Chapter 393

Chapter 393

“There has been a change of plans; Team – Ro will be meeting with another Anbu team hiding in the Land of Water; the four of you will remain under the leadership of that team’s captain, and I will complete the mission on my own.” – Watatsumi stated to the team’s four members.

“Wait, you can’t do this captain!” Akame protested as soon as Watatsumi’s voice fell silent.

“Don’t be stubborn,” Watatsumi groaned, “you can’t even stand or walk properly due to your injuries and poisoning, how are you going to complete the mission?”

“I… uh… these injur-…” Akame tried to respond.

Watatsumi, on the other hand, refused to let her finish. “Kirigakure is apart from other Shinobi Villages in that its shinobi are known for their brutality… Apart from the fact that the mission assigned to us by Hokage-sama is not straightforward, the four of you will only pull me down with your current injuries, it’s better if you all stay under the direction of another Anbu squad while I complete the mission.”

Akame slumped to the ground, unwilling and disappointed, after hearing Watatsumi’s comments.

Both Rabbit and Hana exuded a despondent demeanor.

They were pronounced incapable of continuing their mission even before they traveled deeper into the Land of Water? The mission’s risk was regarded so great that they were deemed incapable of continuing?

What exactly is the goal of this mission? They haven’t yet been briefed what the task entails…on

Their captain has advised them to learn to let go of things now and again, but it’s frustrating…

Only Weasel, like the excellent boy he is, was quiet and obedient.

“Don’t be too disappointed,” Watatsumi replied, casting a glance at the battlefield. ” This is your first S-Class Anbu mission, and even if the four of you didn’t manage to kill all of the Kiri shinobi, as I had intended, each of you survived against them at their home turf, albeit with a few wounds, which isn’t a bad start.

But the challenge will increase from here on out; there was only one Jonin among the two squads the four of you confronted, and even he could have escaped if I hadn’t caught up to him in time. But that will no longer be the case…”

‘None of you performed up to the standards I had hoped, which disappointed me,’ Watatsumi did not say exactly, but his message was plain to them. You even let a Jonin almost get away, and I had to clean him up to keep any intelligence from leaking out. However, I will not have time to clean up the mess you leave behind from now on. So please do as I say and stay behind so that you don’t drag me down.’

“Was there really only one Jonin among them?” Akame whispered doubtfully.

“Mm-hmm, this group only had two Jonin, one on my side and the other on Weasel and Hana’s side, the rest were all regular Chunin or Genin Class,” Watatsumi said, nodding. The reason for their superior performance is due to their home advantage and the type of growth they have experienced as shinobi of the Village of the Bloody Mist. The long-running civil war and dangerous environment of the Village of the Bloody Mist may have sapped much of this village’s potential, but it has also remarkably honed their surviving shinobi, who must constantly face life and death situations not only against other shinobi but also against themselves.”

Hearing Watatsumi’s affirmation and recognizing they couldn’t continue their task any longer, Akame and the other three stopped insisting and nodded, “Alright.”

“Don’t worry,” Watatsumi replied, “you will be continuing a few things even under his supervision, and it will also be a diversion for me to sneak inside Kirigakure, so indirectly the four of you are still participating in the operation.”

“It’s okay, captain,” Hana responded, “you don’t have to console us.”

Watatsumi did not respond, instead weaved hand signs to imitate Kage Bushin.

Poof…

“Since time is of the essence here, my Shadow Clone will escort the four of you to his Anbu team,” Watatsumi remarked, tapping the back of his Shadow Clone, which created a seal on the clone. ” Also, if Akame takes this antidote, the poison’s effects should be reduced to a bare minimum.”

Watatsumi handed the antidote to Akame, who nodded.

“Alright, now that I am leaving, you should also depart, and make sure that the four of them securely meet up with Morino Ibiki,” Watatsumi remarked, passing a scroll to his clone.

“I’ll take care of it.” – The Clone nodded and walked out with Akame, Weasel, Hana, and Rabbit to see Morino Ibiki.

“Good Luck Captain,” the four members of Team-Ro remarked to Watatsumi before leaving.

