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Sneaking over twenty people around a location without being seen was surprisingly challenging, even for shinobi, especially with couriers around, most of whom were shinobi themselves. It was decided that the reconnaissance team would be the closest, while everyone else would hang back and maintain a perimeter.
As everyone was leaving the safehouse in their assigned groups, a member of the reconnaissance team approached Itachi, who was putting on a pair of gloves.
"Captain, you need to mask your chakra. I'll help you calibrate," the sensory-nin said.
"That'd be helpful."
In case the enemy had a sensory-nin, finding a jōnin, who shone like a bright sea beacon, hanging nearby would make them cautious at the least.
"More, please," the sensory-nin said. Itachi, with his eyes closed, nodded and continued to lower his natural mixing of chakra as the sensory-nin kept an eye on how it looked to another sensory-nin's perception. "That looks alright. You can stop now, sir."
"Thank you," Itachi nodded.
"Wait, you need to mask yourself more." Takuma was conversing with Tern when the sensory-nin spoke to him.
"Me?" he asked, confused because he thought he had already masked himself enough.
"Yes, you need to bring your chakra further down."
Takuma glanced at Tern, who shrugged. As instructed, he further slowed down the mix until the sensory-nin asked him to stop, which was just at the edge of what he was comfortable with. Going any further would mean risking cutting off the mix altogether, which could spell his death if he wasn't careful.
He noticed Raven looking at him. "What?" he asked.
"You must have a lot of chakra," Raven said.
"Let's go," Itachi said.
The warehouse district rose early, as couriers always wanted to make the most of daylight during their travels. The team didn't think they would need to wait long. The group, consisting of Takuma, Itachi, Tern, and Raven, stood in an alley waiting for the reconnaissance team to make contact, and the message came soon.
The radio transponder attached to Takuma's backpack buzzed with a noisy crackle. He pulled the receiver to his ear while everyone stared at him. "Team 4, received, over," he replied and then gazed at everyone. "The shipment has been picked up. We are moving."
The team of four immediately moved as instructed, but they still couldn't keep an eye on the person who had picked up the package because of their distance. Takuma wanted to buzz in and ask for additional details, but that would only disturb the reconnaissance team.
"The courier is moving toward the port," Takuma relayed the information he received.
"Is he planning to board a ship?" Tern frowned.
"That'd be a problem," Itachi commented.
If the courier was indeed boarding a ship, following on foot might be problematic if the journey spanned multiple days, since ships didn't need to stop at night, while the team would require rest. They could go a night without sleep, but even that wasn't ideal in case they ran into a combat scenario.
As they feared, the port was the target's destination.
"He's talking to someone, letting him on board. The team is trying to find the ship's route and destination," Takuma said.
"What should be our next move, Captain?" Tern asked Itachi.
"Can we get someone on the ship?" Itachi asked.
"We can, but the ship is not big. We'll be making contact," Takuma said. Making contact created the risk that the target would become suspicious, and that could make things complicated at the very least.
"If you feel that the risk is too high, we can always move in for a capture," Raven said, confident in his ability to extract information.
"When does that ship leave?" Itachi asked.
"In an hour," Takuma replied after getting the information.
Itachi remained silent for a moment, and everyone waited for his word. "Try to get someone on the ship and tell them to keep a low profile. The rest of us will be following from the ground. We don't know whether the target is an agent or simply someone hired as a courier. If he's taking a ship, it would be easier to know if he has someone following him."
"I want to go on the ship," Takuma said.
Itachi turned him down immediately. "Your face is known. The target might recognize it if he's an agent. It's an unnecessary risk."
Takuma nodded with pursed lips and relayed the information.
It was quickly decided that one of Kingfisher's men would be boarding the ship alongside the target.
"We're moving closer," Itachi ordered.
The team moved as close to the port as they could without garnering too much attention. As the hour began to run down, they got some good news. The ship was going further inland, meaning it wasn't going to sail across an ocean, which would've made following extremely difficult, if not outright impossible. Kingfisher had also managed to get one of his people on the ship, who was planning to board at the very last moment.
