Rin did not finish her sentence.
She did not need to.
Once a large-scale battle erupted at Mount Kikyō, the nearby villages would inevitably be caught in it. Even if neither Konoha nor Sunagakure deliberately targeted civilians, the aftermath alone could devastate the surrounding settlements.
Fire Release could spread beyond the battlefield. Explosions could collapse homes and bury families beneath the rubble. Poison released by Sand ninja might drift toward populated areas, while desperate soldiers could raid houses for food and medicine.
Kikyō Town had a reasonable chance of escaping destruction.
It was farther from the planned battlefield, and as a relatively large settlement, it was densely populated. Several noble families also maintained residences there.
Under normal circumstances, ninja tried to avoid causing severe damage to such places. Slaughtering nobles or destroying an important town could create political problems for both the village responsible and the nation supporting it.
The smaller villages were different.
They were populated almost entirely by poor farmers, elderly people, and children. Their deaths would not change military strategy or influence negotiations between nations.
If they died, they died.
At most, once the war ended, Konoha might gather the surviving children and send them to an orphanage. Among the great powers of the shinobi world, even that might be considered an act of compassion.
A name suddenly appeared in Ren's mind.
Yakushi Kabuto.
If Ren remembered correctly, Kabuto had been found and taken to Konoha after the Battle of Mount Kikyō.
That boy was anything but ordinary.
Despite possessing no kekkei genkai or famous bloodline, Kabuto had climbed to the peak through intelligence, adaptability, and relentless study.
He became a Root operative under Danzō, an assistant to Orochimaru, and a double agent planted within Orochimaru's organization by Sasori of the Red Sand.
Even as a young man, he could contend with Kakashi and survive a direct confrontation with Tsunade.
Later, he inherited Orochimaru's research, modified his own body, and mastered Sage Mode in Ryūchi Cave.
Admittedly, the method he used had transformed him into something that was neither entirely human nor snake.
Even so, with the exception of people such as Might Guy, Kabuto represented the limit of what a ninja without a special bloodline could achieve.
A tempting possibility emerged.
What if Ren found Kabuto before Danzō and Orochimaru could reach him?
Recruiting Kabuto early would remove an exceptionally valuable pawn from two dangerous men while giving Ren access to one of the most talented researchers and medical ninja of the future.
His thoughts were interrupted by Obito.
"Ren!"
Obito's frustration had reached its limit.
"Ninja are one thing, but these civilians can't possibly count as necessary sacrifices too!"
He pointed toward the smoke rising from the villages below.
"They don't even know a battle is being planned here! They haven't done anything, and they have nothing to do with this war."
Obito stepped toward the path leading down the mountain.
"I'm going to warn them."
"Stop."
Ren's command made him freeze.
Obito turned sharply.
"Why?"
"Because marching into every village and announcing that Konoha is preparing an ambush at Mount Kikyō would expose the entire operation."
Ren's expression hardened.
"If that information reaches Sunagakure, everything we've prepared will become useless. Worse, the Sand may reverse the trap and use it against us."
Obito clenched his teeth.
"Then what are we supposed to do? I can't just stand here and pretend I never saw them!"
Rin stepped closer.
"Obito is right. These people shouldn't be dragged into the war without warning."
She looked toward Ren.
"Could we speak to Lord Orochimaru and propose evacuating the villages before the battle begins?"
"He probably won't agree," Asuma said.
Everyone turned toward him.
"The operation depends upon secrecy. If several villages suddenly evacuate, Sunagakure's spies will realize something is happening in this region."
He frowned, searching for another possibility.
"We would need a method that didn't make the evacuation look connected to Konoha."
After a moment, he added, "Perhaps we could disguise ourselves as bandits and drive everyone away?"
Obito stared at him.
"Can we do that?"
His eyes widened.
"I didn't expect you to be so smart, Asuma!"
Asuma's expression darkened.
"Do you believe everyone is as stupid as you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Different suggestions followed, but none solved the underlying problem.
If they warned the villagers openly, they risked exposing the ambush.
If they forced the villagers to leave, the displaced civilians could freeze, starve, or be attacked on the road.
And if they did nothing, the coming battle might destroy every settlement.
Ren studied the valley for several moments.
"Let's go down and see the situation for ourselves."
Obito immediately turned toward him.
"You mean it?"
"We can't make a decision based entirely upon dots on a map."
Ren looked toward Kakashi.
"Take Asuma, Kurenai, Raidō, and the others. Continue surveying the surrounding terrain and mark any routes Sunagakure could use to bypass the main pass."
Kakashi nodded without hesitation.
Kurenai hesitated.
"Wouldn't it be safer if we all went together?"
"No. A large group would attract too much attention."
Ren looked at Rin and Obito.
"You two will come with me. Remove your forehead protectors before we enter the village. No one can learn that we're Konoha ninja."
His gaze lingered upon Obito.
