Rokuro's guess proved correct over the next two days. Because the operation had a rigid timetable, Hyūga Taiki's squad and the other nine teams all lay in ambush outside the Land of Hot Water's capital. Worried about detection by Yugakure's sensory ninja, they kept changing positions and never lingered in one place.
On the move they frequently ran into refugees from the Land of Hot Water — and sometimes their corpses.
These sights were new to Itachi. As he'd said before joining the Anbu, his missions had been confined to the Land of Fire; compared with the other great nations, life there was the best. Misery existed, but nothing like mass slaughter or starvation. And because his Anbu work was mostly assassination and intelligence, he'd never really seen refugee columns up close.
Seeing so many displaced people finally made him realize civilians were the ones who suffered most in war — because civilians don't have ninja power. Rokuro's line about dignity and artillery kept surfacing in his mind: "Dignity rests on the edge of the blade; truth lies within the range of the cannon."
Two days later, Hyūga Taiki gathered his team and went over the plan in detail.
"In three hours, the main camp will launch a diversionary strike against Yugakure positions. Its aim isn't annihilation — it's to draw Yugakure's attention and pull their troops away to reinforce. At the same time we attack both factories and destroy them in one blow."
"As for retreat, the main camp will send reinforcements to carve an escape route. We break out together — that's our exfil line."
Taiki unrolled a map. Rokuro and the others glanced at it and memorized the withdrawal route.
Everyone knew it wasn't truly safe — it merely offered the path easiest to break through. Whether they could escape, and how many would die trying, only the gods could say.
Rokuro studied the map, then asked, "Taiki, when the factories are destroyed, the ten squads will withdraw together, right?"
"Yes. We'll rendezvous here, then marshal our force and push out as one."
"Can I see the personnel makeup of the ten squads now?"
Taiki hesitated. As overall commander he alone had the full roster — a safeguard in case someone was captured and forced to talk. But with the mission about to start, Rokuro being on his team, secrecy mattered less.
"All right," Taiki said, handing Rokuro a scroll. Rokuro unrolled it and scanned the names.
"Hyūga: 10. Uchiha: 20. Inuzuka: 3. Aburame: 3. Civilian ninja: 14."
No members of the Pig–Deer–Butterfly faction were listed — not surprising. This operation was dominated by Hyūga and Uchiha forces.
"Twenty Uchiha should be enough. Taiki, during the breakout could you concentrate all the Uchiha together?" Rokuro asked.
"Do you Uchiha have a tactic?" Taiki asked, glancing at Itachi, who looked equally in the dark.
"I can use a sealing technique to unify the Uchiha's ocular power and then trigger a massive genjutsu. It's wasteful one-on-one, but in a breakout it could be decisive — could reduce our casualties."
"Agreed," Taiki said.
Three hours later Taiki gave the order: the squads sprinted toward the capital, and at the same time Konoha's main camp launched a thousand-strong night raid.
Yugakure's reaction was swift. Though the Village Hidden in Hot Water had relatively few kekkei genkai, it had many specialized ninja — including sensory types. In the original tale the Fourth Raikage's guard "Ki" was a sensory medic; functional ninjas like that made surprise attacks hard to pull off. Almost as Konoha's troops crossed the line, Yugakure had alarms and troops responding.
Thousands of Yugakure shinobi surged out and collided with the Konoha attackers. Explosions, the crack of jutsu, screams and clashing steel lit the night; the darkness became day under the flash of chakra blasts.
Taiki activated his Byakugan and shouted enemy positions as he saw them. "Three o'clock — a ten-man Yugakure squad approaching! Seven o'clock too!"
"Everyone, put on radios. This range should allow voice comms."
Rokuro, Itachi and the others fitted earbud radios. Taiki began to redistribute forces: part of the teams pressed the attack, others took strongpoints for covering fire. Rokuro's squad — he, Inuzuka Hana and Iruka — pushed toward the armory.
"Send the dogs out in different directions. If anything approaches, report immediately!" Taiki ordered.
Hana whistled; the three Graymaru brothers streaked off.
Iruka gripped four shuriken in each hand, ready. Rokuro drew his sword and used his Sharingan to sweep the surroundings. The Sharingan wasn't as effective for scouting as the Byakugan, but it was far better than ordinary sight.
When the three closed and the factory walls came into view, Rokuro suddenly pulled Hana and Iruka up short.
"What's wrong? The armory's right there — let's rush it!" Iruka urged.
"Have the dogs found anything?" Rokuro asked.
"They report many civilians inside the factory and a few Yugakure ninja — less than ten. But they haven't come out. It seems they haven't detected us. Also, the other squads? We're the first to arrive. The next nearest squad is still a kilometer out."
Rokuro breathed a little easier. "We might still be in time. Taiki — can you hear me? Stop forward movement immediately. Have one Hyūga come to my position. I've found something serious: these two factories look like traps."
END OF CHAPTER
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