Borderland Inn.
Uchiha Itachi never mentioned his assessment tasks.
This future double agent for the Uchiha clan and the higher-ups of Konoha only relayed to Hatake Kakashi the intelligence about Uchiha Obito provided by the members of the intelligence department.
"Obito wasn't caught?"
Hatake Kakashi bowed his head in contemplation.
The purpose of this squad's visit to the Land of Earth was to trace the whereabouts of Uchiha Obito and, incidentally, to disrupt any other schemes he had in the Rock Village.
With Obito's miraculous space-time ninjutsu, he could indeed easily escape capture by the Rock Village. So, where would he go next?
Did he leave?
Or is he still hiding within the Rock Village?
Such matters couldn't possibly be investigated with the help of the intelligence department members.
The entire Rock Village was locked down for a week, and tens of thousands of ninjas couldn't find Uchiha Obito's whereabouts. Could the members of the Konoha's intelligence department manage to find him?
And most importantly...
Was Uchiha Obito's assassination of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, with the power of the Five-Tails Jinchūriki meant to take control of the Rock Village, or was there another plot?
To investigate Obito's plans and gather more information about him, it was essential to find a way to contact the Five-Tails Jinchūriki in the Rock Village...
Only the Five-Tails Jinchūriki had been in contact with Uchiha Obito, and just like the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, Yagura, he must know something...
"What about the information on the Five-Tails Jinchūriki?"
Hatake Kakashi proposed a very risky infiltration plan: "I'll find a way to infiltrate the Rock Village, I must meet with that Five-Tails Jinchūriki..."
Of course.
There's a problem.
Even if he could meet the Five-Tails Jinchūriki, there's no guarantee he could learn anything about Uchiha Obito from him, and there's a high chance he could be captured...
This operation's risk is immense, akin to a nine deaths and one life situation.
The slim chance of survival hinges on whether they can persuade the Five-Tails Jinchūriki to willingly provide information and help capture Uchiha Obito, who controls him.
However, for ninjas, this is precisely what they are trained for in school. Every infiltration to steal intelligence involves the risk of being captured by the enemy or even losing their lives.
The most painful part is...
Before obtaining a piece of intelligence, the ninjas who sacrifice themselves for these intelligence-gathering infiltrations do not know whether the intelligence will be useful.
Ninjas seem to always pay a high price to complete missions that may not be cost-effective, risking a life for information about Uchiha Obito.
This is normal.
The threat posed by Uchiha Obito is too great, yet information about him is too scarce.
Akihara Kagura feels that the cost-effectiveness of such infiltration plans is too low because he has a wealth of information about Uchiha Obito, even affecting Obito's thinking...
"I feel like the first step of this infiltration idea is unreliable..."
Akihara Kagura looked at Hatake Kakashi's white hair, shaking his head: "Captain Kakashi, are you sure... no one in the Rock Village recognizes you?"
"..."
Hatake Kakashi couldn't be sure of that.
Not to mention anything else, the number of Rock ninjas who died by his hand during the war period is not small. In addition, over these years, the Rock ninjas he killed while on missions...
If Hatake Kakashi were to announce his presence here, this Inn would immediately be filled with Hatake Kakashi's enemies, and there might even be a line outside...
"Let me do it."
Akihara Kagura took the initiative to take on this task, saying nonchalantly, "I suppose no one from the Rock Village recognizes me, so I can boldly infiltrate..."
"This is even more dangerous for you..."
Hatake Kakashi shook his head, looking at Akihara Kagura and said, "Kagura, you are the future of the Konoha, you cannot be lost here."
Moreover, this guy has not received complete infiltration training; it's likely that he might be discovered by the people of the Rock Village before he even sees the Five Tails Jinchuriki!
The Wood Release of Akihara Kagura will be like the First Hokage Hashirama, becoming a powerful deterrent for the Konoha against major villages in the future.
This time coming to the Land of Earth, bringing Akihara Kagura along was mainly because of his experience fighting with Uchiha Obito, and secondly because of his formidable combat ability, capable of breaking through if surrounded by a large number of enemies...
