A narrow strait separated the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire—so narrow a single bridge could cross it.
Even though it was much closer to the Land of Fire, the mission quota for the Land of Waves had always belonged to Uzushiogakure.
After crossing the strait and entering the Land of Fire, Brigade Commander Yellow Dog ordered his men to find Yako.
Brigade Commander Yellow Dog looked Yako up and down, then said, "You're the only one left in the Brown Bear Squadron. Since you aren't strong enough to take on the role of squadron captain yet, I'm assigning you to the Black Ape Squadron."
Yako nodded. He observed Captain Black Ape. The man was tall and exceptionally burly, clearly possessing formidable taijutsu. Yako wondered what kind of ability he could extract from this squadron captain.
He had already gained the Shadow Clone Jutsu from Captain Antelope and the Body Flicker Technique from Captain Brown Bear. These Anbu operatives possessed excellent skills.
Upon joining the Black Ape Squadron, Captain Black Ape initially had Yako operate solo.
Since Yako was a squad leader himself, placing him in another squad was awkward. Furthermore, the other squads had suffered severe casualties and were unwilling to spare anyone to form a new unit under his command.
The forces continued their march.
As they walked, the surrounding mist grew increasingly dense."Captain Black Ape, is this a natural fog bank, or..."
"This is the Land of Fire. Even if the Mist Ninja have arrived, we have absolute confidence we can defeat them."
Yako looked at the battered, weary survivors around them, wondering where Captain Black Ape was getting this confidence.
Uzumaki Yuka summoned her large Spear Egret, keeping it ready at a moment's notice to fly Uzumaki Kushina away.
The atmosphere grew heavier by the second.
Within the thick mist, visibility dropped to a mere two or three meters.
Yako adjusted his mask slightly to ensure the eye holes didn't restrict his vision.
He could see a tree two meters away, but anything beyond that was a vast expanse of white.
The damp moisture in the air made his skin crawl.
Suddenly, the sharp whistle of something tearing through the air rang out behind him!
A chill prickled the back of his head, and Yako instinctively dove forward.
A kunai grazed his hair and thudded into the tree trunk in front of him.
Hitting the ground, Yako corrected his posture and spun around, staring into the dense fog.
However, he could see nothing in the white void.
This time, the Mist Ninja weren't engaging in close combat with their Silent Killing technique; instead, they were using kunai to harass them from a distance.
With visibility limited to two or three meters, relying on sight to dodge incoming kunai was far too slow.
It was better to rely on hearing.
Screams began echoing around them—the agonized cries of Uzumaki ninja struck by kunai.
Compared to the Uzumaki ninja, the Konoha Anbu were of a much higher caliber. They were incredibly stoic; even when riddled with blades, they didn't utter a single sound.
Boom!
Now it was no longer a matter of being stoic. The Mist Ninja had started using Explosive Tags!
For the Hidden Mist Village, whose forces primarily relied on Water Release, to pull out precious Explosive Tags meant they were getting desperate.
Amid the detonations of the Explosive Tags, an Anbu ninja was swallowed by fire and thick smoke, crashing to the ground in front of Yako.
He died a gruesome death. Everything below his thighs had been blown away, leaving jagged bone protruding from the severed stumps.
Right then, Yako felt a chill.
A chill carried by the wind.
Immediately after came a terrifying blast of wind pressure!
Abandoning all other thoughts, Yako spun around and flattened his body against the large tree behind him.
The tree opposite him, lacking the girth to withstand the gale, snapped and crashed down toward him.
Yako frantically began forming hand seals and sank deep into the ground.
By the time he resurfaced, the surrounding fog had been entirely swept away.
A single Wind Release technique had blown away hundreds of meters of dense mist?
All the thinner trees in the vicinity had been toppled.
Yako looked into the distance and saw Shimura Danzo lowering his hands from a seal.
Danzo had arrived with two aides as reinforcements.
Good heavens.
To think Shimura Danzo of all people would give him such an overwhelming sense of security.
Danzo's wide eyes, the whites visible all around his tiny pupils, locked onto the distant group of Mist Ninja.
Upon seeing Danzo, Biwa Juzo and Jinpachi Munari of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist turned and left without a backward glance.
Danzo swept his gaze over the two battered Anbu brigades, both having lost over half their numbers, and did not issue an order to pursue.
The Anbu operatives leaped up from the chaotic ruin of splintered stumps and rallied behind Danzo.
