After a short communication over the radio, Itsuki was able to convince the Kumo nin over the communicator about the authenticity of his identity as Raiden as well as the reason to not report in time.
"Delta injured, Keiser down, ambushed by enemy Anbu during Phase two."
"Raiden, report to the northwest of Kinou mountain in an hour. Phase three has begun. Over"
Itsuki switched off the radio and looked up to meet the bewildered gaze of Kuhara. Having a little time to rest, he looked better than before but was still shaken by the sheer killing intent and brutality he had experienced a night before. Despite being a ninja, Kuhara was never properly introduced to brutal ways of the ninja world.
"You are not thinking of infiltration are you?" Kuhara asked incredulously.
Itsuki nodded, "We have no other choice. Being surrounded by the enemy, the movement we left the encirclement, the sensor will single us out and we will be killed before you could say 'Ninja.'"
Kuhara panicking, questions, "Can't we just hide till they leave?"
Itsuki looked at Kuhara before shaking his head, "We don't have any rations. Also if phase three is what I think it is, we will not be able to hide for long anyway."
Kuhara watched as Itsuki went on to keep extracting information from Kumo nin. Half an hour later, Itsuki picked up the Kumo nin's uniform and put it on himself.
"It looks so loose. Are you sure you will be okay?" Kuhara looked worried. He had so much to say but was way out of his depth.
Itsuki looked at him. He knew Kuhara was panicked and worried but for all his mastery of human Psychology, Itsuki was never good at reassuring others. He could not help Naruto when he asked why everyone hated him and he could not reassure Ichika that he will not let her die, no matter how much he meant it.
He knew the plan was risky beyond compare. If he was a lesser man, he would have tried to escape via the underground, leaving behind Kuhara. But he did not and could not. He may have killed before but the guilt of leaving a friend behind is not something he could bear for the rest of his life.
So he did the only thing he could, something he learned to console Naruto in his darkest hours, something Naruto taught him back in his darkest hours when he watched Ichika's body slowly wasting away.
He engulfed Kuhara in a strong, brotherly hug. This was all he could do to reassure him.
Moving away as Itsuki addressed him, "When you hear the explosions in the next few days, run. Remember explosions, not rumbles or quakes. Run as fast as you can towards the south without looking back."
Kuhara looked like he wanted to protest. Itsuki smiled and said, "Don't worry. I am not dying just yet. Don't leave the room until you hear the explosions."
Before Kuhara could reply, Itsuki formed a string of hand signs and vanished into the earth wall, taking bound Kumo nin along.
Upon reaching the surface, Itsuki's skin started to bubble, morphing into a slightly darker shade, his body began to fill the loose Kumo attire and his body shape changed distinctly to the one matching Raiden. His face too started to morph, slightly shifting bones and muscles to take the exact shape and size of Kumo nin.
'Thankfully Tsunade-sama taught me her shapeshifting technique.' Itsuki thought to himself before proceeding to unseal a pair of wooden Geta, similar to what Jiraya wore.
Wearing them, Itsuki's height was about the same as Raiden's. Forming a string of hand signs, Itsuki weaved a complex genjutsu on himself.
'Kurama secret technique-Transformation jutsu'
The visual genjutsu settled over Itsuki, covering all small inconsistencies in Itsuki's disguise. Wooden geta now looked like standard ninja sandals, Black spiky hairs now looked longer and windswept and his arms looked a touch more muscular than they actually were.
Completing his disguise, he looked towards the unconscious Kumo ninja, a plan brewing in his mind. He took out a small black scroll from his sleeve and spread it open on the ground.
The scroll contained complex fuinjutsu formulas weaved together in shape distinctively similar to Yin and Yang. But the most distinctive thing on the scroll was the orange sun and crescent moon symbols on either side of the fuin formation.
With a quick pulse of chakra, similar symbols appeared on Itsuki's palms. Placing his palms on the symbols, he pushed pure yin and Yang chakra into the formation.
'Yin-Yang release-Creation of all Things'
The formation started to suck in chakra at a phenomenal rate, leaving Itsuki nearly breathless trying to keep up the supply. The chakra reserves in his yin and Yang seal depleted rapidly, but then something started to materialize above the seal.
A white clay-like substance started to appear out of thin air, slowly growing as Itsuki kept the chakra flowing, but the reserves in seals were nearing an end. Despite this, Itsuki smiled to himself. Creation of all things was a truly ridiculous technique, despite requiring multiple week's worth of chakra but deceivingly simple. All he needed to know was E=mc2 and the basics of Yin and Yang release.
'Thank Kami there is no Einstien in this world.'
The Creation of all things was just simple energy to mass conversion, chakra to substance, at least at the most basic level he could use right now. He has no idea how Sage of six paths created sentient life using it.
