A Senju Tale: Change of Fate - 33 Search and Destroy

Koryu and Nawaki stood around the planning table in the command center. Koryu turned to Nawaki and said, “It is time to crash Kumo’s party. Guys, come out.”

From the shadows, 3 ANBU agents emerged and kneeled before Koryu. He then turned and said, “These three will be your subordinates on this mission. Your orders are to infiltrate Kumo’s encampment and kidnap their commanding officer. If that is not possible, waste him. After that, burn it to the ground. Complete these objectives by any means necessary. Successful completion of this mission will help us finish the job on this front. You will leave in one hour and scout out the area until nightfall before making your move. Please remove your masks. You are dismissed.”

Koryu then picked up a few papers and left the room. Nawaki turned to his team and said, “Ohayo. Please, introduce yourselves.”

The three ANBU agents stood up and removed their masks, sealing them into storage scrolls. The one on the left had red hair and soft facial features. He had deep blue eyes and was quite built. He spoke up saying, “Ohayo Nawaki Taichou. My name is Uzumaki Kira.”

Nawaki scoffed and said, “Please spare me the formalities. Just call me Nawaki.”

The middle one was a girl with black hair. She had sharp facial features but they somehow still looked feminine. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had light brown eyes. She said, “My name is Nara Kikuko.”

The last was another guy with jet black hair. He had sharp and masculine facial features and quite a toned physique. He would have black eyes but his sharingan was active. He said, “My name is Uchiha Kogetsu.”

Nawaki heard the names of his teammates and didn’t need to ask them about their specialties. The Uzumaki was obviously a fuinjutsu and ninjutsu specialist on top of being an absolute chakra beast because of that God forsaken bloodline. The Nara was your run of the mill lazy genius that used the clan’s shadow manipulation. Lastly, the Uchiha was an all rounder thanks to those eyes and his genetics. There was just one question to be asked.

Nawaki turned to Kira and asked, “In the case where everything goes to shit, can you use the adamantine chains?” Kira smiled and said, “Hell yeah I can. I was taught by Ashina sama personally.”

Nawaki laughed and said, “It’s funny how small the world is. He is my cousin!” The team laughed and then walked out of the command center.

As they walked, Nawaki said, “I pretty much have an idea for how we’re gonna do this. I’m already packed with more than enough stuff so if you guys are ready, let’s head out early. We will discuss our plan once we set up camp tonight. It’ll take until tomorrow afternoon to get there. You guys ready?”

The three of them nodded so they departed immediately. Kogetsu led the charge to watch the front with his sharingan. Kira was behind him to provide frontal support. Then there was Kikuko. Nawaki told her that she would give orders on the fly but he would still have the final say on their plans. Lastly, Nawaki held their back and monitored the surrounding area with his senjutsu enhanced sensing.

That day was nothing special. It was cold and windy. The clouds covered the sky and it was somewhat dark. The only good thing about it was that it was not raining or snowing. As the light began to fade, the team stopped and set up camp.

Not even giving them a chance to start setting up, Nawaki weaved some hand signs and said, “Mokuton: Shichuka no Jutsu” (Four-Pillar House). A small wooden cabin emerged from the ground. Nawaki grinned and turned to his teammates before brushing off his shoulders.

Kogetsu scoffed and rolled his eyes as Nawaki pulled some futons and a stove out of his inventory. He tossed the futons over to his team and they went to set up their sleeping arrangements. He then pulled out a stove and started cooking.

Soon enough, his three teammates floated out of the cabin as they followed the smell. They quickly scrambled and sat around the stove as they salivated and stared at the food with hungry eyes.

As ANBU operatives, their missions always involved them hiding in the shadows. All they ate when out of the village was rations and food pills. On a mission, they had never eaten a proper meal or slept under a roof. To them, this was a life of luxury and they would only get a small taste.

“Itadakimasu!” They all dug in. The three ANBU groaned with pleasure as they inhaled the food like a breath of fresh air. Kira turned to Nawaki and said, “Where the hell did you learn how to cook?”

Nawaki laughed and said, “I’ve been cooking for my family since I was like 6. I wasn’t that great back then but now people always rave about my cooking.” Kogetsu was amazed. Despite the positive relations between their two clans, he still had some deep seated mistrust towards them. He thought that Nawaki would be some spoiled clan head’s kid but in fact, he was great to have around.

The team enjoyed their food and once they were done, they got down to business.

Nawaki got serious and said, “Tomorrow will be when we carry out this mission. Here is our plan. We are gonna sleep in tomorrow morning and then head out. We will get to the mission area in the afternoon. Until nightfall, we are going to split up into two teams and scout out the area. Take note of guard paths, guard locations, key structures in the camp, and population. Also jot down anything else that is noteworthy. Any questions so far?”

They all shook their heads so he continued, “Once it is dark, we make our move. We will take out anyone in the way as we plant explosive and incendiary tags. After that is set up, we will infiltrate the command center, knock out the officer, and I’ll transport us out of the area. As soon as we clear the blast zone, we light em up.”

Kikuko raised her brow and asked, “How exactly do you plan to get us out? Aren’t we going to be in the middle of the encampment?” Nawaki grinned and took out one of his special kunai.

Upon seeing it, the three of them widened their eyes. Kira then said, “Oh, I heard rumors about that. I’ve heard that your whole academy team has reached the rank of master sealer. Mind if I take a look at that?” Nawaki chuckled and tossed the kunai over to the Uzumaki.

