Rin did not continue speaking.
But the situation was already obvious.
Once war broke out at Mount Kikyo, those towns and villages would inevitably be affected. Even if Konoha and Sunagakure did not actively raid them, the aftershocks of the battle alone would be enough to deal devastating damage to them. Not to mention that someone might actively attack them.
Kikyo City was a little better off. It was relatively farther away, and large towns like that had dense populations and often housed nobles. Under normal circumstances, ninja would try to avoid such places when fighting, so as not to bring unnecessary trouble to themselves or their village.
But…
no one would care about those ordinary villages.
They were just ordinary civilians. If they died, then they died. At most, after the war ended, survivors would be gathered and sent back to the village orphanage. That would already count as very humanitarian.
"Speaking of which…"
Yakushi Kabuto had been taken in by Konoha during this battle, hadn't he?
Yuu suddenly thought of that name.
That guy was anything but ordinary.
Without any special bloodline backing him, he had relied entirely on his mind to successively become Danzo's subordinate, Orochimaru's assistant, and Sasori of the Red Sand's double agent. At a young age, he could already fight Kakashi and Tsunade. Later, he inherited Orochimaru's legacy and learned Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.
Although his Sage Mode had some problems and turned him into something not quite human or ghost…
aside from a few people like Might Guy, Kabuto could be said to have reached the limit of what an ordinary person could achieve.
If…
"If I recruit Kabuto in advance, before Danzo and Orochimaru notice him, what would happen?"
Yuu's thoughts stirred.
Beside him,
after hearing Rin's analysis, Obito immediately couldn't stay still.
"Yuu! Ninja are one thing, but the lives of these ordinary people can't be 'necessary sacrifices' too, right? They don't even know what's happening, and they have nothing to do with this war!"
"No, I have to go explain it to them…"
"Stop!"
Yuu called out and stopped Obito. "Are you planning to reveal the intelligence that Konoha has set up an ambush here before the decisive battle even begins, ruining the entire follow-up operation?"
"…Then what are we supposed to do? I can't just pretend I don't know!"
Obito slammed his fist against a weathered rock wall beside him, furious.
Rin also sighed softly and said in a low voice, "Yuu, Obito is right. These ordinary people shouldn't be dragged in innocently. How about we go to Lord Orochimaru and suggest finding a way to evacuate the villagers in advance?"
"Lord Orochimaru probably won't agree."
The one who spoke this time was Asuma, who was not far away. "Just as Yuu said, our operation this time is being carried out in secret. We can't expose it in advance, or we'll alert the enemy. Even if we really want to move those civilians away, we need another method… like disguising ourselves as bandits and abducting them?"
"Eh? We can do that?"
Obito turned his head. "Wow, I didn't expect you to be pretty smart, Asuma!"
"…Do you think everyone is as stupid as you?"
"?"
Everyone spoke one after another, their opinions differing.
Yuu thought for a moment, then looked down toward the valley below, in the direction where cooking smoke was rising.
"Let's go down and take a look. If we want to make a decision, we should at least inspect the place in person… Kakashi, take Asuma and the others and continue surveying the surrounding terrain. I'll go check the situation with Obito and Rin."
"Eh? How about we all go together? That way, we can look after one another."
Kurenai suggested softly.
"No. That would draw too much attention. Obito, Rin, take off your forehead protectors later. Don't expose your ninja identities. Also, don't speak carelessly without my permission. Otherwise, next time you won't be allowed to participate in this kind of action."
Yuu said.
The second half of that sentence was mainly aimed at Obito. Obito opened his mouth, then gloomily nodded.
On the other side, Kakashi also nodded.
Although his experience was greater than Yuu's, Yuu was the acting captain appointed by Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Minato, and he was also a special jōnin. Kakashi was the deputy captain, so in theory, Yuu did have the authority to give him orders. Kakashi tacitly accepted this.
After briefly preparing,
Yuu and the others left the main group and slipped down toward the valley below.
