Chapter 183: Ghosts in the Mist (Part-5) [Mist Village: Where Betrayal Is The National Hobby]

Chapter 183 - Ghosts in the Mist (Part-5) [Mist Village: Where Betrayal Is The National Hobby] {Notes} {End} {Read} ~~~ Four moved ahead of his squad with Itachi and Yugao following behind. He didn't waste time giving long instructions and just told them to stay close for now. They traveled for about an hour through the wet terrain until the dull glow of scattered fires hinted that they were nearing signs of human presence. When they paused behind a mossy ridge, Four turned to Hitoshi, who wore the usual fly-themed ANBU mask. "Fly, spread your insects out. Find any human settlements." Hitoshi nodded, crouched, and within seconds his insects vanished into the misty brush. The group waited in silence for about twenty minutes until Hitoshi spoke up again. "There are four settlements nearby. One looks purely civilian and the other three have shinobi guards at the perimeter. Ten kilometers east, fifteen southwest, eighteen west." Four gave a small nod. "Good. Keep searching for more if you can, but don't spook any Kirigakure patrols. Leader said we only need five, but more is better. Everyone else, come with me." They moved quickly, following Four along a muddy trail until a low wall of rough wooden planks came into view. A few weathered watchtowers dotted the perimeter, but there were no visible patrols on their side. Four gestured them closer and slipped them through a gap. Inside, they regrouped behind an abandoned shed, tucked away from the main road. "The village already has marked spots for message drops, which the agents already know, so they'd understand what to do on their own." Four explained, his voice low. "Direct agent contact is risky, so these signs tell them where to go next without us needing to interfere. Remember, even ff you see an agent picking up the mark, do not approach. Just watch and report. Got it?" He made eye contact with Itachi and Yugao. They both nodded. "Good. Stay hidden and watch how I do it." Four transformed into a shabby-looking villager with ragged clothes, hunched shoulders and slipped out into the muddy lane. Yugao, Itachi, and the rest of the squad broke off to find vantage points, leaving Four to work. The village itself looked half-abandoned. Damp fog clung to wooden roofs, and the few people on the street moved with the same tired, hopeless gait. Spotting this, Four changed his disguise again to blend in better with dirty face, torn cloak, shoulders drooping. He made sure he looked like just another beaten-down local no one would care about. He placed the signs smoothly as a real mark was tucked behind a broken fence hidden by overgrown bushes, another near a garbage dump where no guard would bother to look. Fake signs went on random walls and fences, little scribbles that meant nothing however the agents would see this and understand that someone was trying to contact them so they'll begin looking for real locations. It didn't take long for him to finish placing all the marks in the designated locations. When he was done, Four slipped back into the shadows and returned to the alley. The others emerged one by one. He handed a folded scrap of paper to Yugao and Itachi. "These are the real drop points. Memorize them, burn it, and do exactly what I did. Divide the work as there are two other shinobi settlements left, so take one each. My squad will stay on wider recon and find more spots if we can. Once you're done, regroup at the place where we split from Fly. We'll plan the next steps there." Itachi and Yugao nodded without questions. They flickered away, vanishing into the mist. Four glanced at the two remaining sensory squad members. "You two, spread out. Confirm any new settlements but don't enter. Mark whether they're civilian or shinobi settlements and nothing else. Keep your heads down." They nodded and disappeared into the darkness too. Four waited a moment longer, checking the quiet street behind him. Once satisfied no one had seen them, he slipped his mask back into place and melted into the fog. ~~~ Four was rushing through the jungle again, keeping a careful distance as he tracked the spy from his team. He kept his chakra well suppressed so he wouldn't accidentally show up in her range. He knew exactly who he was following, Naoki Haru and he replayed what he knew about her in his mind as he leapt from branch to branch. Naoki was a civilian girl with good sensory and stealth skills. When she became a Chunin a few years back, she got admitted to ANBU. Four himself handled all the sensors in the ANBU, so he'd always kept half an eye on her. All this time he'd thought she was just a normal kunoichi, naturally talented at what she did. But just before this mission, the commander had organized this particular sensory