The morning of the mission had now come with Kimimaro and the others finding themselves and the others ready to go. The Leaf squads were also ready as they stood still or at attention as they waited for their orders.
The Waterfall also had units lined up and ready to go, also preparing to attack by combining their forces to deal as much damage as possible to the Stone.
Hisen, leader of the hidden Waterfall took centre stage as he stood in the middle of the combined forces, gathering all eyes upon him, taking a moment before he spoke.
"It is time to show those Iwa bastards what we are made of. It is time for us to show them that we will not stand aside as they try to do as they please." He said, everyone, feeling the power of his words.
"Now let us go forth, and show them just how strong we are united." Hisen finished, getting a cheer from the others as they gave their battle cries.
"Looks like everyone is fired up!" Koyuki said, punching her hand as she said it.
"Yeah... This mission is going to change the tide of the war." Rokuro added, feeling the pressure that was on him.
"As long as we all stick together, we will be fine," Haku said, flashing him a smile to try to put him at ease.
The others didn't say anything, making sure to keep their own emotions in check while preparing themselves mentally for what was going to happen.
With Hisen being done with his speech, both Kakashi and Ganryu gave their own orders to their men, having both been tasked with different missions and objectives.
"You know what has to be done," Ganryu said bluntly.
"There is a strong possibility that we will encounter a strong enemy force. Which means we will be fighting with everything we have." Ganryu said, knowing he didn't have to say anything else.
"No mercy," Koyuki said, with a pointed smile on her face.
"Roger." Kimimaro also said, knowing that he would be able to let loose on this mission and make Fuyōna proud.
"Before we leave, here is your mission." Ganryu then said, also letting Kogetsu brief some of the others so that they would save time.
"You will be working in three-man teams. With one simply objective." Ganryu said.
"Our job is to do the dirty work, taking out as many guards as we can using our killing-in-mist technique." Kogetsu also added.
"So we are playing the role of assassins?" Kujira asked.
"That's right. We will enter first, taking as many out as we can. However, that is not our only objective." Ganryu said, confirming Kujira's question.
"We want to make sure that there is no chance the enemy will be able to raise the alarm. From the scout's reports, there is a force of at least 200 Iwa shinobi guarding this post, with most of them sleeping on shifts as they rota the workload to supply Kannabi bridge. Meaning the actual number of guards is only 50." Kogetsu said, getting a slow nod from everyone as they listened to his and Ganryu's words.
"It is imperative that we don't let the enemy raise the alarm before we have launched our initial surprise attack. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance." Ganryu added, speaking with a serious voice.
Everyone remained quiet, knowing that this was a potential suicide mission. However, they also knew that it had to be done.
"Alright then, if we are all ready... Let's move out." Ganryu finally said, giving the order before turning around to see Kakashi and Hisen do the same.
Haku could count around 100 men, all in all, mixed between the forces of the Mist, Leaf and mainly Waterfall. Meaning that they could be outnumbered two to one if it came to a full-on fight.
The Waterfall village was only small, however, it had always been praised for producing very talented shinobi, leaving them with a small yet very well-polished army.
Haku and the others soon reached the entrance to the Waterfall village, the way that they had been escorted in when they first arrived.
Naturally, it was well guarded, not only by shinobi but also by the natural environment, making it very difficult for any enemies to get in, never mind find the entrance, to begin with.
"Alright everyone, once we reached the outside, we will split off into groups before we meet up at the border." Hisen suddenly said, getting a nod from both Kakashi and Ganryu.
"Let's move!" Ganryu said, splitting off from the rest of the group as he led the Mist troops away from the Leaf and the Waterfall units.
"Looks like we are heading off on our own," Chika said, seeing the Leaf and Waterfall units disappear into the distance.
"No... We are splitting up so we are harder to detect for the enemy." Hattori then said, making Chika feel stupid for saying anything.
The group travelled for a while before they came to the border of the land of Waterfalls and the land of Earth, hitting the mountainous terrain that separated the two.
Ganryu stopped and allowed the group some rest and time to take on water as he explained the next part of the mission to them.
"Ok, we made it to the border. But the checkpoint is still at least five miles south of here and from the reports that the scouts have given, two watch towers are also plotted here and here." Ganryu said, pointing them out on the map so that everyone could see and pass the information around.
"I want two units in total to attack the watch towers while the rest of us move forwards," Ganryu said, taking a look around to see who he would choose.
"Haku, Kimimaro, Koyuki, Hattori and Chika. You take the first tower." Ganryu said, before assigning another team to take out the second.
"Leave no survivors and make sure the bodies are disposed of." Ganryu finally said, getting a nod from both groups.
"Ok, let's move." Ganryu then said, seeing that they had spent enough time resting and planning what had to be done.
"Yes sir." They all said, jumping up to their feet before following him along the border as they all did their best to stay out of sight.
"I hope you are ready," Hattori said to the others, letting them know not to get in his way during this mission.
Haku simply smiled and stopped Koyuki as she was about to yell at him, cutting her off before she could.
"Just make sure you are ready, Hattori," Haku said, in a surprisingly serious tone, one that he didn't use very often. Taking everyone by surprise.
"Alright, we are approaching the first watch tower," Ganryu said, passing the word back through the ranks before he came to a halt in the trees to get a better look.
The watch tower was located high up on one of the cliffs giving it a great vantage point and view of the surrounding area, making it a perfect place for a watch tower.