Watatsumi nodded, and the four of them, along with his clone, left.

As the swarm of crows gathered back into Itachi, Watatsumi removed his mask and inquired, “Kuroto-san, why did you not want them to participate in this mission?”

Itachi had delivered Team-Ro’s formation to one of Kirigakure’s shinobi, and Itachi had done so on Kuroto’s orders, which is why the Team-Ro was discovered by Kiri shinobi.

The reason for this is that Kuroto did not want any other member of Team-Ro to participate in this mission, which is why Itachi feels perplexed.

“Tell me your view, Itachi, do you think Team-Ro is capable of completing this mission?” Kuroto asked.

“Team-Ro is absolutely capable with you in the team,” Itachi stated, “but if your full combat power is not taken into account, I am afraid it will be an almost impossible assignment for Team-Ro, given the parameters that must be followed.”

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Infiltrating a shinobi village to specifically assassinate the village’s leader without letting a single soul discover oneself is exceedingly tough even for a squad of Sannin, let alone a team of Anbu.

Furthermore, there is a strong possibility that the Mizukage is in contact with Akatsuki, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Akatsuki members are present in Kirigakure, raising the difficulty of this mission from extremely difficult to impossible, at least for Team-Ro, even if they plan to exploit the upcoming Coup d’état.

Itachi is aware of Kuroto’s actual strength, therefore he did not find it weird that Team-Ro was given this job; yet, now that he thinks about it, it is strange that Team-Ro was given this mission.

“There is no need to think too much about it,” Kuroto stated, “the reason Sandaime-sama assigned such a mission for Team-Ro is due to the village’s scarcity of manpower.  He can only hope that Team-Ro will be able to exploit the coup d’état; after all, Sandaime-sama is aware of my ability to perform Chakra Suppression Jutsu. So it’s not so strange that he’s assigned me this mission.”

Collecting intelligence on Akatsuki and Amatsukami’s recent sightings and movements, probable new hideouts, planning Akatsuki’s retaliation, protecting the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki, dealing with the reaction of all the shinobi clans, and so on, don’t leave him with a lot of cards to play with.

“Fortunately, this task was given to you Kuroto-san; if it had been handed to any other Anbu squad, fulfilling this mission would have been impossible.” Itachi sighed.

“My subordinates have the potential to become exceptional shinobi,” Kuroto explained, “and I don’t want them to die young doing something they can’t accomplish.”

“I agree,” Itachi answered, “but now that they’re out of the picture, and it’s just the two of us, what’s the plan?”

“Have you finished all of the directions I provided you?” Kuroto inquired.

“Yes,” Itachi said with a nod.

“Sneak inside Kirigakure following one of the secret routes marked on this map, make yourself a civilian of Kirigakure, since you can also use Chakra Suppression Jutsu, so it wouldn’t be that difficult, then observe the state of the village… especially the movements of Momochi Zabuza, and wait for further order,” Kuroto said, passing another scroll from his shinobi bag to Itachi.

“I understand,” Itachi said with a nod.

“If there is no contact from my side for the next one week, and if you meet someone from Akatsuki or if the situation in Kirigakure grows too chaotic,” Kuroto said, “then you can act accordingly or retreat as per your judgment.”

“Alright.” – Itachi nodded once more.

“Also, Uchiha Tsukihi might come into contact with you,” Kuroto added again.

“Will Tsukihi-san be in the cast this time?” – Itachi inquired since neither he nor Shisui had heard from Uchiha Tsukihi after the fight against Shinno, and she did not even appear in the combat against Akatsuki, which perplexed them.

“Mm-hmm, due to certain circumstances, I am unable to employ my full strength, so I will delegate this assignment to Tsukihi; in the meantime, I have other matters to attend to.” Kuroto nodded.

“Alright.” – Itachi nodded and stopped questioning.

“Since there are no other questions, so set off,” Kuroto stated once everything was apparent.

Itachi nodded, and his body transformed into a flock of crows, which swooped away toward Kirigakure.

Kuroto also cleaned up the battlefield after Itachi left, before flying in the direction of Ancor Vantian.