Infiltration

Warfare wasn't Natsume's specialty, however, her inherited memories contained historical knowledge of wars. Although they didn't include specific details or the logic behind some battles, Natsume could use her own understandings along with the experienced Uchiha's experience to refine a strategy. After hearing all of her thoughts about the situation, Tajima rubbed his chin and pondered.

"Did you study warfare while you were in the archives?" He mused. However, Natsume shook her head which caused him to nearly break character. "The Senju clan leader is very fixated on honor and would not expect these tactics of attacking and retreating while blocking their supplies. After the first attack, he would likely mobilize his full strength each time to intercept us."

Another advantage to this style of underhanded warfare was the reduction of casualties on their side. The large-scale all-out battles only proved to cause more deaths for both sides for no apparent gain. It became a battle of attrition instead of tactics. Natsume felt this was a waste and still held firm in her desire to protect the clan in any way possible, even if it were introducing controversial tactics. Although, it wasn't that no one ever did such things in history, but most clans considered such things below their pride.

There was not a lot of time to rest since Natsume and Sahiro arriving was the last thing they were waiting on. Now that everyone was here, Tajima called for the camp to mobilize in the morning. In order to take away their vulnerability of having a central camp, they would all work in small cells and constantly move. This would prevent the enemies from discovering their camp and retaliating.

Everyone was grouped in fours except for Natsume. Tajima had told her to stay behind as he had a different task for her. The units of four would begin by scattering through the land and taking out any isolated shinobi. Once the last group left the camp, Tajima sat alone in his tent with Natsume across from him. He was finishing off the last pot of tea before packing up.

"I have a task for you." Tajima finished sipping tea and turned to her.

"Yes, Tajima-sama?"

"During the time you were away, I have been thinking about your abilities. I am sure you yourself have already figured out the potential and application of such power. In a war, there are many ways to win. One of the most successful ways is by taking out the leader." He paused and sipped his tea.

Natsume bit her lip unconsciously and nodded. She was well aware of how powerful her Fuchikoma and Zenchizen were for assassinations. However, being overly reliant on her Mangekyou sharingan would be her downfall. The loyalty to the Uchiha she had deep within her bones wouldn't let her disobey the clan leader, but her ambitions were beyond a scope that he could fathom.

"Actually, I didn't want to suggest this, so that you had room to grow first. However, the situation has changed. All of our attempts at scouting deeper into the territory to identify the exact location of the mine have not been fruitful. The risks involved in sending someone in were too high, so remote scouting was all we could manage. Therefore, your mission is to infiltrate the Land of Rice Fields and discover the location of the mine and incapacitate or kill the leaders."

Natsume nodded her head. The situation was simple. Although anyone could have been sent in to do this mission, Natsume was the only one that had a cheat-like ability to escape unscathed. Tajima wasn't even aware of the full scope of her Zenchizen ability, if he knew, he might just push her to use it to look around. She would definitely not waste her prowess like that, so going undercover was the most practical route.

Tajima had already prepared plain gray robes used by the rice farmers. They were worn out and even had a cute little duck embroidered on the hem. Transformation jutsu was the easiest way to disguise oneself, but it had many flaws. The average shinobi couldn't tell if someone was transformed, but since all attempts at scouting were stifled by the opponent, Tajima guessed they had powerful sensors on their side. Therefore, physical disguise was the best choice.

Fortunately, the people of the Land of Rice Fields shared similar traits to the Land of Fire so it would be easy to mingle in as a refugee. In the Land of Rice Fields, you only needed to know how to work the farms. Your origin or status were secondary to how much you harvest. In that sense, the Land of Rice Fields Daimyo was very profit driven.

She made a few finishing touches to improve her disguise and sealed away all of her equipment in a scroll of her own design. She hid the scroll in her robes and frowned again at the inconvenience of not having a summoners contract. Although she established one with Tagitsuhime, she had specified not to summon her unless necessary. Using her as a beast of burden may anger her…

"Alright, looks good." Natsume nodded at her reflection in the water and started walking to the border of the Land of Fire and Land of Rice Fields. Although she could move quicker, her intention was to accumulate some travel wear on her clothes and body. A pristine poor farming child would be suspicious. Like this, she traveled during the daylight hours, and slept in the forest during the night. On the third day, she was fetching water at a river when a group encountered her.

"Oh dear, look at that poor child. What is your name?" One of the women in the group called out to her from the party. Natsume feigned fear and tried to run away across the river, but "fell" on the slippery rocks and started getting pulled by the current. "Oh no! Lee, save her!" She called out to her companion and he threw off his outer robe and dived in to rescue the "drowning" Natsume.