After examining the sealing formula for a few minutes he scrunched his face. He laughed and said, “Damn kid. You really are something. I couldn’t understand anything from looking at it! I’ll be looking forward to seeing it in action.”

The four of them cleaned up the mess from dinner and headed inside to get some sleep. The night went by quickly but they all enjoyed getting to sleep in. They all naturally woke up at around 10 AM and started packing up their camp. It would take around 3 hours to reach the mission area so they packed up quickly and headed out.

Conveniently, they were able to avoid Kumo’s perimeter scouting teams using Nawaki’s sensory capabilities. At around 2 PM they arrived at their meeting area. It was about a mile out from the target. Nawaki took one of his kunai and concealed it using some grass so that it was barely visible. As long as he could sense it, visibility was not a problem.

Using hand signs, Nawaki sped off to one side of the camp with Kogetsu while Kikuko and Kira headed to the other side. The group reconvened at the meeting spot at around 6 PM. The sun was starting to set so it was time to prepare for action.

Nawaki took some leftovers out of his inventory that he packed away the previous night and distributed some small portions to each of his teammates. They were happy that they didn’t have to do this on an empty stomach.

To be safe, they waited until 11 PM to commence the operation. Kira distributed his own explosive and incendiary tags to the other three. Nawaki made some signals to communicate that they needed to hide their presence and be silent from here on out. Then they moved out.

It was a clear night. There was a slight breeze that would wick the sweat off of their bodies. A full moon shone in the sky and provided a decent amount of light. This would prove convenient because there would be shadows even in the night.

In order to avoid detection, they proceeded on foot. They approached the camp and encountered the first two guards. Nawaki signaled to Kogetsu and Kikuko and they got ready.

Nawaki and Kogetsu took out kunai and threw them at the Kumo ninjas’ heads. As they flew through the air, Kikuko extended her shadow and froze the two guards in place. As they realized that they couldn’t move, the kunai struck their heads and they died before they hit the ground.

Nawaki threw one of his special kunai into the ground, flickered over to the bodies, and teleported them back to their meeting point. He then reappeared with his team.

According to their scouting, another patrol was to pass this area in 30 seconds. They quickly hid behind two of the tents that dotted the perimeter of the encampment. Nawaki sat down into the lotus position.

He entered sage mode and stretched out his senses. Right on schedule, the patrol of two guards rounded the corner and approached their position.

Using wood release, he extended four tendrils into the ground. For each guard, there were two tendrils. He extended one up behind each of their heads. In one sweeping motion, the second tendril drilled through their chests and the first wrapped around their faces to cover their mouths.

Nawaki then moved up and teleported the bodies away just like the last ones. Then the group continued forward. They snaked around the camp planting the explosive and incendiary tags. As they made their way through, they took care of 12 pairs of guards total.

Finally, they closed in on the command center. There were two Kumo ninja guarding the entrance. Nawaki signaled and had Kira and Kogetsu move forward on each side of the command tent.

The two Konoha ninja inched up behind the Kumo ninja. In an instant, they covered the Kumo ninjas’ mouths and slit their throats. They dragged the bodies back and Nawaki teleported them away.

The four of them then transformed into some of the Kumo ninja that they killed and entered the tent. Inside it was one big room with a table in the middle. Several shelving units lined the walls of the tent and they were half filled with scrolls.

Kikuko took the lead and walked in. As her three teammates approached the table she said, “Taichou, reporting in with our scouting reports.”

The officer sighed and said, “Hai hai, just put them on the table and go to sleep.” As he said this, Nawaki flickered behind the officer and knocked him unconscious with a chop to the back of the neck. His body fell to the ground but Nawaki caught it before it could make a sound.

The group then went around and sealed all of the documents in storage scrolls and prepared to head out.

He gently laid it down and the four of them undid their transformations. Then Kira spoke up and said, “Change of plans guys. Our meeting spot is too far to remotely detonate. I’ll have to set off the tags before we leave.”

Nawaki sighed and said, “Alright, that’s fine. Everyone gather around me and grab my shoulders.”

Nawaki knelt down and put his hand on the unconscious officer as his teammates grabbed his shoulders. Nawaki then said, “I’ll count it down. 3… 2… 1… go.”

As he said go, Kira made a hand sign and flared his chakra. As soon as he was done, they disappeared. The instant they were gone, several explosions and fires ignited across the encampment.

The group reappeared at their meeting spot and looked back towards the Kumo encampment as it was set ablaze. Nawaki then took out a paralysis and chakra suppression seal and placed it on the officer.

Once the officer was secured, he placed him on the floor. Following this, him and Kira started sealing all of the dead Kumo guards into storage scrolls.

Now that everything was packed up, they all ate a food pill to restore some energy and they headed straight back to their camp.

They traveled at a much quicker pace as they returned since they would not be stopping. As the sun rose, the team arrived back at Konoha’s encampment.

Without delay, they went straight to the command center to report to Koryu. They walked into the war room and Nawaki placed the officer on the floor. Then he and Kira took the scrolls containing the bodies and placed them on the planning table.

Koryu smiled at the outcome of the mission. It went perfectly. He then said, “Bring him and the bodies over to Tu0026I. Take the documents over to the intelligence corps.”

“Hai taichou!” The four of them then split up to make their deliveries to complete their mission. After completing their final objective, the team was exhausted. Thus, they all returned to their quarters for some much needed rest before the war meeting that afternoon.