The night hung low and heavy.
The forest line outside Konoha was like a silent black tide, wrapping the whole world in shadow. Wind slipped through the treetops with a faint rustle. Every now and then, a night bird would be startled awake and flap away from the heights, quickly vanishing into deeper darkness.
In a dense forest northwest of the Land of Fire, more than a dozen figures were moving forward in silence.
No one spoke.
There were only the faint sounds of feet touching branches, landing on trunks, then springing forward again—each sound kept so light and brief it almost blended into the night wind.
The figure at the front suddenly raised a hand.
Everyone behind him stopped at the same time.
Kakashi landed on a horizontal branch, his right hand lightly pressing against the trunk. He looked at Uchiha Chizumi at the front and said quietly, "Are we there?"
Chizumi stood on a higher branch farther ahead, his gaze passing through layers of shadowed trees and landing on a valley half-enclosed by mountains in the distance.
"Almost."
His voice was very soft, but still clear enough for those nearby to hear.
Kakashi followed his line of sight and saw several dim yellow flames faintly floating deep in the valley, like ghost fires swaying in the wind. Looking more carefully, he realized they weren't ordinary camp braziers, but several deliberately separated lighting points. There was a considerable distance between each flame, and rings of low wooden fencing and hastily built watchtowers stood between them.
In the places the firelight didn't reach, he could vaguely make out stretches of low tarpaulin silhouettes.
It wasn't a main camp.
It looked more like a large material storage area.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "There are more guards than expected."
"Not many."
Hyūga Neji spoke quietly from the side. His Byakugan was fully active, veins bulging at his temples.
"Thirteen visible sentry points on the perimeter, twenty-one hidden sentries. Two patrol squads at the northwest valley entrance, six men each. There's also a mobile unit of around twenty people hidden on the southern rear slope. They're probably there to stop anyone from climbing in from the mountain behind."
Inuzuka Kiba grinned in a low voice. "They're hiding pretty carefully."
Akamaru lay on his shoulder, nose twitching, and let out a very low whine.
Aburame Shino pushed up his sunglasses, his voice as level as ever.
"The insects I released have already reached the interior. There are many grain sacks and many carts. Aside from ordinary rations, there are soldier pills prepared specifically for ninja forces, sealed medicine supplies, and some ninja-tool crates."
Shikamaru leaned back against a tree trunk and sighed lazily.
"In other words, our luck is pretty good. First bite and we hit something fat."
"It isn't luck."
Chizumi turned and looked at everyone.
"It's because they're too dependent on relay granaries like this now."
In the night, his voice was steady, like a stone pressing down all restless emotions.
"The allied forces have too many people. The daimyō of the three countries are also in a hurry to build up momentum. If they push grain, manpower, and ninja tools collected from all over forward in a short period of time, it's impossible to pile everything into one large camp. Especially since these people want to advance on the Land of Fire, while also distrusting each other. So they're bound to cut the supplies into several sections and store them in layers."
Shikamaru raised his eyes. "If one section gets taken out, both front and back fall into chaos."
"Right."
Kakashi pushed his forehead protector up slightly, and the Sharingan revealed beneath it turned faintly in the dark.
"So this is their first and most important forward supply depot."
Chizumi nodded.
Kiba frowned. "Do they know we might come steal this?"
Shikamaru glanced at him. "Do you think those three daimyō have that kind of brain?"
Kiba clicked his tongue. "I'm talking about their ninja, not the daimyō."
"They won't think of it either."
This time, Kakashi answered.
He looked toward the specks of firelight in the valley, his tone calm.
"If we moved out with a large force, they'd think of it. If the Land of Fire border launched small-scale harassment, they'd think of that too. But on the surface, Konoha hasn't made any large deployments. Training in the village continues as usual, and the border has only had routine extra watch shifts added. They'll think we're still waiting for them to officially advance one month from now. At most, they'll guard against border clashes. They won't expect us to have already slipped behind them."
Shikamaru's mouth twitched. "Sounds like a pain."
"War is a pain to begin with."
Kakashi looked at Chizumi. "How are we splitting up?"
Chizumi didn't answer immediately. Instead, he raised a hand and tapped the tree trunk a few times.
"Neji, you and Shino circle around the west side and confirm the hidden sentry positions one more time. Don't engage. Come back once confirmed."
"Understood."
Neji nodded once, then vanished into the darkness.
Shino followed silently. Several small black insects crawled soundlessly from his sleeve and scattered into the night.
"Kiba, you and Akamaru watch the southeast. If a patrol approaches early, deal with them, but don't make too much noise."