This kind of mountain path was not exactly easy to walk. It was rugged and muddy, and it was difficult to find footing.
But Yuu and the others were ninja, far more agile than ordinary people. Yuu also had his Substitution Technique that could be activated at any time, so before long, they arrived at one corner of the valley and saw the small town they had spotted from the mountain.
It was called a "small town," but it was not really large. It was closer to a cluster of dilapidated houses gathered along a gentle slope. A dirt road had been worn uneven by years of rain and footsteps. The air was mixed with the smell of firewood, cheap tobacco, and livestock manure.
Yuu had already used Transformation Technique to become a herb gatherer. He carried a bamboo basket filled with medicinal herbs on his back and walked at the front, while Obito and Rin followed behind him. Just as they entered the village, they saw several children in patched clothes laughing and chasing one another ahead.
One of the older children noticed Yuu's group, suddenly stopped, then broke away from the others and took a few steps toward them.
"Hey, who are you? Are you here to look for someone in the village?"
"Something like that. May I ask where your village chief is?"
"Mm… Grandpa Chief lives on the east side. I'll take you there!"
The child called out to his companions, then gestured for Yuu and the others to follow, acting very familiar.
While following him deeper into the village,
Yuu silently looked around and did not find any child with the same hair color as him.
Mm, based on the original plot, Kabuto should be about five years old right now, and he should have white hair. Although those two characteristics were rather broad, considering there were not many villages near Mount Kikyo, if he really was here, he shouldn't be hard to find.
"Maybe he isn't in this village?"
Yuu guessed inwardly.
Beside him,
Obito's and Rin's gazes fell more on the low mud-brick houses and thatched huts on both sides. This was a completely different sight from Konoha Village. Some elderly people sat in front of their homes, watching the uninvited guests with cloudy, numb eyes.
"This place… is really run-down. It's way worse than our village."
Obito muttered softly.
Rin nodded silently.
"We're here."
In front of a wooden house, the child leading the way stopped and shouted inside, "Hey, Inumaru, is Grandpa Chief inside? Some outsiders are looking for him. They seem to sell medicine…"
"…"
The one called Inumaru was a thin, small boy with white hair and indifferent eyes. He was carrying a basin of water into the courtyard. Hearing the voice, he only glanced over and said nothing.
"Hey, I'm talking to you. Are you deaf?"
The child leading the way was displeased.
But Yuu's gaze had already fallen on Inumaru. His eyes narrowed slightly.
This guy… could he be Yakushi Kabuto?
If he remembered correctly, the name "Kabuto" had been given by Yakushi Nonō. Before that, he should have had another name, only he had forgotten it due to amnesia.
Soon,
a skinny old man with a hunched back walked out of the wooden house and looked at Yuu's group in confusion.
Yuu took out the excuse he had prepared in advance, claiming to be a herb gatherer from nearby who wanted to ask the mountain villagers about the location of a certain medicinal herb. Then, "incidentally," he mentioned the recent fighting at the border and asked about the old man's plans.
"War…?"
"Yes! This place is so close to the border. Who knows when it might get caught up in the flames of war? It's very dangerous! I think you should leave this place and move farther into the Land of Fire!"
Obito could not help but cut in.
In response,
the old man only smiled.
"Most of the people in our village are old people and children. Normally, we can only dig a little food out of the soil to survive. If we leave this place, where can we go? Whether we starve to death, freeze to death, get killed by wild beasts or bandits in the wilderness, or die in the flames of war… what difference is there?"
"This…"
Obito fell silent.
Yuu coughed lightly.
"Then at least you should store more food and water, and dig your cellars deeper. That way, if disaster really comes, there will still be a chance of survival."
The old man sighed.
"Thank you for the reminder. I will tell everyone. But whether we can survive or not… that can only be left to fate."
With things said to this point,
Yuu and the others had nothing more to say. After all, they couldn't really tie people up and drag them away.
Before leaving,
Yuu asked about the "Dog Egg" outside the door.
