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He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.
Psalm 18:2
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The foul and burning stench of fire and smoke lingered in the air due to the aftermath of Kaede's devastation. A gentle plumage of fire twirled around the region of the puppet, highlighting the wrecked mess she wreaked.
Genma, Aoba, and Shisui had their eyes locked on the lifeless puppet, and they all wore complicated expressions as they ruminated upon the scene.
"A... A puppet?" Aoba was the first to break the silence, his tone carrying utter shock.
Shisui nodded in support and theorised, "If he is a puppet master, then this mission will definitely be difficult. The perpetrator can assess us from afar, and simulate strategies without coming close to us."
"Indeed," Genma concurred.
A bead of sweat traced down Aoba's cheek as his sunglasses reflected the scorched husk, and he raised his conjecture, "Yeah, that's true, but our target seems to be from Sunagakure... Are they responsible for the 2 missing squads?"
Shisui indiscernibly nodded, and sulkily complied, "That... That may be the case."
Aoba's conjecture wasn't for nought, as it was a globally accepted fact that Sungakure, the village hidden in the Sand, were specialists in Puppet wielding.
"I believe we shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. We'll need to gather evidence," Genma retorted.
"Yes, first we need to gather more evidence before jumping to conclusions," another voice interjected.
Everyone looked at their red-haired leader, who descended from his treetop and stood next to the lifeless puppet to examine it. Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, particles of orange erupted from the puppet, but quickly withered into wisps with Saruto's touch. His eyes momentarily turned dull, before retaining its former crimson.
"Captain, I advise you to exercise caution," Shisui advised.
Nobody here dared to recklessly approach the puppet in apprehension, as it may trigger a bomb. Yet despite all of this, only Saruto seemed to leisurely approach the ticking time bomb.
"It's fine, I've defused the bomb," Saruto reassured.
Before Shisui could remark, Saruto intercepted, "I have my methods, and I tend to keep them secret, much like anybody else here."
Shisui kept his curiosity on a leash. Saruto's statement felt as though it was directed at him because nobody in the squad was aware of the innate power he wielded, but he kept it in utmost secrecy.
Genma and Aoba were baffled by Saruto's methodical approach as it was unheard of, but kept their questions to themselves. Perhaps they would get their answer in due time, but either way, it was none of their business.
Saruto remained kneeling before the puppet, continuing his examination, but arranged the next course of action in advance. He alerted the Uchihas, "Kaede, Shisui-san, do you both notice any fluctuations?"
Shisui remained silent, allowing Kaede to continue; "Yes, there's something minute. Maybe if we get closer, I can discern the cause."
"Alright," Saruto nodded.
Shisui's expression seemed to convey a similar train of thought, but he too, couldn't unveil what lay ahead. It was vague, but he knew upon closer inspection he'd attain an answer.
Genma nudged Aoba with his elbow, and asked, "Can you look through the puppet's memories?"
Aoba sulkily shook his head, and elaborated, "That only works with targets that are alive."
Genma could only sigh in frustration, because while it seemed the squad was close to the perpetrators, they were in fact far from close. The elusive perpetrator definetely has the upper hand in this dilemma.
...
The squad of 5 vigilantly perused the terrain as they leapt from one branch to the next. Kaede took the reigns alongside Shisui, and their visual prowess enabled them to subdue dangerous paths and obstacles. As such, they took a detour around the forest, and finally, she halted and raised a fist.
Everyone stopped in unison, and she exclaimed, "We've made it. This is the hideout."
A thick, impenetrable haze lay ahead, masking the terrain from the eyes of the intruders. Noticing the abnormality of the mist building up, Genma professed, "Is it me, or is this some other genjutsu?"
Saruto and Aoba nodded, and Saruto muttered, "It appears it's another genjutsu... but..."
"Something is definetely off. It keeps persisting..." Aoba paused.
"Like a recurring genjutsu," Saruto finalised, his tone laced with dread.
If their hypothesis was correct, then further venturing would prove daunting for the squad. Everybody seemed to understand that, and immediately heightened their awareness. The genjutsu from earlier appeared to have been formulated by the puppet, so perhaps there were more lurking in the mist...
But there appeared to be nothing.
Shisui whispered, "Kaede nee-san, there's nothing."
Kaede approved with a nod, and murmured, "There's no-one. Is it perhaps some sort of element diffused into the mist to produce a torrent of genjutsu?"
