Chapter 6 Plan

Chapter 6.

Land of Fire.

The crackling of the fire filled the quiet night as embers drifted upward, swallowed by the dark canopy above. The smell of charred wood lingering in the air.

Squad 8 sat around the flames, their expressions solemn, the adrenaline from the earlier battle slowly fading. Takeshi, the merchant, remained quiet, his hands gripping his knees as he glanced at his supposed protectors—three young shinobi and one towering Akimichi.

Torifu finally broke the silence. His deep voice carried a hint of curiosity.

"Kirigakure shinobi openly causing trouble in the Land of Fire?" He scoffed, tossing a twig into the fire. "That's bold, even for them."

Earlier while putting away the corpses they naturally removed their masks and saw every one of them with a Kiri forehead protector.

Reika, arms crossed, nodded slightly. "It doesn't make sense."

Renzo, who had been staring into the fire, finally spoke, his tone calm but firm.

"They weren't Kiri shinobi."

Torifu raised a brow. "Oh?"

Renzo continued, "First, they used almost no Water Style techniques. Even a weak Kiri-nin should have used at least a basic water-based jutsu." He glanced at the merchant. "And second, they were willing to die too easily. They didn't fight like shinobi trying to accomplish a mission—they fought like people who only needed to create chaos."

Sakumo, who had been silent, looked up. "You're saying someone wants to frame Kirigakure?"

Renzo nodded. "Most likely. A third party stirring trouble."

Torifu let out a thoughtful hum. "That's… a problem." His usually easygoing expression hardened. "If someone is working to destabilize relations between Konoha and Kiri, that could lead to something much bigger."

The group fell silent again, the weight of his words sinking in.

Takeshi, still shaken from the attack, finally found his voice. "Whoever they were, they would have killed me if not for you all." He bowed his head slightly. "I owe you my life."

Torifu waved him off. "Just doing our job."

Then, he turned his gaze to Squad 8, his expression thoughtful. "You handled yourselves well in the battle." His eyes landed on Renzo. "Especially you."

Renzo remained composed, though inwardly, he had expected this.

Before he had awakened his system even though he was not weak he would still not take intiative to charge at the enemy and would stay hidden to assess the situation, after all with average strength one life was too much to risk.

"In the past, it was always Sakumo who would stand out in battle," Torifu continued, glancing at the silver-haired boy. "But this time… Renzo, you were different."

Reika's fingers twitched slightly, but she said nothing. Sakumo, too, remained quiet, though he didn't seem upset—if anything, he seemed to be considering Torifu's words.

"Maybe it was just the enemy that was too weak this time" Said Renzo in response to Torifu's praise, a harmless smile on his face. No matter what he couldn't admit that he had risen several ranks in strength in just a few days they had not met.

No more words were said during the night but Renzo to Sakumo, Reika and Torifu became even more difficult to see through then the past.

"Really a strange man…"

Deep in the Forest.

A damp cave with torches lined the wall, casting flickering shadows across the rough stone. A group of masked figures stood in a loose semicircle, surrounding their leader—a tall man with a jagged scar running over his left eye and an Iwagakure headband tied around his forehead.

The escaped shinobi knelt before him, his breath still uneven from his frantic retreat. "Sir… the squad we attacked… they were stronger than expected."

The scarred man's eyes narrowed. "Explain."

The shinobi who had escaped narrated everything that had happened without missing a detail, what jutsu the enemy used, how they looked, he poured out everything he knew.

"Overwhelming strength… A Jutsu capable of increasing body size and this familiar appearance" A certain shinobi who was famous in the world appeared in the head of the leader after listening to the report, the name escaping his mouth a moment later. "Akimichi Torifu"

One of the other masked shinobi shifted uneasily. "Sir… isn't he one of the Hokage's direct subordinates?"

The leader's smirk widened. "He is."

Silence.

Then, the escaped shinobi continued, "The genin with him… weren't ordinary as well. We may need more manpower if we want to take them down."

The leader's smirk faded slightly. "Interesting."

Then, his eyes gleamed with something far darker.

"We attacked merchants to lure out Konoha's shinobi, to find important targets to capture and extract information from." He leaned forward. "And now… we have one."

Torifu Akimichi.

A direct link to the Hokage himself.

If they could capture him, the intelligence they could extract…

Due to the death of First Hokage every great shinobi village was snooping around in land of fire to gain some important info, which could give them an idea of konoha's remaining strength. Just for this a large number of spies had sneaked into land of fire and were causing chaos at the cost of their lives, intending to lure konoha shinobi out and capture them to get what they want.

The leader's smirk returned, colder this time.

"We move soon." His voice was final. "Prepare everything. The next time we strike…" His one good eye gleamed.

"…we take the Akimichi."

Back at the Camp.

Unaware of the threat brewing in the shadows, Squad 8 settled in for the night.

Reika sat slightly apart from the others, gazing into the fire, her fingers absentmindedly tracing the handle of her kunai. Sakumo remained quiet, lost in thought.

Renzo lay on his back, staring at the stars for a long time before managing to go to sleep.

Next morning after a night's rest everyone set off towards the fire Capital again, two days' worth distance still left to cover.