Following this revival, Captain Brown Bear once again dispatched Yako to capture a Cloud Ninja squad leader alive.
Having ambushed this same Cloud Ninja with Explosive Tags in his previous life, Yako remembered exactly where the man would land after dodging. He planted a second Explosive Tag trap right at that spot.
The advantage of foresight was simply too convenient.
This time, the Cloud Ninja squad leader triggered the second Explosive Tag trap. Coughing up blood, he leaned heavily on his ninja sword and struggled to his feet.
Yako engaged the Cloud Ninja in a one-on-one fight.
He drew his short sword instead of a kunai.
He had rarely used a blade before, but as his hand wrapped around the hilt, it felt like an extension of his own arm, moving entirely to his will.
Clang!
The two ninja swords clashed, ringing out with the sharp screech of striking metal.
The Cloud Ninja squad leader was startled—not because the Anbu operative was overwhelmingly strong, but because the Anbu's movements were an exact mirror of his own. Even their speed matched perfectly.They exchanged three rapid strikes, each blow ending in a dead heat.
The Cloud squad leader felt as though every single one of his moves was being read before he even made them.
Yako felt a surge of quiet satisfaction. The gap in their swordsmanship had been erased, putting them on entirely equal footing.
A ninja sword packed far more lethal force than a kunai, making it the perfect weapon against an opponent like this Cloud Ninja, who possessed both speed and power.
As time dragged on and blows continued to be exchanged, the Cloud squad leader grew noticeably weaker. The wounds from the Explosive Tag were taking their toll.
He felt as if he were fighting an Uchiha.
Every swing of his blade was completely seen through.
Yako's swordsmanship was essentially a perfect replica of the Cloud squad leader's own skills. The system's reward was directly tied to his previous death.
Two minutes later, the Cloud squad leader could hold on no longer. Yako's blade slashed cleanly into his wrist.
The Cloud Ninja's sword dropped to the ground.
After swiftly severing the squad leader's hamstrings and the tendons in his wrists, Yako broke both of his arms. Then, he threw the man over his shoulder and headed toward the beach to find the captain.
The journey back was riddled with annoyances.
At first, the Cloud squad leader refused to behave, thrashing around on Yako's shoulder like a dying shrimp. Yako had no choice but to plunge a kunai into his lower back to quiet him down.
Later, bleeding from the mouth, the man tried to bite his own tongue to commit suicide. Yako was forced to gag him.
Along the way, Yako glanced up at the moon.
The full moon hung in the sky like a silver plate, casting light as pale as frost.
He had earned another chance to revive.
It took quite a bit of effort, but Yako finally dumped the Cloud squad leader on the beach.
Seeing Fox return with a captive slung over his shoulder, Captain Brown Bear silently praised his own judgment.
An Anbu operative who consistently completed missions was the best kind of operative.
Fox had far exceeded his expectations. By succeeding in a live capture, he had quickly proven himself to be a highly capable subordinate.
"Tabby Cat, you and Fox will interrogate this Cloud squad leader. Find out what they're doing in the Land of Waves."
"Understood, Captain."
Tabby Cat was the leader of another squad.
Yako followed him, curious to see how Captain Tabby Cat handled an interrogation.
After watching for a few minutes, Yako turned slightly away.
Compared to his crude method of merely slicing tendons, Tabby Cat was far more professional.
The Cloud squad leader twitched violently, letting out muffled groans. With his mouth securely gagged, he couldn't even scream.
Under the torment, the Cloud Ninja's eyes grew entirely bloodshot, looking as if they were burning with infection.
Yako casually changed the subject. "Captain Tabby Cat, seeing as you have three squad members, why don't you spare one for me?"
"Captain Fox, my comrades are the most important thing to me, second only to the mission."
"I'll value them just as much. Give me one, and I'll cherish them on your behalf."
The two of them haggled back and forth, but Tabby Cat refused to budge. He wouldn't give Yako a single member.
Yako remained a squad leader in name alone. He had absolutely no one to help gather intel or draw enemy fire.
The interrogation dragged from noon into the evening, and then well into the dead of night.
Sometime after midnight, Tabby Cat approached Captain Brown Bear, panting heavily as he reported his findings.
