The 25 squads didn't travel together for long—by the second day out of the village, they'd fully scattered.
Still, Ishiki Kujo's team encountered no sign of Iwa-nin during their journey, allowing them to reach the Fire–Grass border quicker than expected.
By the fourth afternoon, they were already closing in on the edge of Fire Country. But Konoha's main encampment was further, set on the tri-border between Fire, Grass, and Rain.
Their squad wouldn't be heading there right away.
Instead, Inuzuka Zawa, their team captain, had a separate mission scroll.
As a recon unit, their first task was to infiltrate Grass and gather intel.
"We've got a three-day window," Zawa briefed them flatly. "Whatever intel we dig up in the Land of Grass, we pull out and report back to the main force."
Unlike ambush-heavy specialists like Kawahara Junji, Zawa emphasized stealth above all.
"If you're not alive, your intel's useless."
That was Zawa's core belief. Every word, every order, emphasized survival and secrecy.
Ishiki… wasn't exactly a stealth-based ninja.
He preferred direct confrontation, trading hits, and overpowering foes. Fire Style was inherently flashy. He couldn't use the Sharingan, and Yang Release chakra glowed too bright for infiltration.
His counter-strategy? Poison.
He'd spent most of their journey experimenting: fusing medical ninjutsu, Ripple breathing, and toxins into a new three-pronged combat style.
—
Night fell. Perfect for infiltration.
They rested before dusk, then moved swiftly under cover of darkness toward the Land of Grass.
Once dubbed the "strongest hidden village," Kusa had long since fallen from grace.
Its so-called Hidden Grass Village was overrun ages ago, its territories turned into a permanent battleground between surrounding great nations.
And yet, it had survived—a miracle of cunning and compromise.
After all, the Land of Grass sat between Wind, Fire, Earth, and Rain. It was a doormat in a neighborhood of giants.
Rain Country, though also a warzone, was usually avoided—because of Salamander Hanzō, the "Demi-God of the Shinobi World."
As long as Hanzō was alive, Rain remained too dangerous to fully conquer.
But Grass? Grass played the game.
They adapted. Sold intel. Studied enemy jutsu.
They didn't fight to win—they fought to stay alive.
Ishiki's team had to be wary of both Iwa shinobi and potential backstabbing from Kusa-nin.
Fortunately, with Tokuma's Byakugan and Mutaguchi's kikaichū swarm, their entry into Grass territory went off without a hitch.
Zawa's sense of smell helped too—at one point tracking scent trails so accurately that even most sensory jutsu couldn't keep up.
"Best place to get info is Hidden Grass Village," Zawa explained as they moved, "but those intel brokers? They've got darker hearts than Danzo."
"Why not just eliminate them after we buy?" Ishiki asked, genuinely curious. "If they're going to sell our info too, why leave witnesses?"
Zawa shook his head.
"Doesn't work. These psychos are all rigged. Every one of 'em has a brain-seal. Try to read memories or use genjutsu, and they'll self-destruct."
"And they've got… honor, in their own way."
That got everyone's attention.
"If you buy intel from Grass brokers, it's guaranteed. Fake info? They'll compensate you tenfold. And not just money—they'll repay lost lives."
Ishiki blinked.
"You're telling me they'll die to pay compensation?"
"That's the code. Even if life's cheap, a code's a code," Zawa replied, eyes serious. "For Grass, it's survival by reputation. Even if they're rats."
"So... will the village reimburse us if we pay for info?" Ishiki asked hopefully.
"Nope."
Zawa crushed that dream immediately.
"Besides, we won't be buying. We've got Mutaguchi. He's our intelligence asset."
"Please, Captain." Mutaguchi gave a dramatic sigh. "Let's not oversell me. I'm just a humble insect guy. And for the record, the Grass Village absolutely hates the Aburame Clan. They've built countermeasures for our bugs. Getting real intel out of that place? Nearly impossible."
Zawa cut him off with a grunt.
"I'm not asking you to steal blueprints. Just locate Iwa-nin. That's enough for now. We'll squeeze info out of them ourselves—free and accurate."
But just as he finished speaking, the usually silent Tokuma raised his head sharply.
The veins around his Byakugan bulged.
"Incoming!"
All three teammates snapped to alert, following Tokuma's gaze upward.
Against the starry night sky, giant paper kites were swooping toward them—dozens of them, massive and fast!