Team 1 continued traveling without stopping, moving swiftly through the terrain. Whenever they came across settlements or travelers, they concealed themselves and pressed forward.
After more than two days, they reached a point just three kilometers away from their mission location. At that moment, Utakata signaled them to halt.
"Stop," he commanded. "This is where we'll meet up with the ANBU squad that we will be assisting. They should arrive in a few hours, so let's take some rest. I'll take the first shift, Yugao will take the second, Hitoshi the third, and Ren will take the last shift."
The genins nodded in understanding. Unlike their first mission, where Utakata had let them rest fully, their subsequent missions followed a standard shinobi protocol, ensuring equal distribution of rest among team members. The three genins quickly settled down to recover their energy.
A few hours later, Hitoshi woke Ren up for his shift before lying down to sleep. Ren stretched lightly, ensuring his body was in optimal condition, before leaping onto a tree branch. He created three shadow clones, which dispersed into the surroundings to scout the perimeter.
The clones completed their sweep and dispelled, relaying the information back to Ren; everything was clear. Over the course of an hour and a half, he repeated this process three more times, ensuring constant vigilance.
Just as he was about to send his clones out again, he heard a faint squeaking sound.
He immediately locked in, and without hesitation woke his team up.
Utakata was the first to rise, and at that moment, the squeaking sound echoed once more. He pulled out a flute-like instrument and played a silent tune. Suddenly, four ANBU members flickered into position on the surrounding trees.
Utakata turned to Team 1. "This is an ANBU code signal," he explained. "It is used when regular squads have missions with the ANBU."
One of the ANBU members, wearing a bear mask, flickered next to Utakata. Ren immediately recognized him; it was the same ANBU operative present during Obito's assault.
As Utakata and Bear exchanged words, Ren's eyes scanned the remaining three ANBU members.
One wore a mantis mask, another had a cat mask, and the last one had a bee mask.
All of them wore standard ANBU attire, complete with armor and specialized gear. Ren couldn't deduce much about their abilities, but his system displayed their levels. Cat and Bee were in the 50s range, Mantis had a level of 63, and Bear, the squad leader, had a level of 69.
Ren noted that if his own level had been one point lower, he wouldn't have been able to see Bear's level at all. This was an elite ANBU squad, with every member at Jonin-level strength.
Meanwhile, Utakata and Bear began their debriefing.
"What do we know about the two missing squads?" Utakata inquired.
Bear responded, "The first squad, Team Izuka, was led by Izuka Sarutobi. Their mission was to gather intelligence from the border patrol team, but the village received a report that Team Izuka never made contact, even after the buffer period had passed."
Konoha operated with a standard 24-hour buffer time; if a team failed to check in one day past their scheduled contact, it was assumed that something had gone wrong, and the mission status was escalated.
Bear continued, "An ANBU squad was in the area, so they were dispatched to investigate Team Izuka's disappearance. However, they too vanished without making any further contact."
Utakata absorbed the information before speaking. "If it were just one squad, we could assume that someone went rogue or that there was an unexpected incident. But two squads disappearing confirms that there is foul play involved."
"Do we have any other intel?" he asked.
Bear shook his head. "No. My squad was completing a separate mission in the area, but once we received the alert, we rushed here as quickly as possible after finishing our assignment."
Utakata nodded, and the Bear said, "Let's see if the sensors pick up anything."
Utakata agreed, and the two leaders returned to their teams.
Utakata then signaled Hitoshi, while Bear directed the bee-masked ANBU, sending both ahead to scout the mission area. The rest of the group followed at a slower pace, maintaining caution as they moved forward.
~~~
The bee-masked ANBU paused on a tree branch, prompting the rest of the group to halt as well.
"There's an area of land ahead," he said, scanning the terrain. "Its perimeter is subtly separated from the surrounding landscape. At a glance, it looks no different, but if you examine it closely, there's something off."
Hitoshi added, "The connection with my insects has become extremely weak. Unless I get closer or retrieve them, I won't be able to determine what's interfering with them."
Bear turned to Utakata and said, "Looks like Fuinjutsu is being used here."
Utakata nodded solemnly. "That's the only possible explanation." He glanced at Ren. "Let's go."
Ren followed his sensei as Mantis trailed behind. The three stopped once they reached the suspected area. Although the terrain looked completely normal, all three could sense a disturbance.
Ren focused chakra into his eyes, peering more carefully at the ground. Just ahead, a border of Fuinjutsu symbols curved around the area, likely enclosing the entire perimeter that the bee-masked ANBU had pointed out earlier.
The seal was complex, containing a large number of interconnected symbols, more than Ren had ever seen used in a single sealing formula, except for the ones in his basement back home.
Mantis examined the markings and commented, "The only purpose of this seal is concealment. But all ANBU squads are required to have at least one member trained in basic Fuinjutsu for situations like this. It's unlikely they were caught off guard by this. Looks like we have to go in and check for ourselves."
