Finding things to do in the camp was far from easy. I wasn't under Mei's direct command, which meant that she technically wasn't allowed to issue missions to me. However, unofficially, she could send me into combat if necessary, and I really disliked that fact.
There were countless things I could do but wasn't technically permitted to.
On the positive side, if I remained unseen or unrecognized, I could essentially do whatever I wanted. This simple fact led Mei and me to devise a plan to infiltrate one of Yagura's prison camps.
A large prison break would boost morale and inflict significant damage to Yagura's pride. With some luck, it would coax him back onto the battlefield, where Mei and me could take him out—along with Zabuza, if he was present. Having him nearby would definitely be useful in such a scenario.
The execution of our plan would take time. We would also need a major distraction to prevent the camp from calling in reinforcements easily. There was a significant naval base relatively close by, so creating that distraction was paramount before attempting any rescue mission.
Among the three major prisoner camps known to the rebels, the northernmost one was the most logical target for infiltration.
To reach it, we would have to avoid Kiri Navy patrols and give the forward camps a wide berth. However, once we navigated the no man's land, it would be quite possible to move unseen, even for a regular ninja.
Thankfully, I had Dustless Bewildering Cover at my disposal, which should render me completely undetectable unless a powerful sensor was present.
According to our intel, that prisoner camp was holding over five thousand prisoners, most of whom were civilians with bloodlines and their families, alongside a few low-ranking ninjas with bloodlines.
The reported capacity seemed exaggerated, but considering that the entire country was undergoing a "cleansing," the numbers made sense.
The Land of Water's Daimyo was going along with this genocide, and there was a good chance that his forces, at least partially, were guarding the prison camp.
Most of Yagura's able-bodied ninjas were fighting in the civil war, so the Daimyo's samurai were serving as the peacekeeping force, hunting down individuals with bloodlines who had never trained to be ninjas. At least that was what the rebels told me.
In a nation built on a vast archipelago like this one, the clans were less centralized, even though they still sent their ninjas to Kirigakure. Many of the more affluent clans used to live in their own settlements or even on their own islands.
The Terumi clan, for example, was located on one of the larger islands in the Land of Water, just south of the main rebel camp. That entire island had defected along with Mei, which was one reason why the Rebels could at least partially feed themselves.
It truly was a shame the Terumi clan was more or less wiped out, Mei was among the last few dozen.
Some parts of the population were more loyal to the clan that supported them daily, rather than a village from which they felt little connection apart from the ninjas wearing headbands.
Perhaps that was the primary reason Yagura had become so much more autocratic than usual for a Kage. His original goal might have been to project Kiri's power over the islands where he had little presence.
That was, of course, until Obito got to him.
Did Obito even reach him in this timeline? Was Yagura just delusional here? Was Obito even alive?
So many possibilities flooded my mind, none of which made me feel any better.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and refocused on our plan.
"I already told you, I can send you messages and coordinate from the inside. Nobody suspects a completely average-looking cat to be a messenger," I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time.
It wasn't that they didn't believe my claims; they probably just didn't want to commit their navy to transport so many people at once. Five thousand individuals would require dozens of ships, and hiding such a fleet from the vigilant Loyalists was no small task.
"The operation would need a major distraction," I added. Mei nodded, clearly prepared to defend her plan; she was the one who had come up with the whole operation.
"And that would involve a direct attack on their southernmost outpost," she explained. It was likely that she planned to attack there anyway, but simultaneously liberating thousands of prisoners would inflict far greater damage.
Even if the assault failed, we would gain many new allies. The room was filled with murmurs as people weighed the situation. Surprisingly, Ao was fully on board, even volunteering to lead the frontal assault.
I wasn't included in the final tactical meeting, so I didn't know the details of the plan that didn't involve me directly, but I was relieved that we were finally taking action.
My role in the grand plan was to infiltrate the prisoner camp, eliminate the dangerous individuals without raising any alarms, and if possible, disable the alarm system itself.
With my decent understanding of Fuinjutsu, I was confident I could manage this relatively easily.
Two full days of preparation passed, during which I relocated to the northern-most rebel encampment, the closest one to the prison camp.
The camp was small, staffed by around a thousand people, about seven hundred of whom were ninjas. Given the tiny size of the island it occupied, I wasn't surprised it hadn't been attacked yet.
The island was roughly ten square kilometers in size, and that's being generous. It was more of an observation post than anything else. However, for my purposes, it was more than sufficient. I could meditate and reach out with my sensory abilities to sense all the way to the prison camp and even beyond, touching the outskirts of Kirigakure itself.
My sensory range had significantly improved since the last time I attempted to sense an entire country almost five years ago.