squad and placed Four in charge, and that's when the commander had quietly told him the truth. Naoki was a sleeper agent, a Mist spy, placed in Konoha from birth. Her mind had already been read without her ever realizing it. They'd confirmed her mother was also a spy who kept her loyal to the Mist, raising her to believe she was serving a higher purpose. It was nothing new as all the Great Nations had children like this. So Four had just been mildly surprised, then gotten over it. He understood right away why the commander wanted to bring Naoki on this mission, she was expendable, and her "loyalty" could work in the Leaf's favor if they handled it right. Naoki was a novice spy and this was her first time actually doing any real work for Kirigakure, so she was bound to be overeager, convinced she was making her mother and handlers proud. Four's job was to make sure her eagerness would be useful. That's why he'd split the squad earlier, so she wouldn't get suspicious. And as expected, instead of searching for new settlements like he'd ordered, she'd immediately broken off and started heading straight for some hidden contact point. Four kept just outside her range, watching as she made her way deeper into the forest until she finally stopped. She took out a sealing tag which was not Konoha's design, Four noted and triggered it with a small pulse of chakra. He settled into a crouch behind a tree, waiting. A few minutes passed with nothing happening. He could practically feel her tension building as she pulled out a second tag, hesitated, then triggered that one too. This time she didn't have to wait long. About a minute later, a white-robed old man appeared in front of her, his movements silent despite the long robes and cane. He had a calm, almost kind face, if you ignored the massive burn scar that twisted one side of it. The old man spoke in a gentle voice, "Who are you, child?" Naoki perked up instantly, like a puppy meeting its master. "Sir, I am Naoki. I'm agent L-4-1. My mother is handler 4. I'm here on a mission with Leaf squads and I have important information to share!" The old man's gentle look vanished as he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground with surprising strength. "Are you an idiot?" he hissed. "Do you even realize how risky this is?" Naoki choked and kicked a little, but still tried to explain, "Sir, please *cough* listen! My captain ordered us to spread out and search for settlements and we're placing signs for Leaf spies! I thought... I thought it was the right time to report to you!" The old man's glare faded just slightly as he dropped her, letting her collapse to her knees. "Explain everything," he demanded flatly. Naoki spilled every detail from Ren's orders to how Four had split them up, how they were planting mixed fake and real marks, what the plan was. The old man listened, frowning deeper as she rambled on. When she finally finished, he sighed heavily. "This is exactly why children shouldn't be given real spy work. Too eager and too careless," he muttered. He flicked a kunai from his sleeve so quickly Naoki didn't even flinch before it struck and she dropped lifeless to the ground, dead in an instant. Four didn't even blink from his hiding spot. He just watched as the old man signaled and four masked hunter-nin appeared out of the shadows like they'd been waiting nearby the whole time. The old man peered toward the trees, his sharp eyes narrowing as if he sensed something. "Capture the listener," he ordered coldly. The four hunter-nin vanished and reappeared around Four, closing the distance with perfect formation. The old man himself stepped closer, clicking his tongue when he saw Four's ANBU mask clearly. "Leaf. You people always have to stick your nose where it doesn't belong. Did you really think you'd leave here alive? Be smart and tell me everything you know, or I'll make you wish you were never born." Four stood calmly, his tanto half-drawn. His tone was so flat he could've been talking about the weather. "You look important enough. You must know things worth hearing. So why don't you share instead?" The old man's eyes narrowed further. He gave a sharp hand signal, and the four hunter-nin lunged at Four in perfect sync. Four drew his tanto and blocked the first strike, deflecting another with a twisting step. But there were four of them, and the old man hung back, clearly waiting to see if Four would get pinned. For a moment, it looked like the hunter-nin had the advantage, until the old man, who was watching the fight while looking at the pollen being spread, rolled his eyes back in his head and he crumpled to the ground, snoring loudly. The hunter-nin froze in confusion at the bizarre sight. That split-second was enough. Four pivoted and slashed two cleanly across the neck, dropping them instantly. The