Of course.
It's not very realistic for Akihara Kagura to fight his way out of the Rock Village...
"Don't worry."
Akihara Kagura, facing Hatake Kakashi's firm opposition, added, "I am a ninja born from the Root; I will immediately devise a complete infiltration plan."
"First, tell me the plan's approach..."
Hatake Kakashi still felt somewhat unreliable, but he wanted to hear Akihara Kagura's plan, to see if it could provide some insights for himself.
Akihara Kagura extended his palm confidently and revealed his plan: "I'll first infiltrate the Rock Village, then capture the Third Tsuchikage Onoki, and torture the information about the Five Tails Jinchuriki's location out of him..."
"Calm down a bit!"
Hatake Kakashi helplessly touched his forehead, regretting expecting anything from Akihara Kagura's plan: "Don't think that all village leaders are like Lord Mizukage; the Third Tsuchikage Onoki's strength is terrifying..."
"Give me an example?"
Akihara Kagura asked for an example.
"..."
Hatake Kakashi really couldn't give one.
The reputation of the Third Tsuchikage Onoki mostly spread among the older generation of ninjas, after all, this Tsuchikage is almost seventy years old, trying not to move his old arms and legs...
Hatake Kakashi could only explain briefly with past information: "The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki the Fence-Sitter, possesses Dust Release, which is a combination of wind, earth, and fire chakra natures. It's a Kekkei Tota, a power stronger than a normal Kekkei Genkai..."
"It sounds stronger than Wood Release..."
Akihara Kagura seemed somewhat wistfully longing.
"It should... be not as good as Wood Release."
Hatake Kakashi is also not very familiar with this matter.
Although the Third Tsuchikage Onoki's Dust Release and the First Hokage Hashirama's Wood Release have never fought against each other, it's certain that Onoki's strength cannot compare to Hashirama's.
"Let me do it."
Uchiha Itachi volunteered, seriously proposing his plan: "I can first ask the members of the intelligence department to secretly find out the location of the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, then sneak into Rock Village, and secretly meet with that Five-Tails Jinchuriki..."
"An excellent plan, but still too dangerous..."
Hatake Kakashi sincerely praised, but also somewhat disagreed.
This plan could give him some ideas, mainly that the intelligence department's members could help secretly find out the Five-Tails Jinchuriki's location, to avoid getting lost in Rock Village.
The plan proposed by Akihara Kagura to "capture the Tsuchikage and interrogate for information" was too outrageous, making Itachi's otherwise ordinary infiltration plan seem outstanding.
"That..."
Karin carefully interjected from the side: "Since sneaking in is so dangerous, why not think of a way to reduce their guard personnel?"
...
Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi fell into silence.
Akihara Kagura laughed, messing up Karin's hair: "We release the information that Uchiha Obito is outside, which should attract a lot of people, right?"
Uchiha Itachi nodded, seriously continuing: "Create a piece of information at a certain location that attracts Rock Village's attention. Even if it doesn't lure people out, just drawing more stationed Rock ninjas out would significantly reduce the risk of infiltration..."
"This is easy to handle."
Akihara Kagura immediately proposed a plan that would definitely be opposed by Hatake Kakashi: "I'll disguise myself as Uchiha Obito and then kill all the people in a city, intentionally letting a few escape to report back to Rock Village..."
"This plan is already excessively extreme..."
Hatake Kakashi expressed his opposition with a helpless look: "Killing an entire city's people is too bloody, and if it's discovered in the future, it could bring great trouble to Konoha..."
Akihara Kagura immediately proposed his second plan: "Then I'll kill the people of a small town, which seems less bloody..."
"Still no good!"
Hatake Kakashi explained seriously: "It's not about how many people you kill, but the act of killing itself. We cannot harm innocent civilians..."
"Then can I go kill a few Rock ninjas?"
Akihara Kagura seemed somewhat resigned, but this statement seemed to inspire him, giving him an instant idea for an even more perfect plan!