"Leave it to me."
"Shikamaru."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm responsible for dragging everyone down."
Chizumi looked at him.
Shikamaru coughed and corrected himself. "I'm responsible for battlefield control. Right?"
"You take two people and watch the mobile unit at the valley entrance. Once the inside blows up, the first ones to chase out won't be the supply-handling grunts, but them. I don't want them leaving the valley."
Shikamaru finally grew a little serious and nodded. "Fine."
Chizumi's gaze then fell on Kakashi.
"You and I go in."
Kakashi curved his eye. "An honor."
"Bring four others good at Body Flicker and Fire Release."
Kakashi swept his gaze over the group behind them and named four jōnin. "Genma, Raidō, Shiranui Genma, Ebisu—no, Ebisu stays outside as support. Tenzō, you come in."
A figure not far away nodded lightly.
Kiba couldn't help turning his face. "Tenzō came too?"
Kakashi said casually, "You think it's suitable to do this kind of work without Wood Release?"
Kiba thought about it and found that true, so he pursed his lips and said nothing more.
Chizumi looked at everyone and added one final sentence.
"Remember, don't get dragged into prolonged fighting. Our objective is burning the depot, not annihilating the garrison. Once the depot explodes, retreat immediately. If someone gets pinned down, the others are not to all rush in to rescue them. Withdraw according to the planned route."
Kiba frowned. "If someone really gets pinned down—"
"Then I'll cover the rear."
Chizumi said it very calmly.
But that calm made everyone around him fall silent for a moment.
Kakashi stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled.
"You make the most dangerous job sound like casually carrying a bag of groceries."
"Dangerous?"
Chizumi's tone didn't fluctuate.
"It's more dangerous for them."
Shikamaru couldn't help sighing inwardly.
He was starting to understand more and more why, even though everyone in the village knew Uchiha Chizumi was ruthless, many people still instinctively felt reassured whenever his name came up.
Because when Chizumi said things like this, he didn't sound like he was gambling.
He sounded like he was stating an outcome that had already been decided.
Before long, Neji and Shino returned.
"Two hidden sentry positions on the west side have moved," Neji said quietly. "But the overall layout hasn't changed. There are three large warehouses at the center of the storage zone. The eastern one holds soldier pills and medicine. The western one holds ninja tools. The center and rear sections are the bulk grain stores."
Shino added, "I confirmed it. The grain sacks are mainly rice, flour, and dry rations. They're densely stacked, and once ignited, the fire will be hard to suppress. But the main central warehouse is surrounded by firebreak trenches and covered with thick tarps. Ordinary Fire Release may not ignite everything quickly enough."
Chizumi nodded. "So we won't use ordinary Fire Release."
Kiba froze. "If not Fire Release, then what?"
Kakashi heard that and suddenly turned to Chizumi. "You're planning to use explosive tags directly?"
"Mm."
Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched. "How many?"
"Enough to flip this place over."
Shikamaru opened his mouth, and only after a while did he manage to squeeze out, "Konoha's really willing to spend now."
Kakashi wasn't surprised. He only smiled and said, "If Lady Tsunade finds out how you're using them, her account books are probably going to hurt."
Chizumi's expression did not change. "If the depot gets destroyed, the account books are worth it."
No one said anything more.
A moment later, Chizumi lowered his hand, and the team immediately split into several groups, scattering soundlessly in different directions like shadows swallowed by the night.
The wind outside the valley gradually grew stronger.
The flames in the braziers slanted and swayed. A guard on a watchtower yawned, pulled his outer robe tighter, and cursed something under his breath.
Another guard leaned against the railing and looked down.
"Damn it, this awful place. Hot as hell during the day, freezing at night."
"Complain less. Hold on a few more days, and once the main army links up, we can push forward. When we break into the Land of Fire, we'll make a killing. Maybe we'll even get a share of something good."
"With your brain, you're still thinking about getting a share?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, those daimyō talk pretty, but once things are really conquered, you think you and I get to eat meat? If they give us one extra soldier pill, that's already them looking favorably on us."
"Tch, still better than guarding this depot."
The speaker spat downward.
"Look at this place. All grain, all ninja tools, all medicine. The people at the front are starving, but we're only allowed to guard it. Once we really get into the Land of Fire, I'm going to grab—"
Before he could finish, his throat suddenly chilled.
A cold gleam, so thin it was almost invisible, flashed out of the darkness.
The next instant, his entire body froze in place. His eyes were wide, his mouth still open in the shape of speech, but he could not make a sound.
