Nindō 0122: Carpet Search (1/5)

"You're making a big mistake by going against us, Uchiha Sasuke," a man with gray hair spoke. A part of his face was covered by a metallic device, covering a part of his cheek, his eye, and his ear. His arm and leg were no longer attached, and the metallic prosthetics were discarded like trash on the side. He was on his knees—knee, unable to stand up as he looked at his attacker with anger covering his face. "It won't be long before an inner comes to get me. You'll be in trouble then."

"That's the reason I'm still here, Ao," Sasuke said. "Konoha's forces should be here any moment now. We will be taking this vessel you are so concerned about. If an inner makes a move, I will take care of them."

"This is a mistake …" The man didn't struggle, aware that his situation was hopeless. "You will doom yourself and Konoha."

"Kara is a plague. To the entire Shinobi world. If not now, eventually, they will target Konoha. That is why a preemptive strike against them is a much more viable option."

"You can't take on their Inners."

"Let me be the judge of that. And shut your trap."

Sasuke waited in silence for a little while longer before raising his brow.

"They're here," he mumbled before grabbing Ao and disappearing from his spot with the Shunshin.

When he reappeared, he was close to an assembly of twenty-six elite shinobi as they discussed something amongst themselves. Two of them were busy setting up a tent in the small clearing.

His appearance startled everyone, and they looked at him warily. Nevertheless, most of them quickly calmed down after identifying him.

"Is that Ao?" Ino raised her brow, identifying the man as the Mizukage's second during the Fourth War.

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded. "You are going to stay here?"

"I'm coordinating everyone. We will spread everyone in close zones so that if anyone runs into an Outer, they can quickly get backup."

Sasuke nodded and waited as Ino quickly established her communication jutsu with everyone and dispersed them according to their battle plan. Ino entered the tent and pulled out a large, detailed map of the entire area that they were supposed to survey.

"Do you mind taking care of this guy?" Sasuke asked, entering the tent behind her while dragging Ao. "I should keep an eye on the field as well. An Inner might make an appearance, causing us to lose our Elite shinobi."

"Sure, don't worry. Wait, hold up." Ino patted his arm. "Now go. I'll let you know if anything comes up."

"Got it." Sasuke disappeared as Ao looked at her impassively.

"What?" Ino asked.

"I remember you," he said. "I worked with your father to create the sensing water sphere for the battlefield. A fine shinobi indeed. He was a hero of the Fourth Ninja War."

"You were, too, Ao. You were the sole survivor of the Ten-Tails' attack on the Headquarters. You threw your legacy away by betraying humanity and joining our enemies."

"Enemies? They aren't our enemies. They aim to bring salvation to our war-torn and broken world," Ao said. "It is you who is in the wrong, kid."

"You were the one who put Katasuke under that genjutsu before the chūnin exams, weren't you?" Ino asked. "To sabotage his career and life. For what? To leak his research to Kara. That man saved your life, and this is how you repay him? Pathetic."

"It would've been better to let me die," the man said bitterly. "At least then, I would've left my legacy as a hero who sacrificed himself. Instead? I was left a shell of my former self. A fake arm, a fake leg, and no peripheral vision or depth perception because I didn't have both eyes. My only skills are those of a shinobi, and I couldn't be a shinobi. I had nothing to live for anymore. He came and gave me purpose. So what if I'm a mere tool? At least I get to live for something rather than aimlessly wait for my death."

"Doesn't change the fact that you repaid his kindness like that," Ino said, focusing on the map. "Then again, it's not like you betrayed Konoha. You were a Kiri-nin in the first place. Nonetheless, you should've stayed retired. Now? Now, you get to enjoy the hospitality of our lovely Torture and Interrogation Department."

"No, I won't," Ao grunted.

"Oh?" Ino turned to look at him and immediately saw a needle approaching her face. Ao, despite having only a single arm and a leg, had freed himself from Sasuke's bindings and attacked her. "What a surprise."

Ino narrowed her eyes, and Ao clutched his head and grunted in pain.

"Seriously, dude. Just stay down. You are down two limbs and an eye," Ino said dryly.