He was just about to step forward when Utakata raised his hand sharply.
"Stop. You're being influenced by a Confundus Seal," he warned. "Something is pushing you to enter, but we can't let that happen blindly."
Ren hadn't heard of a Confundus Seal before, but from Utakata's words, he understood its function: it manipulates perception or compels one's actions. He realized he wasn't affected and could only attribute his immunity to his Genjutsu resistance.
Before he could process more, he noticed the rest of the members from both teams slowly approaching the seal's border, fighting off strange dog-wolf-like creatures.
These beasts wielded whip-like tails with spearhead tips, using them with terrifying precision to keep the shinobi at bay.
Utakata grew alert, and Mantis regained his clarity. They were about to charge toward the creatures, but something was wrong. The rest of the shinobi were steadily retreating toward the border, not away from it.
Utakata and Ren tried shouting to stop them, but their calls were ignored. Ren realized they were likely under the influence of the Confundus Seal or perhaps another Genjutsu, pushing them toward the sealed area.
The three unaffected members rushed to block their teammates from entering, but some of the wolf-dogs redirected their attacks toward them, preventing their approach.
One of the creatures lashed out at Ren with its whip-tail, the spearhead tip slicing through the air. Ren sidestepped, grabbed the whip mid-strike, and yanked the beast toward him. As the creature flew forward, Ren formed a Rasengan and blasted it at point-blank range.
The dog was thrown back but, to Ren's surprise, stood up again, seemingly unphased.
He frowned. 'That Rasengan should've put down any mutt like that.'
Extending his claws, he prepared to finish the job. But before he could strike, he glanced around and saw that many of the shinobi had already crossed the seal's border and had vanished from view.
Utakata, meanwhile, was being assaulted by four of the dogs, while Bear, for some unknown reason, was leading more dogs toward Utakata, almost as if he was trying to trap him.
Ren moved to assist, but Utakata called out, "It looks like whoever set this up wants us inside the circle. We don't have any other choice. If we want to save them and complete the mission, we have to go in."
Ren nodded grimly. One of the dogs charged him again, but this time he responded with a wind-style technique, launching a wave of wind cutters from his claws. The blades tore the dog apart, and this time, it didn't get back up.
"Sensei," Ren called out, "It looks like these dogs are immune to blunt force and explosion-type damage; you have to cut them to finish them off."
With that, Ren jumped across the border, following the others into the sealed area.
~~~
Inside the border, the landscape appeared the same, but there was something ominous and unnatural about it. Ren scanned the area and quickly noticed that the others were walking in a synchronized manner toward what looked like a cave-like formation in the distance.
Moments later, Utakata crossed into the barrier, followed shortly by Bear. While Bear quietly began moving behind the others, Utakata remained standing still, seemingly frozen.
Ren immediately understood. A powerful Genjutsu field covered the entire area with the help of Fuinjutsu, ensnaring the minds of everyone who entered. He was likely unaffected due to his Genjutsu resistance, but he needed an explanation for it just in case anyone asked later.
Without hesitation, Ren activated the First Gate, sending a surge of chakra through his body. Then, just as he was about to reach Utakata to break the illusion, he heard a loud, sharp cry. "KAI!"
Utakata staggered, breathing heavily, his body trembling slightly as the Genjutsu broke. Ren moved toward him to help, but Utakata waved him off and pointed toward the others, who were just about to enter the cave.
Ren nodded in understanding and swiftly moved to intercept them.
The Cat-masked ANBU was leading the group, followed by Ren's own teammates Yugao, Hitoshi, and the rest. Moving quickly from one person to another, Ren used precise bursts of chakra to disrupt the Genjutsu. But due to the excess chakra from the opened gate, even the smallest bursts of chakra were overwhelming, which caused the targets to be knocked back slightly as they were freed.
Despite the force, his method worked. One by one, the trapped shinobi collapsed briefly but were now free of the illusion.
As everyone slowly came to their senses, the ANBU members were the first to react. Instantly alert, they gathered close, forming a protective stance. Ren, seeing that everyone was free, closed the gate, regaining control over his chakra flow.
Team 1 moved toward Utakata, who had also recovered and was calmly observing the situation.
A tense silence hung over the group as all the shinobi took in their surroundings.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a feminine voice, echoing through the air.
"Fufu… looks like some capable shinobi from the esteemed Leaf Village have entered this time."
{This was just a small example of how the Genjutsu resistance worked. You will see a much more dedicated arc for the Genjutsu resistance in the future.
Question: For what should I reward him after the mission?
1) A hard A-Rank mission
2) Very minor changes in canon (This is because mainly this arc is based on a movie, which is already non-canon, and second because the changes wouldn't be huge.)