In the wars between Shinobi Villages, the vast majority of ninja would rather use an explosion tag to commit suicide than be captured.
Capture means facing brutal torture.
Every village has an Interrogation Division, and the ninja within it show prisoners exactly what sadism means.
The Anbu are associated with dark methods and dark mission objectives; the Interrogation Division is darkness itself.
The Hidden Leaf Village has interrogators from the Yamanaka Clan, who can directly read information from the corpse, which actually seems a bit gentler.
Other Shinobi Villages rarely possess such methods; their interrogation lacks technique, relying entirely on raw strength.
The Interrogation Division will squeeze out the prisoner's last drop of blood, vitality, and spirit, either extracting the intelligence from the prisoner's mind or removing the prisoner's head entirely.
Compared to being captured, suicide offers a quicker relief.
The four Sand Ninja prisoners had already been handed over to Orochimaru.
A prisoner exchange was entirely impossible.
Yet, the Anbu required Fox Squad to rescue a specific Chunin from the Shimura Clan who was supposed to be among the captives.
This was truly difficult.
Yagami first went to the frontline Interrogation Division and obtained information about the four Sand Ninja prisoners: their height, weight, hair color, and so on.
The Interrogation Division didn't know where the prisoners went, only that the Anbu had taken them.
Yagami ran the plan through his mind several times, felt confident it could be accomplished, and then summoned the three sub-teams of his squad.
"The Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Sand Village have been at war for more than half a month, and the two sides are about to hold their first prisoner exchange.
The Sand Ninja prisoners were sent by the Anbu to the Land of Earth, so we have no actual captives to exchange.
Flower Deer, select four people in the squad with suitable builds. Do not use the Transformation Jutsu. Use makeup and disguise to pose as prisoners who have been tortured into an unrecognizable state by the Interrogation Division.
The Transformation Jutsu might be seen through by the Sand Ninja, which is too risky.
Purple Cat, you will lead three others to pose as a regular Hidden Leaf team executing the exchange mission.
To show sincerity and avoid escalating into a major battle, both sides send only one escort squad for each exchange.
White Sheep, you will take the remaining members and disguise yourselves with me as Rain Ninja. We will ambush the Sand Ninja and Purple Cat's team during the exchange to rescue our target Chunin.
The Hidden Leaf Village still cares somewhat about its reputation.
We cannot produce the prisoners ourselves, and then also kill the Sand Ninja exchange team—the Leaf wouldn't openly do such a thing.
However, the Rain Ninja, watching the conflict from the sidelines and hoping to drive the two great villages into a harsher fight, would have a motive to sabotage the exchange. That makes the situation plausible."
Disguising oneself as a ninja from another village to execute a secret mission is a dirty trick that people in every village engage in.
The three team leaders all understood their tasks and went off to prepare.
Flower Deer's preliminary work was the most crucial; he had to select four people and disguise them as dying, tormented prisoners from the Interrogation Division.
He also had to avoid using the Transformation Jutsu to prevent the Sand Ninja from noticing any anomaly.
Before leaving, Flower Deer shaved his own head. His scalp was covered with a total of fifteen crisscrossing cuts.
Some cuts were bleeding, while others had been treated by a Medical Ninja and had formed pink scabs.
Yagami asked, "Does it hurt?"
"No, it doesn't. Leaf Monkey broke his own arm and currently has it twisted outward at the joint. That hurts."
Yagami's heart tightened.
Ordinary civilian-born ninja may not have talent, but they are earnest and desperately dedicated.
Yagami said, "After this mission is complete, I will apply for one Ninjutsu scroll for each of you."
"Thank you, Squad Leader!"
Purple Cat led a small team, disguised as regular ninja wearing headbands, each carrying a 'prisoner' on their shoulder, and headed towards the designated meeting point with the Sand Ninja in the south.
Beside a river in the northern part of the Land of Rivers.
Purple Cat saw the Sand Ninja on the opposite side of the canyon from afar.
There were five Sand Ninja, and at the feet of each was a Hidden Leaf prisoner.