"And neither of you will say anything without my permission. If you expose our identities or the operation, you won't participate in another reconnaissance mission under my command."
The warning was mostly directed at Obito.
Obito opened his mouth, thought better of arguing, and nodded.
"I understand."
Kakashi accepted Ren's order without complaint.
Although Kakashi had been a ninja longer, Hiruzen and Minato had appointed Ren as acting captain. Kakashi was officially his second-in-command.
By acknowledging the order immediately, Kakashi also made it clear to the others that Ren's authority would not be questioned.
After adjusting their equipment, the three separated from the larger group and descended into the valley.
The narrow mountain path was steep, muddy, and difficult to navigate. Years of rain had loosened the soil, leaving few stable footholds.
For ordinary travelers, the descent would have been dangerous.
Ren, Rin, and Obito were trained ninja. Chakra allowed their feet to grip the terrain, and their balance far exceeded that of normal people.
Ren also possessed the enhanced Substitution Technique, giving him an emergency escape if the ground collapsed beneath him.
Before long, they reached the valley floor and approached the settlement they had observed from the mountain.
Calling it a town would have been generous.
It was little more than a collection of decaying houses built along a gentle slope. Years of footsteps and rain had turned the dirt road into a line of muddy potholes.
The air smelled of firewood, cheap tobacco, livestock waste, and damp earth.
Before entering, Ren used the Transformation Technique.
His white hair and ninja clothing disappeared. In their place appeared the modest clothes of a traveling herbalist, while a bamboo basket filled with medicinal plants rested upon his back.
Obito and Rin followed several steps behind him, posing as his young assistants.
The moment they entered the village, several children wearing patched clothes raced past them.
They were barefoot despite the rough ground, laughing as they chased one another between the houses.
An older boy noticed the strangers.
He stopped abruptly and motioned for the others to stay back before approaching Ren's group.
"Who are you?" he asked cautiously. "Are you looking for someone?"
"In a way," Ren replied. "Could you tell me where the village chief lives?"
The boy relaxed slightly.
"Grandpa Village Chief lives on the eastern side. I can take you there!"
He called to his companions, then motioned for Ren's group to follow.
As they walked deeper into the village, Ren discreetly examined every child they passed.
None had white hair like his own.
Based upon Kabuto's age in the original timeline, he should presently be around five years old. White hair and the correct age were not enough to confirm his identity, but there were not many villages close to Mount Kikyō.
If Kabuto lived in one of them, he should not be difficult to find.
"Perhaps he isn't in this village," Ren thought.
Obito and Rin paid more attention to their surroundings.
The crumbling adobe walls and thatched roofs were unlike anything they had seen in Konoha. Some homes leaned so severely that a strong storm might bring them down.
Several elderly villagers sat silently outside their houses. Their cloudy eyes followed the three strangers, but their expressions remained numb.
"This place is so run-down," Obito whispered. "It's nothing like Konoha."
Rin nodded, her expression subdued.
"We're here," the boy announced.
He stopped before a weathered wooden house and shouted toward the courtyard.
"Inumaru! Is Grandpa Village Chief inside? Some outsiders are looking for him. I think they sell medicine!"
A small boy appeared, carrying a basin of water with both hands.
He was thin, with white hair and an indifferent expression that seemed unnatural for someone so young.
The moment Ren saw him, his eyes narrowed.
The guiding child frowned when Inumaru failed to respond.
"Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"
The white-haired boy merely glanced at him and carried the basin into the courtyard without speaking.
Ren continued watching him.
Could that child truly be Kabuto?
If Ren remembered correctly, the name Kabuto had been given to him by Nono Yakushi after he arrived at the Konoha orphanage.
Before that, he had either possessed another name or forgotten it because of amnesia.
A hunched old man soon emerged from the house.
He was painfully thin and looked at the strangers with understandable confusion.
Ren presented the excuse he had prepared.
He introduced himself as an herbalist searching for a rare medicinal plant and asked whether anyone in the village had seen it growing nearby.
After discussing herbs for a while, he casually mentioned the war occurring near the border.
"Fighting has become increasingly severe," Ren said. "Your village is relatively close to the frontier. Have you considered moving farther into the Land of Fire?"
"Moving?" the old man repeated.
Obito could no longer remain silent.
"Yes! This place is too dangerous. You don't know when the war might reach this valley."
He gestured toward the surrounding houses.
"You should leave before that happens."
The old man smiled sadly.
"Most people in this village are elderly or children. We survive by pulling what little food we can from the earth."
He looked down at his thin hands.
"If we abandon this land, where would we go?"
Obito fell silent.
"Without our fields, we would starve. Without these houses, we would freeze. If we traveled deeper into the country, bandits or wild animals might kill us before we reached another settlement."
The old man's smile faded.
"Tell me, young man. What difference is there between dying on the road and dying in a war?"
Obito had no answer.
