It turned out that their journey this time was precisely to head to the capital of the Land of Iron, to participate in the National Swordsmanship Tournament that would be held there a month later.
As he walked, all kinds of thoughts rapidly turned through Isshin's mind.
"How can I generate the Grand Master Swordsman occupation as quickly as possible?"
As he walked, thoughts rapidly flowed through Isshin's mind.
Jonin and Grand Master Swordsman were respectively the fourth stages in the ninja and swordsman professional systems.
The scope and depth of external recognition required by the two should be roughly comparable.
Back when Shinichi's main body advanced to Special Jonin, through self-promotion, buying trending headlines across the Shinobi World, and with every major ninja village secretly fueling the momentum, the news of a ten-year-old, Konoha's youngest Jonin in history, spread through more than half the Shinobi World. Public recognition had already become like a reservoir filled to the brim, merely waiting for the moment the floodgate officially opened.
Thus, when Shinichi officially advanced to Jonin, the panel instantly generated the Jonin profession trait.
But Isshin did not have such conditions.
The Land of Iron's influence was mainly limited to the samurai class and surrounding regions. It was far from Konoha, the leader of the Five Great Ninja Villages, whose every move attracted the attention of the entire Shinobi World.
The gimmick of the youngest Jonin in history was enough to make newspaper front pages across nations and become the subject of street discussions.
As for the title National Swordsmanship Tournament Champion, in the eyes of most people in the Shinobi World, especially ninjas and civilians far removed from samurai culture, it might only carry slightly more weight than the news of some small nation's ninja village appointing a new Jonin.
Even if he won the championship and was officially granted the title of Grand Master Swordsman by the Land of Iron authorities, the scope and depth of recognition he obtained would likely still fail to compare with what the main body had back then.
Therefore, relying solely on the tournament itself and its subsequent influence would very likely fail to immediately generate the occupation.
"Looks like I'll still have to help promote myself."
Shinichi himself had now become a focal figure stirring the tides of the Third Shinobi World War. His fame was at its peak, and any news related to him spread rapidly.
More importantly, last year, Shinichi and his clone, Isshin, had publicly made an agreement before countless witnesses regarding becoming the future strongest in the Shinobi World.
At the time, the two displayed comparable strength, leaving a deep impression on many people, and that momentum could be used for publicity.
Not much time had passed since then. Most people would never expect Shinichi's progress over these few months to be so explosive. They might very well still assume that the samurai Isshin and Shinichi Higashino remained equals in strength.
At that time, through binding public opinion and fermenting topics, he could use Shinichi Higashino, currently the hottest traffic source in the Shinobi World, to rapidly enter the sight of a much broader audience.
Especially among the upper echelons, intelligence personnel, and powerful individuals of various nations who paid attention to strong people and shifts in the war situation, the efficiency of recognition gained by the clone advancing to Grand Master Swordsman would greatly accelerate…
"Mr. Isshin, it is said that you once made an agreement with Konoha's Shinichi Higashino regarding becoming the future strongest in the Shinobi World. May I ask whether you still believe you are qualified to say such words now?"
"As for being the future strongest in the Shinobi World? I do not believe anyone's name is qualified to stand before mine."
What kind of Shinobi World Lebron vibe is this?
Isshin silently complained to himself, suppressing the absurd stray thought. He could not help but begin anticipating what kind of surprise the purple trait draw accompanying the generation of the Grand Master Swordsman occupation would bring.
...
Meanwhile, behind the Land of Waves, on a small island perpetually shrouded in dense mist, this island was not even marked on maps.
Recently, the fog surrounding the island had become even denser. Upon closer inspection, one could detect layer upon layer of warning traps and barrier ninjutsu spread throughout the island and its surroundings.
This place was precisely the Village Hidden in the Mist's top-secret frontline command headquarters and core logistical hub established for this southwestern offensive.
Contrary to most people's expectations, Village Hidden in the Mist had not placed its command center and most important supply warehouse on the main island of the Land of Waves, closer to the frontline, but instead concealed them on this rear satellite island.
The entire deployment unfolded in a fan-shaped formation.
At the front, with the main island of the Land of Waves and several key satellite islands as support points, Village Hidden in the Mist's main combat forces were stationed there like outstretched claws directly facing the long coastline of the Land of Fire.
At the rear, this headquarters was deeply hidden at the center of the fan-shaped defense, maintaining efficient and covert communication routes with every frontline stronghold.
If any enemy wished to directly attack the headquarters and logistics base, they would first need to penetrate the many defensive lines ahead, making them extremely likely to be detected in advance by the warning network.
Even if some fish slipped through the outer layers, they would quickly fall prey to a rapid pincer attack between returning frontline forces and the headquarters' defensive troops, making it difficult for them to pose a substantial threat.
Conversely, the headquarters could command the frontline battle situation as though moving its own arm while safely receiving supplies from the Land of Water and secretly distributing them to the front.
Such cautious, even excessively defensive, logistical deployment was clearly directly related to Shinichi Higashino's lightning-fast rear-attack operation during the previous war between Konoha and the Village Hidden in the Cloud.
That battle had shocked the entire Shinobi World, forcing every ninja village to reevaluate the security of its logistical systems.
Especially, the Village Hidden in the Mist, which was about to directly face Konoha, naturally could not be an exception.
Inside the headquarters, Yagura Karatachi stood silently, expressionless as he swept his gaze over the various nodes on the enormous map.
"Yagura!"
A rough, hoarse, extremely impatient voice shattered the room's silence. The speaker was a burly middle-aged man with a rugged face and two striking vermilion dots above his eyebrows.
"How much longer are we waiting? My bones are practically rusting in this godforsaken place!! You little kid, do you even dare to fight? If you don't have the guts, hurry up and step down and let me sit in the commander's seat instead!"
As soon as his words fell, another cool voice immediately rebuked him: "Insolence! Memaro! Yagura was personally appointed as a frontline commander by the Mizukage-sama. How dare you spout nonsense and make reckless comments here?!"
The one speaking was a beautiful and gentle-looking woman, none other than Kaede Yuki, the current Clan Head of the Yuki Clan, one of the Village Hidden in the Mist's three great noble clans.
The Yuki Clan was famous for the Ice Style Kekkei Genkai. Most clan members possessed beautiful and gentle appearances, often making it difficult to distinguish male from female.
At this moment, Kaede Yuki's face was frosty, clearly extremely dissatisfied with Memaro Kaguya's words.