Moonlight filtered through the treetops, casting dappled light on the mountain path. The team's footsteps were deliberately hushed, with only the rustling sound of the stretcher against the ground echoing in the night.
Lin Yue walked in the middle, his peripheral vision occasionally sweeping towards Tanaka beside him—ever since Uchiha Dian joined, the Chunin leading the team had noticeably spoken less, his gaze now holding a hint of scrutiny. Occasionally, he would secretly observe Shadow, Lightning, Rice, and Dian behind him, a look that made Lin Yue's heart subtly tighten.
"Xiao Yue, your clansmen... which Ninja squads were they in before? Do they have official Konoha Ninja registrations?" Tanaka suddenly asked, his tone casual but with an imperceptible hint of probing.
Lin Yue's heart tightened, but he feigned naturalness: "They were all on the East Front, performing support missions with temporary task forces. After the missions ended, the squads temporarily disbanded, and they hadn't had a chance to re-register at headquarters. I just sent word for them to come help, so they came along."
He had already prepared his explanation, using common Naruto World phrases like "temporary task force" and "registration" to avoid revealing any flaws.
Tanaka nodded, but his gaze fell on Dian: "That kid named Dian, he's very skilled with Lightning Release, and his Chakra control is stable. He doesn't look like a newcomer fresh out of the Ninja Academy. Why isn't he in a fixed combat squad? He doesn't even have a basic mission record registered at the outpost?"
"He was injured while on a mission on the East Front. During his recovery, he missed the registration period for squad reorganization. He's currently waiting for a mission assignment notice," Lin Yue quickly added.
At the same time, he gave Dian a look, signaling him not to speak much. Dian understood, lowered his head, pretended to organize his Ninja tool bag, and avoided Tanaka's gaze.
Lin Yue could feel that Tanaka's suspicion had not been dispelled. He quietly activated his Sharingan, his peripheral vision catching Tanaka's right hand subtly reaching for the signal device at his waist—a special Ninja tool used for transmitting intelligence, usually only carried by Ninja on secret surveillance missions.
"Is Tanaka not just the Chunin leading the escort mission?" A bad premonition arose in Lin Yue's heart.
The team continued forward. When they reached an open area, Tanaka suddenly stopped: "Everyone, take a 20-minute break, eat some military rations to replenish your stamina. We have a difficult mountain path ahead, so we need to stay in condition."
Everyone stopped. Sato and Takahashi helped the injured lean against a tree, while Shadow, Lightning, Rice, and Dian tacitly walked to Lin Yue's side, pretending to arrange traps and Ninja tools, but in reality exchanging glances—they had also noticed Tanaka's abnormality, but dared not speak openly.
"Shadow, sense the surroundings. Are there any abnormal Chakra fluctuations?" Lin Yue whispered. Shadow closed his eyes, then shook his head a moment later: "No, only us within one kilometer. No other Ninja's presence."
Lin Yue breathed a sigh of relief but didn't relax his guard. He walked to Tanaka's side, feigning a question: "Uncle Tanaka, do you need to treat your arm wound again? I've learned basic Medical Ninjutsu and can give you a simple treatment." He wanted to take the opportunity to observe Tanaka's reaction and see if he could find more clues.
Tanaka took the military rations but didn't let Lin Yue treat his wound, merely saying indifferently: "No need, it's a minor injury, it won't affect hand seals." His gaze swept over the four of them again, and he suddenly asked: "Xiao Yue, have your clansmen reported to the outpost's mission dispatch center in advance?"
Lin Yue's heart skipped a beat—this question hit the nail on the head. He quickly covered up: "They originally intended to report, but they encountered an Iwagakure squad ambush earlier and lost their communication equipment. They haven't had a chance to contact the outpost. Once we reach the outpost, I'll go to the mission dispatch center to register them."
Tanaka didn't press further, just nodded, but his gaze became even more profound.
As Lin Yue turned to leave, he clearly saw Tanaka quietly pull an intelligence paper from his Ninja tool bag, quickly write something, then perform hand seals, roll the intelligence paper onto a homing pigeon's leg, inject a small amount of Chakra into his fingertips, and gently toss it. The homing pigeon flew towards the Konoha temporary outpost—that was the "pigeon post" commonly used by Ninja to transmit urgent intelligence.
"It's intelligence transmission!" Lin Yue's heart sank to rock bottom.
After the break, the team set off again. Lightning deliberately slowed his pace, walked to Lin Yue's side, and whispered: "Tanaka might be monitoring us. He just sent intelligence to the outpost. We need to find a way to deal with this problem quickly."
"How about we..." She made a "get rid of" gesture, but Lin Yue stopped her.
"No, Tanaka is an official Chunin leader sent by the outpost. If we kill him, we'll become Rogue Ninja. Moreover, his Ninjutsu and experience are stronger than ours. A direct confrontation might result in casualties."