The Land of Frost was relatively small and concentrated within one mountain range, while the Land of Water was much more expansive. The main island of the entire archipelago, where Kirigakure was located, was already larger than the Land of Frost, not to mention the vast areas of ocean that separated the inhabited islands.
If my estimations were correct, my effective sensing range had grown almost fivefold. However, I could only sense a mass of human chakra in close proximity to each other, not individual people at such distances.
Additionally, there were many proper towns on most of the medium-sized islands, while the smaller ones typically had only a fishing village or two.
What my sensing confirmed, however, was that the prison camp was alarmingly close to Kirigakure, located a little over two hundred kilometers away. A team composed of average Chunin could likely cover that distance in half an hour and still be in good fighting condition.
Yagura could probably do it in less than ten minutes. Much faster, if he didn't mind cratering his own village or causing massive tsunami waves.
Our timing would have to be impeccable. The ships needed to transport the people must be present well before the guards spot us, meaning the operation would need to be executed in the dead of night.
This also broadened my target pool to include any sensors I might encounter, though identifying a sensor ninja is nearly impossible, as they typically do not wear distinctive clothing. So, I would have to rely on my instincts and gut feeling.
This limitation meant my operational timeframe was very restricted; I could only stay on that island for about a day at most.
The island itself was barely a hundred kilometers across, and a skilled sensor located roughly at the center should be able to cover the entire area.
While the Dustless Bewildering Cover would keep me hidden until I got close, I could only maintain it for a little over fifteen minutes before my chakra began to reach dangerously low levels for combat scenario.
My control over water still wasn't strong enough for continuous use of such a powerful jutsu.
My best option for long time hiding would most likely be the Hiding in Earth technique, which I favored for good reason.
Detecting someone using this jutsu is challenging because sensing through a large volume of rock is inherently difficult. However, with this technique, I could dig deep and stay far away from the sensors until I memorized the chakra signatures of the potential sensor ninjas.
Normally, digging so low would be dangerous because that sensing restriction applied to the user, too. But I could sense so much further than any normal sensor it wasn't a problem for me.
After that, it would be time for assassination, and I would activate the Dustless Bewildering Cover to maintain my concealment.
—
It was a long journey to my destination, approximately six hundred kilometers across the water to reach the camp. I set out early, with the sky darkened by clouds. A storm was approaching, and it looked as though it would last for at least a few days.
Rain began to fall shortly after I reached the halfway point of my journey, accompanied by crackling lightning in the clouds and increasing winds.
This weather was perfect for my infiltration, although it would complicate things for the evacuation ships.
As I neared the island, I shook my head to rid myself of distracting thoughts and checked the detailed map I had procured from the rebels.
The camp was located in the southern part of the island near a small lake, situated on a peninsula that limited the obvious approach points.
I decided to go straight to the northernmost part of the island, keeping as far away from the camp as possible until I could identify and deal with the sensors.
Unlike the Kiri nin, I had a secret weapon. I performed a series of hand seals and summoned Yoru, my excited cat who seemed eager to help.
"Big bro, big bro! Do I get to hunt?" she exclaimed before the smoke from the jutsu had even fully dispersed.
I chuckled at her usual enthusiasm.
"Not yet, Yoru. But you will help me locate some targets for a hunt," I informed her, her excitement remaining palpable.
"Can you identify enemy sensory types?" I asked seriously, already expecting a positive response.
"Sure can! I'll find them for you," she replied, becoming more serious now that she had a mission to accomplish.
"Good," I nodded and showed her the map. "Any ninja on this island who can sense chakra needs to be marked with one of these."
I transferred what looked like bunch of inky squiggles from my hand onto her paw, which became nearly invisible against her pitch-black fur.
"Simply touch the target you want to mark and channel a bit of chakra through the seal. It's a beacon of sorts that lets me know where the seal is located. Unfortunately, it only lasts a few days." I sighed, frustrated with the limitation of the seal.
I had wanted to recreate Hiraishin, but my efforts had resulted in a complete failure. Tobirama was a genius, no matter how much weaker than his brother he was.
This seal was the best marker I had managed, but teleporting to it was completely out of the question, and unlike the real Hiraishin seal, it would disappear after a few days.
Yoru nodded and took off, moving faster than most jōnin I had seen. She was becoming quite powerful herself.
Meanwhile, I decided to find a place to set up my base. I knew I had at best a day; most likely less, to disarm the alarm and eliminate the sensor ninjas, so time was of the essence.
I located a small cave near the beach and expanded it slightly using Earth Release to fit my tent.
I was confident Yoru would be able to find me easily; that little troublemaker was as skilled at sensing chakra as I was—possibly even better, given that she could actually use sage chakra. My advantage lay in covering a large area, while hers lay in precision.
I created Earth Clones to keep watch and decided to take a nap until Yoru returned. I needed to be well rested for the night.