Brigade Commanders Yellow Dog and Blue Sparrow stood behind Danzo, waiting to report.
The Uzumaki ninja hurried over as well.
The captain of the Sealing Squad wore a look of immense relief. "Commander Danzo, I never expected you to personally come to our rescue. In all of Konoha, you're likely the only one capable of countering such a massive fog barrier created by the Mist Ninja."
Danzo nodded and looked at Uzumaki Kushina. "The Uzumaki Princess... she doesn't appear to be a jinchuriki. Did you fail?"
The Sealing Squad captain nodded. "Countless Mist Ninja sentries surrounded the wild Three-Tails. We sacrificed many people, but we still couldn't seal it."
Standing near the back of the Anbu formation, Yako crouched on the ground, feigning rest.
Peering through the gaps between the people ahead of him, he noticed Danzo's clenched fists. His knuckles were stark white.
Danzo wasn't nearly as calm as his outward appearance suggested; he was absolutely furious.
He always maintained the emotionless expression of a corpse, never showing joy or anger. No one could tell when he was on the verge of explosive rage.
If Uzumaki Kushina had successfully become the Three-Tails jinchuriki, every plan Konoha had carefully laid out regarding the Nine-Tails would have been ruined.
The Nine-Tails was one of the foundational pillars of Konoha. Uzushiogakure's covert operation had nearly caught the village completely off guard.
For several seconds, Danzo remained utterly silent.
No one dared to speak.
The young Kushina hid behind Yuka. She felt this gloomy, hawkish man was terrifying.
Danzo spoke slowly. "The remnants of the two Anbu brigades will continue escorting the Uzumaki Princess back to Uzushiogakure."
With those words, Danzo turned and left with his aides.
Yako felt confused. Konoha was absolutely determined to acquire Uzumaki Kushina, so why not simply take her now?
Were they hoping to make Uzumaki Kushina enter Konoha willingly?
The two Anbu brigades resumed their march, escorting the Uzumaki Princess toward the Land of Whirlpools peninsula.
Along the way, Uzumaki Yuka constantly observed the Anbu, managing to pinpoint Fox with perfect accuracy every time.
She would immediately avert her gaze to avoid being caught.
Fox had concealed himself excellently, blending into the ranks of the Anbu without drawing the slightest attention.
If the two Anbu brigades hadn't been reduced to a little over forty people, he would have remained even better hidden.
The spy chosen by the Senju Clan was truly of the highest caliber.
As the contingent approached Uzushiogakure, the Yatagarasu flew out from the village.
The massive Yatagarasu shrieked overhead, terrifying the small Spear Egret perched on Yuka's shoulder so much that it shrank its neck.
"Don't be afraid. That's our village's guardian Summoned Beast. It won't do anything to you."
After escorting the Uzumaki ninja to the village gates, the Anbu did not enter. Following a brief farewell, they departed.
Yako breathed a sigh of relief.
This mission had dragged on for far too long. He desperately wanted to return to the village—and ideally, never leave again.
'The outside world is too dangerous. I want to go home.'
After leaving Uzushiogakure, Yako realized their heading was wrong.
Brigade Commander Yellow Dog led the Anbu up a high mountain near Uzushiogakure.
Four Anbu squadron captains executed a barrier jutsu.
A transparent barrier enveloped the mountaintop.
From the outside, it still looked like a normal mountain peak, but the four squadron captains had vanished, rendered invisible.
The Anbu operatives stepped into the barrier, disappearing one by one.
An invisibility barrier?
Yako stepped into the barrier as well.
Brigade Commander Yellow Dog began assigning tasks to the squadron captains, and Captain Black Ape subsequently gathered the three squad leaders under his command, including Yako.
"We are rotating in three shifts. Use your telescopes from within the invisibility barrier to keep a close eye on Uzushiogakure!"
Yako was assigned to the first shift.
Lying prone behind a rock, Yako watched Uzushiogakure through his telescope.
The full moon hung like a silver platter, its light resembling white frost.
Yako had finally waited until the night of the full moon.
Three days later, Danzo arrived with a fully staffed Anbu brigade and entered the invisibility barrier.
Advisor Danzo stayed inside the barrier for several days, displaying exceptional patience. He sat quietly on a rock, unhurried, waiting for something unknown.
With all the Anbu operatives inside the barrier constantly under Danzo's watchful eyes, everyone grew increasingly tense.
It seemed the great calamity destined for the Uzumaki Clan was entirely unavoidable.