"Hidden enemies confirmed. Lower our altitude slightly—I need to verify their numbers and exact identities," Hyuga Hizashi commanded, his voice tight.
"Enemies..." Ui was genuinely startled. Someone had actually managed to infiltrate such a heavily fortified and monitored perimeter?
But he didn't doubt Hizashi for a second. When it came to reconnaissance, the Byakugan was the gold standard. "Should we maintain this horizontal position?" Ui asked.
"Yes."
Receiving the confirmation, Ui commanded the Yatagarasu into a tight, spiraling descent. They dropped several hundred meters before leveling out and hovering steadily once more, maintaining their two-dimensional coordinates while closing the vertical gap.
"One, two, three, four... I count four squads of ninjas. Sixteen in total," Hizashi reported. "They're using Earth Style to hide at depths ranging from 30 to 50 meters. Their horizontal distribution is concentrated within a circular area about 200 meters in diameter."
In a restricted zone like this, hiding that deep underground meant only one thing: they were hostile. Furthermore, sixteen ninjas—four full squads—was a significant force.
"They aren't moving. I suspect they have a sensory ninja among them. In a worst-case scenario, they may have already detected us," Hizashi added after a moment of further observation.
It made sense. If you're going to bury yourself underground, you need a sensory type to act as your "periscope" to monitor the surface.
"Are they Sand ninjas?" Ui asked.
This was the million-dollar question. If these sixteen were from a third party, it was manageable. But if they were Sand ninjas, it meant the entire peace treaty was a farce—a trap designed to lure the Third Hokage into a vulnerable position.
If they were Sand, it implied the 500-man perimeter had intentional gaps. And if sixteen could get in, then 160 could be lurking elsewhere. These enemies were buried deep and were clearly well-prepared; they had detailed intelligence on the meeting.
At this point, it was impossible to tell when they had slipped in or who had leaked the info, but the priority was clear: prevent them from sabotaging the meeting between the Hokage and the Kazekage.
The mission protocols had already accounted for such contingencies. In a crisis, shinobi were expected to exercise field judgment rather than mechanically waiting for orders.
The enemies were clearly plotting something. If it hadn't been for the Kazekage passing through this specific sector, causing Hizashi to boost the power of his Byakugan and accidentally spot the sub-surface heat signatures, they might have gone completely unnoticed.
"Based on their gear, they don't look like Sand. They appear to be subordinates of Hanzo of the Salamander."
"The Rain..." Ui whispered. He felt a wave of relief knowing they weren't Sand.
In the early stages of this war, the Hidden Rain had been exceptionally active. But a small nation is still a small nation. Hanzo was a titan, certainly, but he was a lone pillar. Beyond him, the Rain lacked a deep roster of top-tier talent.
Konoha was still technically at war with the Rain. If the front with the Sand closed, Konoha would be free to concentrate its full might on Hanzo. It was logical that Hanzo would want to sabotage this peace to keep the Leaf occupied on two fronts.
But a question nagged at Ui: Why didn't they strike when the Kazekage passed right over them? One ambush would have sent the Kazekage fleeing and shattered the negotiations instantly.
He almost asked it aloud before a realization hit him. Is the Sand in league with the Rain for this?
He shook his head. Unlikely. The Sand desperately needed this war to end. What would they gain from sabotage? A chance to counter-attack? No—if they had the strength for that, they wouldn't be at a negotiating table at the midpoint of the desert.
The more likely answer was simpler: these sixteen were suicide squads. To maximize the chaos, they likely planned to wait for the moment both Kages were present to strike them simultaneously.
Furthermore, striking the Kazekage earlier would have been tactically difficult from 50 meters down. By the time they tunneled up, the Kazekage's elite guards would have likely detected the seismic shift and neutralized them before they even breached the surface.
"The distribution is concentrated, but the individual cells are still spread out within that 200-meter zone," Hizashi noted. "Protocol says we must neutralize them immediately without causing a massive disturbance. But forcing them all out of the ground at once without making a scene is... difficult. What do you think? Should we wait for Minato-sama's instructions?"
Hizashi was ostensibly asking Ui, but he was mostly thinking aloud. He didn't expect much from a Chunin. He'd heard of Ui's exploits—specifically the massive techniques used against the Tailed Beasts—but those were exactly the kinds of jutsus they couldn't use here. A massive explosion would alert everyone within fifty kilometers.
Hizashi didn't know that Ui had already "verbally sealed" those massive techniques anyway, claiming he needed to save chakra for three or four years to pull them off again.
But the situation was urgent. Ui wanted to act now.
"Can you mark their exact locations for me?" Ui asked. "I need the precise distances between the squads and their exact depths."
He had a feeling he had just the right technique to bury these people once and for all—silently.