"It's not a question of whether he's strong or not," Kakashi replied solemnly, pausing for a moment before continuing, "He's truly the kind of..."
"He's incredibly strong!" Sasuke interrupted, his brow furrowed, cutting off Kakashi and Naruto's conversation.
Their exchange seemed to trigger a familiar feeling within him.
"There's another piece of intel I need to share," Sasuke added. "Besides Zabuza, Gato seems to have recently hired another exceptionally skilled ninja. They're likely acquainted."
"Acquainted?" Kakashi's expression turned grave. "Do we know who this is?"
Sasuke shook his head. "We couldn't extract any specifics from the Demon Brothers' memories. They only overheard Zabuza mention it once. Judging by the memory, Zabuza seemed to dislike this guy immensely."
"Alright," Kakashi nodded.
"Let's set that aside for now. What do you all think about our client, Tazuna, misreporting the mission's difficulty level? According to village regulations, we have the right to abandon the mission. The decision rests with you."
Before he could finish speaking, Naruto shot his hand up, shouting,
"Teacher Kakashi, I think—"
"Hold on, Naruto!" Kakashi interrupted him before he could finish, his tone calm. "Let Sakura speak first. Ladies first, right?"
Actually, Kakashi already knew what Naruto's answer would be. He wanted to hear how the analytical Sakura and the composed Sasuke would answer first.
"Hmm." Sakura pondered for a moment, organizing her thoughts before delivering a surprising revelation:
"Teacher Kakashi, if I'm not mistaken, the village has known all along that this mission's classification was wrong, right?"
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Kakashi asked calmly, his expression unchanged.
"Intelligence!" Sakura raised a finger, adopting a serious tone. "One of the most fundamental and crucial rules for shinobi is intelligence gathering. Konoha is one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and the veterans at the mission assignment center are highly experienced ninjas. They have strict criteria for classifying mission ranks. How could they possibly take Uncle Tazuna's word at face value?"
"Even though I don't know exactly how the village's intelligence network operates, the Land of Waves is the Land of Fire's closest neighbor. With Konoha's intelligence capabilities, there's no way they wouldn't have at least some awareness of the situation in the Land of Waves, right?"
"If even an ordinary old man can deceive the seniors at the mission assignment center with nothing but his word, and slip past the village's intelligence network, then Konoha has no right to call itself the leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!"
During the Great Shinobi War, conspiracy, deception, and false information flooded the battlefield. If a mere civilian could manipulate Konoha so easily, how could the village have repeatedly overcome overwhelming odds and achieved ultimate victory in the war?
"So, the village likely anticipated this situation long ago. If I'm not mistaken... hehe..." Sakura smirked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"The village probably assigned us this mission to test us, right? Or perhaps there's an even deeper motive at play."
"Am I right, Teacher Kakashi?" Sakura asked eagerly, her eyes shining like stars.
"Sakura's analysis is spot-on," Naruto interjected before Kakashi could answer.
"Ahem, well reasoned, Sakura," Kakashi coughed lightly, neither confirming nor denying her analysis.
He then turned to Sasuke, who had remained silent throughout the discussion. "What about you, Sasuke?"
"The village will definitely carry out this mission," Sasuke replied bluntly.
"Why are you so certain?" Kakashi asked with a faint smile. "Tell me your reasoning."
Despite Sakura's seemingly constant role as the team's intelligence analyst since Team Seven's formation, Kakashi knew that the habitually taciturn Sasuke was the one with the keenest insight.
Some of Sasuke's words were initially difficult for Kakashi to grasp.
Yet, upon reflection and careful consideration, they often struck him like a flash of enlightenment, profound and insightful.
"Have you all been reading the newspapers lately?" Sasuke began. "The Land of Water has been steadily opening its ports for trade throughout the past year, and their merchants are becoming increasingly visible on the continent."
This world had newspapers—not to mention radio, television, film, gramophones, and even computers.
Sakura, puzzled, hesitated before asking, "What does the Land of Water opening its ports have to do with our mission?"
"Everything," Sasuke replied. Seeing the question marks above their heads, he explained, "Though the Land of Waves is a small nation, its geographical position is crucial. It lies at the center of the coastlines of the Land of Fire, the Land of Hot Springs, and the Land of Tea. Whether these three nations want to trade with the Land of Water, or the Land of Water seeks access to the continent, all must pass through the Land of Waves, using it as a vital transit point for normal trade."
"In the past, it didn't matter much. The Land of Water had long maintained a policy of isolation, so the Land of Waves' strategic location held little significance. But now that the Land of Water has opened its ports for trade and decided to engage with the mainland nations, the Land of Waves has naturally become a hot commodity."
"Therefore, both the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the village elders need a peaceful and stable Land of Waves, not this chaotic mess!"
"Teacher Kakashi, you must have realized this already, right?"
I hadn't actually seen it.
Though the Third Hokage had briefed me on some aspects of this mission, he hadn't shared any deeper insights. And frankly, I hadn't thought that far ahead myself.
Kakashi nodded, his voice muffled. "Correct."
Naruto scratched the back of his head, utterly bewildered. Even though he didn't understand a word, he sensed that Sasuke's explanation was incredibly amazing.
Sakura frowned, pondering intently. After a moment, her face lit up with sudden understanding.
'While I was still thinking within the narrow confines of ninja intelligence and village scrutiny, Sasuke was already analyzing things on a global scale—nation-states, economics...'
"As expected of Sasuke-kun! He's so cool!" Sakura thought, her heart swelling with admiration as a red heart appeared in her mind.
She felt like her earlier analysis had only reached the second layer of thought, while Sasuke was already operating on the fifth layer.
Stealing a glance at Naruto, who still wore a bewildered expression beside her, Sakura huffed inwardly.
'That idiot Naruto is definitely doesn't understand!'
"So, Naruto, what about you?" Kakashi cleared his throat, turning to Naruto with a slight cough.
"Um, I think... well..."
Naruto faltered, trying to imitate Sakura and Sasuke's air of deep contemplation and come up with something profound-sounding.
But after racking his brain for what felt like an eternity, he couldn't find anything useful and gave up.
"I think Sakura and Sasuke's analyses were spot-on. I don't really have anything to add."
"I just feel like..."
Naruto's expression turned serious, his voice filled with righteous conviction as he declared, "As a ninja, I can't stand by when I see injustice! That's the very reason I started learning taijutsu!"
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