Jiraiya had disappeared without a trace. Kamishiro stood there, his mind in a bit of a mess.
Obito said sarcastically, "Some people aren't even good at brown-nosing."
Kamishiro scoffed and looked at Rin Nohara. "Rin, let me tell you, just now Obito wanted me to..."
"Ah!!!"
Realizing what Kamishiro was about to say, Obito let out a shrill scream. He rushed up to Kamishiro and covered his mouth. "Don't say it! If you do, I'll fight you!"
Rin Nohara looked at Kamishiro and Obito blankly, having no idea what they were up to.
Rin Nohara looked at Kakashi questioningly. Kakashi shrugged. He also didn't know what tricks these two guys, Kamishiro and Obito, were playing.
The smart Kamishiro came up with The Plan.
Suddenly, Kamishiro rolled his eyes upwards and his whole body went limp as he slumped to the ground.
Obito was startled. "Why did he suddenly faint? No, it has nothing to do with me!"
Rin Nohara was also taken aback. Just as she was about to go up and check on Kamishiro, Kakashi stopped her.
Kakashi stared at Kamishiro with his fishy eyes and said to Obito, "Obito, carry him on your back. We're going to carry out the mission."
Obito exclaimed in shock, "Ah? He's fainted. Do we still have to take him with us?"
Kamishiro, who was "unconscious", was extremely excited in his heart!
Obito was really cooperative!
However, Kakashi, who had seen through everything, didn't give Kamishiro any chance. "Yes! He might wake up on the way later. Anyway, for this mission, we have to take him even if he's dead. There's no room for discussion!"
Obito remembered what Minato Namikaze had told him. He also remembered that Kamishiro was an undercover agent. He nodded. "Alright then..."
Just as Obito was about to carry Kamishiro on his back, Kamishiro jumped up on his own. He angrily pointed at Kakashi and said, "Do you have any humanity? I've fainted!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes at Kamishiro. "Since you're awake, let's set off immediately!"
Obito and Rin stared blankly at the energetic Kamishiro. How could they not know that Kamishiro had been faking it just now.
Obito didn't know what to say about Kamishiro. After holding it in for a long time, he blurted out, "Kamishiro, you're really... a pain in the neck."
Rin shook her head helplessly, looking completely defeated.
All of The Plan had failed. He could only slink away and follow Kakashi and the others out of Konoha's camp.
Led by Kakashi, Obito, Rin, and the reluctant Kamishiro headed 15 kilometers southwest of Konoha's camp.
...
After traveling for some time, Kakashi's team reached their destination.
However, there was no one in sight.
Kamishiro was immediately delighted at the sight. "It seems Lord Jiraiya's intelligence was wrong. There isn't even a single soul here, let alone any Cloud Ninjas. Can we go back now?"
Kakashi ignored Kamishiro and jumped down from the tree trunk onto the grass.
Then he squatted on the grass, seemingly doing something there.
Obito, Rin, and Kamishiro also jumped down.
Rin asked, "Kakashi, did you find something?"
Kakashi pointed at the grass on the ground and analyzed aloud, "Look, the grass here is all bent, and there are obvious footprints. That means these grasses were trampled by someone.
Moreover, the grasses are bent in several sections, and the footprints on the ground vary in size, which means many ninjas came here before. Also, these footprints are quite fresh, so they came here recently."
Kamishiro said with a strange look on his face, "The footprints are fresh? Did you catch a whiff of their smelly feet?"
The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched under his mask, and he didn't bother to reply to Kamishiro.
Obito guessed, "Kakashi, do you think these footprints were left by the Cloud Ninjas?"
Kakashi nodded seriously and said, "That's right. This place is in the middle of nowhere, and it's almost the mission location Lord Jiraiya told us about. We can almost confirm that these footprints were left by the Cloud Ninjas.
If the Cloud Ninjas really set up camp here, it means they should be nearby."
Kamishiro was dumbfounded. To be honest, Kakashi was really sharp.
He had keen observation skills and made precise analyses. No wonder he was the team leader.
Kakashi started to form hand seals with his hands and then pressed them on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A puff of smoke billowed up, and when it cleared, a ninja dog emerged.
"Guruku, smell the scent here and lead us to them!"
This ninja dog called Guruku lowered its head and sniffed the smell on the grass. Then it barked at Kakashi and ran off in a certain direction.
Kakashi said to the three of them, "Follow!"
The four of them followed Guruku. Before long, Guruku stopped and barked twice towards the front.
Kakashi stared ahead. "We've found them!"
There was a small hill in front, and there was a cave under it. There was also a ninja wearing the Forehead Protector of the Cloud Ninja Village guarding the entrance.
"Good work, Guruku."
Kakashi scratched Guruku's head. Guruku let out a bark, and a puff of smoke appeared, then it vanished on the spot.
Kamishiro was a bit incredulous. Had the mission already been accomplished?
This was a piece of cake! There was no challenge whatsoever.
Kamishiro immediately broke into a big smile. "Alright, our mission is done. Let's go quickly."
Then Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara didn't move and stayed where they were.
Kamishiro's right eyelid twitched violently, and a bad premonition welled up in his heart. "You three... don't tell me you're trying to stir up trouble! Hey, come on, our mission is just to confirm the authenticity of the intelligence. And we don't know how many Cloud Ninjas there are or what their strength is. Going there is just asking for a beating!"
Kakashi said in a serious tone, "Our mission isn't finished yet. Our mission is to find out the truth of the intelligence and confirm whether there are Cloud Ninjas stationed here. But so far, we've only seen one Cloud Ninja. One person doesn't fit the concept of a station.
It's possible that this is a Booby Trap set by the enemy to mislead us and lure us Konoha ninjas here. Moreover, if we report such unclear intelligence and something goes wrong, we'll be held accountable.
So we need to confirm the number of the enemy. At least, we have to make sure there is more than one of them!"
Obito chimed in a bit excitedly, "Kakashi's right. Since we're already here, let's figure it out before leaving!"
Rin Nohara didn't say a word, but it was obvious that she supported Kakashi and Obito.
Kamishiro scratched his head in distress. This was really a headache.