"Kirigakure."
Uchiha Fugaku was reviewing the latest battle reports.
The Hot Springs Village area had primarily seen clashes between various cults and the village's own forces.
Records of engagements with Kirigakure had been sparse in the past, but each encounter had dealt them heavy losses.
Most of the casualties were Uchiha clansmen.
For instance, the parents of a certain jutsu research prodigy had died here.
But over the past two days, signs pointed to a large-scale mobilization of Kirigakure ninja.
According to the reports Konoha had received, an Uchiha squad had been wiped out by a team of Kirigakure jōnin.
Their whereabouts remained unknown.
"Fugaku, we must locate this squad immediately, or we'll be at a severe disadvantage," Yashiro said grimly.
The Hot Springs Country wasn't the Land of Fire. If the enemy circled behind them, they could deliver a devastating blow at a critical moment.
This outpost wasn't just a Konoha stronghold—it housed a significant portion of the Uchiha clan's forces.
Moreover, the clan elders hoped Fugaku would take command here.
If he demonstrated elite jōnin-level prowess, the promotion would follow naturally.
Jōnin required examinations, but elite jōnin only needed battlefield achievements.
"We'll take the mission now."
Fugaku nodded in understanding.
But since he hadn't yet been officially recognized as an elite jōnin, only Uchiha clansmen at the outpost were under his command.
As for the other ninja?
Aside from the Uchiha, the outpost included members of the Sarutobi and Shimura clans, along with a handful of civilian-born shinobi.
The "three" Fugaku referred to were Yashiro, himself, and a taciturn man who always followed him—Uchiha Takashi.
The three headed straight for the mission tent.
Located at the heart of the outpost, the tent buzzed with activity as ninja came and went.
Inside, the scene was one of organized chaos.
Shinobi submitted intelligence reports or picked up new assignments in a well-oiled workflow.
The priority was gathering relevant intel.
All missions here were issued directly by the village, with no outside commissions.
Konoha handled its own contracts, assigning them to in-village ninja.
The outpost's role was intelligence gathering and serving as a wartime base.
Though Fugaku commanded respect among the Uchiha, many here paid little heed to the clan's affairs.
The trio had no choice but to queue.
Fortunately, ninja efficiency prevailed, and their turn came quickly.
Before them, an elderly man sorted through reports—Sarutobi Fuji.
A Sarutobi jōnin and veteran elite of the First War, his advanced age cast doubt on how much of his strength remained.
He was also the outpost's commanding officer.
At his age, he should have retired to the rear, but the village's strained resources forced older shinobi like him back into service.
"Sarutobi-sensei, I'd like to review the mission reports from five days ago," Fugaku requested.
"Five days ago?" Fuji frowned in thought.
He knew the mission. Soon, he produced the relevant scroll.
"That mission remains unfulfilled. We've dispatched multiple squads for pursuit, but casualties have been heavy."
Letting a jōnin squad slip into the Hot Springs Country was urgent, and Fuji knew it.
But their forces here were spread thin.
This was precisely why the village had sent the Uchiha.
"Leave it to us," Fugaku said firmly.
"Uchiha Fugaku, was it? You're quite the promising youth. Very well, it's yours."
Fuji handed him the scroll.
The Uchiha heir's reputation preceded him, though his feats were modest—mostly low-risk missions.
The clan had guarded its future leader fiercely.
For the heir to be deployed here now suggested the Uchiha deemed him ready.
And "ready" for an Uchiha could only mean elite jōnin level.
"Find them quickly. Kirigakure seems intent on joining this war."
Fuji's brow furrowed.
Recent Kirigakure troop movements boded ill.
If full-scale war erupted, Konoha had no reinforcements to spare. The Uchiha would bear the brunt.
Though the Hokage might wish to weaken the Uchiha, losing the Hot Springs Country would cripple Konoha.
Fugaku nodded.
The trio set out immediately.
The annihilated squad's last location was near a natural hot spring.
Subsequent pursuit teams had fallen not far away.
At the first site, they found no battle scars.
Not even environmental damage—unlikely in wilderness combat where cleanup was unheard of.
Five days weren't enough to erase such traces.
"The report lacks an exact timeline. The outpost only noticed something amiss two hours after the incident."
Fugaku studied the dried bloodstains.
All three activated their Sharingan.
"No residual chakra from ninjutsu."
"Then it wasn't Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
A small mercy. Those swordsmen could slaughter even elite jōnin.
But five days later, clues were scarce.
"Next location." Fugaku moved on.
Yashiro eyed a distant hot spring inn.
"That's where the pursuit teams died."
"So close? A provocation?"
Fugaku pondered carefully—caution was paramount now.
One misstep could spell disaster.
"Overthinking won't help. We need intel first," Takashi advised.
Fugaku agreed.
They entered the shuttered inn effortlessly—locks meant nothing to shinobi.
A thorough search led them to the storage shed.
Seven hanged corpses greeted them in silence.
"Total massacre."
Yet the mission report had omitted this.
Only one explanation fit.
"The Kirigakure team returned," Yashiro concluded.
Even Fugaku couldn't decipher Kirigakure's motives now.
"Kirigakure ninja have a penchant for... indulgence."
Yashiro wasn't surprised. His past encounters had shown him their brutality.
"To the third site."
The war's horrors were still new to Fugaku, his expression grim.
This was where Konoha's last team had ventured.
Three locations. Three squads lost.
...
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(Chapter End)