Cutting off the flow, Itsuki picked up the white clay and placed half of it in front of the unconscious Kumo ninja along with a remote detonation tag.
The white clay was C4, one of the most explosive substances in all elemental nations. It was developed by Iwa for its feared explosion corps, its creation process one of their most well-guarded secrets. But with the creation of all things, that was easily circumvented as long as he had the original formula is known, which was long figured out by Konoha's R&D.
'Well, getting the formula was not exactly easy.' But breaking in the lab of paranoid ninjas in a village full of trigger happy killers was destined to be difficult.
Leaving the original Raiden in a ditch and covering him in a thin layer of soil, Itsuki left towards the location Raiden was instructed to reach.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Kumo Ninja Camp
At the base of one of the many mountains of the valley, a camp containing about fifty Kumo ninjas was bustling with activity. A figure approached the camp before being stopped by one of the Anbu.
"Identify yourself," Anbu asked gruffly but without much caution.
"Raiden Nakamura, senior chunin, id 1345xxx" Itsuki spoke. Complete id of a ninja is always a secret known only to the highest in the command chain except for the ninja itself but the first four digits are enough to identify yourself as a Kumo ninja.
After confirming his identity over the radio, Anbu let him pass and pointed at a large tent to report at. Itsuki was mildly impressed that relatively new technology like radio waves based communication being so widely used. From what he had seen, whoever made them had at most rudimentary knowledge of how radio waves work, and that is assuming they know about radio. Itsuki had noticed that despite having advanced tech like computers being present, there is little to no advancement in long-range communication. Radio comms was a genuine shock to him when he stripped down Raiden.
Passing the check, Itsuki remained alert but even the most experienced ninja will have interpreted his body language as relaxed and relieved. He made his way towards a tent in the middle where he could sense multiple ninjas gathering. Opening the flap, he was greeted by the sight of a little more than a dozen ninja standing in front of a projector some Anbu while others chunin and Jonin. Itsuki moved to stand in the back although that will not be not quite accurate as no ninja worth his salt will leave his back open like that. All ninjas were standing in approximately a semi-circle, looking at the projector.
No one talked, everybody eyes on the projector and the man standing beside it. Itsuki evaluated him. White spiky hair, dark skin, and a bulky six-point five feet tall stature, he recognized him from his Bingo book entry. Kenta, an A-rank threat, specializes in water, earth, and lightning release as well as taijutsu, one of the few wielders of storm release. Kenta is one of the strongest combatants in the entire Kumo. But Raiden had something else to add.
'Kenta is Darui's estranged half brother. And a flight risk over that. Why he even is in this high stakes mission is a puzzle.' Itsuki also found it puzzling why a chunin knew Kenta was a flight risk but time constraint left him unable to question. But the way everyone was eyeing Kenta, it looked like it was not a secret. Kenta's visage was stony, his face betraying no emotion. But the same could not be said about his emotions churning beneath the surface.
Kenta waited for a few minutes more before turning to the projector. Displayed on it was a detailed map of the Land of Fire-Hot springs border, an entire section of it was marked which coincided with the valley Itsuki was at present. Kenta let every ninja let a good look at the screen before addressing them in a loud and authoritative voice.
"Have a good look at this area, we have a week to dig up this area. Everyone gathered here has at least some training with earth release, I hope you all have learned the jutsu you were given." A murmur rose among the ninjas gathered, most affirming but some shaking their heads. Kenta did not give any reaction, just ordered, "If you are not ready, deal with it. Get ready to move out."
Just then a deep rumble and a small earthquake passed by. Kenta continued nonchalantly, "Looks like all other teams have begun, let's move out."
Soon the entire group was moving out. So far no one has detected anything out of place with 'Raiden' but very few seemed to know Raiden in this group.
'At least I don't have to fear having my cover blown just yet. After all who will think of infiltration after a siege.'
'But that does not mean my position is advantageous just yet. I have to eliminate or incapacitate the sensor as soon as possible. I am not an expert at infiltration, I will be found sooner or later. Moreover, Kuhara does not have much time. He can live on food bars but water is a problem.'
'Another option is to inform Jiraya but his help will come through the village and I know Hokage will not move to save just two reserve genins. But if the rumor of chakra metal is true, that will change everything.'
Itsuki looked at Kenta moving ahead of him when he noticed something. Kenta wore sleeveless Kumo nin attire despite the cold, allowing Itsuki to see a strange mark on his left bicep made using red and black ink. Anyone else will have dismissed it as a tattoo but not Itsuki, a seal master specializing in curse seals.
Itsuki's lips quirked upwards after studying the curse mark.
'Who would have thought specializing in curse marks will be helpful now.' Watching Kenta's back, Itsuki muttered in the safety of his mind, "Looks like I have got a lead."