The Nagare Dam was a huge construct of wood, cement and rocks stretching across the river gorge. The massive watergates supplied not only the neighbouring towns, but also the Lands of Rain in water.
There was no lack of water in the lands of rain. After all, the weather was always grey, with heavy amounts pouring down.
The dam served to regulate that flow. Too much water was poison for rice crops, as much as too little. That's why the dam had been created, and why the two Daimyo had accepted a joint civil engineering construct of this scale.
Team 11 observed from a limestone construct a kilometer upstream, their forms shrouded in a minor mist-concealment genjutsu courtesy of Tetsu.
[Genjutsu: Mist Concealment Symphony (D)]
It was only a D-rank genjutsu. Genjutsu was the art of the mind. And Tetsu was using bells as a medium to inflict genjutsu onto those who might pass by. If they heard the sound, they would fail to recognise their form, thinking of a mist. It was an efficient jutsu, but the fact that sound was its medium made it suspicious for the trained ear.
"Standard patrol pattern", Ryugo murmured, his Raikōgan active. Through the haze, he saw the electrical signatures of life—guards on the dam's walkways, clusters in the control building, a few scattered along the access roads.
"Twelve signatures in total. Four in the central control structure, three moving on the eastern flank, two at the southern watergate, three stationary near the entrance"
"The ones in control are the priority," Ameruyi said, her eyes sharp. "They are most likely the ones protecting Sato Ren"
"Too straightforward", Ryugo countered, his mind racing. Batto's words echoed. Unpredictable. Adaptive. "If they're as good as Commander Batto thinks, they'll expect a direct infiltration of the control center. It's the obvious target"
He pointed instead to the southern flank house. It was a fortified structure at the dam's base where the roar was loudest. "That's their fallback position. Heavily built, with the noise covering sound. It's also closest to the emergency exit gates. If they need to destroy evidence or flood the valley as a distraction, that's where they'd do it. We split the objective. Tetsu and I will hit the control room, create a loud, obvious disturbance. Ameruyi, you flank and secure the southern flank. When they reinforce the control room, you sweep from the rear"
It was a classic pincer, but it relied on the enemy behaving predictably.
Tetsu frowned behind his laughing-and-weeping mask: "But...Did Batto mention only investigation and, if the opportunity arose, assassination of the civil official Sato Ren?"
Ryugo shook his head: "Exactly. Killing everyone in the dam will allow us to complete both of these tasks. Inspector Kosuke asked us to use any method to solve this situation. The officials are using the fact we don't have proof of Tanigakure implications. We will use the same excuse. And for that to happen, we must eliminate all witnesses. Shinobi, like civilians. It is dirty work. That's why Kosuke called us here"
Ameruyi nodded. It made sense. Jonin Batto had mentioned having been forbidden from launching a frontal assault, but it was only because his batallion was composed of Amegakure genins from the general corps. It would be easy, even for a barely trained Tanigakure shinobi, to recognize them.
However, if it was a Dark Hall Tower elite force like theirs, and left no witnesses?
Then the political accusations would be voided, just like the lands of River nobles feigned ignorance over the situation that was choking the villages and farms in the lands of Rain.
Tetsu muttered: "Got it, boss"
They moved with the silence of ghosts, using the ever-present mist and the dam's own thunder as cover.
They crossed the gorge not via the access road, but by leaping between slick, moss-covered rocks in the river shallows, their chakra-enhanced footing sure even on the treacherous surface.
They reached the dam's service ladder. It was a piece of rusted iron climb that gave way to the central entrance.
Ryugo went first, his [Stealth (C)] making his ascent fluid and silent. At the top, he peered over the edge onto a narrow maintenance walkway. He shot out a rope to Tetsu, who lacked the agility to accomplish the same feat.
"Good luck, Ameruyi, we are counting on you", Ryugo said in sign language.
The silver-haired kunoichi nodded with a look of deep responsibility. Her clenched fist did not escape Ryugo's glance. She was developing an inferiority complex.
Ryugo did not know what she was experiencing in her clan, but it had weighed on her mind in the past few weeks. Often, she would blank out in the middle of training. It started to happen after the Jotaki incident.
Then, Ryugo started to learn Kenjutsu from her. Even if she was miles ahead, he could feel that he was catching up to her. His proficiency, with the Storm-Sever Katana, was already mid C-rank. She herself only reached B-rank a few weeks prior. Adding to that his ninjutsu prowess, she could already tell that she was weaker than him.
However, Ryugo was an odd ball. She could probably accept that. After all, she never once complained about his nomination as team captain by inspector Kosuke. And she was one of the most arrogant kunoichi he had encountered so far.
But Tetsu? Tetsu beating an elder of his clan was probably a big blow to her ego. While he was in the bottom ranks of the elite class in the academy, she reigned as first in most fields.
The more time passed, the bigger the gap between her and the rest of her team became. She was starting to feel...behind.
She viewed Ryugo's request not as a mere task. She viewed it as a test. To see if she could live up to her captain's expectations.
There had been no manipulation, but Ryugo never once tried to console her. She trained harder, more impatiently and more roughly. It sharpened her fighting spirit. As for the cost, the shinobi world was more forgiving to the tortured than it was to the talented alone.
And that was his secret behind his team's growth.
Silent expectations that weighed on his teammates' shoulders.
That's how they had made it to the chunin rank in merely two months.
That's how they would make it to the top of Amegakure's upper echelon.