"That piece of trash is usually just a spineless yes-man, but at least he looked like a living, breathing person. Why does he look so dead inside now?"
"Who? Oh, the famous Chunin Yoshida?"
"Did he finally have a revelation? Is he so ashamed of his own incompetence that he's getting ready to end it all?"
"No way, right? He's terrified of dying..."
"It's probably because of the recent mobilization. We're gathering forces, and this guy is probably getting drafted for the 'operation'."
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense. But just thinking about fighting alongside a guy like that makes me feel like I'm going to get cursed with bad luck."
"Enough of that. With our strength, we're definitely going to crush the Hidden Cloud, then Konoha is next. We're going to win this entire Great Ninja War."
"Still, a ninja like him going up against the Cloud? He's dead meat for sure this time."
"Yeah, definitely dead meat."
As Kamishiro Hagoromo walked down the street, a constant stream of gossip like this drifted into his ears. He didn't personally care, but it really emphasized just how pathetic the real Yoshida's existence was.
Practically every ninja who recognized the guy took immense pleasure in the fact that he was being dragged into the upcoming war.
Well, taking "pleasure" was putting it politely. Many ninjas viewed him as the absolute scum of the Hidden Stone, harboring deep, undisguised malice and actively hoping he would die on the battlefield as soon as possible.
Because of this, to perfectly stay in character, Kamishiro had spent the last few days walking around with a thoroughly defeated, "I'm doomed to die and I have nothing left to live for" expression plastered on his face.
He had been in the enemy village for a week now. To avoid blowing his cover, he had maintained his impersonation with extreme caution, not daring to relax for even a second.
Even for an optimist like him, operating deep inside the enemy's home base brought an immense amount of psychological pressure.
Not daring to relax literally meant he couldn't let his guard down for a single moment.
In the past, his feelings toward spies had generally skewed negative. But now that he was experiencing it firsthand, his respect for the profession had skyrocketed.
He had only been here a few days. Compare that to the deep-cover spies who spent years—sometimes decades—operating right under the enemy's nose. They might go their entire lives without being exposed, or they might be discovered in the very next second. The sheer level of caution and tension required was off the charts.
It was a profession tailored for adrenaline junkies. It was all about playing with your heartbeat.
In short, he decided he really wasn't cut out for this line of work.
However, things had ultimately gone according to plan. Yoshida was indeed drafted for the upcoming operation.
The exact schedule and detailed operational plans for the invasion of the Hidden Cloud naturally hadn't been trickled down to bottom-tier grunts like Yoshida. But based on his own observations of the village's tension, preparation levels, and various other clues, the operation was going to launch within the next few days—three days at the absolute latest.
The suffocating atmosphere of war was already bearing down on them.
As for exactly how many troops would be deployed, he still didn't know. He had no way to verify the spy's claim of 5,000 participating ninjas.
Confirming troop numbers didn't actually require stealing classified documents. All he had to do was scout the logistics depots and check the stockpiled war supplies to make a rough estimate.
However, out of an abundance of caution, he chose not to.
Given Yoshida's personality, there was no way he would willingly go anywhere near a place like that. If he suddenly showed up at a heavily guarded supply depot looking curious, it would instantly raise red flags.
The real Yoshida was so terrified of death he'd practically wet himself at the word war.
Why would he care about logistics preparations? Besides, that wasn't something a ninja of his rank should be concerned about anyway. Keeping your head down, following orders, and obediently dying for the Hidden Stone was what true loyalty looked like here.
Furthermore, despite the optimistic chatter he had overheard on the street, the reality was much grimmer. From the Tsuchikage at the very top, down to the strategists, the frontline commanders, and even the lowest-ranking grunts, everyone knew exactly how strong the Hidden Cloud truly was.
They might be optimistic, but they weren't arrogant.
The Hidden Stone fully acknowledged that the Hidden Cloud was an equal match in terms of combat power.
If Konoha wasn't currently pinning down the vast majority of the Cloud's forces and highly mobile units, they would have never chosen this specific time to launch a massive sneak attack against the Land of Lightning.
As he mentally ran through various battlefield simulations and brainstormed strategies, he suddenly noticed two people walking toward him from the opposite direction.
It scared him—correction, it scared Yoshida so much that he hurriedly plastered himself against the side of the road to make way.
Hidden Stone ninjas generally had rugged, rough features, making it hard for people with face blindness to tell them apart. But one of the two men approaching was a high-priority target.
Even before embarking on this mission, Kamishiro Hagoromo knew exactly who this man was.
His name was Kitsuchi. He was an elite Jonin of the Hidden Stone, and more importantly, the son of the current Third Tsuchikage, Onoki of Both Scales.
According to Konoha's intelligence, this man possessed overwhelming strength and was highly likely to be one of the primary commanders for this upcoming operation.
The two men walked right past him, paying the cowering Chunin absolutely no attention.
However, a highly crucial snippet of their conversation drifted perfectly into his ears.
"Kitsuchi-sama, shouldn't we be inspecting the muster status of the participating troops right now... or checking the supply reserves? Where are you heading at a time like this?"
"Haha, I'll leave that stuff to you guys. My daughter was just born, and I want to spend a little more time with her before the war starts."
"Oh... your daughter..."
"Kurotsuchi. Her name is Kurotsuchi. The old man named her himself..."
"..."
So here was the question: what was the most important takeaway from that conversation?
Was the main point the fact that Kitsuchi (Yellow Earth) had a daughter named Kurotsuchi (Black Earth)? Or the fact that he named her himself...
Ahem. No, the actual key takeaway was that Kitsuchi really was one of the primary frontline commanders, and that preparations for the war had officially reached their final stage.
Once the two men were far enough away, Kamishiro continued walking.
Any ninja who received a draft notice had to formally check in and register within three days. Today was the final deadline, which meant he had to go make an appearance. Given Yoshida's cowardly nature, he would have undoubtedly procrastinated until the absolute last possible second before showing up.
...
His predictions were spot on. The war was beginning immediately.
Early the very next morning, the emergency muster signal rang out across the village.
When the entirety of the drafted ninjas assembled, the sheer scale of the army left Kamishiro Hagoromo genuinely dumbfounded. Five thousand troops? Not even close. From a rough visual estimate, that number needed to be completely doubled.
No wonder even a guy like Yoshida got drafted.
To fight this battle, was the Hidden Stone literally emptying their entire village?
At this point, wouldn't it make more sense to somehow send this intel back to Konoha, abandon the pincer attack plan, and just have Konoha launch a devastating raid on the completely undefended Hidden Stone Village instead?
Unfortunately, even if he did have a way to transmit the intel, it was simply too late. By the time Konoha gathered their forces and marched all the way to the Land of Earth, that ship would have long sailed.
Besides, he didn't have a secure method for real-time, long-distance communication anyway.
While a massive troop movement like this couldn't be kept strictly confidential, the Hidden Stone's counter-espionage measures had been incredibly tight over the last few days.
As his mind raced with these thoughts, the Hidden Stone's grand army of ten thousand ninjas began to move. They marched out of the village, advancing straight toward the Land of Lightning.
They were heading to the battlefield.
Hoping for victory.
Or perhaps, marching toward death.