"So what's the plan now and what are we going to do if Lady Tsunade found out about it?" Sasuke asked to which Yami looked at his brother with a smile and said "The question isn't if she finds out but when she finds out. The Land of Hot Water borders the Land of Fire and has plenty of outposts and spies spread over to secure the border. They will definitely find out and don't worry I will give Lady Tsunade an answer before she even asks for it."
"Are we going to fight Orochimaru?" Zabuza asked. Although he knew that Orochimaru was the one who nearly killed the third Hokage, he wasn't scared. He was excited to fight. All these years Yami hadn't allowed him to expose his existence to the shinobi world so Zabuza didn't get into many fights.
"You all are going to chase and kill as many as you can find. As for killing Orochimaru, he is too slippering so just run away if you face him. For now, our aim is to chase him away." Yami said.
"That is a bit disappointing but still I am in...so when are we leaving?" Sasuke asked to which Yami just stood up and said "Right now...the villagers are storming the tunnels as we speak so we can't be late to such a party."
The others stood up as well and left the bath along with Yami. A few minutes later, all of them were ready for battle and stood outside the bathhouse.
"Can I use my sword now? I am dying to try my strength with it." Zabuza requested to which Yami shook his head and said "No...not yet. We need to hide your identity as long as we can. In fact I want you and Haku to wear masks to cover your face and don't even think about wearing your Hidden Mist headbands. You aren't getting any points for doing good work."
Zabuza and Haku hesitated a bit as they looked at each other but eventually agreed to all of Yami's instructions. Seeing this Sasuke leaned toward Yami and said "You sure boss them around like your lackeys."
Yami chuckled and said "If they were smart enough to understand why I do what I do, then I wouldn't have to tell them anything. I will take on a smart enemy rather than a dumb friend any day."
Yami then turned toward the shinobis that were guarding the bathhouse and said "One of you lead us to the tunnel entrances. And the ones who are staying here, report anything suspicious. I am sure your superiors have told you how to do that."
One of the guards nodded and said "Yes Yami-sama, we have been provided with a bat messenger to send any important messages. We will be closing the bathhouse now and patrolling the village for any unusual activity."
For the next few minutes, one of the guards led Yami and the others through the forest to another nearby village. It didn't take long for them to notice the chaos that was caused near a mountain. As Yami and the others reached there, the group of villagers who were talking amongst each other stopped talking and turned toward the two Uchihas. The first thing they noticed was their hidden leaf headbands.
"Are you from the hidden leaf?" one of the villagers asked to which Yami nodded and said "Yes, My name is Yami Uchiha and this is my brother Sasuke Uchiha. We were on the way to a mission when we heard the commotion and stopped. What is the matter?"
"Who are the others then?" the villager asked to which Yami replied "They are mercenaries we hired to travel."
The explanation was fairly straightforward so the villagers didn't hesitate to share their worries and said "For the past year or two, people of different ages would go missing from our villages. We didn't think much since only a fraction of them were from our village and the rest were just travelers, but recently a few children went missing and we found a tunnel entrance hidden here. At first, we didn't know it was an entrance but suddenly a needle came from the jungle and hit this part of the mountain revealing the entrance."
As he was saying another villager stepped forward and said "After the entrance was revealed, a few shinobis came and told us that the person kidnapping the people and kids stay in these tunnels. They have now gone to get some help so we rushed inside the tunnel but after a few hundred meters, the tunnel collapsed."
Yami turned toward Zabuza and said "Go in the tunnel and check the collapsed part. We need to make sure if the tunnel ends there or it's just an obstacle in front of us."
Zabuza did just as Yami told him and rushed inside. Yami then turned to Haku and said "You and me will find if there is some other entrance while elder brother stays here with the villagers for the time being."
As Sasuke heard that, he creased his eyebrows and asked "How did I get stuck with babysitting?"
"Because you are the eldest among the two of us so the villagers will feel secure. If any villager dies because we acted on our own, it will create a lot of problems back home." Yami said.
"Alright...alright...you make my job sound important. You have convinced me but promise me that if you encounter any enemies, you will call me to participate." Sasuke insisted.
Yami nodded and left the crowded place with Haku while Sasuke stayed with the villagers.
"Haku...do you see any other illusion barriers set up?" Yami asked as they began to surveil the mountain for any other entrance.
"No...it took a few days before I was able to find the first entrance and this was the only one I found on this side of the mountain. There could be a hidden one somewhere along the valley but Zabuza said it would be dangerous to search in that terrain and we could be ambushed anytime." Haku replied.
"Hmm...he isn't as dumb as he looks. Come with me. We have to find people who don't belong here carrying a lot of luggage."
"Are you sure that they will move?" Haku asked to which Yami nodded and said "They have to...Orochimaru has lived this long despite having a thousand enemies by being extremely cautious and paranoid. He wouldn't just stay put when people are surrounding him."
As they were talking, Yami stopped and bit his thumb forcing a drop of his blood to fall on the ground. He bent a little and drew a circle with some character and design inside it. Haku who was watching this didn't understand what Yami was doing but black smoke started to appear from letters and characters Yami was drawing. Soon the circle became a complete black hole and that's when Yami slammed his thumb in the middle of it and shouted "CAVE OF THE BLOODSTAINED"
For a second, nothing happened but then nearly 20-30 bats came out from the hole and flew in the sky. Yami stood back up and looked up to see all the bats had dispersed in various directions.
"They aren't strong like my other summons, but they sure can spread out and find something for me. With this, I don't need to command them the whole time and they only send useful pieces of information to me telepathically." Yami said as he dragged his leg over the circle that he had just made.
"Now what do we do? Should we go back and check up on Zabuza and your brother?" Haku asked. He understood that they wouldn't have to roam around the village now that Yami had sent his summons for that measly work.
"No need...I am sure that Zabuza will investigate the tunnel properly and Sasuke will take action to explore it more." Yami said with a smirk.
"Huh? But didn't you tell the two of them not to make any moves until you ordered them to?" Haku questioned. He didn't want Zabuza to do something stupid and get his heart ripped out. He had seen how brutal Yami can be.
"So what? Do you think that is going to stop my brother from making his move? And Zabuza isn't as disciplined as you want me to think. He is also the curious type so I am sure they both will decide to explore the tunnel further. What we need to do is disguise ourselves and get mixed in the village. The alternate tactic I can think of in this situation is that Orochimaru will do something to create a big distraction and then sneak out between the chaos."
"A big distraction? What could that be?" Haku asked to which Yami replied "I don't know it just yet but I am sure that whatever it is, it will put the lives of these villagers in danger."
"That snake is truly a despicable one. Don't worry, I will make sure that none of his plans become successful." Haku said with determination as he clenched his fist and started walking inside the village.
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