As for other genjutsu specialists...Mari and Itachi do it for you?
Itachi's too close to treason and Mari would be preoccupied.
Far as I know, she's alive and dating Asuma.
OK, this can work out well.
My idea, in general strokes, is as follows:
1. We ask Asuma to smuggle Kurenai in Isan. Add other specialist(s) if he thinks they can help (Ibiki, Anko?).
2. Isan team helps them get in without any isanites noticing.
3. All members of Isan delegation start working on their alibies: being seen as much as possible. Maybe they even should request more guards under some pretense to be seen more.
4. Get it going for a week, probably.
5. Then hit the road stating that Isan's fate is in Azai's hands or something appropriate.
6. Meanwhile Kurenai and co. should find someone from Azai's faction (Innoue perhaps?) to genjutsu them into killing Azai.
Bonus points for choosing someone who is objectively a bad person.
Bonus-bonus points if they are genjutsed so hard that they can state after an interrogation that they killed Azai for their own reasons and it had nothing to do with Leaf (or blaming it on the Cloud). If it is not possible or there is a chance this will not work this person should kill themself right after murdering Azai.
Anko/Ibiki may provide alternatives to genjutsu.
7. The killing should happen in a day or two after the main corps left Isan.
8. Takahashi than can send someone to inform the main team and ask them to get back (we may tell him about the plan or just hint that something can happen, since someone may be spying on him/us).
9. Maybe Takahashi would be able to unite Isan under his banner, maybe not. Either way with Azai out of the picture it would be easier to subvert anyone.
10. After a day or two, the main team can help smuggle Kurenai and co. out of Isan.
Insert optimizing with Asuma, Keiko, Shikamaru, and Mari.
The motivation behind this approach:
We need Mari to be in Leaf to handle economics; we need Keiko on the Seventh Path coordinating Pangolins against Dragons; we need Noburi in Leaf to be Noburi and cementing the Clan together. None of them have time to waste in Isan. We are representatives of one of the biggest powerhouses
on the continent in the world - so let's act like it. We are not missing-nin anymore and this is a Hokage-sanctioned mission: we can request resources and receive them.
I don't think we have time to use the soft approach and, as was mentioned, people, in general, prefer not to change their opinions. Isanites are mostly of the opinion "Azai good, Azai smart, Azai big prophet". Subverting it would take too much time (years probably) and we don't have enough people on the spot.
Trying to upset Azai's rule by undermining him religiously would almost certainly backfire:
- we still don't know enough about Isan traditions and rules - it is absurdly easy to force us to make some stupid mistake
- Pangolins are not known to be good actors
- it is too easy to reveal this de-cursing as scum, which it is btw - see points above
- Keiko was against making her a messiah and I certainly don't want to argue with her more than we need to
Removing Azai openly is not an option because we don't have enough firepower. I think this plan is a viable alternative.
I don't have spoons and enough time to maintain an actual Action Plan, but if anyone thinks this could/should be done - feel free to write one.