Ren cleared his throat.
"If you cannot leave, then prepare. Store as much food and clean water as possible. Dig your cellars deeper and reinforce them with timber."
He kept his tone casual.
"If disaster reaches this area, those preparations may provide a chance of survival."
The old man sighed.
"Thank you for the warning. I'll tell the others."
His gaze drifted toward the sky.
"But whether any of us survive will be left to fate."
There was nothing more Ren could say without revealing the truth.
As they prepared to leave, he asked about the silent white-haired boy.
"Inumaru? He's an orphan," the village chief explained. "His parents died several years ago. I felt sorry for him, so I allowed him to live here."
"He helps with chores in exchange for food. He may be small, but he's very clever."
The old man gave a quiet laugh.
"If he had been born in Konoha, perhaps he could have become a ninja."
Ren smiled faintly.
"He may still have that opportunity."
The evidence was not absolute, but he was almost certain.
The silent child called Inumaru was the future Yakushi Kabuto.
In the original timeline, this village had most likely been destroyed during the Battle of Mount Kikyō. Kabuto and the other surviving orphans were then taken to Konoha, where Nono Yakushi accepted them into her orphanage.
Ren would need additional confirmation before acting, but the pieces aligned too perfectly to dismiss.
After leaving, Ren led Rin and Obito through the other two villages near the planned battlefield.
They used the same herbalist identity and offered the same carefully disguised warnings.
Ren found no other white-haired child matching Kabuto's approximate age.
By the time they returned to the mountain path, all three were quiet.
Ren had expected to encounter poverty. He understood that life outside the shinobi villages was often brutal.
Obito and Rin were less prepared.
They had spent most of their lives in Konoha. Their previous journeys outside the village had been missions with clearly defined routes and objectives.
This was the first time they had truly observed how the poorest civilians lived.
Obito dragged both hands through his hair.
"Why won't any of them leave?"
He looked back toward the valley.
"They're about to be trapped inside a war! If they die, what use are their homes and fields?"
"They don't have anywhere else to go," Rin said softly.
Ren nodded.
"We can only do what is within our power and leave the rest to fate."
Obito's face twisted with frustration.
Ren considered the problem.
"If you're still worried, we could return at night when the battle is about to begin. Use genjutsu to make the villagers hide inside their cellars. That might increase the number who survive."
Obito stared at him.
"But I don't know how to cast genjutsu! Clan Head Fugaku only taught me how to break it!"
Ren looked disappointed.
"Useless."
"How is that my fault?"
After a brief silence, Ren released a breath.
"I'll speak to Orochimaru. Perhaps he can adjust part of the ambush or arrange some method of protecting the settlements."
"If he refuses, we can leave shadow clones in the villages when the battle begins. They won't stop an army, but they may be able to defend the civilians from stray attacks."
"That would be everything we can reasonably do."
Obito thought for a moment before nodding.
"Fine. But we have to try."
Seeing those villages had weakened some of his earlier naivety. He still hated the situation, but he now understood that simply ordering the civilians to move would not save them.
Ren motioned for Rin and Obito to follow him back toward the others.
As they climbed, his mind returned to Kabuto.
Taking the boy away would be easy.
Deciding what to do afterward was more complicated.
Should his parents adopt him, turning the future Yakushi Kabuto into Ren's younger brother?
Ren silently imagined introducing him as "Kabuto Mikami."
The name sounded strange.
The safer alternative would be to send him to Konoha's orphanage, where Nono Yakushi could raise him as she had in the original timeline.
Ren could visit regularly, guide Kabuto once he was older, and prevent Danzō or Orochimaru from recruiting him.
For now, he pushed the matter aside.
The traps around Mount Kikyō had to be completed first.
None of the three noticed the figures watching them from higher upon the mountain.
Two masked ninja stood within the shadows of the trees, short blades secured across their backs.
Root.
One of them watched Ren's group disappear along the path and spoke coldly.
"They spent half the day warning worthless civilians?"
His voice contained open contempt.
"Ridiculous. Fortunately, they concealed their identities. If they had revealed themselves as Konoha ninja, exposing classified military information would have been sufficient grounds for immediate execution."
The second Root operative remained silent for a moment.
"We will record everything and report it to Lord Danzō. He will decide how this matter should be handled."
The first operative nodded.
Without another word, both figures concealed their chakra and vanished into the forest.
Two minutes passed.
Then the ground beneath the place where they had been standing began to shift.
A pale head slowly emerged from the earth.
White Zetsu looked in the direction the Root ninja had disappeared.
"Well, well…"
A strange smile spread across his face.
"Konoha's own ninja are secretly monitoring Obito and his companions."
He sank back into the ground.
"Lord Madara will definitely want to hear about this."
Ren believed he had found Kabuto before Danzō and Orochimaru could notice the boy.
What he did not yet understand was that Danzō was already watching him—and Madara was watching them all.
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