"No, it's this." Another voice addressed, and everyone turned to see the man with a cocktail stick in his mouth, who raised a hand that carried several paper tags.
A sharp exclamation rang in the air as Saruto and Kaede wore grave expressions, as the tags were inscribed with linguistics they were familiar with.
"F-Fuinjutsu?" Kaede stammered.
"That explains it," Shisui shared his surprise but was able to quickly calm himself.
Saruto extended a hand, and asked, "Can I have a look?"
"Sure," Genma affirmed, handing him the tags.
Saruto caressed the tags, and Kaede leaped beside him to scan the inscriptions. Both of them immediately concluded that the manufacturer specialised in this topic. The tags were not only well crafed, but complicated.
Genma internally mused concerning Saruto, 'Since he's a fellow Uzumaki, he probably knows the seals that are used.'
"I've found some too. They're scattered all across the terrain," Aoba sounded,
"Yes. I believe we should get rid of them all before proceeding." Shisui devised, before casually burning the tags that were clutched in his palm. "But..." He paused, seemingly in rebuttal.
"It'll consume too much time," Genma completed, before turning to the captain. Genma voiced, "Captain, do you have anything in mind, perhaps something with neutralising the entire thing in one go?"
It was only natural to ask a Fuinjutsu specialist, and what more than a fellow Uzumaki?
Kaede, who was beside Saruto, whispered, "I can, but it'll take about an hour."
Saruto relayed in an authoritative tone, "It'll take an hour at most."
"An hour at least," Kaede corrected.
Saruto smiled wryly and repeated, "Actually, I regret to inform you it may take around an hour at least."
"I see. That'll consume a lot of time," Genma frowned at the valuable amount of time that would be wasted.
Shisui intervened, "So what are you actually gonna do captain?"
The youth was curious as to how a master of Fuinjutsu would counteract this precarious dilemma.
"What I mean is... what's the initiative you're gonna take?" He elaborated.
Kaede answered, "Let's see... The seals are intricately refined, so I'll need to first look into it properly, and then formulate a Fuinjutsu countermeasure. The basic judgement entails that these produce an endless torrent of illusions, hence, I'll need to create 5 tags for us that will enable us to easily ward off the genjutsu without the need of weaving signs and such."
At this point, Kaede had forgotten she was rambling on for so long that Shisui and the others were stupefied by her expansive knowledge on this topic. Everything that entered their ears was practically incoherent gibberish.
Nonetheless, Kaede continued as she adopted a contemplative stance, "So first of all, I'll need to create a tag that will serve to tear the user away from the genjutsu... It's annoying, but creating all 5 should take about an hour."
Everyone was simply dumbfounded by the Uchiha female's interference, prompting Shisui to applaud, "W-Whoa, you seem to know so much about Fuinjutsu, huh nee-san?"
Noticing the stares, Kaede hastily remarked while scratching her head sheepishly, "I-I was taught by Kushina nee-san after all, haha."
"Ohh yeah, I almost forgot about that," Shisui seemed to recall.
The dismayed Genma blurted, "Kushina-sama? You were trained by her?"
"Yeah," Kaede confirmed.
Genma quickly regained his cool, and mumbled to himself, "Well no wonder. From the best of the best I see."
She nudged Saruto, to which he added to make it seem as though he was an expert, "Thankfully the tags don't seem to carry any explosive inscription."
"Indeed," Kaede supported.
Kaede removed one strap of the backpack on her shoulder, allowing the bag to dangle to her left while she unzipped it to retrieve some items required for the next course of action. However, much to her surprise, a firm grip on her shoulder stopped her from rummaging any further.
With her brows knit, she gasped, "What is it?"
Saruto proposed, "As you said, it'll take too much time, so I'll use... that."
Kaede's eyes flickered, but noticing the resolve in his eyes, she zipped her bag and strapped the bag to her shoulder, and inquired, "Are you sure? What about your identity?"
Saruto didn't answer, and instead gave a tacit nod that silently conveyed, 'Just trust me.'
He turned his back, before facing the rest of the crew who wore confused expressions. Taken aback, Shisui questioned, "C-Captain? Is something the matter?"
'Yeah, I'm sure I can trust these guys...' Saruto mentally remarked.
He raised a finger to his lips, and issued a command;
"Since this is urgent, I really don't have a choice. I command that none of you reveal what you've seen."