Seven people and a dog filed out of the Command Tent. Sora stared at the pineapple head walking ahead of him, bitterness pooling in his chest. Well. You call that fate?
"Move out." Nara Sakuji addressed the group without turning around. "The contaminated river runs close to camp. We need to complete this mission quickly, or we'll have to source water from farther out, which puts the entire camp at risk." His gaze lingered on Sora's squad a beat too long.
That look made Sora's stomach drop another inch.
They broke into a sprint toward the target zone. On the move, Sora calibrated the seals on his feet, channeling the barest wisp of chakra into each leap. Where the others needed five bounds to cover a stretch, he crossed it in three.
It reminded him of something from his previous life. A group of friends out walking together, and someone counting steps on their phone. Whoever logged the fewest steps had the longest legs. In this seven-man squad, his legs were definitely the longest.
At the moment of each landing, he used the seal's air cushion to absorb impact, resetting his stance faster and launching into the next movement without delay.
Sakuji noticed. He watched Sora's movement with quiet attention, turning over what he saw. Unusual talent with the Body Flicker. A shame. This mission wasn't about killing the kid outright. Too blatant, and people would talk. He just needed to stack a few extra dangers in Sora's path, vent some of Elder Masatake's displeasure, and let the odds sort it out from there.
Killing someone in wartime was the easiest thing in the world. Even Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi's father, who'd earned the title of Konoha's White Fang, whose strength surpassed the Legendary Sannin themselves, had been hounded to suicide after a single failed mission. If Sakumo were still alive, this war with the Land of Wind would probably be over already.
Up ahead, Teju was chatting with a girl from the other squad. Dog people loved nothing more than having their dogs complimented, and Inuzuka Natsuko was glowing under the attention.
Teju, you're just going to flirt with another girl right out in the open like that? Sora decided then and there to never worry about the boy's love life again. He glanced at Kurenai. She wore no expression at all, seemingly lost in her own thoughts, oblivious to the scene.
"No screwing around during a mission!" Sakuji snapped at Teju.
Teju blinked, bewildered. He'd only been making conversation. How was that screwing around?
Natsuko flushed scarlet. Getting dressed down by your own squad leader in front of others wasn't a good feeling.
Sora sized up Sakuji's squad as they moved. Natsuko seemed friendly enough, warm and easy to talk to. Hyuga Yuka was a branch family member of the Hyuga clan, and since the main house treated the branch family like servants, she wore a permanent expression of deep, simmering resentment. Her short life had probably been nothing but misery. Aburame Daigo was like every other Aburame: sunglasses, half his face covered, presence of a shadow.
The Hyuga were the most aristocratic shinobi clan in Konoha. As far back as recorded history went, they'd been one of the great houses of the continent. Long hair, traditional robes, seated in perfect posture over a cup of tea. That was the image most people carried of the Hyuga, though it really only applied to the main house. The ones standing at their elbows, attending to every need? Branch family.
Spend your whole life with servants handling your meals, your clothes, your every waking moment, and that so-called nobility came fast enough. It wasn't true refinement. It was just the habit of being waited on, every hour of every day.
The Hyuga maintained excellent relations with the nobility in the Land of Fire's capital, and even had ties to aristocrats in other nations. The nobles loved the Hyuga's air of elegant restraint. Through those connections, the clan had monopolized most of the trade caravans running between Konoha and the capital. The Land of Fire's aristocracy trusted a reputation a thousand years in the making.
The seven of them reached the zone Sora's squad had been responsible for previously. Sakuji's tone stayed ice-cold. "Lead the way. Take us upstream."
Sora sighed inwardly. This mission had bad luck written all over it.
The farther upstream they went, the worse the water looked. Discoloration, strange foam, a faint chemical tang on the breeze.
And then Sakuji's squad demonstrated exactly why clan squads were feared. While Sora's team had zero intelligence to work with, Hyuga Yuka's Byakugan had already mapped the enemy positions.
"Four hostiles by the river, guarding a large jar. Two adults, a man and a woman, look like a married couple. Two children, around ten years old. Civilian clothing on all of them. No visible shinobi gear."
She paused, her pale eyes shifting. "Four more contacts positioned around them in a perimeter, concealed in the four cardinal directions. All young."
The power of a clan shinobi, laid bare. Enemy positions readable from kilometers away. This was why every Hokage in history had tried to rein in the clans while never being able to do without them. Abilities refined over generations, sometimes dozens of generations, were simply too valuable in wartime.
"Married couple with two kids as cover. Likely a Sand Ninja squad disguised as civilians, using a small unit to approach our water source." Sakuji processed the intelligence with the speed his clan was bred for, then issued orders.
"Phase one. Kazeki's squad, you'll attack from a different direction as a diversion and draw the perimeter guards. My squad will use the opening to seize the enemy's jar. We need to know what new poison they've developed. Phase two. Once the jar is secured, all units withdraw. Kazeki's squad handles the rear guard. My team consists of long-range reconnaissance specialists the army can't afford to lose. Understood?"
"Understood." Sora had made his peace with it. Life and death were a coin toss out here. He could only hope his teammates were lucky.
"Don't be afraid." Sakuji's voice turned light, almost casual. "We've already given your squad the advantage of long-range enemy detection before the fight even starts." A thin smile. "Consider yourselves fortunate to be running a mission alongside a clan squad."
Even his own teammates couldn't stomach that. Natsuko dropped her gaze and busied herself stroking her dog. Daigo's sunglasses hid whatever expression he wore.
Sora was speechless. Fortunate? Then why is your entire team hanging their heads in shame?
"Understood, Squad Leader Nara. We'll carry out your orders to the letter." What else was there to say? He could accept it, or he could accept it.
The three of them split off, following Yuka's directions, swinging wide in a long arc to approach the enemy from the opposite side. Her Byakugan was terrifyingly precise. Sora's squad had to circle several kilometers before they reached a position behind the enemy line.
He stopped and turned to face Teju and Kurenai.
"Last time, we failed to complete our mission and managed to offend Deputy Commander Nara Masatake in the process. This one is going to be harder. I need you both to follow my lead. No improvising."
Teju and Kurenai exchanged a glance. They'd rarely seen Sora this serious. Then again, spend enough time on the front lines, and everyone got serious eventually.