Despite the declaration of the Fourth Shinobi World War having swept across the continent like a tidal wave, crossing the Land of Grass border still proved ridiculously easy for Sakura and her team. With little more than a hop and a skip, they were already halfway to Kusagakure by nightfall.
It was understandable why this was the case; with a giant such as the Land of Fire looming on their collective doorsteps, the smaller buffer countries simply couldn't afford to deny Leaf shinobi access to their lands, even when they took jobs that rightfully ought to have belonged to their own hidden villages, assuming they had any to begin with.
Konohagakure shinobi crossed into these satellite countries daily for a dozen different reasons, with little regard for petty things such as national borders, so why would those countries waste their limited budgets hiring shinobi to guard borders they would inevitably have to open to Leaf shinobi anyway?
However, this state of affairs only applied to national borders. As Sakura, Shikamaru, and their two teams approached Kusagakure itself, they began encountering enemy patrols with increasing frequency, and with each one they avoided, they risked exposing their presence to sensor-nin.
"This is close enough," Sakura said, double-checking her map.
The two four-man teams took refuge beneath a rocky outcrop that jutted out of the ground like a needle, about ten kilometres from Kusagakure. Ironically, the Hidden Leaf knew the Land of Grass's geography even better than that of their own country… which, to be fair, was incomparably larger.
"It'll be radio silence from here on in, so communication will be limited to the use of signal flags." Shikamaru explained. "Just to be sure, do you know how to interpret flag messages, Neji?"
The art of flag formations was a communication tactic the Hidden Leaf had developed in tandem with the Hyūga clan for the purpose of war.
The Hyūga clan's Byakugan was not only useful for gathering intelligence, but for relaying it back to headquarters as well. The dōjutsu possessed a unique chakra signature, allowing Hyūga clan members to spot one another across great distances and thus communicate through specialised flag signals.
By handling communications in this manner, the enemy could not intercept the Hidden Leaf's messages. There were no messenger hawks to shoot down or radio waves to eavesdrop on, which carried the added benefit of leaving the enemy with far less information to work with should they attempt to decipher their codes.
Neji shook his head. "No."
Interpreting flags wasn't something Orochimaru had bothered to teach him.
"It's a bit of a drag, but for the purposes of this mission, you shouldn't have too many signals to memorise," Shikamaru sighed. "Hinata, teach him what he needs to know."
…
Essentially, the plan was for one team to infiltrate Kusagakure, while the other watched out for them from a safe distance… ready to intercept Danzō, should he choose to drop in unannounced.
The first team would be composed of Neji, Karin, Ino and Sakura; they were the infiltration team.
Neji and Karin could detect ordinary sensor types from far greater distances than those same sensors could detect them, which would allow them to find a path to Kusagakure's leader while avoiding notice. Thankfully, Kusagakure's methods were not developed enough to fully cover their village in a sensing barrier like Konohagakure's.
(Sensor-nin are easy to identify, as long as one is a sensor as well; they are forced to disperse their chakra throughout the atmosphere in order to search for enemies, which has the unfortunate side effect of exposing their location to other sensors. Unfortunately, Karin could not suppress her chakra while using the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and neither could she suppress others' chakra for them, so that tactic was out.)
Next up was Ino; her Mind Transfer Jutsu would allow her to possess high-ranking shinobi leaders of Kusagakure, whose identities would help the team gain access to otherwise restricted areas.
Lastly was Sakura herself. For the most part, she wouldn't be doing anything until the very end, because with M-cup breasts, she had Kage levels of chakra. If she were to mould chakra, it would be like shining a torch on herself in the darkness from a sensor's perspective… provided they were actively moulding sensing chakra, naturally.
Meanwhile, Hinata, Shikamaru, Tenten, and Sasuke would remain behind to watch over the bigger picture from a distance; they were the surveillance team.
Hinata would survey the situation from outside the enemy's sensing range and relay Shikamaru's instructions to Neji across the ten kilometres that separated them. Tenten would be in charge of exfiltration, and Sasuke would keep an eye on the rest of the surveillance team. If Danzō and his men decided to join the party, Team Shikamaru would easily be ground into dust beneath his wind and sand-manipulating abilities without his help.
…
"You're not going to abandon us to run after Danzō if things go sideways, are you?" Shikamaru asked Sasuke warily, while Hinata demonstrated various flag signals in the background. "We're counting on you to protect us."
A blindfolded Sasuke snorted coldly.
"That won't be necessary, because Danzō won't escape these new eyes of mine," he said coolly, raising a hand to his left eye. "By the time I'm done with him, not even ashes will be left."
Even though that whole bit was a bit cringey, Sakura's heart still fluttered a bit.
"Lame," Karin snorted.
… but that's right, Sakura had transplanted Itachi's eyes into Sasuke just before their departure!
If Sasuke learned that she had gone after Danzō without him, she knew the fragile trust between them would be shattered once and for all. That was why even though Sasuke ought to be resting in a hospital bed, Sakura had insisted that he participate in the mission, despite Shikamaru's misgivings about his reliability… and medical ethic be damned.
After all, if Madara could simply pop fresh eyeballs into his eye sockets and use them immediately without anything resembling conventional surgery, and if even an academic failure such as Obito could manage reattaching Sasuke's optic nerves in the original timeline, then Sakura was confident her professional procedure would allow Sasuke to use his new eyes almost immediately!
Even so, just to be safe, Sakura had administered a few drops of eye medicine to Sasuke's eyes to temporarily numb them, and she had even blindfolded him to prevent him from moving Itachi's eyeballs too much and accidentally dislodging anything important.
Such as his new eyes, for instance.
"Yeah, you're not exactly filling me with confidence here, mate," Shikamaru said sardonically. "Is that a yes or a no?"
Capturing or killing Danzō was only ever meant to be a bonus, if he even showed his face at all. If Danzō did appear, then the Hidden Leaf would have a very good excuse for being found so close to Kusagakure if they were detected. But if he proved too powerful for the surveillance team to handle, or if his presence jeopardised the success of the main mission, then they would be forced to pull out.
To Sakura, losing Shikamaru and her other friends simply was not worth taking Danzō down.
"All right," Neji said. "I've memorised all the flag signals."
"Then, Operation: Inception is a go," Sakura said confidently, her chest bouncing up and down as she slammed her fist into her palm. "Let's go change Kusagakure's leader's mind, shall we?"