Lin Yue shook his head, "For now, we can only take it one step at a time. Once we reach the outpost, we'll find an excuse to get by, and at the same time, quickly accumulate summon points to summon more clansmen and find the special conditions to trigger world travel."
Lightning nodded, said nothing more, but tightened her grip on the short sword at her waist, vigilantly watching Tanaka's back.
For the rest of the journey, Tanaka spoke even less, but constantly observed the actions of the four of them with his peripheral vision—when Lightning set traps, he would deliberately approach; when Rice released Chakra sensing, he would inquire about the enemy's movements; when Shadow went to scout, he would pretend to organize his Ninja tools, but secretly observe their every move. Each probe tightened Lin Yue's nerves a little more.
Midway through the mountain path, Shadow suddenly made a "situation" gesture to Lin Yue, lowering his voice: "There are Chakra fluctuations 500 meters ahead. They are Konoha Ninja, about 3 people. Their Chakra is stable, they should be a patrol squad sent by the outpost."
Lin Yue's heart tightened—the appearance of the patrol squad meant they were getting closer to the outpost. Tanaka had probably already reported the situation to the outpost commander and the Anbu. He quickly thought of a countermeasure.
Not long after, three patrol Ninja in Konoha uniforms walked over. Seeing Tanaka, they immediately asked: "Senior Tanaka! Why are you here? The outpost's mission dispatch center said your escort mission should have arrived long ago."
Tanaka nodded, his tone flat: "We encountered several waves of Iwagakure task force ambushes on the way, which delayed us. Have you just completed a border patrol mission and are preparing to return to the outpost?"
"Yes, we just finished our border reconnaissance mission and are about to return to the outpost to submit our mission report," the patrol Ninja said.
Tanaka said, "We need to rush back to the outpost now; there are still injured people who need treatment." His gaze looked towards the outpost, "I've already reported to the outpost via pigeon post, saying that several Uchiha Clan members assisted in completing the escort mission. When we arrive, I'll have them go directly to the mission dispatch center to register, so as not to delay subsequent mission arrangements."
Lin Yue's heart tightened, but his expression remained calm—Tanaka had indeed reported the situation! And he specifically mentioned "Uchiha Clan members assisting the mission," which was clearly pushing Shadow and the others into the sight of the outpost's higher-ups!
The patrol Ninja didn't notice anything unusual and nodded: "Okay, then we'll head back to the outpost and inform the mission dispatch center to arrange for personnel to coordinate." With that, the three turned and left.
Lin Yue looked at Tanaka and asked: "Uncle Tanaka, why didn't you tell us you reported in advance? They haven't had time to prepare their registration materials."
Having received the intelligence, Tanaka finally stopped concealing, his gaze turning cold: "Xiao Yue, do you think I don't know? Your clansmen have no official Konoha Ninja registration, no mission records whatsoever, and their Ninja numbers can't even be found! And why they suddenly came to the front lines of the Iwagakure battlefield—my mission isn't just to escort the injured, but also—a mission assigned to me by Root!"
"Root!" Lin Yue's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected Danzo to be behind Tanaka.
He finally understood why Tanaka had been probing and transmitting intelligence. It turned out Tanaka also had a Root mission. Although Tanaka didn't say what the Root mission content was, the mission target was most likely "me." After all, the Uchiha's situation in Konoha was special, and it wasn't impossible for the higher-ups to arrange secret surveillance!
Tanaka looked at Lin Yue, his tone softening a little: "Yue, I know you mean no harm, and I don't want to make things difficult for you. But these clansmen must go to the mission dispatch center to register. If their identities are fine, Lord Danzo won't trouble them; of course, if there's a problem, you won't be able to stay out of it—after all, you're their contact person."
Lin Yue suddenly thought: "Uncle Tanaka, there are always some unregistered Ninja in Ninja clans, or personnel privately trained within the clan. It's normal for them not to have a record—Shadow and the others are in this situation. Although they are considered 'unregistered' personnel, they are still our Uchiha Ninja."
"And they came to the Iwagakure battlefield to protect me. An elder in the clan values me, so they are worried about my safety." He deliberately brought up "clan custom," which provided a reasonable explanation for the identities of Shadow and the other three, subtly elevated the level of the conversation, and even brought out an Uchiha elder, all to put pressure on Tanaka.
"They are neither Rogue Ninja nor spies. Even if the Hokage asks, Clan Head Fugaku will vouch for them—after all, which family doesn't have a few 'temporarily unregistered' clan members? You can't treat your own people as outsiders just because they're not registered."
"Let's go, don't waste any more time."
Tanaka temporarily accepted this reason and turned to walk towards the outpost. Lin Yue looked at his back, then at the worried Shadow and the other three beside him, clenching his fists—no matter what, he had to protect these clansmen and absolutely not let them fall into Danzo's hands.
At the end of the mountain path, the lights of the Konoha temporary outpost were faintly visible.