Chapter 327: The Plan Begins
"Lord Sixth."
At the Konohagakure train station—
Kakashi met with Sarutobi Mirai.
"Mirai, you're here pretty early."
"Yes, well, since I'm carrying out this mission alongside Lord Sixth, of course I have to take it seriously."
"Mirai, do you know the details of this mission?"
As Kakashi spoke, he glanced toward the ninja loading crates onto the train.
"Yes, it's intelligence on the village's ninja, right..." Mirai also looked over alongside Kakashi. "But my mom told me, the Seventh would never do anything to harm the village—so I believe in Lord Seventh."
"Red, huh... It's true, Naruto's the only one we can say for sure would never harm the village."
Kakashi nodded slightly, as though reassuring himself.
Regardless of the era, intelligence was always of paramount importance. Transporting all the intel on Konoha's shinobi to the capital of the Land of Fire meant the village had to dispatch powerful ninja to safeguard both the intel and the Daimyō.
Based on Shikamaru's deductions, the Daimyōs of the Land of Wind and Land of Water had been targeted. And now, besides those with Daimyō bloodlines, even ordinary people could summon Light Armor. This had clearly unsettled the Daimyō of the Land of Fire, prompting this strategy—to force the village into assigning elite shinobi for his protection.
"Lord Sixth, all the crates have been loaded."
A Konoha chunin ran up and reported.
"Mm, got it." Kakashi nodded, then turned to Mirai and narrowed his eyes with a smile. "Let's go, Mirai."
The train began to move with a rumbling chug-chug-chug.
This was a direct train from Konoha to the capital of the Land of Fire—no stops along the way.
Mirai sat across from Kakashi, occasionally casting wary glances out the window.
"Mirai, there's no need to be so tense..."
Before Kakashi could finish his sentence, the train suddenly screeched to a halt.
"Lord Sixth! Enemies incoming! Please protect yourself!"
Mirai opened the window and quickly climbed onto the roof of the train to assess the situation.
Thick smoke was rising from the front engine, and three masked men—clearly ninja—stood atop the train, meeting Mirai's gaze.
Without hesitation, she drew two chakra blades and gripped them tightly.
"They're jōnin level. Mirai, what should we do?"
"Stall for as long as we can!"
"Got it."
"You done strategizing?"
Even as the enemy trio began to coordinate, Mirai seized the initiative and launched the first strike.
"Damn!"
Her chakra blades slashed toward their necks with lethal intent—Mirai had no intention of holding back.
But midway through her assault, she suddenly shifted from offense to defense, blocking a shuriken that had been thrown from a distance.
"Who's there?!"
Mirai quickly pulled back and created space, becoming more cautious.
There weren't just three enemies. At least one more was lying in ambush.
Just then, Dark Shunhi—his face hidden by a mask—leapt onto the train roof.
"I'll hold her off. You guys go on ahead."
The three exchanged looks, nodded, and said, "We'll leave it to you, then."
They ran toward the carriage carrying the scrolls with intel on Konoha's ninja.
"You think you alone can stop me? Don't underestimate a Konoha jōnin."
Mirai gripped her chakra blades tighter and took a battle stance.
"..." Dark Shunhi said nothing at first. He simply looked at Mirai and remarked, "Your eyes... they really are just like Red's."
"Huh?"
At the mention of her mother, Mirai froze for a split second—just long enough for Shunhi to seize the opportunity.
Though Mirai snapped out of it quickly, she was now on the defensive, forced to guard and look for an opening to counter.
"You knew my mother?"
As Shunhi launched a relentless taijutsu assault, Mirai questioned him while evading his strikes.
Inside the train car—
"All the scrolls are here. Use Fire Release together—burn them all."
The masked leader ordered.
"It's pointless." Kakashi leaned against the doorway with his arms folded, calmly facing the group. "Even if you destroy the scrolls here, the village can just prepare another set and send them again to the Daimyō. Honestly, if you all turn back now, I'll pretend I didn't see anything. After all, it wouldn't be hard to figure out who you are by simply checking which ninja are missing from the village today."
"W-We're from another village!" one of them stammered.
"Another village? Why would outsiders care about Konoha's affairs?" Kakashi sighed. "I understand that you're doing this for the good of the village. That's exactly why I'm willing to let this go. So just head back now."
The group exchanged glances, clearly uncertain of what to do next.
"Every time the village sends intel, I'll destroy it! I believe Lord Hokage will understand us!"
One of the Konoha shinobi, under Shunhi's control, pulled off his black mask.
"Yeah, he'll understand!"
"Lord Hokage will definitely understand!"
...
More and more ninja removed their masks, revealing their true identities—which meant Kakashi's attempt to resolve the incident peacefully through negotiation had failed.
"You're actually revealing your faces? In that case, even if I wanted to let you go, I can't."
Kakashi's relaxed demeanor vanished as he stood upright, posture firm.
"Starting today, I willingly become a rogue ninja. But please rest assured, Lord Sixth—I'll never harm the village. I just want to destroy these scrolls."
The ninja under mind control carved a horizontal slash across his forehead protector.
"I will too."
"Count me in."
...
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Electricity crackled in Kakashi's palm. He sighed, clearly troubled by the situation. "I'm bringing all of you back to the village. Let Naruto figure out how to deal with this mess."
"We're up against Lord Sixth. Everyone, be careful!"
"Split into two teams—one to hold off Lord Sixth, the other to destroy the scrolls!"
"I'll take on Kakashi-sensei... I mean, Hatake Kakashi! You guys go for the scrolls!"
At that moment, a masked Boruto arrived just in time.
"Another one? Are you also from the village?"
Kakashi eyed the smaller figure. But judging by the bewildered expressions on the unmasked Konoha ninja, he realized—
"You're not one of ours?!"
"Whether I'm from the village or not doesn't concern you."
Boruto said coldly.
"Forget it. Let's just destroy the scrolls first!"
shouted one of the mind-controlled Konoha ninja.