The guard beside him was stunned for a second and was just about to turn when a hand had already covered his mouth and nose from behind.
A kunai slid in gently.
Warm blood flowed out, slipping between that person's fingers.
Kakashi gently lowered the body into the shadow of the watchtower and said quietly, "West sentry clear."
Below another sentry position not far away, Tenzō raised a hand and formed a seal. Several thin wooden spikes quietly emerged from the ground, instantly wrapping around two guards just about to change shifts and dragging them into the shadow of the wooden fence.
Chizumi landed on a high wooden beam outside the granary and looked down.
The entire layout of the storage area spread out under the night: firelight, tarps, carts, grain sacks, moving silhouettes, and the disordered presence of those patrolling back and forth.
His gaze was so calm it was almost indifferent.
The next moment, his figure flashed and vanished from above.
On the northern side of the storage area, two patrolling ninja had just rounded the corner of a wooden wall when, before they could see what was ahead, a shadow flickered before their eyes.
In the next second, both of them lost consciousness at the same time and collapsed limply.
Chizumi caught one by the shoulder with one hand, preventing the corpse from making a sound, then gently pushed the body behind the wall.
Kakashi landed beside him and said quietly, "There are people behind the middle warehouse."
"How many?"
"Five. Two chūnin, three genin. Looks like a night watch squad."
"You handle them."
"Got it."
The moment Kakashi finished speaking, he had already darted out.
Chizumi walked straight deeper into the warehouse area.
This was not the speed a stealth operative should have.
Not too fast, not too slow, neither hiding nor avoiding.
It was as if he didn't care whether he was seen at all.
And yet the people who should have seen him lost their chance before they could truly raise their heads.
Someone had just heard a faint whisper of wind and hadn't opened his mouth when a kunai pierced upward through his jaw.
Someone sensed a chakra fluctuation near his feet, but before he could finish forming a seal, his whole body was instantly slammed into a wooden wall, his throat crushed.
Someone else tried to sound a warning, but the moment his mouth opened, a flame-like shadow flashed across the edge of his vision. Then his eyes went black, and he knew nothing more.
This was not mere speed.
It was a kind of pressure that made people incapable of even forming the thought that they might survive.
On the western side of the depot, Tenzō placed his hand on the ground.
Fine wooden branches drilled all the way beneath the tarps, quietly lifting the gaps beneath stacks of grain sacks and delivering rolls of explosive tags into the least noticeable positions.
Raidō and Genma moved rapidly between several large warehouses from left and right, fastening more explosive tags into beams, cart frames, and beneath piles of grain.
Kakashi returned from behind a medicine warehouse, still holding half of a warning tube he had just confiscated.
"The patrol squad is dealt with. Nothing unusual in the east for now."
Chizumi nodded. "Keep placing them."
"You really aren't leaving them any way out."
As Kakashi spoke, he casually threw the half warning tube into an empty barrel nearby.
"With this many explosive tags going off at once, they won't even be able to pick up the pieces tomorrow."
Chizumi was fixing a roll of tags longer than the ordinary size under the edge of the main warehouse. Hearing that, he only replied, "Even better if they can't."
Just then, a low dog bark suddenly came from nearby.
It was Akamaru.
Immediately after, Kiba's voice came through the short-range wireless communication, kept very low.
"The southeast patrol turned back early. Someone noticed something's wrong."
Shikamaru's voice sounded at the same time.
"The valley entrance mobile unit has started moving. A little earlier than expected."
Kakashi raised his eyes. "We're about to be exposed."
Chizumi stood up and swept his gaze over the warehouses, most of which had already been rigged with explosive tags.
"Then we stop hiding."
The corner of Kakashi's eye curved. "I knew you'd say that."
Almost the next second, a brief scream suddenly came from the eastern side of the depot.
The sound only lasted halfway, as if the throat had been cut off mid-cry.
But it was already too late to suppress it.
The previously drowsy supply camp was like a pond struck by a stone, instantly rippling outward into chaos.
"Who's there?!"
"What was that sound?"
"East side! There's someone on the east side!"
"Alert! Enemy attack!"
Torches abruptly multiplied, and the previously scattered figures began running in every direction. Some went to grab weapons, some climbed toward the watchtowers, some formed seals to send signals, and some rushed frantically toward the main warehouses.
But they had only taken a few steps when several thick beams in the middle of the depot suddenly lit up with dense fire-like lines.
That wasn't Fire Release.
It was the blazing white pattern that appeared when explosive tags were instantly activated by chakra.
Someone saw it first, and his voice warped out of shape.
~~~
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