In wars between hidden villages, most ninjas would rather commit suicide with an explosive tag than be captured.
Capture meant facing cruel torture.
Every village had an Interrogation Division. The ninjas there would show prisoners what true sadism meant.
Root had underhanded methods and morally ambiguous mission objectives, but the Interrogation Division was darkness itself.
Konoha, with its Yamanaka clan interrogation ninjas who could directly extract information from corpses, seemed somewhat gentler in comparison.
Other villages rarely had such techniques; their interrogation lacked finesse, relying purely on brute force.
The Interrogation Division would squeeze the last drop of blood, vigor, and spirit from a prisoner. They would either spill the information in the prisoner's mind or spill the prisoner's brains.
Compared to capture, suicide was a cleaner, more straightforward end.
The four Sand ninja prisoners had already been handed over to Orochimaru.
A prisoner exchange was impossible.
Yet, Root was demanding that the Fox Squadron rescue one specific Shimura clan Chūnin from among the prisoners.
This was truly troublesome.
Yōkō first went to the frontline Interrogation Division to get information on the four Sand ninja prisoners: their height, build, hair color, etc.
The Interrogation Division didn't know where the prisoners had gone, only that they had been taken away by Root.
Yōkō mulled over the plan several times in his mind, felt it was feasible, and then assembled the three squads of his squadron.
"Konoha and Sunagakure have been at war for over half a month. The two sides are about to hold their first prisoner exchange.
The Sand ninja prisoners were taken to the Land of Earth by Root. We have no prisoners to exchange.
Flower Deer, select four people from the squadron with suitable builds. Don't use the Transformation Technique. Use makeup and disguise to pose as prisoners mutilated beyond human form by the Interrogation Division.
The Transformation Technique might be detected by the Sand ninjas; it's not secure.
Purple Cat, you lead three others to pose as an ordinary Konoha squad tasked with the prisoner exchange.
To show good faith and avoid escalation into a major battle, both sides only send one escort squad for each exchange.
White Ram, take the remaining people and pose as Rain ninjas with me. We will ambush the Sand ninja exchange squad and the Purple Cat squad, and rescue the target Chūnin.
Konoha still cares about its face, to some extent.
We ourselves have no prisoners to exchange, and killing the Sand ninja exchange squad is something Konoha wouldn't do.
But Rain ninjas sitting on a mountain watching tigers fight, driving a tiger to swallow a wolf, sabotaging the prisoner exchange between the two villages, hoping the two villages fight more fiercely... that is perfectly plausible."
Disguising as ninjas from other villages to carry out covert missions was dirty business every village engaged in.
The three squad leaders understood their tasks and went to prepare.
Flower Deer's preparatory work was the most crucial. He had to pick four people and disguise them as prisoners on the verge of death from Interrogation Division torture.
And he couldn't use the Transformation Technique, to avoid detection by the Sand ninjas.
When it was time to depart, Flower Deer had shaved his head. His scalp was crisscrossed with fifteen knife wounds.
Some were bleeding, others had been treated by a medical ninja and formed pink scars.
Yōkō asked, "Does it hurt?"
"Not really. Leaf Monkey broke his own arm, and it's still bent backwards and twisted outward. That hurts."
Yōkō's heart tightened.
Ordinary civilian ninjas might lack talent, but they were conscientious and willing to risk their lives.
Yōkō said, "After this mission, I'll apply for a jutsu for each of you."
"Thank you, Squadron Leader!"
Purple Cat, leading a squad disguised as ordinary ninjas wearing Konoha headbands, each carrying a 'prisoner' on their shoulder, headed south towards the designated meeting point with the Sand ninjas.
Beside a river in the northern part of the Land of Rivers.
Purple Cat saw the Sand ninjas on the opposite bank of the canyon from afar.
Five Sand ninjas, each standing near a Konoha prisoner at their feet.
