Chapter 8: One Word: Steady!

A few days later, under Nara Suzaku's command, the various units of the army withdrew one after another, leaving only a portion of necessary garrison ninja and members of the Uchiha clan to cover the rear.

"Hmph, sounds nice, what 'assist us' — it's clearly just monitoring us!"

Hui's expression was very ugly; this naked distrust was simply trampling the dignity and honor of their Uchiha clan! Shisui looked at the map with a calm expression. After that day, his emotions had become even more stable; such trivial matters could hardly move him anymore.

"Alright, Brother Hui, let them be. This kind of surveillance isn't anything new, and besides, they won't leave us here to guard the border."

"Tch~ You sure have a good temper."

Hui propped up his face, bored out of his mind.

"So what are we doing next? The Mist ninja have pretty much withdrawn from Whirlpool Country too. Once the war ends, it's actually a bit boring."

Shisui sighed as he looked at the map. He did have a lot of ideas now — so many that he himself could hardly believe it. Unfortunately, thinking of this, he cast a resentful glance at Sima Yi, who was drinking tea beside him.

Unfortunately, all of his ideas had been firmly rejected by the other party.

Sima Yi, as if he hadn't noticed, quietly savored the mugwort tea in his cup.

Although the taste was somewhat bitter, it had its own charm. He had to admit that many things in this era piqued his interest considerably.

Swish~ Just then, a ninja flashed into the tent using Body Flicker and half-knelt before the desk.

"Captain, Commander Nara sent word that they have already retreated to Wuzhen, and they require us to begin returning to Konoha in half a month."

"The victory feast will be over in half a month, yet we still have to suffer out here in the wind. Classic them."

Uchiha Hui muttered discontentedly. The ninja before the desk was not from the Uchiha clan, so upon hearing this he did not chime in, and continued his report: "Additionally, it seems the Mist ninja have made new movements."

"Mist ninja?"

The eyes of the three moved, and they all looked over together.

Whirlpool Country, Kirigakure frontline.

"This is the Mizukage's latest order. Please execute it immediately, Jonin Ao."

Inside the tent, a member of Kirigakure's ANBU handed the letter in his hand to the temporary frontline commander, Byakugan killer Ao.

"What kind of joke is this? Organizing an Elite Forces raid at a time like this — isn't this just sending us to our deaths? How could the Old Man agree to such an order!"

Ao opened the letter, his expression extremely ugly.

"Please execute the Mizukage's order, Jonin Ao."

The ANBU member remained calm throughout, coldly repeating his previous words.

"What kind of joke is this." Anger burned in Ao's heart. He gripped the letter tightly, crushing it into a ball, but after a moment he still quickly lowered his head and replied: "Yes. Please convey to the Third that I will carry it out as soon as possible."

Having received a response, the ANBU member swiftly vanished, leaving only Ao and two aides exchanging helpless glances inside the tent.

"Most of Konoha's ninja forces have already withdrawn; only the Uchiha remain, watching us. Perhaps this is an opportunity," one aide beside Ao reminded him.

The other aide, however, shook his head repeatedly. "But our ninja forces have also withdrawn. Only some Bloodline Limit clans remain, and there aren't many of them. Any action at this time will result in heavy losses. They are the Village's hope — we cannot throw their lives away like this."

"We can secretly transfer personnel back and ambush them, just like we did in Whirlpool Country back then."

"Impossible. There are countless Uchiha lurking in the shadows around the camp. Any movement will draw their attention."

"Damn it, why would the higher-ups suddenly demand an operation like this?"

The two began discussing, but Ao unfolded the letter again. Grief and helplessness showed in his eyes.

Seeing him silent, the two beside him gradually quieted down and looked toward him. Ao sighed and destroyed the letter. "The objective of this operation is the Copy Wheel Eye. The higher-ups demand that we secure a Three Tomoe Copy Wheel Eye at any cost."

As he spoke, Ao reached for his eye patch. Beneath the patch was a Byakugan from the Hyuga main branch — to him, it was priceless. It was fair to say that this eye had helped him greatly in reaching where he was today.

"Copy Wheel Eye? Haven't we already tried that before? The side effects of transplanting a Copy Wheel Eye are too severe — the cost outweighs the benefit. Why suddenly issue such a mission?"

The two aides were of no ordinary status themselves; they had long known about such human experiments.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps they've found some solution. Don't ask too many questions. Pass the order down — we move tonight."

"Yes!"

Ao's expression was stern, and without further explanation, after issuing the order he sat alone in the tent, deep in thought.

Only he knew clearly that the target of this operation was not the Uchiha, nor the Copy Wheel Eye, nor even Konoha — but the Bloodline Limit clan members in his camp who had not yet withdrawn!

"What kind of joke is this? Sending them to their deaths for such a reason alone — Third, what on earth are you thinking?"

Konoha's eastern front, inside the tent, Shisui and Sima Yi both felt puzzled upon hearing the intelligence from the front.

Uchiha Hui's expression turned excited, and he hurriedly asked: "Personnel movements? Didn't the previous intelligence say their main forces had already withdrawn one after another?"

"Yes. According to reliable intelligence, there are fewer than a hundred ninja remaining in the Mist's main camp. Previously they were just watching us from various positions, but around noon today, after several Mist ANBU members entered the main camp, they began to assemble."

"Tch, how boring. Looks like they're preparing to withdraw."

Upon hearing this, Hui sat back down. With this few people on the opposite side, no matter how you looked at it, they couldn't possibly be planning to attack them. Most likely they were preparing to abandon the camp and return to the Water Country.

Shisui shared Hui's thinking. After all, the Water Country was merely an island nation, surrounded by sea on all sides, so there was no need to leave ninja here to monitor enemy movements.

Their situation was different, however. Even if the Uchiha withdrew in half a month, other ninja from the Village would come to replace them in monitoring the movements of surrounding countries.

Sima Yi continued drinking his mugwort tea. The lack of intelligence made it difficult for him to judge the enemy's movements as well, so he merely reminded them: "Monitor carefully. Do not let your guard down."

"Mm. Brother Hui, go personally. Be extremely careful. If the Mist ninja make any moves, report back immediately!"

Uchiha Hui leaped to his feet in a dashing pose, thumping his chest as he assured: "Leave it to me!"

After the two left, Shisui asked: "Teacher, I don't know why, but I have a nagging sense of unease. Could the Mist ninja be planning to raid us?"

Sima Yi fell into thought. He did not answer immediately. After an unknown amount of time, he shook his head and replied: "The ancients said: 'War is all about courage.'"

"Although the circumstances are no longer the same, morale still has a great influence. The Mist ninja have just suffered a defeat, their morale is low, and the garrison troops should have no will to fight. Logically, they should not take the initiative to attack."

"Moreover, given their current situation, even if an attack achieved results, it would be meaningless. So according to common sense, they would absolutely not make such an unwise move."

He could find ten thousand reasons why the other side would not act, yet not a single reason why they would launch a raid.

This obvious situation instead plunged him into thought. A commander of an army would absolutely not be so foolish, would he? "I think the same way, but..."

Shisui sighed. A ninja's intuition did not let him breathe easier about this reasoning.

Seeing this, Sima Yi chuckled lightly. "Since the enemy's intentions are hard to gauge, this old man does have one stratagem that may help you through this."

"As expected of the teacher. What is the stratagem?"

"Hehehe, one word — steady!"

"Steady?"

(End of chapter)