These prisoners were in no better condition than the Sand Ninja captives being carried by Purple Cat's team; they were covered in injuries and looked utterly miserable.
Their wounds were swollen and bruised, and the poison had not yet been neutralized. The Sand Ninja interrogators particularly liked to use poisons, including various neurotoxins.
Upon reaching the other side of the canyon, Purple Cat and his team also set down their 'prisoners.'
The Sand Ninja team leader said, "Leaf ninja, let's exchange."
But Purple Cat replied:
"Not so fast! The wounds on the prisoner at your feet are festering, and the area around them is black and purple.
Are you playing a trick? Are you trying to let these prisoners die from poisoning halfway back?"
The Sand Ninja team leader countered, "We Sand Ninja specialize in poison; of course, we apply it to our torture instruments during interrogation. What, do you expect me to detoxify them now?"
"Of course, you must detoxify them," Purple Cat insisted. "We have to bring back living prisoners."
"Impossible!" the Sand Ninja team leader declared:
"If I detoxify these people now, you'll take them back with the antidote and study a counter-poison, won't you?
Don't be so foolish and naive. Either you run faster, or Pray your Medical Ninja are more capable.
I am here for an exchange, not a donation."
To stall for time, Purple Cat pulled out a syringe: "In that case, either you run faster, or Pray your Medical Ninja are more capable."
With that, Purple Cat injected the poison into the 'Sand Ninja prisoner' at his feet.
"You!"
Purple Cat successfully muddied the waters, forcing the Sand Ninja to shift their attention elsewhere and not focus on the authenticity of the prisoners.
Leaf Monkey took the injection, and his face quickly turned purplish-red, making it even harder to tell if he was a genuine Sand Ninja prisoner.
Purple Cat had bought Yagami enough time.
From the rushing river in the canyon, four figures suddenly burst out!
These people wore Rain Ninja gas masks and immediately threw poison gas bombs upon their emergence.
The purple Salamander poison mist quickly spread across both sides of the canyon.
This was equipment used by the Hidden Leaf Anbu when disguised as Rain Ninja, as the Anbu had captured some salamanders and extracted their toxins.
Through the cover of the dense poisonous mist, Yagami charged straight for the Shimura ninja mentioned in the intelligence.
Under the guise of the mist, Yagami secretly performed a hand sign.
The Self-Cursing Seal appeared and locked the Sand Ninja team leader in place.
A ninja blade was thrust through the back of his head and exited his forehead.
In this way, no one would know Yagami had used a Sealing Jutsu.
The nearest Sand Ninja to Yagami was sent flying far away with a single kick.
The kick looked heavy, but it didn't break any bones.
The Sand Ninja tumbled out of the poison mist and saw the Hidden Leaf Ninja on the opposite bank fiercely fighting the Rain Ninja.
The Sand Ninja quickly scrambled up and fled the battle.
Yagami deliberately let that one Sand Ninja escape, ensuring the intelligence about the Rain Ninja ambush would be relayed.
The Hidden Leaf Village wants to have its cake and eat it too, which makes things difficult for the executing ninja like Yagami.
They want the prisoner back, don't want other villages to know they experimented on prisoners, and don't want to bear the bad reputation for sabotaging the exchange.
After the battle concluded, there were four dead Sand Ninja on the ground.
Two of the Sand Ninja were particularly fierce; ignoring their own impending death, they killed the Hidden Leaf prisoners at their feet before dying.
This was unavoidable.
Having rescued three prisoners—and most importantly, the Shimura Clan prisoner—their mission was more than fulfilled.
Yagami said, "Move out! Get the Shimura ninja back to the frontline medical post before the poison takes full effect!"
Shedding his Rain Ninja disguise, Yagami put on his Root mask and sprinted towards the camp.
The three prisoners, plus Leaf Monkey, whose leg bone was fractured and twisted outward, were carried along.
Yagami spoke to Leaf Monkey, who was slung over Black Ape's shoulder: "Leaf Monkey, you went too far."
To complete the mission, Leaf Monkey truly inflicted a severe injury upon himself.
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