Naruto: Paws and Whiskers

"So tell me, how have things been here?" Tsunade sat down first, then gestured around the table, signaling everyone to sit down at will.

The four of them gathered around the makeshift table, with Minato, Fugaku, and Takeshi seated besides Tsunade, and Fugaku, as the leader of the Uchiha clan, sitting opposite.

Takeshi, sitting at the same table, couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off.

"The Kirigakure has dispatched many shinobis" Fugaku said slowly. "They are skilled in the Hiding in the Kiri technique. They launched a surprise attack along the coast, without engaging us head-on. Although we sent out a Jonin squad, after we arrived here, we barely managed to catch few Kiri Ninjas."

Takeshi couldn't help but interject, "Guerrilla warfare, meow~." He immediately regretted his outburst, feeling that his comment was out of place. In elemental nations, who would understand the concept of guerrilla warfare?

Tsunade's eyes lit up with curiosity. "What is guerrilla warfare?" She asked with amusement.

"When we cats encounter a strong enemy, we fight in an environment suitable to us," Takeshi began to explain. "If we can defeat them, we fight. If we can't, we climb trees and flee. That's guerrilla warfare." He smiled, recalling his own adaptation of such tactics in his hunts.

Everyone listened intently, pondering for a moment before nodding in understanding. They understood what Takeshi meant.

The Kirigakure employed guerrilla warfare tactics using Hiding in the mist technique to contain Konoha's forces, while Konoha teams dispatched here lacked coordination, and the major clans forces couldn't be integrated together cohesively. The enemies took advantage of this predicament.

Tsunade thought for a few moments, her eyes narrowing as she considered their options. She clapped her hands, with decisive nod. "Alright, Minato. Go inform Hiashi and other camp captains that we need to hold a meeting to mix the personnel of the camps. As for the location..." She pointed to a spot on the map, her finger tracing the edges of the Land of Fire.

"This location is in the center of the eastern border of the Land of Fire, with convenient transportation access, making it ideal for the transportation of essential supplies we request from village."

"Yes!", Minato nodded, following the order without hesitation. Fugaku and Takeshi looked to Tsunade, awaiting her next instruction.

"The Kirigakure must have a base near the coast," Tsunade continued. "Our first mission is to find it and destroy it. However, while your Uchiha clan have strong combat capabilities, there is still a lack of strong reconnaissance experts. We'll proceed with the next plan after the reorganization of camps. For now..." Tsunade paused, her gaze settling on Takeshi.

While she knows that she needs to utilize Kakashi, but she won't send him out just yet. After a moment of contemplation, she said, "Takeshi, go and check out this area."

"Meow!" Takeshi nodded his head, then got up and left.

Fugaku hesitated, his brow furrowed with concern. "Tsunade-sama, Should I send someone to accompany Takeshi?"

Tsunade shook her head. "He can handle himself." As currently Takeshi is stronger alone, and can beat regular Jonins easily.

He wouldn't be able to use Flying Thunder God if there were more people present, and if he did use it for emergency then it would be exposed and create a mess of current situation.

Fugaku nodded, though his mind was racing with questions. 'Does this cat possess other abilities? If he was just raw Strength then Tsunade wouldn't be so confident, as even many Jonins wouldn't prefer going on scouting missions alone, is he faster than the speed he displayed before? or could it be some form of space ninjutsu for summon beasts like reverse summoning jutsu, how would that work?...' Fugaku secretly wondered, but after a moment, he put the matter of Takeshi aside.

He had to discuss and plan with his clan members.

After Takeshi left the tent, Kakashi and Obito arrived in front of him. Among them, Kakashi looked excited holding his sword tightly, and asking, "Are we going on a mission?"

"You will stay here, I'll go out on patrol. Meow~, Rin, if I send something to you, then use the summoning jutsu immediately."

"Understood." Rin nodded gently.

After discussing with them, Takeshi rushed away from the camp.

Uchiha Hinori led his team of 20 Uchiha clansmen on patrol mission. There were still eight Uchiha clan members in the camp, but the Kiri ninjas were unlikely to attack this camp.

Because the remaining eight, although small in number, were the strong Jonins, and as a team could take on even Elite Jonins.

Takeshi left the camp and wandered around, following the scent. Kiri ninjas were proficient in assassination, and it was nearly impossible to catch them using scent as the moisture and water vapor dampened that too.

So the purpose of Takeshi scouting around here was not to find the Kiri Ninjas, but to observe how the Uchiha patrolled.

The Uchiha patrol teams were divided in two groups. One group went up to patrol the defense line close to the Land of Iron, while the other group went down along the coastline, which intersects with patrol routes of the Hyuga clan.

Judging from the number of people, there were still more Uchiha clan members patrolling north, which meant it wouldn't need scouting at the moment, so Takeshi walked down along the coast.

Takeshi could catch scent of Minato, who had likely passed by route, which did reduce the danger abit, so Takeshi decided to familiarize himself with the terrain.

Along the way, Takeshi saw a few Uchiha clan members patrolling teams. Likely done with their shift and switching with others.

After running past them for a long distance, Takeshi was going to go back, but at this time, he saw a few figures. 'Uchiha's? They look familiar. Where did I see them?' Takeshi couldn't remember where he had seen them, but he couldn't shake the feeling that they were quite familiar.

He looked at them for a few times, and his mind flashed back to the first patrol batch of Uchiha he saw when he came over... 'How did they get here? No, these are Kiri ninjas in disguise!'

He immediately realized that the enemies had already figured out the shift change timings of the Uchiha clan, so they would use their disguises to get closer and then launch an ambush.

But this method was not very useful against the Hyuga clan members, right? The Byakugan could see through their transformation jutsu, though unless the Hyuga was too prideful and dumb not to use their Byakugan, but the probability of that is too small especially for border patrols.

"Maintain the pace." The "Uchiha" imitated the voice and continued to walk, it seemed that they didn't notice Takeshi observing them.

Takeshi quietly followed them. They continued to "patrol" along the coast, at moderate pace, likely waiting for some signal.

After following them for around half an hour, Takeshi found that them pausing at the end of patrol route of the Uchiha's.

Further ahead was the territory under the jurisdiction of the Hyuga clan.

'Will they go ahead?'

Takeshi hid in the bushes, observing them while thinking whether to go out and smack them a few times, as after learning Super Strength technique, he was itching to try it out in combat.

However, this was likely an Kiri Assassination squad, there was atleast one Jonin in the team, the others wouldn't be weak Chunins either, otherwise they wouldn't they wouldn't dare to ambush Uchiha or Hyuga squads.

Since he didn't want to use Flying Thunder God, Takeshi decided to wait and keep observing them while camouflaging himself and sat still.

After couple minutes, the team suddenly ran to the sea at fast pace. Takeshi wasn't foolish enough to chase after Kiri ninjas on top of water, so he waited for them to go further before flowing behind slowly. His keen cat ears could distinctly hear sounds of combat.

'A fight has broken out!'

-------------------

Dear Readers and Fans,

For those eager to dive into next chapters earlier before others, I invite you to join us on Patreon. By becoming our Patron, you not only gain access to exclusive advanced chapters but also help us continue this endeavour and expand it further. 

https://www.pat reon.com/8Ashes8

(no space)

You can read upto 7 Chapters in advance.