The three-day leave ended. Iwa launched another attack. Anko thought the village summons would come soon.
It did not.
So she went to the captain's door to ask about village arrangements. She remembered the way from helping move scrolls last time.
"Not in?"
The old woman at the estate said so. "He went on a mission."
Mission? I was left behind? Enormous loss and grievance of abandonment surged up. Mitarashi Anko's face paled half a shade.
She practically ran all the way to the Uchiha compound. Guards at the entrance wore indifferent eyes. They did not stop her or acknowledge her, until a warm-voiced girl appeared.
"Izumi, thank you."
"No need. Anko-senpai is Itachi's teammate, right?" The girl said. "I'm Itachi's friend."
"He mentioned Anko-senpai."
That brat has friends his own age?
The thought flashed by. Then she saw Uchiha Itachi.
"Shuji-Senpai went on a mission?"
Seeing the surprise and confusion flash across Itachi's face oddly calmed Anko's agitated heart a bit. At least she was not the only one left in the dark.
"Brother?"
"Sorry, Sasuke. I have something I need to go out for."
Without a jōnin present, the process of seeing the Hokage lengthened considerably. The two just waited without speaking until Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared before them.
"Hokage-sama! Did Captain Shuji go on a mission?!"
"Why didn't he take us? Team Five... is it disbanded?"
"Aren't we a squad?"
Anko's tone was rushed, agitation hard to hide.
The Third Hokage did not anger at her breach of etiquette. His gaze lingered a moment on her and the silent but stubbornly staring Itachi beside her before he spoke steadily.
"Yes. Shuji went on a mission. The mission rank is very high and very dangerous."
"In Team Five's current state, only he has the qualifications to participate. I apologize for temporarily reassigning your captain, but rest assured he is not acting alone."
"Very excellent comrades are with him."
"This is an arduous mission only jōnin level can participate in."
"After the mission ends, he will still be Team Five's captain. You will still be Team Five members."
Are we... too weak?
I am too weak...
Returning alone to her silent apartment, her hand unconsciously touched the side of her neck. There, the curse seal the Third had personally sealed was faintly burning.
—
Outside Konoha Village, deep in dense forest, three figures moved through at extreme speed without sound.
Compared to regular ninja equipment, Anbu standard gear excelled in functionality and concealment.
Wearing it was very comfortable too.
The only thing Shuji was not quite satisfied with was the Anbu tattoo on his arm. Though the pattern was simple and attractive...
Well, it's not like he was taking civil service exams. Wait, that's not quite right. This tattoo was one proof of Anbu membership.
"You're more lively than I imagined." Kakashi teased.
Even though Shuji's movements were flawless, that subtle sense of excitement experiencing Anbu gear details for the first time could not escape this veteran's perception.
"Has Kakashi-senpai never considered dyeing his hair?" Shuji suddenly asked.
"Mm?" The abrupt shift made Kakashi pause.
"Anbu is supposed to hide identity, right?"
"Theoretically, yes."
"But Kakashi-senpai's silver hair, plus the Sharingan characteristic—" Shuji stated evenly. "The combined recognition factor is too high. If I may say so, what exactly is being hidden?"
From behind and to the side, Yamato's foot seemed to subtly slip with an extremely light scraping sound.
"I... uh... well, Anbu has many different functions. Not all missions require completely covering original identity. Some work is... mm... relatively routine, or missions executed internally." Kakashi's voice carried some awkwardness.
He tried to recover. "When I really need to hide identity, I'll wear a cloak and can use transformation jutsu."
"Understood." Shuji's tone revealed no emotion.
"Ahem." Kakashi cleared his throat, forcibly changing topic. "Focus on the mission, Mori. Idle chat ends here."
Mori. That was Shuji's codename for this operation.
The current Kakashi had not yet cultivated that future appearance of always carrying inappropriate reading material, always lazily defusing all awkwardness like an old hand.
Shuji thought.
He did not notice the gaze from beside him carrying subtle admiration.
"Mori-senpai is really impressive."
"Ah?"
Yamato was a year younger than Shuji. Calling him senpai was right. But where did this praise for being impressive come from?
"To so quickly grasp Kakashi-senpai's weakness and launch an attack."
"Shut up, Tenzō."
The tailed beast interception squad recovered silence under the captain's low pressure. Only the sound of wind from high-speed movement howled in their ears.
Through Konoha shinobi's desperate fighting, the surging Iwa offensive was ultimately checked within a zone about ten kilometers inside Fire Country's border, unable to advance further.
Kannabi Bridge and Tenchi Bridge, these two strategic throats from Grass Country into Fire Country, had fallen.
Shinobi war likewise depended on logistics. Even though individual shinobi could use scrolls to carry small amounts of supplies, for organized forces, traditional safe supply lines remained critically important.
As for having shinobi carry supplies...
Unless the entire route was very safe and enemy shinobi would not ambush in your face, shinobi would not easily waste stamina carrying large amounts of supplies.
It was very easy to have situations where people died, food fed enemies, weapons armed enemies, and you yourself became the enemy's supply train.
Therefore, losing both bridges meant Konoha lost its forward buffer and had no choice but to organize defense relying on internal terrain.
And this time the front line collapsed so quickly because of the activity of the two jinchūriki Iwa Village committed.
If not for Jiraiya's timely arrival and forcibly stabilizing the situation with his own power alone, Iwa's spearhead would already have penetrated dozens of kilometers deep into Fire Country.
If it truly reached that state, the aging Third Hokage would probably have to personally take the field.
Reaching frontline command, passing identity verification, the three were brought directly to the command center. Inside were two people.
The wild white-haired Jiraiya stood with arms crossed before the sand table. Beside him was the frowning Nara Shikaku, fingertips tapping the sand table edge, obviously deducing something. He was truly busy.
"Yo, Kakashi." Jiraiya looked up and immediately recognized that iconic silver hair, greeting casually.
"Pfft..." A desperately suppressed laugh came from behind Yamato's mask.
"Mm? What's wrong?" Jiraiya looked at Yamato uncomprehendingly.
Shuji stood silently.
Kakashi's form stiffened imperceptibly, then he stood as if nothing happened, voice especially serious and deep through his mask. "Anti-tailed beast special tactics squad reporting as ordered, Jiraiya-sama, Shikaku-san."
"Kakashi, what's he laughing at?"
"No particular situation! Please give mission instructions, Jiraiya-sama!"
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild