Both sets of secret orders were genuine.
At least on the surface, neither showed any sign of forgery.
The chakra residue on the Hokage seals matched.
The mission numbers matched.
Even the authentication code known only to the Anbu Captain matched perfectly.
The only difference was how the target was to be handled.
One required a live capture.
The other authorized silencing the target.
The Anbu messenger responsible for delivering the complete orders knelt on one knee.
"The scroll never left my sight after I left the village."
Kakashi did not blame him.
"Which contact points did you pass along the way?"
The messenger named three locations.
The underground exit on Konoha's eastern side.
The horse-changing station at the Land of Fire's border.
And an Old Beacon Tower that had been out of use for years.
"Why did you pass through a decommissioned location?"
"The border horse-changing station provided a temporary route. They said suspicious individuals had been spotted on the northern road."
The orders might never have left the messenger's sight.
But someone else had already decided his route.
Kakashi immediately halted the covert squad's advance into the Disputed Mountains.
Four Root ninja, already fully equipped, stood outside the door as their operational window shrank with every breath.
One of them reminded Kakashi that a new signal fire had just appeared near the mine, and the target could move at any moment.
The pressure was not fabricated.
The later they departed, the smaller their chance of catching the contact.
But the conflicting orders were just as real.
Kakashi entered the countdown into the suspension record and explicitly took responsibility for the delay, preventing any subsequent losses from being blamed on the cross-verification personnel who had discovered the problem.
One Root ninja asked coldly, "You're giving up our window to