Inside a cave in the Land of Birds.
The four members of Team 11 sat around a campfire, eating and chatting casually.
It had been three full days since the ambush in the forest of the Land of Bears. Everyone in the squad, except for Shisui, was injured, so Kakashi had decided they would temporarily rest in the Land of Birds.
As for that final battle in the forest—it was thanks to Shisui and Guy arriving in time and assisting Hyuga Kagami in eliminating all the enemies.
After regrouping and discussing the situation, the team realized that in addition to the four-man decapitation squad from Iwagakure, there had been twenty-four rogue ninjas from the Land of Bears involved in the ambush.
Captain Iwamoto of the Iwa Decapitation Unit had gone after Hyuga Kagami personally, while the remaining three members of the unit each led eight rogue ninjas to ambush the other three members of Team 11.
That Iwamoto was undeniably an elite jonin. The other three members of his squad were also jonin-level. Including the twenty-four rogue ninjas—each nearly chuunin-level—their combined force had been formidable.
Worse yet, the battle had erupted under the advantage of a surprise ambush. So for Team 11 to completely eliminate the enemy without suffering a single casualty was a remarkable achievement.
Among them, Shisui had the easiest time.
With the power of his Mangekyou Sharingan, even his basic genjutsu carried overwhelming strength. Even a jonin could fall victim if caught off guard.
The decapitation squad member sent to deal with Shisui had fallen into a genjutsu immediately and died without even casting a single jutsu.
Without their commanding jonin, the remaining eight rogue ninjas were quickly and effortlessly dealt with by Shisui. His ease in dispatching them left the rest of Team 11 somewhat frustrated.
Kakashi's performance was slightly inferior.
Due to the burden of a Sharingan that didn't belong to him, Kakashi—despite his extraordinary talent—didn't have a significant chakra advantage over his peers. Adding to that, the A-rank jutsu Chidori consumed vast amounts of chakra, so by the end of the fight, he was left utterly drained.
Guy had performed as expected.
He hadn't yet matured fully, and without opening the Eight Gates, he hadn't truly reached jonin level. Facing one jonin and eight chuunin-level rogue ninjas was already a life-threatening situation, so the fact he survived at all was impressive.
Hyuga Kagami's performance, in his own view, was neither outstanding nor poor.
It was the final clash that left him unsettled. He'd been completely fooled by Iwamoto and put himself in serious danger. Especially Iwamoto's final self-destruction tactic—just thinking about it still gave him chills.
Kakashi shook his head and said, "There aren't many people in the whole village who could boast a battle record like yours."
Hyuga Kagami asked curiously, "Why? Was this Iwamoto guy that famous?"
"Of course," Kakashi nodded. "As far as I know, Iwagakure only has seven decapitation squads. One of them was ambushed in the Land of Grass by over a hundred of our ninjas. That fight ended in near mutual destruction."
Guy was shocked. "We needed over a hundred people to take down four of them, and we still nearly all died!?"
Kakashi replied solemnly, "Yes, it was a brutal fight. We won, but I think only six or seven of ours survived."
Shisui added darkly, "Several of our Uchiha elite jonin were killed by Iwa's decapitation squads."
Guy looked stunned. "Then didn't we just accomplish something huge? Counting the one we took out, Iwa's decapitation squads are down to five now, right?"
Kakashi shook his head. "No, just three remain. Two others were destroyed by the Fourth Hokage."
Hyuga Kagami murmured to himself, "No wonder Iwamoto held such a grudge against the Fourth."
During their fight, Iwamoto had repeatedly mentioned the Fourth. It was only now that Hyuga Kagami truly understood the depth of Iwamoto's hatred.
Of the three decapitation squads Iwa had lost, aside from the one taken out in the Land of Grass, the other two were destroyed by the Fourth Hokage alone. Anyone would hold a deep grudge after that.
At that point, Kakashi said with concern, "I'm worried Iwa might use this incident as an excuse."
Having eaten his fill, Hyuga Kagami leaned back. "What's there to worry about? We acted in self-defense. It's not like we can just stand still and let them kill us."
Guy scratched his head. "By the way, why did they attack us in the first place?"
Kakashi and Shisui both looked at Hyuga Kagami.
Kagami shrugged. "Don't look at me. I'm not really sure either."
Perhaps Iwamoto had some special ability that allowed him to sense something about Kagami and saw him as a future threat to Iwa—a potential second "Yellow Flash" of Konoha.
But that kind of thing couldn't be publicized.
If word got out, not only would it attract the suspicion and hostility of Iwa, but it might also arouse unwarranted suspicion from the upper ranks of the village.
After all, Hyuga Kagami had only been promoted from wartime chuunin to special jonin just over a month ago. His rapid rise in strength had already drawn attention. If it became known that even Iwa's decapitation squad captain feared him and wanted him dead, it would be nearly impossible to keep the secret of his Tenseigan hidden.
Even now, realizing how significant Iwa's decapitation squads were, Kagami felt a headache coming on.
He had no idea how he'd explain to the village that he'd managed to kill Iwamoto. By all normal logic, a newly promoted special jonin shouldn't have been able to take down an elite jonin leading a decapitation squad.
After finishing their meal, Shisui volunteered, "I'll take the first night watch."
Naturally, Hyuga Kagami had no objections—he was the most heavily injured of the group.
Guy grinned, "Let me take the second half of the night, then."
After a few more days of rest in the Land of Birds, Team 11 set out again, and this time the journey was smooth. They encountered no further trouble and returned to the village safely.
As members of the Hokage's personal ANBU, Team 11 headed straight to the Hokage's office to report on their mission in the Land of Demons.
When the Third Hokage heard about the demon Moryo's power rivaling that of a Tailed Beast, he was surprised. But upon learning that Team 11 had been ambushed by an Iwa decapitation squad in the Land of Bears, he fell completely silent.
After a long pause, the Third Hokage classified the entire mission in the Land of Demons as top secret and sealed it in the confidential archives accessible only by the Hokage.
He also issued a gag order to the entire Team 11.
Any information about the demon Moryo or the ambush in the Land of Bears was now strictly confidential—no one was allowed to speak of it to anyone...
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