Mission

Early the next morning, after doing some simple training, Uchiha Kei headed for the meeting place.

In wartime, every ninja was a military resource. Even members of great clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga had to fight to protect the village.

Of course, there were policies from above and countermeasures below. For instance, the Hyuga Clan sent mostly Branch Family members into battle.

With the Caged Bird protecting them, they didn't need to worry about others taking their Byakugan. This was especially important after a Main Family member was killed by Mist Shinobi and had one of his Byakugan gouged out.

The Uchiha weren't fools, either. While some of the ninjas they deployed had awakened the Sharingan, they were sent to relatively safe areas.

Those who hadn't awakened the Sharingan, on the other hand, followed the village's orders and went wherever the village needed them.

Uchiha Kei belonged to the latter group. The main reason was that he had never shown his Sharingan to anyone.

Until he felt safe enough, Kei would rather keep his head down. War was dangerous, but it was still better than ending up on Konoha's blacklist.

This had its pros and cons. The downside was that Kei would be in considerable danger, but the upside was that his Guiding Jonin would be someone trusted by Konoha.

Just like Obito, the "deadweight" of the Uchiha Clan, who had an elite Jonin like Namikaze Minato as his mentor.

Uchiha Kei and Uchiha Obito were in the same class, but Kei wasn't as lucky as the other boy.

His Guiding Jonin wasn't anyone famous, nor was he a member of Ino-Shika-Cho.

He was simply a Jonin who was completely loyal to the Hokage faction. His name was Fukuhisa Kouhei.

And he wasn't even the Jonin originally assigned to Kei. His first Guiding Jonin had died heroically while covering for his teammates on a mission.

Kei's teammates were just as unremarkable. There was no Might Guy, no Kurenai, and no one like Asuma or Shiranui Genma.

One of his teammates was a Commoner Ninja named Imai Kenta, a ninja with formidable Taijutsu skills. He was also sharp-witted, and had survived from the beginning of the war until now.

The other was more interesting. Her name was Hyuga Aya, and, as her name suggested, she was a member of the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family.

She was clever, too—so much so that she could be called a very calculating woman.

Kei's relationship with his teammates was ordinary. They weren't particularly close, but they had no real grudges against each other, either. Their team had come together through a series of replacements.

They had also completed quite a few missions together, and it was those missions that had allowed Kei to notice their schemes and unspoken thoughts.

Ninja casualties were high during wartime. Even several of Kei's teammates had died, and the same was true of the other two.

To put it plainly, all three of them were old schemers. Otherwise, they wouldn't have survived this long.

"Why are you so slow? Is this how the Uchiha Clan always is?" When Kei reached the meeting place, everyone else was already there. Hyuga Aya frowned at him. "We have a mission."

"A mission?" Kei nodded calmly, then glanced around in puzzlement. "Where's Fukuhisa Kouhei? Why is it just the three of us?"

Imai Kenta, who was sitting nearby polishing his tools, looked up. "The captain left with the other Jonin for the front line half an hour ago. The Iwa Ninja are attacking fiercely, and we've been given a mission of our own."

The Kikyo Pass Battle was brutal, especially since Konoha had only just dealt with the Sand Shinobi and had no time to recover.

Both sides suffered heavy losses, and Konoha's strength had been badly depleted. The Land of Earth had clearly chosen this moment to take advantage of the situation.

But the Iwa Ninja had attacked the Raikage's forces as well. At this rate, Konoha might really not be able to hold out.

The official account said that the squad led by Minato destroyed Kannabi Bridge, completely cutting off the enemy's supply line and reinforcements.

But Kei thought the Iwa Ninja had been unable to hold out because they were fighting on two fronts. They had Konoha in front of them and the Kumogakure forces behind them. Anyone would have struggled under those circumstances.

"What's our mission?" Kei nodded. "And who's the captain?"

"You are." Aya seemed somewhat displeased, but she spoke seriously. "Our mission is to cover Namikaze Minato's squad and help them complete theirs."

During the great war, the ninjas of every country had become much more militarized. Their discipline was far better than it had been in the manga.

Aya's words made Kei frown. This mission was clearly using them as bait.

They hadn't been told what Minato's squad was doing. They were only supposed to cover the squad's mission. Though Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya both knew this was a bait mission, they had no idea what Minato's squad was actually going to do.

But Kei knew. The squad's mission was to blow up Kannabi Bridge!

That meant the three of them were being sent to their deaths to draw enemy fire!

Thinking about the original story, Kakashi and the others had barely encountered any enemies. Just consider it: why would such an important strategic position have so few guards?

Even if Kakashi and the others were only supposed to sneak in, there couldn't have been just one or two people guarding the place, could there?

Clearly, someone else had drawn the enemy's attention, allowing Kakashi's team to infiltrate successfully.

Kei's brows knit together. This was a terrible mission. He remembered that after Obito died, a group of Iwa Ninja appeared. Didn't that mean the people drawing their fire had mostly been wiped out?

What's more, Kei remembered that Obito had been taken away by Uchiha Madara because of this mission. In other words, Madara had a hideout near Kannabi Bridge.

Still, Kei didn't think he could refuse the mission. Deserting during wartime was no better than losing his life on the battlefield—in fact, it was worse.

"How many other squads are supporting their mission?" Kei thought for a moment before asking, "How far in are we supposed to go?"

"There are six other squads supporting them," Aya replied promptly. "I don't know how far in we're supposed to go. Our job is to draw the enemy's attention and hold them back."

What a hellishly troublesome mission!

Kei cursed inwardly, but quickly pulled himself together. With six other squads, they still had a chance of making it out alive.

It was entirely a matter of luck, but Kei had been keeping his abilities hidden. He didn't think he was completely helpless when it came to surviving.

After gaining so much experience, Kei felt that if he was careful enough, he still had a chance.

"Then let's go."

With that, Kei waved and sprinted toward the village gates. Since it was a mission, they couldn't afford to waste time.

Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya quickly followed. They didn't have much time, so they needed to hurry.

But just as they were about to leave the village, they happened to see Namikaze Minato's squad. They, too, seemed to be getting ready to leave.