She should have little trouble with running around; stray cats are common, and she looked just like any other cat.
After my nap; approximately five hours, not enough sleep for what I wanted to achieve, I woke up to find Yoru curled up on my chest, relaxing after her mission.
"Did you mark them all, Yoru?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, surprised by her speed. "I got all but two this time. There are only eight sensors on the island, and out of those, only three are skilled enough to detect you from any meaningful distance," she yawned, rolling over and demanding some belly rubs for her efforts.
"Good job, Yoru," I praised her, scratching her gently. "Get some rest, and we'll take out the others after you take a breather. I'll wait until nightfall to deal with them."
Noticing that it was already early afternoon, I saw the sky was a dark grey due to the thick clouds overhead. Assuming good travel times, I expected the evacuation fleet to arrive in the dead of night or early morning at the latest.
Fortunately, I had left a shadow clone with the ships, so I would know a few hours in advance when they were coming.
—
As evening fell, darkness enveloped everything. The sound of rain splashing against the ground was almost deafening, resembling a monsoon more than a typical storm.
Without the specialized Water Release ninjutsu the Kiri sailors used, sailing in such weather would be nearly impossible.
However, this played to our advantage; no sane naval force would attempt to navigate in these conditions. Thankfully, the Kiri rebels were far from sane, much like most ninjas.
Lightning cracked in the sky, briefly illuminating the surroundings as I approached the camp, already concealed by the Dustless Bewildering Cover. Hirenkyaku allowed me to move unpredictably through the rain-soaked air while I focused on detecting the seals Yoru had placed to mark my primary targets.
On one of the tall watchtowers, hidden beneath a roof of thin sheet metal and wooden planks, stood the most dangerous of the sensors. I could sense his vigilance, his chakra scanning the ground surrounding the entire camp, his fellow sensors doing similar work from various vantage points, but none matched his skill.
The entire prison camp reminded me of the concentration camp I vaguely remembered visiting in my previous life.
There were large buildings for the prisoners to sleep in communally and sturdy structures for the guards.
I was surprised by the amount of barbed wire; such a thing shouldn't be able to slow down ninjas too much. However, as I turned my senses to the mostly sleeping prisoners, I confirmed my suspicions.
The vast majority were civilians; their only crime was being born into a clan with a bloodline or marrying someone with a bloodline. There were a few young ones, around my age or even younger, with greater chakra capacities, but none reached the average chunin level of power.
A starved genin isn't all that much stronger than a civilian, so they wouldn't pose that much of a threat, especially considering there were even a few jonin guarding the area.
Most of the personnel appeared to be the Daimyo's samurai, who were generally around genin level in raw power, but I knew better than to underestimate them. Having never fought a samurai, I reminded myself to remain cautious.
I already had Yoru in position near the other skilled sensor who was still awake and could potentially detect me.
Memories from my Shadow Clone flooded my mind; the fleet was close and would be landing in just a few hours.
That was all I needed as a signal.
—
I pointed my fingers straight down from my elevated position, aiming directly at the most powerful sensor beneath me.
"Byakurai," I whispered to myself as a white-hot bolt of lightning shot from my fingers, piercing through the main watchtower's roof and striking the unfortunate sensor, the bolt running through his skull, turning his brain into fried mush in an instant.
From the ground, it would simply look like another flash of lightning hitting the tower, likely a common occurrence.
I moved quickly, cutting open a window to secure my spot at the top of the watchtower and gain a safe vantage point.
I could sense Yoru easily handling the other potential threat in a different tower, my expression remaining neutral. The riskiest part was over; now came the most dangerous task.
It wasn't just that I might have to find my way to the heart of the camp to disable the Fuinjutsu formula that likely served as the alarm system; it was also that I couldn't use Crystal Release without immediately revealing my identity, which was strictly against the mission parameters Hiruzen had given me.
I was limited to Earth and Lightning Release, restricting my options in case I faced someone truly strong.
"Yoru," I whispered into the communication seal, "Please take out the last powerful sensor. He is the biggest wildcard in this operation right now." After a brief pause, I received a soft meow in return; Yoru was playing the role of a poor stray cat perfectly.
I had to restrain myself from simply destroying the guard quarters.
Such an action would only frighten the prisoners and create chaos. We needed the chaos to erupt only as the prisoners were being escorted away, not before.
I grit my teeth and concealed myself under the Dustless Bewildering Cover once more, moving directly toward the heart of the camp. The camp's main office was located closest to the cliff face that overlooked the ocean, well-defended against any land-based attack, yet it was also quite isolated.
If no guards saw me; or if they all mysteriously died, no one would know for some time. For the moment, it was safer to keep them alive, but I made up my mind. No guard of this place would live long enough to see the sunrise.