Konoha had deployed a total of fifty elite ninja squads for the initial assault on Amegakure. Each squad consisted of powerful, experienced shinobi, so combat strength wasn't an issue. The real problem lay in Konoha's limited communication capabilities—once the operation began, precise command and coordination with each individual squad would become impossible.
Delays in communication meant that each unit would end up fighting independently. In such a dangerous situation, everything would depend on the judgment and leadership skills of each squad leader.
Knowing when to advance or retreat, attack or defend, take risks or play it safe—it all came down to split-second decisions made on the spot.
Although Konoha's preparations weren't particularly large-scale, Amegakure should have already sensed something was coming. After all, this world war had been going on for quite some time now. There was no way they wouldn't notice every little movement from the enemy.
In a dense forest only ten kilometers from Amegakure's northern border, one-quarter of Konoha's forces—twelve squads—had secretly taken position.
That Konoha had managed to infiltrate this close without Ame responding quickly showed just how much the village's strength had diminished after years of continuous warfare.
"The outer ring teams are keeping watch on Kumo, Iwa, and Suna while preparing backup forces for reinforcement and support. Even the Third Hokage has moved to the front lines.
Despite the danger we face, victory is non-negotiable for Konoha.
Our main objective is straightforward: penetrate Amegakure, gather intelligence during the mission, and locate the enemy leader 'Tanuki.' Any squad that identifies his position must signal immediately. Then we concentrate all forces and strike decisively to eliminate him.
To put it simply, that's the core of our mission.
Listen well—the leader of Amegakure is the backbone behind their continued resistance. His control and influence over the village are immense—he's practically a national hero.
And his strength is unquestionable. So we must stick strictly to the plan. Even if we find him, no single squad should act recklessly, or you'll only get yourselves killed…
Understood?"
The leader of this branch team spoke with authority. He had a pair of striking byakugan eyes—clearly a member of Konoha's Hyūga Clan.
In truth, all operational details had already been decided before arriving here. Still, carrying out this final confirmation remained the captain's responsibility.
"Understood."
All the gathered ninja nodded in agreement.
As the leader of a minor ninja village, Tanuki had led Amegakure's relentless resistance during the Great Ninja World War when the great nations were locked in conflict. The ninja known as Tanuki was indeed a hero of this country. Yet precisely because of his influence, Konoha had no choice but to eliminate him... Only a dead enemy hero was considered a good one.
"Alright, final countdown before the mission starts... ten minutes."
The squad leader's instructions were extremely concise. Four Konoha infiltration teams positioned separately had all agreed upon the same time—ten minutes from now—to begin operations.
After that came a long and silent waiting period.
Gradually, as the appointed moment approached, the sound of ninjas' breathing became clearly audible. Then at last, the squad leader spoke two more words:
"Move!"
Without hesitation, the team swiftly burst out from the dense forest like a sharp dagger piercing straight into Amegakure. Ten kilometers vanished in an instant.
It was just past dawn; this was the Land of Rain, which enjoyed clear skies today.
Through the dim morning light, a field of towering spires gradually appeared within Haseo's line of sight. These pointed buildings emerged specifically to suit the rainy climate of the Land of Rain—they stood as the most typical feature of Amegakure.
"Scatter!"
With almost no resistance, Konoha ninja rushed into the spire-filled area of Amegakure and immediately dispersed throughout it.
For a ninja village, maintaining a large-scale protective barrier constantly wasn't practical—even Konoha couldn't manage such a feat. Therefore, most villages employed only sensing barriers for protection. These were barriers designed to detect intruding foreign ninja—the Sensing Barrier type.
Once detecting an invasion, they would dispatch their own ninja to handle the threat. This passive method formed the defensive system of a ninja village.
So while Amegakure had remained silent until now, it certainly must have sensed the presence of enemies at this point... assuming its basic operational functions still worked properly.
Haseo and his squad had entered Amegakure, scaling atop one of the tall spires to overlook this entirely different ninja village unlike Konoha.
"This map," Haseo remarked after observing for a while, "what kind of ninja is coming up? Why not just deploy a battle mage already and end this quickly?" This was the only joke nobody understood that he cracked during this crucial mission.
"What did you say, Haseo?"
"Nothing, forget it. Follow me closely from now on." Naturally, he wouldn't bother explaining anything to them.
The morning was still and quiet. Amegakure was a village filled with unique style and artistic beauty. And when we say "artistic," we mean "ready to blow up at any moment."
Alongside numerous bursts of crimson flames rising up from different parts of Amegakure and powerful explosion sounds echoing everywhere, the Konoha ninja who had infiltrated began engaging the Amegakure ninja in direct combat.
"We should start moving too."
The mask distorted Haseo's voice into a low growl. Including himself, nobody could see his expression at this moment.
Haseo's hands formed hand seals at an unusually irregular pace. Soon after, crackles of lightning began surging around his body. Then he loosened his footing and leapt from the towering spire.
"Haseo…"
Jiraiya tried to call out to him from behind. He had sensed something strange about Haseo today. Seeing that Haseo completely ignored him, Jiraiya turned instead toward the two beside him and said, "Something feels off with Haseo today—he might be losing his calm. We should hurry and catch up with him quickly."
"No," Orochimaru interrupted, reaching out to place a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder, stopping the increasingly flustered Jiraiya. "Don't rush yourself, Jiraiya. Today, Haseo isn't simply being reckless—he's grown far too cold and unreachable to approach easily.
I think we should keep our distance and follow him for now," he continued. "Tsunade…was there anything unusual that happened to him while he was in the village?"
Tsunade shook her head slightly, looking somewhat puzzled. She didn't recall anything particularly strange happening to Haseo while he was in the village.
"Regardless of what happened, don't get too close, but don't fall too far behind either," Orochimaru concluded firmly. "This is Amegakure—falling too far behind is dangerous, but getting too close is even more so, especially for Haseo right now."
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