Dark Phoenix of Konoha by White Angel of Auralon

Part 36 - Information Gathering

Information Gathering

Naruto looked at Sandayu with disdain. This plan he had worked out was not thought through. Who thought that dragging a princess back to her home country, when she clearly suffered a trauma, would be enough to make her take over the leadership over some weak rebellion? Even Wave Country had had better starting conditions. Tazuna had been a leader. A drunk and insulting leader, but he had stood up for his people and had done something. He had found a way to achieve the goal of giving his people a future.

The main problem had been that the opponent was too powerful for him alone, even if the people of Wave Country would have all stood up against Gato. The numbers of thugs that Gato employed required ninja intervention. It required the silent assassination that he and Kakashi sensei had performed, no matter how hard that had been. But in the end Tazuna had managed to motivate his people to work for their freedom after the danger was gone. The people were just too scared to do anything that could get them killed.

Here in Snow Country there was no leader that was taking the lead over those that were perhaps willing to fight. They all expected their princess to lead them, when it was clear that she wanted to be anywhere but here. It was a strategy that was doomed to fail from the beginning.

He and Haku had interrogated their captives and had found out that Doto had been aware of the identity of Yukie for a while and had let Sandayu play into his hands by bringing her back to Snow Country. It meant it would be much harder from here on, as Doto wanted the hexagonal crystal that Koyuki wore around her neck. It was supposedly the key to the treasure of the Kazahana family. And he wanted that treasure. The interrogation also gave them a lot of information about the technology of the Snow Country, technology that was far advanced compared to anything that Konoha had. It was clear that they would have to take the chance to take some of it for Konoha and if possible steal some blueprints to recreate the armour.

It would increase the power of their village a lot. The main problem was that they would have to get into Doto's fortress and that was damn difficult. The man was a security nut and it would take time to sneak inside. Especially as there were few animals that Naruto could imitate to get in like he had done with Gato's hideout. Well, perhaps this could be a proper test for his mirage jutsu.

Having enough of listening to Sandayu Naruto spoke up.

"That plan is doomed to fail, as Princess Koyuki isn't very cooperative right now. While she might be willing to take over the place of daimyo once this conflict is solved, she is no soldier and would be a liability in a fight," Naruto told them seriously.

"Finally somebody with a brain," they heard Koyuki's voice from the door, "I have no intention to risk my life in a fight I don't think has any chance of success. My father's soldiers were well-trained, but my uncle still managed to kill him and take over the country. What kind of chance would a rag-tag group of rebels have?"

"None right now, I'll agree with you there. We don't have enough information right now and should gather that before we plan any kind of attack," Naruto stated, "I suggest you go to a safe hiding place once we land and Haku and I go in to gather the information we need. We're the ones best-suited to deal with an information gathering mission. Haku is in his element here and I'm a specialist in stealth. Team Gai will make sure that you're completely safe. Once we know what we're dealing with, and if possible we'll also perform some sabotage unnoticed, we'll come back and put a proper plan together."

"Yes, that makes sense. I agree with that, Naruto. How long do you think you would need?" Gai asked, being serious for once.

"Give us four days and we'll have everything we need. I'll leave one of my kunais with you to be able to get us out quickly in case they find us," Naruto told him.