Sasuke assembled Team Taka in the briefing room.
"Mission parameters are changing," he announced, spreading out a map. "We're moving from isolated targets to protected ones."
He pointed to marked locations. "The Hyuga clan has recalled their isolated members. Every branch family member now operates in pairs or small groups. These are our new targets."
"You want us to fight multiple Hyuga?" Suigetsu's grin was eager. "Finally, something interesting."
"The tactical approach is simple." Sasuke traced attack routes on the map. "You three engage and eliminate support personnel. I isolate the primary target, perform absorption, execute them, then support your fights if needed. Average engagement time: five to ten minutes. We hit fast, complete the objective, eliminate all witnesses, and extract before reinforcements arrive."
"All witnesses?" Karin asked carefully.
"Everyone. No survivors. No prisoners. No one who can report what they saw." Sasuke's tone was clinical. "This is critical. Information security is everything. One witness describing the absorption technique compromises every future operation."
Jugo shifted uncomfortably. "You're asking us to kill people who might surrender."
"I'm ordering you to eliminate security threats. Whether they fight or surrender is irrelevant." Sasuke met his gaze. "Survivors talk. Corpses don't. It's simple mathematics."
"This is different from before," Karin said quietly. "Before we were just fighting enemy shinobi in combat. Now we're systematically—"
"We were always systematically hunting," Sasuke interrupted. "The only difference is scale and visibility. If you have moral objections, leave Team Taka now. I won't hold it against you. But if you stay, you follow orders without question."
Silence. None of them moved.
Suigetsu broke it with a laugh. "You know what? Fuck it. I'm in. Been too long since we had a real fight anyway."
Jugo nodded slowly. "I'll do it. You give my curse mark purpose. That's... enough."
Karin looked at Sasuke for a long moment. Then sighed. "I'm in too. But Sasuke-kun... don't lose yourself in this. You're becoming something..."
"Cold? Ruthless? Inhuman?" Sasuke's expression didn't change. "I know exactly what I'm becoming. And I choose it willingly. Every step."
He pulled out the first mission brief. "Target: Hyuga Misaki and Hyuga Takeshi. Branch family pair stationed at a border outpost in the Land of Fire. Two chunin-level support personnel. We hit them in seventy-two hours."
Suigetsu studied the brief. "Standard fortified outpost. Four combatants. Decent defenses but nothing we can't handle."
"The Hyuga pair will be the main threat," Sasuke continued. "Misaki specializes in medical ninjutsu and defensive Gentle Fist. Takeshi is pure offensive—Rotation, Eight Trigrams variants, aggressive fighting style. The chunin are competent but not exceptional."
"So how do we split this?" Karin asked.
"Suigetsu and Jugo take the chunin. Overwhelming force. Karin provides sensory support and calls out enemy movements. I'll engage both Hyuga initially, then isolate Misaki for absorption." Sasuke traced the outpost layout. "Takeshi will try to protect her. That's when you two finish with the chunin and help me separate them."
"What about Takeshi after you absorb from Misaki?" Jugo asked.
"I'll handle him. Two-on-one against an enraged Hyuga isn't something I want you dealing with." Sasuke's Sharingan activated briefly. "His Byakugan won't save him from Mangekyo."
"And after that?"
"We burn the entire outpost. Bodies, buildings, everything. Make it look like a raid gone wrong. Random violence, not targeted assassination." Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan. "Any questions?"
No one spoke.
"Good. We leave in sixty hours. Prepare accordingly."