The meeting with the Anbu 'Root' ninja ended in less than ten minutes.
Afterwards, these people retreated into the shadows again, guessing that they will only regroup during the actual operation to confirm the preparations of both parties.
Arriving at a secluded thicket, Hakushi and his companions sat down in a circle.
"Speaking of which, what kind of organization is the Anbu 'Root'? Is there really such an organization within the Hokage's Anbu?"
The Anbu under the Hokage's direct command has special courses in the Ninja School textbooks. The main reason is to prevent future ninjas from mistaking their village's Anbu for enemy forces. To avoid this awkward situation, every Konoha ninja has learned about this organization.
Ninjas who can join the Anbu are all elites. The Anbu consists mainly of seventy people, divided into four squads, each squad further divided into four teams, totaling sixteen squad leaders.
Each squad leader's strength is at least special Jonin level.
They protect the Hokage and carry out various highly-dangerous secretive missions, acting as ninjas who guard Konoha in the shadows.
However, Hakushi had never heard of the Anbu 'Root', making him suspicious about those ninja's identities.
Ayane also shook her head; the matter regarding the Anbu is confidential. Most ninjas know of the organization's existence and its composition and number.
As for who joins and what each Anbu ninja excels at, these things are classified.
Ruri gently frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, before finally speaking after a moment of silence: "I've heard from the elders in the clan that the Anbu 'Root' is rumored to be directly under another high-ranked member from the Senju lineage. This unit is more secretly hidden than the regular Anbu, and their missions are even shadier. They uphold the strategy of 'rather kill mistakenly than let go', silently protecting Konoha in the dark."
"Upholding the strategy of 'rather kill mistakenly than let go'? Would the Hokage allow this?"
Hakushi felt puzzled about it.
If such matters were disclosed, it would majorly damage the reputation of the Hokage and the higher-ups.
Even the Anbu needs to interrogate and determine whether a person is an enemy or ally after capture.
Whereas the Anbu 'Root' act without such procedures, directly eradicating anyone deemed an enemy based on subjective judgement.
If not operated properly, such an organization could severely damage the rulers' reputation, forcing them to step down.
"This matter is likely permitted. Without permission, 'Root' couldn't have grown leveraging the Anbu's strength. Ninjas in this organization have no names, emotions, past, or future—they only focus on the completion of the mission."
Upon hearing Ruri's description, Hakushi and Ayane recalled the current mission. The Anbu 'Root' plan to use themselves as human bombs to destroy the Hidden Sand Ninja supply point, indeed aligning with a machine's role.
Their sole purpose is mission accomplishment.
As for the methods and sacrifices required, those are considered only as afterthoughts, or perhaps not considered at all.
"What a frightening bunch."
Hakushi uttered a sigh of sentiment.
Regardless of the time, those who disregard even their lives for a goal inevitably evoke fear from deep within one's heart.
Without an abyss-like darkness, a peaceful and beautiful lake cannot exist.
No matter the era, these individuals who work silently in the dark are needed.
"Returning to the main topic, what are your thoughts on this mission?"
Ruri spread the map handed over by the Anbu 'Root' ninja onto the ground—a detailed map of the Land of Rivers, with every place recorded and annotated with distance and environmental information.
Ruri pointed to a region in the center of the Land of Rivers, which was the Hidden Sand Village supply point and the target of Hakushi and his companions' mission.
Hakushi looked at the map and slowly spoke, "The supply point is very close to the Hidden Sand's camp. Based on the marked distance, reinforcements can arrive in just ten minutes. In other words, from the time we trigger a diversion with chaos until we safely withdraw from battle, we only have a ten-minute window. With only the three of us, it's quite a stretch."
The plan and division of labor are very clear: the three of them are responsible for the diversion, maximizing chaos, then swiftly withdrawing from the battlefield, switching in the Anbu 'Root' ninja to self-destruct, annihilating all supply materials at the Hidden Sand supply point, completing the mission.
The mission's challenge lies in quickly and effectively triggering large-scale chaos within ten minutes, drawing the Hidden Sand Ninja's attention to create a reliable attack environment for the Anbu 'Root', and then retreating promptly to avoid the blast from their own explosive tags.
"No matter how you look at it, ten minutes is too short."
Ayane nodded in agreement with Hakushi's statement.
The number of Hidden Sand ninja guarding the supply point in the Land of Rivers is certainly not small, not to mention Jonin level ninjas—it's justified to deploy more than ten Jonin is such a vital area.
Additionally, besides Jonin, there won't be fewer Chunin either. Completing a diversion mission under siege from so many Jonin and Chunin within a ten-minute limit is theoretically nearly impossible.