Ryu’s mind was filled with confusion as he walked through the streets of the Hidden Storm Village. He had used the Transformation Technique to blend in with the people of the village, and used this to observe his surroundings. However, the place didn't look like one in the middle of invading another. The atmosphere was almost relaxed, with no sense of danger whatsoever. Just what was going on exactly.

    Nonchalantly, Ryu stopped by a food stand and took a seat. The owner asked if he wanted anything to eat, but Ryu shook his head.

    “Just resting then?” the man asked.

    Ryu nodded. He saw an opportunity to gather information, so he asked, “Have you heard anything about a war going on?”

    This caused the man’s eyebrow to raise up in curiosity. “I’ve heard talks, but nothing concrete. The government never lets us know about things that happen outside the village.”

    “Government?”

    This produced a suspicious look from the man, but quickly turned into one similar to pity. “Poor boy, you must be skipping schools. We have a government here in the Storm Village. We have a Lord, who is the strongest and the leader of our village. Underneath him, the leading body controls the public laws and knowledge. We don't know anything unless they want us to.  They all reside in the mansion near the edge of the village.”

    My eyes widened in surprise at this new information. I returned to my neutral look. “Where is this mansion located?”

    The looked in the eastward direction and pointed to large building that stood out from the rest. “Right over-”

    By the time the man looked back, Ryu had disappeared.

    The mansion grew closer as Ryu leaped from rooftop to rooftop until he was finally within range to see the splendor of the site. The mansion appeared to be at least nine thousand square feet, its outer walls painted a deep blue with a red roof. The Hokage residence in comparison looked like a dog house.

    He paused to take in the scenery, but quickly hid when he saw the guards that patrolled the perimeter of the mansion. Judging from their composure and attentive nature, Ryu realized that these guards were well trained and it would be no easy task gathering the intel the Hokage had requested. He wouldn’t such a thing stop him though. Ryu would not allow his home to be destroyed.

    He created a water clone that took the form of a dog that ran toward the front entrance. The guards, for what appeared to be a split second, were caught by surprise, and that was all the time Ryu needed to leap through one of the windows, using the dog’s loud bark as a diversion from the breaking of glass. He rolled inside and smoothly ducked behind the first piece of furniture he came upon and drew a Kunai from his pouch. Sensing no one in the room, he emerged from his hiding spot and peeked outside the room he was in. No one. Swiftly, he made his way through the halls of the building, using his Sharingan to avoid conflicts with guards he came upon.

    Where is the Lord? he thought to himself as he peered into another hall. Using his Sharingan, he could slightly see the Chakra networks of three men in a room further down the hall he was currently in. One of the men’s Chakra was clearly different from the others, and appeared to be the greater of the three. It had to be him. The so called Lord.

    Gripping his Kunai, Ryu made for the room. He burst through the door, forgetting the whole stealth portion of his mission. Two of the men seemed shocked at the intrusion, and fear spread across their faces when they saw the glint of his blade. The third man standing between them, however, had a blank look on his face, and no emotions could be read from his expression. Ryu recognized him as the one with the stronger Chakra, and his stature was also significantly larger than his companion’s. His messy hair was a snow white, and he was dressed in a similar flak jacket to Ryu’s, only his was black, with matching trousers and sandals. He looked to be around his late forties with lines under his eyes. He had to be the Lord.

His dark blue eyes caught Ryu’s the moment he entered the room. Ryu, not wasting a single moment, threw his Kunai at the larger man’s exposed neck, and drew two more in an instant that he sent flying for the other men’s hearts. He saw what happened next with his Sharingan before it actually took place.

    The Lord, with unearthly speed, reached his hand out and grabbed the Kunai’s hilt before deflecting the other two blades before they could puncture his men’s chests. Ryu stared with amazement as the man dropped the Kunai to his feet and looked to Ryu, his eyes blank as ever.

     “I see the Leaf has finally dispatched someone for me,” the Lord said, his voice deep and rough. “ However, I’ll be honest. I had expected them to gather intel before trying assassinate me. I guess it just shows you can’t predict everything.”

     Ryu gritted his teeth. This is when he realized he’d messed up and had been too rash. His only assignment was to gather intel, but had gotten ahead of himself and tried to eliminate the threat altogether. Now his cover was found out, and he was left to fend for himself in enemy territory,

     “In case you were wondering,” the large man said, “I am the Lord of the Village Hidden in the Storm, Jin. I oversee our armies and weapon supply. At this moment, we have no real plan to take over the Hidden Leaf, but instead conquer small surrounding villages to fuel both our ranks and supplies. We will wait to take the Hidden Leaf when we are ready, as our last attempt ended in too many casualties. We won't risk another attack until around a year’s time from now, when our strength is at its fullest, and victory is absolute. This is the truth.”

     Ryu’s eyes widened in disbelief. Why in the world would he give him all this information. He was the enemy. No one in their right mind would willingly surrender this sort of knowledge to the opposing side.

     “There goes all the intel your Hokage would’ve wanted to collect first,” Jin said, a wry smile forming on his lips.

     Taking a step back, Ryu drew his sword. “Why would you tell me all this? With the information you gave me, I could warn not only my village, but others, and we can stop you.”

     “I told you all that because-” Jin’s Chakra suddenly began to emit from his body,”-you’ll never make it out of here alive to tell anyone!”

     Without a moment’s notice, Jin was upon Ryu, sending him flying back into the wall with a quick yet ferociously strong kick to the gut. Ryu, caught completely off guard, never had a chance to even activate his Sharingan again and nearly passed out from the single blow. He rose back to his feet, blood dripping from his lips.

     He was in serious trouble now.