With a clear objective in mind, their available options remained limited—they had no choice but to try and break through the front lines head-on.
Their first priority, after all, was confirming whether Danzo had actually betrayed Konoha.
Once the decision was made, they quickly devised a strategy. It was simple, as expected from a team composed primarily of sensory and reconnaissance shinobi: whoever spotted the enemy first, won.
Tokuma's Byakugan had a wider field than Ishiki Kujo's Disc version, and when combined with Inuzuka Ze's heightened sense of smell and Muta's insect scouting, they quickly made their way back to the forest's edge.
Beyond that lay the plains at the Land of Grass border, the path they had previously crossed.
But the squad came to an abrupt halt—going forward was no longer an option.
Their faces hardened. They'd expected Iwa-nin or Kusagakure shinobi might respond to the aerial explosion, but they hadn't anticipated this many reinforcements.
"There are already at least three squads sweeping within my two-kilometer range," Tokuma reported, his Byakugan sweeping the terrain.
Ishiki tilted his head and looked skyward. Under the moonlight, no enemy shinobi were visible—but the air was full of circling eagles and crows.
Shinobi birds. Highly observant, easily contracted. If they stepped into the open, those birds would scream the alarm instantly.
"Let's wait," Ze said, oddly calm now. "This is a border zone. That explosion didn't just draw Iwa and Kusa—it'll draw Konoha's forces too."
The forest wasn't much safer either. Shinobi squads slipped silently through the trees, crisscrossing the zone.
The tension rose steadily. The number of arriving Iwa-nin was growing absurd—breaking through now would be suicide.
The Kusagakure shinobi had come and gone swiftly. But no Leaf reinforcements ever appeared. It was as if all Konoha's nearby forces had been pulled away ahead of time, leaving this flank blind.
"Captain… are the Iwa-nin trying to establish a forward base here?" Muta asked, confused.
They'd counted over 300 enemy shinobi by now.
"We'll bypass," Ze finally said, voice grim. "But before that, we need a capture. We need to know why they're massing."
For them, capturing a squad was easy. If they were going to detour anyway, then ambushing a team deeper in the woods—further from the base—was the optimal choice. Less chance of reinforcements arriving in time.
With Byakugan acting like a living radar, they quickly locked onto a target: an Iwa-nin squad moving toward the staging area.
Muta struck first. He'd already scattered his kikaichū across the trees. His clan's destruction bugs—experts in attack, defense, scouting, and even detoxification. They could've purged the poison from before even without Ishiki's medical ninjutsu.
In terms of versatility, the Aburame were unmatched.
Silently, the bugs attached themselves to the approaching shinobi—clinging to clothes, boots, even exposed skin.
The moment Muta formed the seal across his chest, they detonated.
Secret Technique: Insect Sphere.
The paralysis was brief—just enough to bind the enemies at the legs.
But that was all Ishiki, Ze, and Tokuma needed.
Ishiki clapped his hands together—foam burst from his palms, flooding the forest in a sea of reflective bubbles.
Ze dropped to all fours, launching into a Tsuuga—Twin Piercing Fang—his body becoming a tearing, spinning missile.
Tokuma unleashed the Hyūga clan's signature: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, driving chakra strikes directly into the enemies' tenketsu, sealing their chakra flow.
The foam blasts destabilized their footing. The bugs had immobilized them. Ze and Tokuma finished it.
In less than a minute, it was over.
Each of the four team members picked up a captive and vanished into the forest.
Interrogation was left to the professional—Muta, who had been itching for another try after their failed attempt with the Root operative.
And this time, it went perfectly.
Iwa-nin weren't like Root. They felt pain. They feared it. And Muta's bugs made sure they understood it.
Once finished, he disposed of them cleanly. No mercy in wartime—mercy for the enemy meant cruelty to your comrades.
The intel was limited, but what they got was troubling.
According to the prisoners, their superiors had received intelligence suggesting Konoha shinobi would be passing through this sector.
There wasn't a full list—just mention of two names: Ishiki Kujo, famed for his exploits in the Cloud War and now nicknamed Ishiki the Rejuvenator… and Inuzuka Ze, who'd earned distinction during the Third Shinobi World War.
More importantly, Iwa believed that Ze might possess intel on the whereabouts of their Jinchūriki, Roshi—the Four-Tails host.
Their mobilization, it seemed, was meant to intercept this intel and—if possible—neutralize it.
A way to pave the road for the Uchiha clan to move on the Tailed Beasts.
That last line hit hard.
The four exchanged glances. Their brows furrowed. All eyes turned to Ze.
"…Don't look at me. I don't know anything," Ze said, shaking his head.
The conflict between Roshi and the Third Tsuchikage was common knowledge in the ninja world. Roshi had left Iwagakure, choosing to wander and train in solitude. That wasn't a secret.
But where Roshi had gone? That was.
Even most of Iwa didn't know his current location.
But with the recent disappearance of Yugito Nii, Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails, Iwa was clearly spooked. Any hint of their own Jinchūriki's vulnerability would make them scramble to protect what remained.
"Could the Uchiha clan… actually control Tailed Beasts?" Tokuma asked, voicing the question that had been gnawing at him.