third one jumped back but barely landed before a kunai sank into his throat from nowhere and he gurgled and fell limp. The last hunter-nin turned pale, stuck between attacking and running, but Four moved first and dropped him with a clean stab through the ribs. Four exhaled slowly and sheathed his blade as a figure appeared out of thin air in front of him, it was Ren, dropping his stealth. Ren had sent his clone as soon as he learned from his butterflies that Four was chasing after the spy in case something went wrong and, he was glad he sent one. Four might've been able to handle the hunter-nins however the old man would've given him trouble. Fortunately he arrived in time and with Ko's pollen spread out and him using and Advanced Genjutsu the old man was put to sleep in seconds. Ren spoke in that usual bored tone, "Read through the hunter-nins first. They might know more than that old man does." Four gave a small nod and started gathering the bodies closer. He rested his palm on the first one's forehead, closing his eyes as he slipped into the mind. He flinched faintly at what he found but didn't say a word until he heard Ren's voice again, sharper now, "Read all of them, and the old man too, before you reach any conclusions." Four just nodded once, steadying his breath, and went back to work, moving from one fallen hunter-nin to the next as the jungle stayed eerily quiet around them. Four moved methodically from one body to the next. He didn't rush on any of them; each time, he rested a palm on a hunter-nin's forehead, shut his eyes for a few seconds, then let out a quiet exhale before moving on. Ren stayed nearby, half-watching the treeline for any unexpected company but mostly just watching Four's work. When the last hunter-nin was done, Four knelt by the old man's body. The old man was still snoring under the combined effect of Ko's subtle sleep technique and Ren's layered Genjutsu. Four pressed his hand to the old man's temple, taking a bit longer this time. When he finally pulled back, his eyes stayed closed a moment longer before he stood up and brushed the dirt off his gloves. Ren waited, not saying anything yet as he could see Four was piecing things together in his head. When Four spoke, his voice was even. "The speculation is correct. There's a civil war brewing across the Land of Water, not just the Hidden Mist Village." He gestured lightly toward the sleeping old man. "You know about the Kaguya clan. They've always been a problem for the Mist because of their bloodlust and unpredictable attacks. The last raid they launched was brutal, but the Mist wiped them out completely. Thing is, that didn't settle anything. After that, a lot of ordinary shinobi grew even more wary of clans with powerful kekkei genkai, just like the Kaguya." Ren's eyes narrowed slightly. Four went on, voice steady, as if reading it all straight from the memories. "Normally, the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, should've kept things under control. But instead, he started openly oppressing the kekkei genkai clans. That fed the resentment. Guys like him," he nodded down at the old man, "they're just normal shinobi without special bloodlines. They saw Yagura's stance as a chance to push those clans down even harder." Four paused, making sure Ren was following, then continued. "So the village split into two main factions. One side is the kekkei genkai clans, they're banding together under the Terumi clan's lead. The other side is Yagura and the elders, who want to keep them suppressed. The tension's not just inside the village anymore. It's spread to smaller clans, old bloodline families, and even some outlying settlements." He took a theatrical pause as he finished, "However the real twist began when the Yuki Clan was completely wiped out." ~~~~~ {I know the Yuki Clan went into hiding due to persecution of bloodline clans, but since their fate was the same I decided to wipe them for my convenience.} {The timing might be a bit skewed but from what I know, Haku was around 5 (by looks) when he was in hiding and his mother was killed, so the Yuki clan must have went into hiding around that time and the war must be taking place around that time too. Since, Haku was said to be around Naruto's age or younger, I think the timeline fits, anyway, even if it's wrong I can't do much about it now.} {I am thinking of changing the bonus goal system from daily to weekly, like, if the fic get 1800+ stones by the end of the week, I'll release 3 bonus Chapters plus 1 daily Chapter on the first day of the new week, the bonus Chapters would be fewer but, you guys sometimes get lazy and don't complete the goal so it might mean the same. Anyway, it's just an idea for now, even if I start it, it would be from the next week.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}