Joint Mission of the ANBU and the Root

He would be walking right into a trap if he went back.

Jiraiya deliberated for a long time, then turned and left.

He prepared to find Tsunade and Orochimaru, to discuss matters thoroughly and see if they could return to the village together.

With Tsunade and Orochimaru accompanying him, he would feel much more at ease.

Even if they could not defeat the enemy, they could still escape.

The summoning animals of the three of them were certainly no pushovers.

Coming and going in a hurry, Jiraiya quickly left the Land of Fire.

He tracked down the whereabouts of his two old friends and set off after them.

The border of the Land of Fire.

An outpost.

This place was a concealed valley.

Konoha designated this spot as a frontline camp, arranging five squads of ninja to monitor the border here. Once a situation arose, they would immediately dispatch people to report to the village, while taking the lead to block illegally entering enemies.

This bought time for the village to receive the news.

On this day, uninvited guests arrived at the camp.

A Konoha ANBU with flying silver hair and wearing a pretty fox mask crouched on a tree branch. Behind him, dozens of ninja crouched densely and silently.

They were all ANBU ninja dressed just like him.

If anyone from Konoha's upper echelons had been here, they would have been able to tell that this was composed jointly by the Hokage's Direct ANBU and the Root.

A rare joint mission between the Hokage's Direct ANBU and the Root!

Leading them was Kakashi, the current captain of the Hokage's Direct ANBU, and lingering slightly behind him to one side was Aburame Ryoma, the current leader of the Root, whose form was hidden inside a black robe while wearing a hood and dark glasses!

"It has been scouted out. Tents one through nine are where the ninja of the Sarutobi Clan live."

An ANBU led a few people and appeared on a nearby tree, respectfully squatting on one knee to report the intelligence just gathered to Kakashi and Aburame Ryoma.

For this operation, Kakashi served as the supreme commander, with Aburame Ryoma assisting!

A trace of coldness flashed through Kakashi's eyes. He glanced at the wisps of cooking smoke rising in the camp, and said indifferently, "Strike after nightfall. Leave no remnants of the Sarutobi."

Night.

A moonless and wind-blasted night for killing.

The ANBU, like wraiths, silently infiltrated the valley camp. The guards were taken care of first, and then the people inside the tents.

After finishing off the remnants of the Sarutobi Clan, the ANBU and the Root quietly departed once more.

The valley was deathly quiet, seeming no different from usual.

Yet the blood flowing from the tents indicated what had happened here...

The next day, several ninja of the Hyuga Clan woke up from their tents.

They were responsible for monitoring the border.

"There's a situation!"

Someone yelled out.

He discovered something was wrong!

A red pool of water had actually gathered within the camp!

With a terrified expression, he looked around. A small, dark-red stream flowed out from almost every tent, ultimately converging into this sunken red pool.

Have enemies invaded? Are all our comrades dead?

This thought was the very first to surface in his mind.

The next instant, doubt arose in his heart: why were the few of them not dead?

Had they simply been spared? That was impossible, right?

At this time, his clansmen also ran out from their tents one after another, all of them struck dumb with astonishment upon seeing this terrifying scene.

"Datu, what is the situation here?"

The person called Datu was the first Hyuga clansman to come out.

Hyuga Datu shook his head with a blank expression. "I don't know either. It was already like this the moment I came out."

As they spoke, all of them instinctively activated their Byakugan.

After scanning the entire camp vigilantly and finding no enemies, they finally relaxed.

Yet a trace of panic also rose within their hearts.

Under the probe of their Byakugan, only the few of them remained in the entire camp!

Not a single living soul was left!

You had to know that their camp had hundreds of people!

Even if those hundreds of people were pigs, it would still take quite a while to slaughter them all, wouldn't it?

It was impossible for there not to be the slightest sound, right?

Yet last night they had not heard any sound whatsoever, nor had they been woken up, and they had slept very soundly!

Combined with this horrifying scene before their eyes, one could deduce that everyone in the camp besides them was dead!

Hyuga Datu swallowed hard. "It's unsafe here. Let's hurry and transmit the intelligence to the village! Enemies have invaded."

His clansmen all concurred with this decision.

Yet just as they prepared to set off, they suddenly discovered a letter placed at the entrance of their tent, nailed to a piece of wood.

"Come quickly, another discovery! There's a letter!"

Hyuga Datu and the others hurriedly turned their heads and crowded around.

"What does it say? Open it quickly and see what is written."

They were terrified in their hearts right now. After all, they were merely a few Chunin; although they possessed the Byakugan, they were no match for ordinary Chunin.

You had to know that there were quite a few Jonin in this camp! Even they had died without making the slightest sound—what did this indicate?

It indicated that the person who killed them was even more formidable!

How could it be something that a few Hyuga Chunin like them could handle?

This letter should be a challenge.

Before even opening the envelope, this thought arose in the minds of several of them.

After all, what else could this be called besides provocation, to silently kill everyone in the camp except them?

Presumably, the enemy was about to go to war with Konoha!

They knew that most of the ninja in this camp belonged to the Sarutobi Clan.

There were quite a few unfamiliar faces, but after staying in this camp for quite a long time, they came to know that these people were all members of the Sarutobi Clan.

Now that so many ninja of the Sarutobi Clan had been killed by the enemy, the Third Hokage certainly would not let the matter rest.

Their border post had not yet received intelligence from the village, and they had thought that the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was still alive.

After opening the letter, the eyes of several of them widened!

As it turned out, this letter was left behind by Kakashi of the Hokage's Direct ANBU!

They all recognized Kakashi.

Kakashi was the son of Konoha's White Fang, and he had displayed super-strong talent at a young age. In fact, several of them were even in the same graduating class as Kakashi!

Naturally, they were not unfamiliar with Kakashi!

As it turned out, the letter mentioned that these people of the Sarutobi Clan were rogue ninja!

The Hyuga members were not particularly confused by this—who asked so many unfamiliar faces they had never seen before to suddenly appear here?

And all of them were wearing Konoha Forehead Protectors!

Who knew where they had popped out from!

Kakashi belonged to the Hokage's Direct ANBU, and since he said so, it should be correct.

"Hey, Kakashi says a batch of people will arrive this afternoon to take over this camp, and tells us to clean the place up."

Hyuga Datu looked around with a sallow complexion and resigned himself to fate. "Damn it, we still have half a morning. Come on, everyone get moving."

The few people here began to clean up the mess.

At a place less than twenty miles away from the valley, a group of ninja were hurrying over toward this side.

They all shared one characteristic, which was wearing Konoha Forehead Protectors.

They were the ninja mentioned in the letter who were taking over the border.

Led by Uchiha Yashiro, the team drew people from every clan, supplemented by a small portion of civilian ninja, forming this force.

Their subsequent mission was to replace the camp in monitoring the border.