[Hey, Naruto, you got any way to help me restrain someone? Sasuke left Ao with me, and he's a little feisty. I could bombard him with mental pressure, but he's pretty resilient, and it will take away my concentration from the battlefield.]

[Check behind your head.]

"Behind my head?" She mumbled with a confused face but still raised her hand and touched her nape. Immediately, an orb with a familiar texture formed in her hand.

[You can do this?] Ino was surprised as she closely examined the pitch-black ball in her hand.

[Hold it firmly.]

With his words, the orb morphed into a short spear while still in Ino's hand.

[I can't sense your surroundings, but I can still control this orb. Stab him with it. It will freeze his chakra and leave him powerless.]

[It won't kill him, will it? I don't want to accidentally kill a valuable source of information.]

[Just stab him in a non-lethal place. I'll take care of stopping the bleeding.]

[You sound a little tired. Are you doing something?]

[I've gotten some practice with this technique, but it wastes a ton of chakra when using it. Casting jutsu through the seal takes more than a thousand times the chakra that would normally be needed. You should've seen the state of the person whom I first tried this technique with. Their entire body was flooded with my chakra, leaving them incapacitated. You didn't feel a thing.]

[You're hiding her identity. It's another woman, isn't it? Someone other than Hinata. Are you actually cheating on her? Did she find out? Is that why you've been going out on romantic dates every alternate day?]

Naruto didn't grace her with a response.

Ino snorted and looked at Ao expressionlessly. "My father and the others sacrificed themselves for the survival of the world. For you, the only survivor of that tragedy, to directly join the organization that aims to destroy the world is tarnishing that legacy."

Not letting Ao get another word in, Ino stabbed the man's thigh.

"Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound. We'll heal it when you get to Konoha. Or maybe we'll just let the wound fester …"

Ino didn't spare any further thoughts for Ao and brought her focus back to everyone that she was connected to. She turned to the map of the surrounding area and infused her chakra. Immediately, her chakra formed multiple small dots on the surface of the map. Some of them were still moving further away from her position at the bottom edge while some were moving around in a circular zig-zag pattern, covering the most possible ground in their respective zones.

'All right …' Ino cracked her knuckles. 'They should all be at their respective zones within another couple of minutes or so. Things are pretty stable for now, and no one seems to have run into anyone.

[Do you mind sending me some chakra? I'm going to overcharge this map and pull more information from each person. I'll find you another traitor or two. Prepare yourself to give me a medal or something.]

[I'll give you a medal and a raise if you can find another Outer among our jōnin. But don't end up overloading your brain. They aren't as big of a problem as I made it seem today.]

[Nice power move, by the way. Honestly, I would be quivering in my boots if I were still hiding the information about my otherworldly experience from you. And when he started screaming? Fuck, even I was terrified for a moment there.]

[It was necessary. I could've subdued him instantly, but that wouldn't have had the impact I wanted it to have. Hearing your words gives me the confidence that my show of power worked.]

[There's an issue. We'll talk later. Send me some chakra.]

Ino quickly moved her focus to the incoming transmission while multitasking and pouring the chakra she got from Naruto into the tool in front of her.

"What's wrong, Konohamaru?" She spoke while transmitting the message telepathically.

"I've found something. It's some kind of a container. Lined with a very dense metal. I don't think I can pick this up. It is just big enough to fit a person. This is probably the thing that brought our target here. The vessel."

"Are there tracks? Do you need help from a hunting specialist or a sensor?"

"I don't see any tracks, nor can I sense any disturbances in the chakra around this. This is a dead end for me."

"Got it. Stay where you are. I'll guide Hanabi to your spot. Her sensory abilities are top-notch, and with the Byakugan, she can find the tracks quickly."

'This might be easier than what I thought …' Ino's thought was the jinx that set things in motion. Just as she was about to establish contact with Hanabi, she was assaulted with multiple messages of her people being ambushed.

"I just had to say it …" She said with a disgruntled expression as multiple dots on her special map flashed red. She counted seven that were being assaulted by the Outers of Kara and one of them was Hanabi, the jōnin she was about to send out to support Konohamaru in his search.

***

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