Kakashi's Plan

But afterward, Ye Yuexin agonized over it for a long time and decided they shouldn't act alone after all.

The things that had happened recently had shaken his confidence a little.

He felt that his foreknowledge as a transmigrator wasn't much use.

He only knew the main plot of this world; when it came to the finer details, he still had far too little experience.

Besides, the main plot hadn't fully unfolded yet.

So it was better to play it safe.

He talked about fighting hard and daring to take risks, but a person only had one life. In this world, the slightest mistake could cost him everything.

So, to put it plainly, he was a little afraid of dying.

Ye Yuexin and the others decided to turn back the way they had come and meet up with Kakashi's team.

After asking Might Guy and Ebisu if they had any objections and hearing that they didn't, the three set off.

Since the two teams had been running toward each other, they soon met.

"Obito, are you feeling weak or something? You actually let Kakashi carry you."

When they met, Ebisu saw Obito Uchiha on Kakashi's back and teased him with a laugh.

At that, Obito Uchiha immediately got down from Kakashi's back. His face flushed red as he shot back, "You, who are always running low on chakra, have no right to talk."

"Obito only used up so much chakra because he was carrying me along the way," Rin Nohara said, stepping forward just in time to explain for Obito Uchiha.

After a bit of joking around, they began discussing the mission.

Now that they had joined up, things were much simpler.

After all, with all of them together, dealing with a defensive outpost should be easy enough.

They were all future elites, and even though they were young, each of them had their own strengths to put to use.

Take Konoha, for example.

The Land of Fire was an enormous country, but its defenses couldn't be spread too thin.

So the personnel were allocated accordingly.

The main base in each defense zone had two Jonin.

Most of the rest were Chunin or Genin, with about ten people in total.

They had to be ready to deal with emergencies at the outposts at any time.

An outpost, on the other hand, had at most five people. Its team leader was usually an elite Chunin, and only a few outposts were led by Special Jōnin.

After taking a look at their own numbers, Ye Yuexin figured they could easily handle it if they all attacked together.

Their battle plan wouldn't be quite so simple, though. Ye Yuexin already had an idea.

After all, he'd read the classic extracurricular book Romance of the Three Kingdoms in his previous life.

He was familiar with its siege tactics and strategies.

He could definitely borrow a few ideas.

So he stepped forward first and said, "I have a plan. It could nearly double the credit we earn."

"Don't tell me you're thinking of..." Hearing Ye Yuexin say that, everyone guessed what he had in mind. Genma Shiranui murmured his guess.

People at their age were all full of confidence, so it wasn't hard to figure out Ye Yuexin's plan.

Ye Yuexin saw how many people were there, and that gave him plenty of confidence.

Then he said, "Let's split into two groups. Say the Rock Ninja's defensive main base is here." As he spoke, Ye Yuexin drew a circle on the ground.

Then he continued, "We'll split into two routes and head for the outposts on either side of the Rock Ninja main base at the same time." Ye Yuexin drew two small circles not far from either side of the big one.

"Then we'll attack both outposts at once. The assault has to be fierce enough to make the people there feel they can't hold us off, but we can't actually destroy the outposts. We have to make it seem like both sides are evenly matched."

"After a while, we'll stop attacking and pretend to recover our chakra. Then, after another interval, we'll attack again."

"We can work out the precise timing later. The second attack should be a little more intense. Ideally, we'll take some of them out. Then, when we pretend to cease fire and recover again, they'll definitely send someone to report back to the Rock Ninja main base and call for reinforcements."

"That's when both teams will withdraw quickly. Then the two teams will meet up at the Rock Ninja main base."

"When the main base's people head out to reinforce the two outposts, that'll be when the main base is most vulnerable. And that's when we attack."

"We'll seize the moment and take the Rock Ninja main base!" Ye Yuexin's voice rose slightly at the end, and the mood immediately caught fire.

"Yuexin, I think you're really sneaky," Might Guy said, scratching his head.

"Idiot, that's called underhanded. No, it's called strategy," Obito Uchiha retorted.

Even so, Ye Yuexin could clearly see that everyone's breathing had quickened.

Even Kakashi unconsciously clenched his fists.

Just as Ye Yuexin thought they would all vote in favor, a cold voice rang out.

"No!"

It was Kakashi.

"Why not? Ye Yuexin's plan is great. We can definitely pull it off." As soon as Kakashi said that, Obito Uchiha, who knew him best, was the first to speak up.

His words echoed what everyone else was thinking. Everyone except Kakashi looked at him and nodded.

Kakashi stared sternly at Obito Uchiha with his dead-fish eyes and said sharply, "Forget whether this plan can succeed. Have you forgotten what mission Minato-sensei gave us?"

"If we can't carry out a mission properly, what difference is there between us and trash?"

Hearing that, Ye Yuexin pursed his lips.

It seemed Kakashi still hadn't gotten past that hurdle.

Because of what his father had done, Kakashi had become a mindless robot who obeyed every mission to the letter.

Faced with Kakashi's harsh words, everyone fell silent.

After all, Kakashi held the highest rank among them. He was the only elite Chunin; Genma Shiranui was the only other Chunin, and everyone else was still a Genin.

When no one spoke, Kakashi said, "Ye Yuexin's plan is good, but we need to make one change."

"We'll leave the first part of the plan as it is, but turn the second part from a feint into a real attack. We'll take both outposts by force, using our fiercest assault."

"After that, the Rock Ninja may become more alert. To be safe, we'll meet up then and attack the three outposts on the right together."

"If we destroy five outposts in a row, that should count as completing the mission."

Then he looked at everyone and asked, "Does anyone object?"

After what Kakashi had just said, how could anyone object? If they did, it would mean something entirely different.

So, reluctantly, they could only carry out Kakashi's plan.

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