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However, Kagaya was currently only making preparations. It was still unclear exactly how Itachi would act.
In this letter, Kagaya instructed Orochimaru that when dealing with the Fourth Kazekage, the location should be as far from the Land of Waves as possible to prevent Itachi from detecting it.
Furthermore, before the official commencement of action, Kagaya's side would avoid any activity as much as possible. In other words, Orochimaru should strive to complete the preparations single-handedly.
Because Itachi was accompanying Kagaya's group, everything Kagaya did would undoubtedly be under Itachi's observation. Since they needed to guard against Itachi, it was imperative that he see and hear as little as possible.
Simultaneously, Kagaya explicitly stated the situation on his end in the letter: Itachi was accompanying them, and he suspected Itachi might still harbor attachments to Konoha. Therefore, Orochimaru should maintain caution regarding Itachi in all matters.
To be honest, Kagaya's actions might seem somewhat disloyal to Itachi, given their close bond. But there was no other way. Kagaya could trust Itachi in other matters, but precisely concerning Konoha, Itachi was the one person Kagaya could least afford to trust.
As mentioned before, Itachi and Kagaya's stances were now different. And for Kagaya, Danzō had to die.
After spending considerable time carefully deliberating, Kagaya finished writing the letter. He prepared to send it but then hesitated.
His previous correspondence with Orochimaru had involved borrowing personnel—relatively unimportant information. Even if the invasion of Konoha was mentioned, it was only in passing. If such a letter were intercepted, it wouldn't cause significant damage.
But this letter he had just written was of immense importance. It essentially outlined the entire course of action for Kagaya and Orochimaru. If this letter were accidentally seen by others, the invasion plan could be instantly and completely compromised.
"No, I can't inform Orochimaru in this manner."
Kagaya sat back down at the table, lowering his head in thought. How could he convey the situation on his end to Orochimaru?
Written correspondence was too unreliable. Although the probability of something going wrong was small, for a matter of this magnitude, Kagaya didn't want to gamble.
He sat in his room, pondering for a long time, yet still couldn't devise a satisfactory solution.
A flame appeared in his hand, reducing the letter to ashes in an instant.
"We'll have to proceed according to the original plan for now."
Without an ideal method to notify Orochimaru, for safety's sake, Kagaya decided to continue following the original plan. If he discovered the situation turning unfavorable and found no alternative, then he would resort to using a letter to inform Orochimaru.
And also...
"Karin, stop lurking suspiciously outside the door. Come in if you're going to."
Kagaya glanced sideways at the door and spoke.
The door opened, and Karin walked in, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"Okay, okay."
After entering, she casually closed the door behind her.
Kagaya brushed the ashes from his hands. "What brings you to me?"
Karin smiled sheepishly. "Hehe... Um, that... that..."
Kagaya sighed. "Alright, I get it. You can go."
Karin was startled.
"Huh? But I haven't said anything yet."
"Whatever it is, you're definitely about to bring up some strange idea, aren't you?"
"..."
Seeing the expression on Karin's face that said she'd been completely seen through, Kagaya didn't know what to say. He could only speak plainly, "Well, if there's nothing important, you can leave."
But Karin suddenly shook her head, her expression turning serious. "Kagaya, this time, besides wanting to see you, there's something else."
Seeing Karin's earnest expression, Kagaya also became serious.
"What is it?"
Karin suddenly moved very close to Kagaya—extremely close, to the point where they were almost touching. Startled, Kagaya instinctively began to step back, but Karin spoke up.
"If you move away, I won't tell you."
Kagaya: "..."
Left with no choice, Kagaya froze in place. Karin leaned close and whispered, "That guy named Itachi... he went out a while ago."
Upon hearing this, Kagaya's eyes widened.
He went out?!
To send a message to Konoha?
But that didn't seem necessary. Not to mention Itachi wouldn't need to wait until now to send a message, even if he had, Karin wouldn't likely come to inform him just because someone went out.
Sure enough, Karin's next sentence revealed something significant. "Also... that guy seems to have been injured, and not lightly."
This time, Kagaya was completely shocked.
What kind of joke was this? Itachi, injured? In the Land of Waves, who could injure Itachi? Counting them off, Kagaya could only think of two people in the entire Land of Waves: himself and Kisame.
Currently in the Land of Waves, only those two could potentially injure Itachi. But first, exclude himself; Kagaya was completely unaware of any such event. So, could it have been Kisame?
"What about the guy carrying that big sword? Did he go out?"
Kagaya asked urgently. Karin's powerful sensory abilities meant that within a large radius centered on her, hardly anyone could escape her monitoring.
"No."
That was Karin's reply.
Thus, the possibility of Kisame being involved was eliminated. Itachi's injury became inexplicable. Who, then, had injured Itachi?
Could there be another person in the Land of Waves capable of injuring Itachi? This was no trivial matter.
"Did you sense how he was injured, Karin?"
Karin shook her head. "No. At the time, I wasn't focusing my senses intently. Initially, I thought he was just going out normally, so I didn't pay much attention. After a while, when he returned, I sensed he seemed injured. But when I carefully probed the surroundings, I didn't detect any unusually powerful chakra signatures."
Kagaya immediately furrowed his brow. Itachi's presence had already introduced an unstable variable into the plan. Now, with him mysteriously injured for unknown reasons, it only added to Kagaya's headache.
Without further delay, Kagaya went to find Itachi and inquired about whom he had fought. Although their current stances differed, since Itachi was injured, Kagaya still needed to show concern and, incidentally, ask who had caused the injury.
The result was disappointing. Itachi seemed somewhat surprised that Kagaya knew about his injury but did not reveal the cause, glossing over it vaguely. No matter how Kagaya pressed, Itachi refused to explain.
Returning to his room, Kagaya fell silent.
He had a feeling that Itachi's injury was not so simple; there was likely more to it.
He thought for a long time, but ultimately, if Itachi refused to tell him, there was little Kagaya could do. He could only temporarily set the matter aside and continue pondering the plan involving himself and Orochimaru.
Meanwhile, in Otogakure.
Orochimaru, accompanied by Kabuto and Kimimaro, prepared to depart. Their target was the Fourth Kazekage, who would soon be traveling from Sunagakure to Konoha. From the moment Orochimaru and his group set out, the Konoha Crush Plan was officially set in motion!