Naruto: How to Be an Undercover Shinobi

After sending Hanzō of the Salamander's Impure World Reincarnation body to the Land of Rain and ordering him to protect that land, Reiji returned to Konoha.

It was already late at night.

Reiji lay on the roof of his home, hands folded behind his head, staring blankly at the bright moon in the sky.

Hanzō of the Salamander was dead, but his body still roamed the soil of the Land of Rain.

If Reiji remembered correctly, the Second Great Ninja War would break out in a few years.

His strength was still far from enough to resist the combined pressure of the Wind, Earth, and Fire nations, let alone protect the Land of Rain—Mizukuma's beloved homeland.

So how could he stop the Land of Rain from becoming a battlefield between the three great powers?

At that moment, the Land of Water suddenly came to mind.

As the only great nation that had never suffered a large-scale invasion, the Land of Water enjoyed natural geographic advantages.

Its vast, endless ocean alone made a full-scale invasion nearly impossible.

Sure, ninja could run on water or travel by boat—but both methods carried serious risks.

If war broke out, the Land of Water would never just sit back and watch foreign forces sail into its territory.

Not to mention, maintaining supplies at sea was a logistical nightmare.

With that thought, a bold idea began to form in Reiji's mind...

The next morning, he yanked the still-sleepy Rie out of bed.

After a quick breakfast, Reiji dragged the grumpy Rie into the tea room.

"Sit. I've got a few things I need to ask of you."

Reiji sat cross-legged on the tatami and poured himself a cup of tea.

As soon as she heard the word "ask," Rie's puffed-up cheeks, round like a squirrel's, instantly deflated. She scratched her head with an awkward grin.

"Come on, brother~ Why're you saying 'ask'? We're family! Now you've got me feeling guilty!"

Reiji snorted.

"You? Feel guilty? Please. You've got thicker skin than Fugaku—thick enough to build a wall and still have bricks left over!"

Rie scratched her head again, even more embarrassed, grinning sheepishly.

"Alright, alright, just tell me what you need! I swear I'll get it done!"

"Mm." Reiji thought for a moment before speaking.

"First, get all 100,000 people from the Land of Wind back to the Land of Rain. Every single one of them—no stragglers, no losses, bring them all back in one piece.

Have Meiko and the others handle this. And tell them not to act all high and mighty."

"Second, you're going in person."

As he spoke, Reiji pulled a scroll from his ninja pouch and placed it on the low table.

"This is the scroll for Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm. Take it and study it."

The moment she heard "study," Rie's cheeks puffed back up in protest.

Ignoring her sulking, Reiji continued,

"Once you've mastered that technique, issue a mission in your capacity as the Daimyō of the Land of Rain, then head there yourself.

Your mission is to change the terrain—turn the entire Land of Rain into a swamp."

"All of it?" Rie took the scroll and asked curiously.

"No. Leave a patch of land in the center. How big is up to you. That's going to be your village."

"What?!"

Rie shrieked, eyes wide with disbelief.

"My village?! What do you mean? Can you not drop bombshells like that?!"

Watching Rie flail in shock, Reiji rolled his eyes and sighed.

"What do I mean?

I'm saying I've handed over the great kingdom I built with my own hands!

You, my dear, are now the founding leader of Amegakure—the very first head of Amegakure!"

"Go, Pikachu! Build a village of your own from scratch!"

"Eh?!" Rie let out a sharp scream, her bright eyes instantly sparkling like little stars. She blurted out, "R-Really?!

I've gone from big sis to... Chief Big Sis of a whole village?!

Brother! I freaking love you!"

Without warning, she lunged at Reiji and planted a big kiss on his cheek.

Reiji wiped the saliva off his face with a look of disgust and pushed her away, unable to stop himself from throwing cold water on her excitement.

"Look at you, acting all pathetic.

The Land of Rain borders the Wind, Earth, and Fire nations. If war breaks out, it'll be a full-blown battlefield.

You'd better focus on how to defend your little patch of land."

At that, Rie scratched her head and smiled sweetly at him.

Seeing the expression on her face, Reiji let out a cold laugh.

"Heh~ Don't tell me you're expecting me to help you defend it? Dream on.

But…"

"But what?!" Rie jumped in, eager.

Instead of answering, Reiji casually tapped the empty teacup on the table, grinning with amusement.

Catching on quickly, Rie—sharp as ever—smiled and immediately picked up the teapot, pouring him a fresh cup.

"Ahem." Reiji cleared his throat and said quietly, "The Land of Wind will pay you three hundred million ryō annually as a water fee. Whether you can actually get it... depends on your skills.

Also, one more thing—Hanzō of the Salamander. You can still command him, though his strength's dropped a bit."

Upon hearing that, Rie's wide eyes instantly transformed into money signs.

"Onii-chan~ You're the best!"

Her voice turned sticky-sweet, giving Reiji a full-body shiver. He quickly raised a hand to stop her from lunging again and said seriously,

"Enough! Just do your job as Village Head—that's the best way you can repay me."

He scratched at the goosebumps on his arm as he shivered and left the tea room.

That girl… there's seriously something wrong with her brain.

...

After a simple lunch, Reiji said goodbye to Rie once again and returned to Kirigakure in the Land of Water.

The completely opposite personalities of the Third Mizukage and the Third Raikage guaranteed that this mission in Kirigakure would be a long, difficult infiltration.

In a hundred-square-meter underground base dug out by his clone beneath Kirigakure, Reiji was pleasantly surprised to find that the Flying Thunder God mark he left on Fuguki Suikazan's clothing wasn't within the village.

That meant the guy must have left on a mission.

After staying in Kirigakure for a while, Reiji realized the village wasn't as sealed off as he'd originally thought.

Aside from civilians and ninja from certain major clans, a small number of shinobi were actually allowed to leave the village.

Most of their missions were assassinations.

Which made perfect sense.

Even though Kirigakure relied on the sea and was surrounded by three major civilian towns that provided basic self-sufficiency, rare resources still had to be purchased.

The ninja who went out on assassination missions provided income for this part of the economy.

Without hesitation, Reiji left the underground base and set off in the direction Fuguki Suikazan had taken.