"What do you think?"
Ding asked.
"The mission requirement is to report the situation of the Hidden Mist Village to Lord Danzo at regular intervals; it doesn't explicitly state whom we should or shouldn't help. Therefore, it's best if we join one side and then just put in the minimum effort without actually contributing."
Although her identity related to a Bloodline Limit has been exposed on the surface, changing identities is a simple matter for a Ninja.
Ding knew the inside story; this mission was essentially about moving the significant card that was Uzumaki Tian Yin. This was because the dissolution of the Root Organization seemed inevitable to Danzo, as the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was clearly playing for keeps this time.
(PS: Anime original, Root was disbanded by the Third Hokage on the night of the Uchiha clan massacre.)
While Amane didn't know the so-called inside story, she could see the "looseness" of this mission.
If she could slack off, why wouldn't she?
She happened to have the energy to continue studying Sealing Jutsu and then resolve the Cursed Seal on her tongue as quickly as possible.
As for what Danzo's true intentions were, Amane didn't care; this time, being far away from the center of power gave her plenty of room to maneuver.
She would do what she could, but if it were something like assassinating Mei Terumī or Yagura, Amane would have to be insane to blindly follow those orders.
"I agree, the question is which side to join. Although our current mission is just to gather intelligence, if the opportunity arises, Lord Danzo will certainly issue orders to help the Hidden Mist Village continue hunting down the Bloodline Limit Clans."
Meaning, joining a certain side would make subsequent missions more convenient.
Amane knew part of the script. In itachi shinden, the Fourth Mizukage Yagura clearly broke free from Obito's control and was killed by Amaterasu during the battle with Itachi and Jūzō Biwa. After that, the Three-Tails died and was later captured from the wild by Deidara and Obito (Tobi).
While paying tribute in her heart to the true man Jūzō once again, Amane felt that at least at this point in time, Yagura's genjutsu shouldn't have been broken yet.
Otherwise, who would Mei's side be fighting?
[If I go to Mei Terumī's side, I might face the Akatsuki head-on, especially Obito.]
The risk was too high; Obito at this stage should be at the level of a strong Kage, not someone she could mess with.
But joining Obito's side was equally risky; after all, it was scripted that Yagura's genjutsu would eventually be broken, which meant the original work's Mei Terumī faction succeeded.
"I suggest joining the Terumī Clan's side. With our strength, it's relatively easier to cause trouble from the inside."
Amane couldn't give an objective evaluation of Ding's strength, but logically, he should at least be a Jonin.
A Jonin is strong, but to take down a faction in a direct battle, one would have to rely on luck.
"Fine. We'll act according to your judgment."
Ding nodded, feeling as satisfied as Danzo. Amane hadn't slacked off because of the "loose" requirements of the mission; she had even considered the mission's future possibilities and proposed a reasonable plan of action.
She was only seven years old.
"Then it's about time to arrange a new identity, isn't it?"
At this moment, Amane and Ding were sitting in a teahouse on another island in the Land of Water.
This place wasn't remote and was quite populated; it was one of the strongholds planted by the Konoha Root in the Land of Water.
[The concept of 'hiding in plain sight' has been mastered here.]
Looking out from the second-floor private room at the countless people coming and going, Amane couldn't help but think.
Knock, knock, knock... the sound of knocking rang out, and then a big sister who fully embodied the Yamato Nadeshiko stereotype walked in.
The big sister stepped forward, handed over two cups of tea and a package, and then left without saying a word, not wasting a single second.
"Open it."
Amane did as she was told. Inside the package was a set of clothes, and the pockets were bulging; pulling it out, she found a bag of pills.
[Is it necessary to have three layers of nesting...]
"There are two points you need to disguise. The first is your red hair; this was already handled with a special dye before we came here."
Amane's hair color had already changed from red to white, which was a very common hair color in the Land of Water.
"Then there's the other point: your massive Chakra is easily detected by Sensing Ninjas. For that, you need this, the Suppressant."
Ding pointed to the pill in Amane's hand, gesturing for her to take one now.
After swallowing it, Amane didn't feel anything, so she activated a Chakra-sensing Ninjutsu and immediately found that her Chakra was only about one percent of its original amount.
But theoretically, with so much Chakra missing, she should be feeling intense weakness, yet those symptoms didn't appear at all. Furthermore, when Amane herself tried to mobilize her Chakra, there was no obstruction.
A deceptive trick? Is it reliable?
"That's right, for you, it's just a deceptive trick."
[As expected of the Uzumaki Clan, the Suppressant is like a mere illusion to her; with just a bit of refinement, it exceeds the limit the drug can suppress.]
Ding couldn't help but feel a bit envious. Normally, a Chakra Suppressant would cause a Ninja with a normal amount of Chakra to completely lose their ability to resist for a period of time.
But Amane had not only inherited a rich Uzumaki bloodline but had also been transplanted with Hashirama cells. It could be said that if she weren't so young, she could definitely compare to a Jinchuriki in terms of being "normal."
"Now you need a new name. Will you choose it yourself, or should I give you one?"
Amane suddenly felt conflicted; she was still quite bad at naming things.
She remembered when she worked part-time writing novels in her past life, all the names were copied from other novels; at most, changing one or two characters was the limit of her skill.
It was only later, with AI naming, that things got much better.
"Let's hear yours."
There was no need to struggle with something she wasn't good at.
"Your setting is a distant relative of the husband's family of a woman married out from a Bloodline Limit Clan, so it's best not to use surnames like minazuki. For something more common, let's go with tanaka XX."
(PS: minazuki is a surname fabricated in fan works; the original manga only mentioned the Yuki Clan.)
"...tanaka XX? Then why not just call me kugimiya XX?"
I even have a character design for that name, though tsunderes aren't very popular these days.
"No problem, isn't that a great name?"
Ding didn't quite understand why Amane suddenly reacted this way.
[Fine, it seems I'll have to come up with the name myself.]
Even though this was an alternate world, using those names from her memories would affect her spying activities too much; she felt it would be very hard to keep a straight face if she were called that.
Briefly imagining a scene where she was called kugimiya XX... it was no use, the corners of her mouth were already starting to twitch.
Along the way, Ding had also told Amane a trick for using pseudonyms in espionage: choose a name that you can subconsciously react to as your own. For a novice spy, this makes it harder to show weaknesses.
[My real name is Uzumaki Tian Yin, and there are characters with this name in well-known anime works; it's just that if I use Amane as my name, will Ding see through something?]
This concern had just arisen in Amane's heart, but on second thought, the name Amane itself wasn't rare.
Then it was decided.
"How about ubuyashiki Amane?"
The hair color matched, except she wasn't a shrine maiden or a wife.
"ubuyashiki... do you think that surname is suitable for infiltration?"
"True."
That surname didn't sound like it came from common folk. If someone were to investigate, a total blank would be fine, but she feared there might actually be a place with that surname.
"Forget it, it seems you're not good at this. Just... call yourself Hibiki Tian Yin. It's not a very rare surname, and then I'll have the people here help you create some verifiable traces."
Ding evaluated seriously, not noticing Amane's subtle expression after hearing the name.
[Hibiki Tian Yin... hiss.]
Seeing that Ding had already handed over the information for his subordinates to prepare, Amane knew it was too late to object to the name.
And so, Hibiki Tian Yin, the alias for her activities in the Land of Water, was set.
The pseudonym Ding used was Nakamura Iku, with the identity of a close friend of Amane's father and also a wandering Ninja.
After discussing more details, the two set off toward the vicinity of the Hidden Mist Village.