Prelude to Battle

"What's the use of panicking? Calm down!" The elder, interrupted, frowned and scolded, "What happened?"

"A scroll delivered by Konoha's fastest Ninja Hawk contains the latest intelligence from Akatsuki!" The person, panting heavily, carefully placed a scroll on the table with both hands.

"Let me see." Ebizo took the scroll, unfolded it, and soon his old face drooped even more.

"Ebizo, what's up there?" Chiyo asked, frowning.

"Sister, Konoha didn't lie to us before, 'Sasori' is indeed in that organization." Ebizo sighed and handed the scroll to Chiyo. "In their recent operation, they captured one of 'Sasori's' subordinates, confirming this information."

Chiyo took the scroll, her brows furrowing even more deeply.

"During our previous investigation in the Land of Wind, we discovered a suspicious individual," she read aloud as she looked at the screen. "After interrogation and verification, it has been confirmed that he is a subordinate of 'Sasori of the Red Sand'..."

"Through Secret Technique interrogation and known intelligence, we have confirmed that 'Scorpion' has joined the 'Akatsuki' organization and has planted a large number of spies and agents in your country..."

"Scorpion is missing-nin from your side and an important member of Akatsuki. Therefore, in order to express our sincerity and promote cooperation between our two sides in the fight against Akatsuki, we hereby present the following summary of all the information obtained from the interrogation. Please take note..."

She read the words on the scroll word by word, her expression growing increasingly grim.

Handing the scroll to the next elder, Chiyo said in a heavy tone, "Your previous Konoha reports about Konoha mentioned that Sasori had joined Akatsuki. I thought it was just a trick you used to lure us out of seclusion under that Katsuyu Woman's name, but I didn't expect... it's actually true."

"I never imagined that my beloved grandson would join such an evil organization and associate with such wicked people... It's truly chilling!"

"Big sister..." Ebizo glanced at Chiyo with a complicated expression, then stopped himself from speaking.

"Alright, no need to comfort this old woman who's nearing the end of her life! At my age, there's nothing I can't let go of..." Chiyo said coldly, turning her gaze to the other Sand shinobi high-ranking members. "The most important thing now is to discuss our next move."

"Now that such important intelligence has been discovered, we should order Konoha to withdraw their people back to the Land of Fire, and send our own people to investigate the matter thoroughly!" Baki said firmly.

"This won't work." An elder sitting next to Chiyo, who was flipping through an intelligence scroll, shook his head repeatedly, categorically rejecting the idea. "First of all, we don't know if Konoha would agree to such a change of heart. Even if they agreed to withdraw the Anbu, by the time we gather intelligence, it will be too late..."

"Konoha alerted them while gathering intelligence." Baki's political acumen was indeed practically zero. Chiyo sighed inwardly and continued, "Now that Sasori and Akatsuki know that some of their peripheral organizations have been discovered, they will definitely be quickly relocating their personnel and destroying evidence. In that case, by the time we finish negotiating with Konoha, Sasori's strongholds will surely be deserted."

"So what should we do?" asked the young executive named Yura.

"Of course we can't ignore this. Konoha is Konoha, and we are us. We can't really assume they'll share all our intelligence with us, nor can we leave everything to our allies..." Chiyo said coldly. "The best approach is to send our elite team to accompany them under the guise of support, ensuring that we aren't deliberately kept in the dark about important information."

"An elite support team?" Yura said Yura. "How about we send Gaara's team to complete this mission? Perfect, we can also test Gaara's performance!"

"Seconded"*N.

A city in the Land of Wind.

In the hideout of Scorpion's subordinates, disguised as an izakaya (Japanese pub).

"Why... why are you all showing no signs of poisoning even though you drank the poisoned tea and sake?" asked the spy who was suspended in mid-air by Water Release.

There was a very obvious footprint on his chest, and his body was noticeably dented, the mark left by Shino's heavy kick. The Anbu Captain's kick almost took half of the spy's life.

Sakura emitted a blue light from her hands, using Medical Ninjutsu to give a quick treatment to the most seriously injured spies, preventing them from dying before they could even be interrogated.

When she approached the dying spy, she listened to his question and gave a wry smile.

The laughter carried a hint of sarcasm.

They knew beforehand that the restaurant was problematic, so of course they wouldn't actually eat or drink the food they were offered.

Sakura appeared to have drunk two cups of tea, but in reality, she had already Water Release to hold the tea in her mouth and hadn't swallowed it.

Moreover, even if she did drink it, as medical-nin, she has ways to heal herself.

However, there's no need to tell them everything that's behind it.

She simply smiled faintly, treating his internal injuries as she said, "We were prepared, so naturally we won't fall into your trap... Stop talking nonsense, if you want to live, answer our questions honestly!"

Under the threat of death and the Genjutsu manipulation of Yuzuki Terumi, they quickly obtained the latest intelligence.

"Lord Sasori has ordered us to send a new order to the spy hidden in Orochimaru's base, requiring him to report on Orochimaru's recent movements so that the Akatsuki can continue their pursuit of Orochimaru..."

Bewitched by Yuzuki's Genjutsu, the leader of this outpost sat in a chair, his eyes rolled back, drool dripping from his mouth, mechanically answering the questions posed by the Fourteenth Squad.

They were lucky; the person in charge wasn't shot in the head for leaking information.

It seems that only those who truly know the secrets of Akatsuki and Sasori were sealed by a special Sealing Jutsu placed on them; someone like him, merely a lackey responsible for relaying information, is completely insignificant...

Shino glanced at Yuzuki and gave her a meaningful look. Yuzuki nodded in understanding and continued to ask.

"When and where will the report be held? Who will be attending?"

"The time is noon tomorrow, and the location is a place called Tenchi Bridge in the Land of Rivers. The exact location is marked on the map in the intelligence letter. Also, only Lord Sasori will be going to this rendezvous; no one else needs to accompany him..." the person in charge said curtly.

Shino, Sakura, and Yuzuki exchanged glances.

His expression gradually became serious.

It seems this trip will at least yield traces of Akatsuki or Orochimaru...

Shino walked over and knocked the spies unconscious.

"Let the other teams handle these people." He took out a signal flare and fired it into the air. "The location of the Tenchi Bridge is marked on our map; it's not close... From now on, we need to move at full speed!"

"This mission is primarily focused on intelligence gathering; we must avoid combat as much as possible! However, in the unlikely event that combat does occur..."

Shino turned back and gave Sakura a deep look.

"... I might have to ask you for help, Sakura!"

If they face Orochimaru or Sasori of the Red Sand... he and Terumi won't be able to help; it'll all be up to Sakura Haruno!

"I understand, Captain."

Sakura Haruno answered solemnly.

I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders.

(Minimum guaranteed chapter/, Bonus chapter 0/.)

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