"It won't be easy to press forwards while the guards are still in the watch tower," Ganryu said slowly, putting his small scope down that he used to get a better look at things from a distance.
"Ok, the first team you are up," Ganryu said, giving Kimimaro and the others the signal.
Kimimaro turned to Haku and nodded, getting one in return before Haku took a good look at the cliffside, seeing only one blind spot on the way up it.
The cliff was steep, making it difficult to climb and the vantage point of the watch tower made it almost impossible to get to once out of the cover of the trees, meaning Haku was perfect for this mission.
Haku slowly placed his hands together, forming a hand sign before he created an ice mirror on the blind spot of the cliff, creating another mirror in front of him and the others.
"In we go," Haku said, turning to the others before he stepped into the mirror.
Kimimaro was the first to follow him, with Koyuki and then Hattori and Chika, who still couldn't get used to this jutsu.
Not a moment later Haku and the others stepped out of the second ice mirror that had formed on the cliffside, acting like a door as they all stepped out of it and held onto the cliff, making sure to stay out of sight.
"What an amazing jutsu... It's just like lord 5th's..." One of the other chunin Mist ninjas said, impressed.
Kogetsu smiled too, knowing that such a jutsu had incredible use. However, he also knew that, unlike Fuyōna, Haku wasn't nearly as proficient at it just yet, only able to use them where he could see rather than using them freely like Fuyōna could once he placed his seal somewhere.
"Let's get on with this already," Hattori said, being the first one of the group to start climbing the cliff, allowing his chakra to keep his feet stuck to the cliff before running up it.
"So impatient," Chika said before she followed him up, getting the others to do the same.
Once they reached the top, the group could see the watch tower and a few of the guards sitting around a small fire at the bottom of the tower.
"I count ten..." Koyuki said, seeming to have already spotted all of the guards that were currently in the open.
"There are two more inside and one at the top of the tower." Haku then said, having a better sensory ability than the others.
"Hattori, you take the guard at the top, Koyuki you take one of the guards inside and meet Hattori inside to finish the other one." Kimimaro suddenly said, taking charge of the situation.
"Chika, I want you to use your water jutsu to trap the rest in a water prison around their head, Haku, you know what to do." Kimimaro finished.
The others were a little stunned that he had come up with a plan so quickly, feeling impressed by his planning and agreeing with it without complaint.
"Whatever," Hattori said, still going along with the plan regardless.
"Let's go." Kimimaro then said, giving the signal for them to act.
Hattori used his swift release to move at high speed, moving up the watch tower before the others had even started moving yet.
Koyuki also rushed off towards the entrance of the watch tower, staying out of sight as the other guards were to busy talking around the fire.
Haku placed his hands together, making the same hand sign that he had before, forming more ice mirrors all around the group of Stone ninja that sat around the fire.
"W-what the hell is that?" One of the Stone ninja asked, seeing the ice form all of a sudden around them.
However, not a moment later water burst from each of the mirrors, wrapping around all of their heads and forcing itself down their throats, drowning them.
The Stone ninja squirmed and wriggled around as they tried to fight it, trying to scream for help as they dropped to the ground. But it was no use. Chika had perfect control of the water that was choking them to death because it was in fact part of her own body that she was controlling through just one mirror that connected to each of the others like some kind of wormhole.
Each of the Stone ninja slowly stopped moving, finally giving in to their fate before Chika slowly undid her jutsu and pulled the water back through the ice mirror and allowed it to take the form of her arms once again.
"Good work, now we wait for Koyuki and Hattori," Kimimaro said, seeing that their operation had gone down without a hitch.
Hattori had rushed up the watch tower at great speed, reaching the top in a matter of seconds, rushing the unsuspecting guard who was half asleep anyway.
"ARhhh!" The guard was about to yell before Hattori used the knife part of his hand combined with his steel release to slice his throat, silencing him before he dropped to the ground choking on his own blood.
Hattori didn't look back at the Stone ninja and instead opened the trap door on the base of the roof, taking a peek inside seeing that the below room was clear.
"Hey, Hanbu!" A voice suddenly yelled, forcing Hattori to quickly dash into the shadows of the room.
"Hanbu! You hear me up there!" The Stone ninja shouted again as he walked into the room getting closer to the ladder by the trap door.
"Idiot must have fallen asleep again." The man said as he placed one hand on the ladder getting ready to climb up it.
However, a sudden pain in his chest caused him to look down, feeling a warm and tingling sensation coming from his chest.
"Sorry, but Hanbu is dead," Hattori said, appearing from behind the man, holding his short sword that was sticking through the Stone ninjas back and out through his chest.
The man's eyes opened wide in horror for a second before losing their light and his body collapsed, falling off Hattori's sword onto the ground.
"That's two, just one left," Hattori said to himself, turning around only to see Koyuki standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Looks like you beat me to it." She said with a devilish look on her face.
"Hmm." Hattori gruffed, not saying anything as he walked past her heading to the bottom of the watch tower where the others were waiting for them.
Kimimaro could see that everyone had been taken out and turned to Haku.
"Let's give Ganryu the signal." He said, getting a nod from Haku.
"Rodger," Haku said before he created another ice mirror in the distance, getting everyone to step into it back into the forest with the others.
"Mission complete sir," Kimimaro said, getting a nod from Ganryu.
"Excellent. Let's move to the next one." He then said, giving the signal for them to move out into the open now that the guards had been taken care of.
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That's the end of this chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it and had a great weekend.