"Get ready," Itachi said to Raven, his usual flat tone taking on a hint of severity. "If the target gets spooked, we're capturing him immediately. Depending on when that may happen, you might not have a lot of time to get things out."
"Roger," Raven said.
Takuma gripped the receiver. He knew that he wasn't going to get to do much because he had already done his part by getting ANBU to this stage, but it was frustrating just to be standing around doing nothing.
For now, all he could do was the little things. And maybe that was a good thing, he thought to himself. It would be better if the little things were all that was required from him.
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Aquilla had started at the edge of the port but had moved closer after it was discovered that the target was going to board a ship. With his Byakugan activated behind a pair of blackout shades, he kept an eye on the target.
The target had weapons on him, which wasn't strange, seeing how many couriers were former shinobi. After spending years carrying weapons, it became a habit to be at least lightly armed. Not to mention, protection against bandits was a reason why shinobi were chosen to be couriers, thus making carrying weapons a part of the job.
However, he had noticed a few things that stood out.
"The target is cautious and alert to his surroundings," he spoke into the radio. No one had a better look at the target than he, so any information he could give was much appreciated.
The target was always looking around at his surroundings and the people around him. It could be seen as a remnant of his training as a shinobi, but Aquilla had observed countless people in his life during his dōjutsu training. Most shinobi weren't this alert, especially when they weren't in a relatively safe space. The target's behaviour could mean he was paranoid or expecting to be in danger.
In preparation for the operation, they had discussed the possibility that ROOT might become suspicious due to events around Baizan. It was among the main reasons the higher-ups had taken their time making the decision. There was a high chance that was true. Assuming the courier was a ROOT agent, his caution and alertness would be natural.
It could also be an indicator that the target was an agent.
He was sure everyone else on the operation was thinking about the same thing.
"The target has boarded the ship," he said, continuing to relay the information.
Aquilla breathed out a sigh as the bulging veins around his eyes relaxed just a bit. Maybe because of how important this operation was to his squad's mission, he was single-mindedly focusing on the target and perhaps concentrated too much. He tried to pull the collar of his gear out to let some cool air in. With the target on the boat, he pulled back a bit and broadened his area of focus.
He peered at the operative from the assault squad who had changed something to make his gear seem less conspicuous. It didn't seem to work well, because he still seemed to be the one with the heavy weapons. However, there was only so much one could do with limited time.
It was then that he noticed a few cloaked figures enter his field of vision from multiple directions. They were moving fast, and as they moved deeper into his field of vision, more details became clearer. They were heavily armed, and at that point, they pulled out masks and put them on their faces.
Aquilla's hand moved so fast to grab the radio that he almost ripped the cord. But just as he was about to push the button to speak, the receiver crackled, and a rushed and panicked voice came out.
It was the reconnaissance team's sensory-nin.
"I sense high levels of chakra. It's a jōnin—!"
A blur passed by his vision, too fast for him to catch. For a split second, he thought it was a mistake and he had seen nothing, until the voice from the radio was cut off by an ear-ringing explosion followed by an earthquake that almost knocked Aquilla off his feet. His vision in one direction turned white. He instinctively squinted his eyes, which did nothing, as the Byakugan could see through the back of his head; a pair of thin eyelids was going to do nothing.
Even though the fire and smoke reduced the clarity and made it harder to look, he saw it as clear as day.
One masked man, who looked so similar to the Leaf ANBU he regularly saw, was standing in the flaming wreckage of what was previously a warehouse, with the bodies of Kingfisher's assault squad strewn around the man.
"No…"
The veins around his eyes returned to normal as he closed his eyes and cut off the chakra to the Byakugan because he couldn't bear to look at it. However, it was already too late, as the sight of Kingfisher's body torn in half from the waist would forever remain etched in his mind.
.
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The link is in the synopsis!