"What?" Captain Brown Bear's voice was laced with shock. After a moment of thought, he said, "We need to find the brigade captain immediately and report this intel."
The Cloud Ninja squads scattered nearby were nothing but a smokescreen.
The Hidden Cloud Village's true objective was to hold a high-level summit with the Hidden Mist Village on the other side of the Land of Waves.
The Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Mist Village had formed an alliance!
In the midst of the great ninja war, an alliance between any two major powers would put the Hidden Leaf in an extremely difficult position.
Captain Brown Bear didn't bother waiting for his other squad to return. He set off into the night to find the brigade captain.
The brigade captain, wearing a Yellow Dog mask, listened to Brown Bear's report before signaling for a communications ninja to contact Anbu headquarters immediately.
Standing a fair distance away from Captain Yellow Dog, Yako had no idea what method the brigade used to contact headquarters.
One after another, red signal flares shot into the night sky—the highest-level assembly order for the Anbu.
Every Anbu operative who saw the flares was required to gather.
Two Anbu brigades, both understrength due to casualties, hurried toward the northeast of the Land of Waves.
The atmosphere was heavy with tension. For the Anbu to abandon their original mission meant this new development was far more critical and took absolute priority.
"Move! We have to make it in time!"
Captain Brown Bear instructed his three squad leaders:
"Uzushiogakure failed to seal the Three-Tails. The sealing operation was sabotaged by the Hidden Mist Village.
"Using that as an excuse, the Hidden Mist has formally declared war on Uzushiogakure.
"Based on our new intel, it's highly likely the Hidden Cloud Village will join them in that declaration.
"Right now, Princess Uzumaki Kushina of the Uzumaki Clan is being hunted down by Mist Ninjas.
"We must protect Princess Kushina at all costs. She absolutely cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Hidden Mist!"
The time to replace the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was fast approaching, and the Hidden Leaf desperately needed a new vessel.
In pursuit of this new jinchuriki, Danzo Shimura had personally traveled to Uzushiogakure, only to be flatly rejected.
Meanwhile, the Anbu had been covertly plundering the Uzumaki Clan's sealing scrolls in the Land of Waves to secure their Sealing Jutsu.
Now, the Anbu had received absolute orders: protect the Uzumaki Princess with their lives.
That princess possessed unparalleled sealing talent. She was a natural-born jinchuriki, chosen by the Hidden Leaf to become the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Along the eastern beaches of the Land of Waves, the Konoha Anbu finally spotted the Uzumaki ninjas.
Over thirty Uzumaki ninjas were formed in a defensive ring, guarding a young girl in the center.
The Uzumaki Princess had a head of vibrant red hair, the exact color of a tomato, and appeared to be about seven or eight years old.
Terrified, she could only watch helplessly as one of her older cousins was killed right in front of her.
Two distinct groups blocked the Uzumaki ninjas' path.
One group consisted of over a hundred Mist Ninjas who had just made landfall. The other group was made up of Cloud Ninjas, currently fanning out along the flanks to box the Uzumaki survivors in.
Captain Yellow Dog ordered, "Protect the Uzumaki Princess at all costs!"
Yellow Dog's brigade charged forward to intercept the Mist Ninjas, while the second brigade broke off to intercept the Cloud forces.
One by one, the Anbu operatives surged into the fray.
Yako couldn't help but notice that he was the only squad leader charging forward with absolutely no one behind him.
Since he was both the squad leader and the sole squad member, his forces were pitifully thin. It would be perfectly reasonable for him to let the coastal reefs slow his advance down a bit, right?
The two brigade captains leading the charge possessed strength at least on the level of a Jonin.
Unleashing their Fire Release, the two of them instantly blanketed half the beach in roaring flames.
"Fire Release! It's the Konoha Anbu!"
The shouts of the Uzumaki ninjas were flooded with pure relief and joy.
Uzushiogakure's allies had arrived!
The Mist Ninjas stood right by the sea, entirely surrounded by water, making it effortless for them to counterattack with Water Release.
Massive water dragons slammed head-on into the blazing fireballs, sending a tremendous explosion of white steam rolling across the shore.
"Uzumaki ninjas!" Captain Yellow Dog yelled over the deafening hiss of steam. "Take Princess Kushina and go, now!"