Chapter 45: Mission Planning
Seeing that the atmosphere was tense Guy said "Baki, why don't you tell us what all information you actually have. Then we can formulate the plan."
Baki looked at Guy and nodded. Seeing this Yami took his eyes off Gaara and looked at Baki as even he didn't have much information about this mission. Seeing the environment go back to normal Temari sighed.
Baki looked at the traitor who was tied in the chair and said "This is the traitor we caught. He had relayed information about the routes and timings of the caravans to Shinzo Nakamura who is a missing shinobi from the Land of lightning. Shinzo has a bounty of 5 million Ryo in the bingo book. He is very good at lightning and water jutsus. This merchant has already told us where their base is but it is an almost impossible place to invade due to it being between two mountains and has only two exit points which are heavily guarded."
Kakashi nodded and asked "So have you guys formulated a plan to flush them out?"
"Yes, we think we all should pose as merchants and take an empty caravan and travel through one of the trade routes and have the merchant leak that information to Shinzo. They will come to loot us and we can counterattack them. They won't expect the caravan to be so heavily guarded. What do you think?" Baki asked. He knew what kind of a ninja Kakashi was. He is the famous copy ninja and has done such undercover missions way more than anyone Baki knows.
Kakashi nodded in understanding and looked at Guy and his team and said "What do you guys think?"
"I think the plan is risky but it is way better than going in the lion's den. By executing this plan we can take away his home base advantage and fight on the trade routes." Guy said and Lee nodded vigorously agreeing with his sensei's statement.
"I agree to the plan as well. I can use my byakugan to make sure that even though they will surround the caravan we don't face any surprises." Neji said. This was his first mission where the dependency on his eyes will be way more. Or else they might die even without knowing how. So he wanted to express how useful he could be in this plan.
Kakashi and Baki nodded and now all eyes were on Yami. Yami turned to look at the merchant and asked Baki "How many days ago did the last caravan pass?"
"Almost a week." said Baki.
"Which means this merchant over here hasn't contacted Shinzo for a week. The chances of Shinzo trusting him again after going missing for a week is low. This means probably he himself won't come to loot the caravan as he doesn't have any regard for the lives of the bandits of those 2 groups. He didn't create them just had them co-operate for the sake of profit. Secondly, this is the most obvious way to entangle them." Yami said making them nod in understanding.
Baki wanted to say something but Kankuro beat him to the punch and said "What do you mean the most obvious way? Our village has lost a lot of resources because of this and we also lost 1 Jonin and 4 chunin to Shinzo. And many more genins to the bandits."
"Now that's interesting." Yami said with a smile which made Kankuro even angrier. He felt like Yami had no remorse for the lives lost while the caravan was looted.
"What do you mean kid?" Baki said in a heavy voice. His expression had darkened the moment he saw that the death of his shinobis didn't affect the expression on Yami's face. Instead, he had a smile on his face.
"A missing shinobi who is good in Lightning and water jutsu. Was able to kill 1 jonin and 4 chunin but has a bounty of only 5 million Ryo? Does that sound the right price for a missing shinobi, Mr. Kakashi?" Yami asked making everyone's eyes widen.
"Y-You m-mean..." Kankuro was about to say when Temari said "He isn't a missing shinobi from the land of lightning but their spy."
"What you are saying isn't impossible but it's still too much of a stretch." Kakashi said.
"Yes, Kakashi is right. We have no proof of that and why would a spy do things so openly. Wouldn't hiding from others give him more info?" Baki asked.
"Not if his mission isn't to spy but to create problems in the alliance between Hidden leaf and hidden sand." the conclusions Yami was coming up to shocked everyone. Yami had come to such a conclusion with very little information. Baki wanted to deny it but he couldn't because the way Yami was saying it, things started to make sense. The hidden sand was already low on resources and now with caravans getting looted they were falling in a deeper pit.
"What you are saying Yami is mere conjecture. Is there any way to prove it?" Kakashi asked.
"There are many but doing anything without more information would be reckless. I need more information." Yami said massaging his chin.
'This kid is the youngest among us all but still the way his mind works trumps those old advisors in our village. Even on the last leg the Uchiha clan is not to be underestimated.' Baki thought.
"We have interogated the merchant and he has given all the information he has. Lady chio herself conducted the questioning." Temari said in a proud tone. She thought Yami was indicating that the hidden sand didn't investigate properly.
"This merchant isn't the one who will give us information." Yami said.
"Then who?" Kankuro asked with a frown on his face.
Yami looked at Kakashi with a smile on his face and said "Mr. Kakashi seems like you me and Neji need to visit the valley of bandits. How good are you at sneaking in?"
Kakashi sighed and said "Kid you are making me work a lot."
I am also writing a novel called 'Soul Spirit Ascension' so please read it and shower it with power stones.
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