Morning, Tsuna."

...

The mission to clear out Kusa ninja was still ongoing—though no one expected it would drag on for three whole years.

In the blink of an eye, three years had passed.

During that time:

The fighting in the Land of Rain ceased. All sides suffered heavy losses against the impenetrable front held by Hanzō of the Salamander.

Without Tsunade's medical ninjutsu or Chiyo's antidotes, the terrifying Ibuse left countless shinobi helpless.

Add to that the endless lakes and constant rainfall of the Land of Rain, and Hanzō's strength was amplified to terrifying levels.

Yet even so, Amegakure was reduced to ruins.

Countless refugees fled the war-torn land, seeking shelter near the borders of the Wind and Rain countries under the protection of Sunagakure ninja.

At one point, the daimyō of the Land of Wind had greedy thoughts about that swelling population—but after Reiji took him on a tour through the smoldering ruins of the Land of Rain, those thoughts vanished quickly.

The Land of Rain: desolate for a thousand miles, lifeless and hollow.

And much like it, the Land of Grass fell silent.

The constant skirmishes that once flared up now vanished from the vast grasslands.

The last remnants of Kusa ninja, gripped by fear, holed up in the obscure village of Kusagakure, barely scraping by.

For those three years, nightmares plagued their lives.

Team Eleven of Konoha—three demons roaming the land. Executioners who ruthlessly wiped out wrongdoers and chased off those yet to act.

The daimyō of the Land of Grass once protested to Konoha, and the result? No more daimyō.

His entire family of five, burned to ash.

The higher-ups in Konoha tried ordering Team Eleven to retreat, but every time, the messengers were driven away with the excuse of "mission not yet complete."

Reiji had made up his mind—to use the sins of the Land of Grass as fuel for Team Eleven's fearsome reputation.

Killing and hardship forge growth.

...

It was now Year 28 of Konoha.

Across the shinobi world, aside from occasional small-scale skirmishes, all five great nations had entered a period of quiet preparation.

To the east, the sun rose slowly as Reiji stepped leisurely out of the cave, a scroll nearly half his height slung across his back.

"Alright, kids! Time to move out!" he shouted into the cave.

A moment later, Tsunade and the others emerged.

Three years had flown by. Tsunade had grown even more beautiful, poised and confident as she stepped up beside Reiji.

Behind her, the former brats had finally begun looking like proper shinobi.

Thirteen-year-old Teuchi, now tall and broad, cracked his knuckles excitedly and muttered to himself,

"Finally! I can go back and open my ramen shop! These three years were brutal!"

Next to him, Fugaku Uchiha cast a sidelong glance at him with his usual aloofness and scoffed, though the faint reluctance in his three-tomoe Sharingan betrayed his inner conflict.

The eldest, Rie, let out a yawn, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and casually took the lead.

"Move out, Team Eleven!"

At her command, the three of them took off in a flash—heading straight for Kusagakure.

...

(40 Chapters Ahead)

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