These prisoners were in no better state than the 'Sand ninja prisoners' Purple Cat's team was carrying; they were covered in wounds, an exceptionally miserable sight.
Their wounds were swollen and bruised purple; the toxins hadn't been neutralized.
Sand interrogation ninjas particularly liked using poison, various neurotoxins.
After arriving on the other side of the canyon, Purple Cat and the others also set down their 'prisoners'.
The Sand ninja squad leader said, "Konoha folks, let's exchange."
Purple Cat, however, said, "Not so fast! The wounds on the prisoners at your feet are festering, with black and purple patches around them. Are you playing tricks? Trying to make these prisoners die from poisoning on the way back?"
The Sand ninja squad leader said, "We Sand ninjas are skilled in poison. Of course, we apply poison to our torture instruments. What, do you want me to administer the antidote now?"
"Of course, you need to neutralize the poison," Purple Cat insisted. "We must bring back living prisoners."
"Impossible!" the Sand ninja squad leader said. "If I give them the antidote now, you could take them back, get a serum, and develop an antidote? Don't be so stupid and naive. Either you run faster, or your medical ninjas are more capable. I'm here for a prisoner exchange, not for charity."
To stall for time, Purple Cat took out a syringe. "In that case, either you run faster, or your medical ninjas are more capable."
With that, Purple Cat injected the venom into the 'Sand ninja prisoner' at his feet.
"You!"
Purple Cat successfully muddied the waters, diverting the Sand ninjas' attention elsewhere and away from scrutinizing the authenticity of the prisoners.
Leaf Monkey, having received the injection, quickly turned purplish-red, making it even harder to tell if he was a real Sand ninja prisoner.
Purple Cat had bought enough time for Yōkō.
From the rushing river in the canyon, four figures suddenly burst out!
These individuals wore Rain ninja gas masks. The moment they appeared, they threw poison gas canisters.
Purple salamander poison mist quickly spread across both banks of the canyon.
These were props used by Konoha Root disguising as Rain ninjas; Root had captured some salamanders and extracted their poison.
In the thick poison mist, Yōkō headed straight for the Shimura clan ninja from the intelligence.
Using the cover of the poison mist, Yōkō secretly formed a hand seal.
The Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal appeared, immobilizing the Sand ninja squad leader.
A ninjato pierced through from the back of his head, exiting his forehead.
This way, no one would know Yōkō had used a sealing technique.
The Sand ninja nearest to Yōkō was kicked far away by him.
The kick looked powerful but didn't break any bones.
The Sand ninja fell out of the poison mist and saw the Konoha ninjas on the opposite bank engaged in intense fighting with the Rain ninjas.
The Sand ninja scrambled to his feet and fled the battle.
Yōkō had intentionally let that Sand ninja escape, so the intelligence about the Rain ninja ambush would get back.
Konoha wanted both A and B and C too, really making things difficult for field operatives like Yōkō.
They wanted the prisoners back, but didn't want other villages to know Konoha had used prisoners for experiments, and also didn't want the bad reputation for sabotaging the prisoner exchange.
After the fight ended, four more Sand ninja corpses lay on the ground.
Two of the Sand ninjas had been particularly fierce and unyielding; regardless of their own survival, they had killed the Konoha prisoners at their feet before dying themselves.
There was nothing that could be done about that.
Rescuing three prisoners, primarily the Shimura clan prisoner, meant their mission was over-fulfilled.
Yōkō said, "Let's go! Get the Shimura ninja to the frontline medical station before the poison takes effect!"
Shedding the Rain ninja disguises, Yōkō put his Root mask back on and hurried towards the base camp.
The three rescued prisoners, plus Leaf Monkey with his leg fractured and bent outward, were carried on shoulders.
Yōkō said to Leaf Monkey, who was on Black Gorilla's shoulder, "Leaf Monkey, you really went to extremes."
To complete the mission, Leaf Monkey had truly used heavy-handed methods on himself.
***
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