Tentative Plan

Kei ignored them, not even saying goodbye as he quickly left the village.

This wasn't because Uchiha Kei was dissatisfied with Minato, Kakashi, or the others. On the contrary, Uchiha Kei quite liked them. However, the mission simply didn't make him happy.

Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya were much the same. After glancing back at the four of them, they also quickly ran out, following Uchiha Kei.

To attract the attention of the Iwa Ninja, they naturally had to separate from Minato's team. Otherwise, Uchiha Kei's team would be hindering the mission.

They quickly ran out of Konohagakure and headed towards the mission's direction. Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves of the towering trees, casting dappled shadows on the ground.

Between the trees and shadows, three small figures sped across the branches, leaving behind trails of afterimages.

In this dim light, these small afterimages were even harder to see. Not even the most sensitive birds in the dense forest noticed them.

Before setting out, Uchiha Kei had already devised a strategy: reach the mission location quickly and hide.

Their team included a member of the Hyuga Clan, which gave Uchiha Kei great convenience. At the very least, they could thoroughly scout the enemy situation before considering their next move.

However, Uchiha Kei also knew how troublesome this mission was. He couldn't refuse it, but he also didn't want to die, so he had to think of other ways.

It took about three days for the three of them to finally cross the border and enter Kusagakure. However, under Uchiha Kei's lead, they didn't go to meet up with the main force.

This decision left Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya very confused. But as ninjas in wartime, they could only obey Captain Kei's orders.

"Let's rest for a bit." After entering a forest within the Land of Grass, Uchiha Kei stopped and was the first to sit down and recover his stamina.

Now, they had to maintain their best condition at all times to deal with any potential combat.

"Byakugan, activate!"

Without needing Kei to say anything, Hyuga Aya activated her Byakugan to observe their surroundings. She also knew their current predicament, and for her own safety, she didn't dare to be careless.

"No danger." After a moment of observation, Hyuga Aya closed her Byakugan and said softly.

"Mm." Uchiha Kei nodded, then continued, "We have now reached the Land of Grass and are about to enter the mission target area. Now is the time to discuss our next strategy. Do you want to live?"

Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya were stunned by Uchiha Kei's words. They didn't expect him to bring up the question so openly.

After looking at Uchiha Kei, the two of them wisely chose to remain silent.

Ninjas who could graduate from the Ninja Academy, go to the battlefield, and survive until now were not fools.

With their intelligence, they naturally understood the true purpose of the mission assigned by the village: to be cannon fodder to tie down and defend against the Iwa Ninja.

In fact, there were many ways to save their lives. The best method would be to wander along the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, engaging in minor skirmishes until the war ended. They believed the two of them understood this principle.

But they could only think this way, and even act this way, but they couldn't say it out loud!

This is politics.

Uchiha Kei's direct question immediately blocked the paths of the two of them. After all, once they voiced such thoughts, it would mean their futures were ruined.

Uchiha Kei said nothing, merely watching them with a half-smile. How could he not guess their thoughts?

He had thought of countless methods on the way here, but rejected them all.

These two could idly coast until the war ended on the border, but as captain, Uchiha Kei could not.

If he just coasted until the end and returned to the village, Uchiha Kei would be ruined, even possibly bearing the charge of 'delaying military operations'.

Even though Uchiha Kei was very clear that the Iwa Ninja wouldn't last much longer even without action, others might not think so.

Konoha's higher-ups always needed a glorious image, but in reality, their orders had buried countless ninjas.

For this reason, the higher-ups would naturally try every means to divert people's attention and shift the conflict.

A common method was to find scapegoats to bear responsibility, or find some unlucky fellows to carry the stigma of being cowards or killing their comrades.

Or, they would use someone's achievements to attract people's attention, and the dead would naturally become those who 'contributed to the village'.

If Uchiha Kei really said and did that, the final result would naturally be completely helping Konoha's higher-ups, who already disliked the Uchiha Clan anyway.

Uchiha Kei would never do such a thing, and naturally, he couldn't let his teammates think that way, much less let them act on it.

Regardless of whether they were actually thinking such things, Uchiha Kei had to prevent certain events. No one wanted to die, but Uchiha Kei even less wanted to be a scapegoat.

"What's wrong, you two? This simple question shouldn't require so much thought, right?"

Uchiha Kei leaned back against a large tree, sneering. At the same time, his hand behind his back had already reached into his ninja pouch, ready to act.

To be honest, this silver coin, Uchiha Kei, actually hoped they would speak their minds. With his current strength, he could kill one of them at the cost of some price, and then escape.

Although Uchiha Kei didn't believe they would dare to speak or even act, the cautious Uchiha Kei had to prepare for the worst.

After a long while, Imai Kenta and Hyuga Aya exchanged glances. Hyuga Aya gritted her teeth and said, "Captain, I think you should know what this mission means, right?"

"Of course I know." Uchiha Kei looked at the two with a half-smile. "So, I wanted to ask for your opinions."

"We will complete our mission." Imai Kenta smiled innocently. "But I think we should be more careful and utilize our Byakugan advantage."

"Oh? Not a bad idea." Uchiha Kei relaxed his guard, saying nonchalantly.

As expected, they didn't dare to make a move. Directly acting would be equivalent to betraying Konoha, which was even more terrifying than their actual thoughts.

Moreover, they also knew that Uchiha Kei, having survived this long, definitely had his own capabilities.

The three of them were the same. Their teammates had changed one after another, but the three of them were still alive, which naturally explained a lot.

It was just that this time, the three of them sighed inwardly: This is troublesome, we've encountered the same kind of person.

The three silver coins were truly just seeing who was more ruthless, who had a stronger will to survive.

"Since that's the case, then we'll find suitable positions ourselves and do what needs to be done."

Uchiha Kei chuckled and said, "Kenta-kun is right. Since we have the Byakugan, we should use it well. We'll reach our designated location first, and then we'll be counting on Aya."

"No problem, but what about after that?"

"Find a place with few people, and we'll Sneak Attack. There are other teams anyway, aren't there?"