Yamanaka Ino closed her eyes and formed hand seals. Her telepathy raced toward the Chakra fluctuations ahead.
After a moment, she opened her eyes, her face pale. "This is bad. There are at least twenty guards inside. Five Jonin and more than ten Chunin. The Chakra fluctuations are strange, too. I sensed Puppet Technique and Sand Release, plus something I've never felt before. That must be the new ninjutsu they're developing."
"Five Jonin? More than ten Chunin?"
Akimichi Choji frowned. "There are only four of us. How are we supposed to get in past that many guards?"
Nara Shikamaru rubbed his chin. "We can't force our way in. We need to slip inside somehow.
"Aoba, you and I will disguise ourselves as Sunagakure shinobi and investigate. Choji and Ino will wait outside. If anything goes wrong, they'll come in and back us up."
Kawaki Aoba nodded. "That could work, but we'll need two sets of Sunagakure uniforms. Otherwise, they'll spot us right away."
"Don't worry. The Sunagakure shinobi we just defeated have uniforms. We can put them on and use the Transformation Technique to change our faces. That should get us inside."
Nara Shikamaru spoke with quiet confidence.
"Then let's move."
Kawaki Aoba and Nara Shikamaru went over to the defeated Sunagakure shinobi, took their uniforms, and changed into them. They formed hand seals and used the Transformation Technique, taking on the two shinobi's appearances.
"Well? Do I look the part?"
Nara Shikamaru inspected himself with satisfaction.
Kawaki Aoba nodded. "You do. But be careful. We need to imitate the way they speak and move, or they'll see through us."
He turned to Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino. "Choji, Ino, wait here. Come support us as soon as we signal, but don't go in before that."
"Don't worry, Aoba. We'll