Information Acquisition

At dawn, darkness shrouded a village of no great size.

On the east side of the village's circular outer wall, a large gate slowly opened. A team of three ninjas left the village through this gate and soon turned south.

It was clear their basic skills were not bad; they could maintain proper vigilance while moving at high speed.

They traveled without speaking, heads down, and by late morning, they finally decided to stop for a short rest.

To conceal their tracks, protect themselves, and ensure the current mission could proceed smoothly, they obviously couldn't just sit down by the roadside like elderly gentlemen out for a stroll.

The three found a dense forest and, after a brief reconnaissance of the surroundings, plunged into it.

The forest was a relatively ideal resting place, offering a considerable degree of concealment. At the same time, it would give them enough time to react if any unexpected situation arose.

However, the moment these three ninjas from the Tsugawa Clan entered the forest, a figure instantly dropped down from a large tree in front of them.

"Who... are... you..."

The three ninjas instinctively reached for the Ninja Tool Bags at their waists, but by the time all three pairs of eyes landed on the suddenly appearing "enemy," it was already too late.

Before they could make any effective reaction, those scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan were reflected in their pupils.

Later generations would summarize combat methods against the Sharingan, essentially advocating for a righteous two-on-one attack: one person distracts while the other ambushes from behind.

It was unknown if these three knew about the Sharingan or understood how to counter it, but it was clear they had absolutely no chance to execute such a tactic.

Thus, they were instantly "one-shotted." The expressions of vigilance and killing intent on the three men's faces immediately turned incredibly vacant.

"Tell me about your Clan Leader, Clan Elders, and other high-ranking officials, including their residences, daily routines, and the clan's organizational structure..."

"Yes..."

This person was, of course, Uchiha Nanami.

As she interrogated them, she attempted to extract valuable information directly from their minds.

Seeing that Uchiha Nanami had subdued the enemies, Yuzhen and Fūma Kotarō, who had been hidden, also revealed themselves.

To avoid prematurely arousing the Tsugawa Clan's suspicion, Yuzhen and his companions acted with extreme caution, choosing a location far from the village to make their move.

Furthermore, after obtaining some intelligence, they had no intention of directly eliminating these three ninjas. Instead, they had Uchiha Nanami erase the traces of Genjutsu and let the three continue their mission as planned.

Under Uchiha Nanami's mental control, these three had no memory of being attacked or controlled by Genjutsu. Instead, they would rest in the forest for an hour as originally planned before setting off again.

They felt nothing out of the ordinary.

On the contrary, Fūma Kotarō was so stunned by Uchiha Nanami's eyes that he almost forgot to record the information he heard.

"You, you are... Uchiha..."

When the emotionless Three Tomoe Sharingan turned towards him, Fūma Kotarō immediately shut his mouth and instinctively lowered his head... Honestly, who in their right mind would dare to make eye contact with the Sharingan?

Yuzhen had indeed mentioned ninjas from great Ninja Clans within the Ashes, but Fūma Kotarō hadn't expected them to be "great" to the extent of the Uchiha.

During combat missions, some topics were inconvenient to discuss in depth, but the shock brought by the Sharingan caused a shift in some of Fūma Kotarō's mindset.

"Shall we continue?" Uchiha Nanami asked Yuzhen.

"Of course, everything proceeds as planned."

The three then immediately left the area.

That evening, they again followed a group of Tsugawa ninjas out on a mission. The procedure was almost identical to the previous time; Uchiha Nanami once again used Genjutsu to extract information.

Then came the third time.

By cross-referencing and integrating the intelligence gathered from these three instances, Yuzhen and his companions gained a relatively complete understanding of the Tsugawa Clan's high-level structure.

"One Clan Leader, two Clan Elders, five Combat Captains... They have five Combat Squads of about twenty people each. In other words, the organizational structure of this Ninja Clan is flat and monotonous. Eliminating these few ninjas is equivalent to destroying the Tsugawa Clan's brain," Yuzhen summarized.

Fūma Kotarō nodded. With clear intelligence support, he felt the probability of completing the mission had greatly increased.

Well, actually, it wasn't the intelligence that gave Fūma Kotarō confidence; it was another companion who brought him confidence... The name Uchiha was indeed quite useful.

"Yes, next, I will begin infiltration operations, eliminating the high-ranking officials one by one, excluding the Clan Leader, to create panic. Once the panic spreads... In short, I hope their tolerance won't be too strong."

Yuzhen began to plan his objectives... He would temporarily spare one Village Committee Director, but the remaining two Deputy Directors and five Production Team Leaders were to be eliminated as much as possible.

It sounded like a minor skirmish. If Yuzhen's combat plan were to be named, it would likely be something like the "Village Committee Collapse Plan."

"The first phase of the combat plan has been successfully completed. After acquiring sufficient intelligence, we will proceed to the second phase of operations. Yuzhen will be responsible for infiltration, while we will remain outside the village," Uchiha Nanami stated.

The two of them were not simply waiting outside; to cooperate with Yuzhen's actions, they could now freely hunt down Tsugawa ninjas who ventured out.

However, before the second phase of the plan began...

Uchiha Nanami first handed Yuzhen a small blood potion, then used Summoning Jutsu to summon a white fox about half a person's height.

"I've synchronized my senses with my Summoning Beast, and it can help you identify the main targets... Um, its name is Xiao Qi," she said, pointing to the white fox.

Uchiha Nanami had used Genjutsu to infiltrate the minds of Tsugawa ninjas, allowing her to directly recognize the Tsugawa Clan's high-ranking officials. However, she assumed Yuzhen was immune to her Genjutsu and thus concluded that she couldn't synchronize this visual information with him via Genjutsu.

Therefore, she decided to use her Summoning Beast to help Yuzhen complete the infiltration plan.

Relying on a fox to find targets? Yuzhen looked at the white fox. It seemed reasonable; after all, foxes were canids.

He didn't correct Uchiha Nanami's perception of him, nor did he explain that his resistance to Genjutsu was an active skill, not a passive one... No normal person would want others messing with their minds.

Yuzhen took the blood potion, thinking, Is it called Xiao Qi because it's Nanami's Summoning Beast? What a simple naming convention.

"I might not need it, but I'll take it for now."

The white fox appeared to be an elegant creature, but as Yuzhen observed Uchiha Nanami's Summoning Beast closely, he noticed it looked a bit chubby, giving it a silly and cute appearance.

There was nothing to dwell on. Yuzhen then infiltrated the village shrouded in shadows.