Kudō Shin was not stupid.
He did not know why Nara Kazama and Uchiha Jin both reached the same conclusion, but a veteran of war understood one thing.
Clan heirs and commoners were different.
They had more methods and better information.
Since both had the same read, better to assume danger than dismiss it.
As for Ishikawa Itsuki?
Whether he lived or died was not Kudō's concern.
Which was why he did not pull rank. He kept it sounding like a discussion.
Ishikawa did not get it, only shrugged.
"I do not think a bit of fog means anything. I am not trudging around in the middle of the night."
Kudō nodded and let the sarcasm slide. He looked back to Kazama and Jin.
"Let's go," Jin said.
Kazama dipped his head.
The three slipped into the fog.
They moved like ghosts, making no sound among the trees.
"Stop. Something is off up ahead," Kazama murmured.
Jin and Kudō froze at once.
They sensed nothing, but if a Nara said so, they believed him. His clan had their own arts.
Kazama formed a seal.
"Shadow Strangle Technique."
SWISH!
A black shadow shot from beneath his feet, lancing forward at blistering speed.
Moments later, Kazama's voice came low and tight. "Standard Mist three-man cell. I have one locked down."
"Move," Jin said, voice cold. "Kill the other two and keep the one he is holding."
"We need his intel."
Kudō and Kazama had no objection.
Jin burst from cover without another word, Kudō hard on his heels.
Five seconds later, Jin spotted three shapes. He did not bother with ninjutsu. He flicked a kunai, the blade punching clean through a throat.
"Enemy attack!"
One Mist ninja shouted, but Jin was already behind him. A second kunai slit his neck.
Ten seconds after that, Kudō arrived. He stared at the two bodies, a chill spidering through his bones.
He felt lucky.
If he had not listened, the enemy might have reached their post while he slept. The thought alone left him cold.
Kazama joined them, broke the captive's limbs in one smooth sequence, then released the shadow bind.
"Talk."
"How many forces did Kirigakure deploy? How did you slip past us?"
"What is your plan?"
The Mist ninja only glared.
"I will not speak. Kill me."
Kazama's face stayed calm. He ignored the prisoner and looked at his teammates.
"I am no Yamanaka. I cannot pluck memories directly."
"But the Nara have other ways to get the same results."
"It will be messy. Jin, Captain, give me a minute."
Jin understood at once and drifted away a short distance.
Clan secret arts were not for outsiders' eyes. The talk of blood was just window dressing.
Kudō followed, catching on a beat later.
"When Kazama says that, he means something else, right?" he asked quietly.
Jin nodded. "He is about to use a clan technique. We should not watch."
"Figures," Kudō said.
He was a chūnin and nominally the team lead, yet the more this went on, the more he felt out of his depth. Jin and Kazama outclassed him.
So this was the difference a clan background made.
And these two were not even their clans' golden children, just the so-called washouts of Class B.
He did not resent them. He knew the commoner's limits, and he would much rather get along with them to improve his odds of surviving.
As for Ishikawa, Kudō could not be bothered. Men like that did not live long.
Time crawled.
Ten minutes later Kazama returned, face grim.
"Bad news."
"According to him, they slipped into the former Land of Whirlpools half a month ago."
"There are four thousand ninja concealed there."
A collective hiss.
Even Jin went pale.
He had skill, but not enough to survive being swarmed by four thousand.
"What do we do?" Kudō's voice shook.
Kazama's expression darkened. "Worst part is we cannot retreat without orders. Doing so would be desertion."
He was rattled too.
Four thousand. His knack for hiding meant nothing against that weight of numbers. They could grind him down by attrition alone.
The news sat on his chest like a mountain.
He turned to Jin without hesitation.
"Jin, this is bad."
"Stealth no longer matters. We have to fight our way out."
"Do you have a plan?"
Kudō looked to Jin as well.
With a report like that, he did not care who wore the captain's badge. Survival came first.
"From this moment, I take your orders," Kudō said. "You call it, and I follow."
He knew his limits. In normal times he could act the part of team lead. In this crisis he had already lost his footing.
Jin and Kazama were far stronger. He would be smart and take his place.