You Couldn't Have Come Up with This Plan, Could You?

Everyone present understood what Uchiha Sou meant. The guy wasn't giving them any choice at all!

"Don't agree? No problem!

"Find your own way back. We have a mission to take care of, so we won't be joining you."

That might sound all well and good, but the problem was that every single one of them was in terrible shape.

On top of that, their camp had been attacked. Who knew whether reinforcements were already on their way?

How far could their battered group get? If they were caught, they might as well just die here.

And if they looked at things more darkly—suppose, just suppose!

Suppose Uchiha Sou and the others were worried about the impact of going against Hatake Sakumo, while also fearing their own intelligence might be leaked.

Wouldn't that mean Kirigakure wouldn't even need to get involved?

After all, there weren't any other Konoha shinobi in this godforsaken place!

So even though they were miserably frustrated—having just escaped the jaws of death only to run into a pack of hungry wolves, who could be happy about that?—they kept their thoughts to themselves.

But as they followed Uchiha Sou and the others, they all caught sight of Anko trailing behind them.

That put them somewhat at ease. Anko might not be known to absolutely everyone, but at least here in the Land of Whirlpools, everyone knew who she was.

"This is Lord Orochimaru's summons!"

Once they understood that, none of them dared to harbor any more resentment. Even if they did, they'd have to keep it to themselves.

After all, Lord Orochimaru's disciple was with them. This was probably Lord Orochimaru's own stance.

Perhaps that was why they were now obediently following Uchiha Sou's lead.

"Captain Sou, what should we do next?"

But after they had left the camp and wandered through the forest for three days, Nara Rukawa, the pineapple-haired man who had no idea what they were supposed to be doing, finally spoke up.

Nara Rukawa was a Chunin, but as a member of the Nara Clan, he had considerable standing in the group. He was also quite capable.

He might have been a Chunin, but that was because he'd inherited the Nara Clan's fine tradition of being far too lazy. He hadn't completed enough missions, which meant he had no chance of becoming a Jonin.

Of course, he had no desire to become a Jonin anyway.

He'd been captured this time purely because he was unlucky. While on a mission, he'd run into two members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.

In the end, his Akimichi Clan teammate had died, while he and his Yamanaka Clan teammate had been captured and subjected to the Great Memory Recovery Jutsu.

Now that Uchiha Sou's squad had rescued them, he still felt uneasy about their aimless wandering through the forest.

"I'd personally recommend finding somewhere to rest for a while. We can all keep going, but..."

At that, Nara Rukawa gestured with his eyes for Uchiha Sou to look behind them. The people lagging behind were clearly the Konoha prisoners they had rescued.

They hadn't been in good shape to begin with, and they'd spent the past three days gritting their teeth and hiding in the woods to evade the Mist Ninja. If this continued, they might really collapse.

The weakest among them was a medical ninja named Asakawa. He'd had the hardest time of all over the past three days.

After his chakra seal was removed, he'd not only treated Uchiha Shizuka, but also helped the other prisoners. After three days of that, he was nearly at his limit.

And he was the only medical ninja in the group. If anything happened to him, they'd be in serious trouble!

Uchiha Sou knew their condition too, and couldn't help shaking his head.

The Mist Ninja had been far too ruthless, turning the people he'd rescued into a burden.

Still, for the sake of the future, he had to put up with this. Now that Nara Rukawa had come to speak with him, Uchiha Sou felt it was time to talk things over with him.

The Nara Clan were renowned for their intelligence. That might have been a stereotype, but their reputation was hard to ignore. Perhaps this guy could offer some ideas.

And even if he couldn't, as one of the prisoners, he could still help smooth things over between the groups.

"Good timing, Chunin Rukawa. There are some things I'd like you to help me think through."

Uchiha Sou said with a smile, then turned and called out loudly.

"Everyone, take a break where you are and stand by. Might Guy, Tetsu, you're on watch. Thanks for your hard work."

"Yes, Captain." Might Guy and Hyuga Tetsu nodded at once, then quickly ran off.

The prisoners immediately sat down at the order. They'd been at their limit for a while.

Shiranui Genma and the others ran over to see what Uchiha Sou had planned.

"Chunin Rukawa, our most important task right now is finding a suitable place to serve as our base."

Uchiha Sou spread a map out on the ground, then continued.

"There are a lot of us. We need to think about food and supplies, shelter, and intelligence.

"So we can't just hide out in a cave. The best option is to find a town and use it as our center. That way, we can grow our presence and carry out our next missions more effectively."

"A town?" Nara Rukawa was taken aback by Uchiha Sou's words, then cautiously asked, "Captain Sou, may I ask what our mission is?"

"Gather as much intelligence as possible and use it to disrupt Kirigakure." Uchiha Sou answered directly. "It'd be even better if we could tie up the Mist Ninja on the front lines and keep track of their movements."

Uchiha Sou had simply repeated, word for word, the mission details he'd received before setting out.

But at once, Nara Rukawa's expression changed. He suddenly felt that he hadn't merely stumbled into a trap!

He knew this mission, of course. Even if he'd never done it himself, he knew more or less how it was supposed to work. Was this really the kind of mission you carried out with so many people together?

Still, Nara Rukawa forced himself to stay calm. Anko was in the group, after all.

He figured the man in front of him must have been given a mission by Lord Orochimaru. Surely he wouldn't do anything reckless.

Right?

"Captain Sou, the Mist Ninja are all entrenched in the big cities." With that thought, Nara Rukawa cautiously said, "Wouldn't it be hard to gather intelligence in a town?"

"That's true, but Chunin Rukawa, you need to look at the bigger picture and think further ahead."

Uchiha Sou shook his head slightly, a smile appearing on his face.

"Granted, the Mist Ninja are all in the big cities, and with so many of us, we can't just walk in. But it seems you've forgotten some very important people."

"Very important people..."

Hearing Uchiha Sou's words, Nara Rukawa's mind immediately began racing. Who could possibly help them?

He truly lived up to the Nara Clan's reputation. In an instant, Nara Rukawa figured it out!

"Captain Sou, you mean the civilians of the Land of Whirlpools?" It was phrased as a question, but Nara Rukawa sounded completely certain.

In this situation, the only people who could provide them with all kinds of help were the civilians!

"Exactly. Those civilians who hate Kirigakure to the bone." Uchiha Sou smiled and nodded.

But he hadn't expected Nara Rukawa's expression to turn grim the moment he finished speaking. Then Rukawa said something that made Uchiha Sou's expression darken too.

"You couldn't have come up with this plan yourself, could you, Captain Sou?"

"..."