Akihara Kagura immediately proposed his third plan: "I will first disguise myself as a ninja from Cloud Village and kill the border outpost ninjas of Rock Village, which should trigger a war between them…"
"We…"
Hatake Kakashi seemed about to interrupt him.
"Don't rush, let me finish."
A confident smile appeared on Akihara Kagura's face as he continued, "Once the war breaks out, I will go around killing people on the battlefield, escalating the war between them, and drawing out all the stationed ninjas of the Rock Village…"
After finishing, Akihara Kagura looked at Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi, awaiting their feedback: "This way, the Rock Village will inevitably be left vulnerable, allowing us to infiltrate it safely, even Captain Kakashi could get in…"
"…"
Hatake Kakashi broke out in a sweat upon hearing this.
While the plan was indeed good, there was no need for Uchiha Itachi to infiltrate the Rock Village. Everyone could just pack up and head back to Konoha to prepare for the Great Ninja War…
"An infiltration plan, is that necessary?"
Hatake Kakashi massaged his temples: "We just want to infiltrate the Rock Village, but this method is too extreme. You could be executed by the five great village for starting a war…"
"Then I'll disguise myself as Uchiha Madara…"
Akihara Kagura quickly adopted Hatake Kakashi's suggestion.
"It's not about who you're disguising as…"
Hatake Kakashi felt this kid was missing the point.
Compared to Akihara Kagura's plan of starting a great ninja war, those plans of killing a city or a small town seemed somewhat reasonable…
No…
They were not reasonable either.
He was being led astray by this guy.
"This plan takes too long, and too many accidents could happen."
Recalling his own assessment task timeline, Uchiha Itachi suggested, "We could try kidnapping an important person from the Land of Earth, or create some chaos in a location far from the Rock Village…"
"This could work."
Akihara Kagura immediately supplemented Uchiha Itachi's plan: "I'll impersonate Uchiha Obito and kidnap the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, and if we're lucky, we might even get a ransom."
"..."
Hatake Kakashi felt there was something wrong with his subordinate's thinking. Why did they always want to sprint down the path of crime? Kidnapping a country's Daimyo is a serious crime too!
And...
Can this guy stop impersonating Obito all the time? According to Akihara Kagura's outrageous actions, if he brings Obito back to Konoha in the future, other major countries might also force Konoha to decapitate Obito...
"Don't do unnecessary things..."
"I've already decided, I will infiltrate Rock Village myself."
Hatake Kakashi decided to take the matter back into his own hands, placing his hands on his knees, seriously expressing his thoughts: "I've thought about it long ago, what price I am willing to pay to bring Obito back, even if it costs my life, I am willing to do so. This life was saved by Obito in the first place, now it's my turn to save his life..."
"Don't stop me now."
Hatake Kakashi interrupted their attempts to persuade him, continuing: "Bringing Obito back, starting over, it was my responsibility alone, it has nothing to do with the two of you. You are the future of Konoha, you absolutely cannot sacrifice yourselves here."
"Now, conveying the last command of the captain of the Anbu Sixth Squad, if I get killed by someone from Rock Village during the infiltration, the two of you, take Karin and immediately return to Konoha, report what happened to Lord Hokage."
After Hatake Kakashi said all this, he then looked towards Akihara Kagura, as if wanting to leave his last words: "Kagura, the person I'm most worried about is you."
"You are a kind person, with your own love and bonds, just too long corrupted by the darkness of the Root, liking to solve problems with extreme methods."
"This is wrong, extremism will continuously breed darkness, darkness will let hatred spread. In the future, when you encounter problems, don't always think that killing can solve everything, there are always troubles in the world that killing cannot solve."
"You are a true genius, more talented than anyone I've met. If there's anyone in this world who can stop Obito from harming the ninja world in the future, then it must be you."
"And..."
Hatake Kakashi, stating his last will, his gaze as calm as still water: "When you meet Obito again, help me pass him a message..."
"Rin and I will be watching over his life from the Pure Land."