"Lord Danzo, those comrades who were captured..."
In the end, it was Shisui Uchiha who spoke first, coming with the hopes of his clan.
"I know what you want to ask..." Danzo Shimura immediately raised his hand to stop him from continuing.
He suddenly realized he was being led around by Kumogakure's nose—again. He needed to decide whether or not to pay the ransom.
Even leaving aside whether to pay the ransom, going in directly to rescue them might lead them right into an ambush prepared by the Cloud ninjas, waiting for Konoha shinobi to walk straight into their trap.
After thinking for a moment, he made his decision: "Go get intelligence and internal maps of the Kumogakure Camp from those two Frost Shinobi. Take a team and go save them."
"Rescue all of them! Everyone captured!"
"Make sure to strike fast and hard!"
Uchiha Shisui let out a breath in relief and eagerly asked, "I request permission to join the rescue team."
Danzo Shimura nodded. "Fine then, you'll form the rescue team. Just be extremely careful."
After Danzo Shimura finished speaking with Uchiha Shisui, a Jonin suggested, "Lord Danzo, what about a prisoner exchange? Or using their own techniques against them?"
Danzo looked toward the speaker.
It wasn't about whether those methods would work—it was about your ability. How many enemies could you actually capture?
After all, capturing an enemy alive was far more challenging than simply killing them.
If your skills weren't strong enough, yet you still held back during battle, weren't you practically asking to die faster?
"Capturing is possible, but can you guarantee low casualty rates and high success rates?" Danzo asked the key question.
The suggesting Jonin fell silent, unsure how to respond.
After leaving the command tent, members of the Uchiha clan gathered around Uchiha Shisui.
"Shisui, what did Lord Danzo say?"
...
The next day, Hiroki Hyuga woke up from his sleep.
One could say he had slept most comfortably within the entire Konoha camp.
It wasn't like he cared about anyone here anyway. Who got captured meant nothing to him.
As he walked out of his room, he noticed there were more stationed personnel in camp than usual.
Konoha's ninja had ultimately been affected by recent events. Worried about morale, Danzo had reduced the number of personnel sent into battle.
"Why does it feel like we haven't lost that many people?" Hiroki muttered in confusion.
"According to both sides' battle reports, Konoha's fatality rate is roughly one in five, while Kumo's is around one in eight. Captured personnel are counted as deaths by Konoha, and both sides continue reinforcing their numbers," Kaguya explained.
Hiroki Hyuga remained silent.
He felt the attrition war wasn't advancing quickly enough.
Combined with Kumo now launching this hostage ransom operation, there was even a chance Konoha might copy the tactic, further slowing down the war.
He guessed large-scale battles would probably become less common.
Previously, he'd instructed White Zetsu Toyokawa to write a letter to the Country of Frost, hoping to draw in more ninja and create a chaotic multi-sided conflict.
The Daimyo of Hot Water had been "invited" back to the Land of Fire, temporarily making remote control over the Hidden Hot Spring Village impossible. However, the Daimyo of Frost was still within his country and should retain authority over the Frost Shinobi.
To his surprise, over a dozen Frost ninja had appeared. According to the intelligence White Zetsu had provided, this small group actually thought they could pull off an operation within an operation.
Using a field exercise as an excuse, Hiroki Hyuga temporarily left Konoha Camp and made his way to a secluded spot.
After waiting for a while, White Zetsu appeared before him.
Inside Konoha Camp, he didn't have a private room, making it unsuitable for meetings with White Zetsu.
This White Zetsu was grown from his own spores. In recent days, it had mainly been responsible for eavesdropping on intelligence within both Konoha's and Kumogakure's command tents.
"What are their plans?" Hiroki Hyuga asked.
"Kumo just wants to blackmail. If they can't squeeze anything out, they'll announce the deaths of two Konoha ninja every three days until they completely shatter their morale and make them unwilling to fight for Konoha."
"What about Konoha?"
"Shisui Uchiha plans to lead a team to rescue the captives."
"Is he going to challenge all the Kumo ninja alone?"
"Not exactly," the White Zetsu shook its head. "Konoha plans to launch an attack on Kumogakure Camp, while Shisui Uchiha and his team will sneak in during the chaos to save the prisoners…"
"Will it be that easy? Kumo also has Sensor ninja. Even if they fool the Sensors, do they stand a chance against Kakuzu and his crew?" Hiroki Hyuga remarked.
The White Zetsu nodded repeatedly.
"Let Kumo know about Konoha's plan."
"Eh, is that necessary? You just said Konoha wouldn't be able to win against Kumo anyway, right?" The White Zetsu scratched its head in confusion.
"This isn't for Kumo or Konoha—it's for Frost," Hiroki Hyuga simply explained.
"Those who lack power but still try to double-cross—no one keeps two-faced losers around, do they?"
"Just follow my instructions then…"
Though not entirely sure what he meant, White Zetsu left as ordered.
In the Kumogakure Camp,
"White Zetsu, why are you here?" Sasori of the Red Sands asked, looking at the figure that suddenly emerged from the ground inside the room arranged by Kumo ninja.
"The Leader is also concerned about what's happening here."
"After such a long time, with you three here, the battle line hasn't moved forward even an inch. Seems like you're not that capable after all," the White Zetsu grinned mockingly.
"The Kumo ninja—I don't know what they're thinking. They refuse to deploy all forces," Sasori of the Red Sands didn't bother explaining much, letting out a hoarse voice filled with indifference.
"When I came from Konoha earlier, I overheard something interesting. Want to hear it?"
Sasori of the Red Sands watched him in silence.
The White Zetsu continued on its own, "Shisui Uchiha from Konoha plans to attack tonight and try to rescue their comrades."
"Shisui Uchiha, the Shunshin no Shisui!" Sasori of the Red Sands murmured to himself.
He didn't care if Kumo took casualties—he had his eye on Shisui Uchiha's value.
"Perhaps it's time for another puppet scroll," he mused to himself.
Suddenly, he looked toward the White Zetsu still lingering there and coldly said, "Don't tell me you came here because you think I might lose to him."
"Aw, c'mon, I was just trying to be nice! You're really hurting my feelings here, you know? I already told Kakuzu and Orochimaru about it too," said White Zetsu with his usual cheeky grin.
"Mind your own business!" spat Sasori of the Red Sands.
Now those two ruthless bastards knew as well. Did that mean he'd have to fight them over who gets Shisui Uchiha?
Troublesome!
"I hope you complete your mission soon. The leader's been waiting," White Zetsu added before vanishing from sight.
Several hours later, Hiroki Hyuga returned to Konoha Camp.
Hana Inuzuka found Hiroki together with Itachi Uchiha.
"Let's go."
"Go where? You really love working overtime, don't you?" Hiroki remarked.
"What do you want now?"
Facing Hana Inuzuka and Itachi Uchiha, Hiroki continued, "Didn't you two hear that sound last night?"
"What if we get caught?"
"You two especially—being high-born and both young clan heads—it's way too risky."
"Do you want others to get dragged into trouble because of you?"
"Don't go stirring up trouble."
"I didn't—" Hana blurted out quickly.
"Senior Yuta usually comes to brief us in advance. Since he hasn't shown up today, there's probably no mission," Itachi finally said.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>