Er, Inumaru.
"You mean that child… He's an orphan. His parents died a few years ago. I saw he was pitiful, so I let him stay here. Usually, he helps me with some work in exchange for food. Don't look at how small and thin he is—he's actually quite clever. If he had been born in Konoha, maybe he could have become a ninja."
The old man said half-jokingly.
Yuu also smiled.
"There will be a chance."
Alright, it was basically confirmed. "Inumaru" was Yakushi Kabuto.
And this village was most likely destroyed by war in the original timeline, which led to Kabuto and the other war orphans being brought back to Konoha and placed in the Konoha orphanage.
However…
there was still a small chance he was mistaken, so he had to confirm further.
Next,
Yuu took Rin and Obito to visit two other villages as well, using the same excuse as in the first village. In those two places, Yuu did not find a second white-haired child around five years old, which served as supporting evidence for Inumaru's identity as Yakushi Kabuto.
After giving the reminders,
the three returned to the nearby mountain path, their expressions somewhat complicated.
How should one put it…
Yuu was alright, because he had expected the scene he saw today.
But Obito and Rin had always lived in Konoha. The few times they had left the village, they had mostly been hurrying along roads and carrying out missions, so the number of places they had seen was limited. Now, seeing the living environment of these bottom-level civilians, they were somewhat shocked.
Obito was even anxiously grabbing at his hair.
"Ahhh, seriously, why aren't they willing to move away?! This place is about to fall into war. When that time comes… if they lose their lives, what use is anything else?!"
"Do what we can and leave the rest to fate."
Yuu spoke calmly. "If you really can't feel at ease, then sneak over at night and cast genjutsu on all these villagers, making them all hide in their cellars on the day the war breaks out. That might allow a few more people to survive."
"…But I don't know genjutsu. Clan Head Fugaku only taught me how to dispel genjutsu!"
Obito scratched his head.
"Useless."
Yuu hated the iron for not becoming steel.
After a brief silence,
Yuu exhaled.
"I'll go find Orochimaru later and see if he can help, or slightly adjust the ambush plan. If that really doesn't work, we'll leave some shadow clones in these villages when the time comes to help resist possible impact. That should count as doing all we reasonably can."
"…Alright."
After personally seeing these people's living environment, Obito was no longer as naive as he had been at the start. After thinking for a while and confirming that he had no better suggestion, he nodded.
After that,
Yuu raised his chin, signaling for the two to return with him.
At the same time, he began thinking about the feasibility of recruiting Yakushi Kabuto in advance.
Taking him away would be simple.
But…
How should Kabuto's identity be arranged?
Should he have Mikami Tajima and Aoi adopt him and rename him Mikami Kabuto?
Or should he first be sent to the orphanage and raised by Yakushi Nonō, while Yuu occasionally went to look after him, guarded against Danzo and Orochimaru, and then tried cultivating him after he grew older?
Yuu could not decide for the moment, so he could only press the thought down for now and focus on completing the trap arrangement mission first before considering anything else.
…
At this moment,
two figures wearing masks and carrying short blades emerged from the shadows. They looked toward Yuu's group on the distant mountain path, their eyes cold.
"Hmph. After spending half a day so busily, it was just to remind those ordinary people to run for their lives? Ridiculous."
One ninja said coldly. "Fortunately, they didn't appear as Konoha ninja. Otherwise, just the crime of 'exposing Konoha's high-level secrets' would be enough to execute them on the spot."
"…"
The other ninja was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, "Record all of this and send it to Lord Danzo. He will make the proper decision."
"Mm."
After the brief exchange, the two Root ninja concealed themselves and disappeared into the darkness once more.
…
Another two minutes passed.
A white head emerged from underground and looked toward the place where the two Root ninja had just been.
"Well, well. Obito and the others are actually being monitored by Konoha's own ninja? This is important intelligence. I must record it quickly and send it to Lord Madara…"
~~~
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