"Antelope Squad! Move out!"
Yako's squad leader wore a mountain goat mask, and every member of the team addressed him as Captain Antelope.
Besides Yako, the squad included Purple Cat and Kakugyu.
Their true identities were a mystery; Yako wouldn't even know if the person behind Purple Cat's mask was swapped out mid-mission.
The four operatives slipped out of the Forest of Death and followed along Konoha's perimeter wall.
As they moved, a lingering sense of unease crept over Yako.
This direction led straight toward Konoha's main gates.
Were they leaving the village?
He didn't like the sound of that at all.
If you ran into danger inside Konoha, you could at least scream your head off.Calling for backup was never a disgrace.
If you ran into trouble out in the wild beyond the walls, screaming until your throat bled wouldn't save you.
Antelope Squad reached the main gates.
Without submitting departure permits or slowing their pace, the four operatives passed straight through the gates.
One of the sentries guarding the gate watched them go, his voice tinged with envy. "The Anbu are so damn cool. Always masked up, always looking cold as ice."
"Then sign up for the Anbu. You can wear a mask every single day too."
"Forget it. If you wear a mask for the Anbu, the only day you ever see the light again is the day they scrape your corpse off the dirt."
Yako's stomach churned. Why the hell had they left the village?
Captain Antelope kept his pace steady as he briefed the squad over his shoulder:
"Our target of surveillance for this operation is an Elite Chunin.
He's currently serving as a squad leader, taking three Genin on supply transport runs near the frontline.
He's suspected of being involved with Hidden Stone Village spies. We track him, gather evidence, and stand ready to eliminate him at any moment."
Hearing that, Yako felt his confidence evaporate.
In the ninja world, a gap of two ranks meant you could be slaughtered before you even saw the blow coming.
Ninja ranks roughly broke down into Genin, Chunin, Elite Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin, Elite Jonin, Kage Level, Super Kage Level, and Six Paths Level.
An Elite Chunin could butcher a Genin in the blink of an eye—and Yako was a Genin dressed up in a Chunin's vest.
Along the way, Yako carefully observed Captain Antelope and his two teammates, trying to gauge their actual strength.
Captain Antelope had to be at least an Elite Chunin himself; otherwise, he wouldn't talk about 'eliminating an Elite Chunin' like it was taking out the trash.
Since he himself was only a Genin, Purple Cat and Kakugyu were likely both standard Chunin; only then would their average strength meet the Anbu's baseline requirement for a Chunin squad.
Once they left the Land of Fire and entered the frontline in the Land of Rivers, every step had to be taken with extreme caution.
Captain Antelope soon located their reconnaissance target.
Peering through a telescope, Yako focused on the distant Konoha team.
The target was a rugged, powerfully built man with sharp, granite features.
His three subordinates—his students—consisted of a ninja from the Akimichi Clan, a commoner girl with no clan crest on her clothes, and a bespectacled civilian boy.
All four carried massive backpacks, transporting unknown supplies toward the frontline.
After watching for just two or three seconds, Yako quickly lowered his telescope.
He couldn't tell if it was his imagination, but for a split second, the Elite Chunin seemed to glance toward their position.
Captain Antelope continued observing through his telescope: "Maintain a distance of two hundred meters. Don't close in; gather intelligence slowly."
For five consecutive days, Antelope Squad trailed the target team from a distance.
The target team moved back and forth between the borders of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire, continuously transporting supplies.
Those five days were relatively peaceful.
Yako counted the days.
Three days enjoying himself at the Crane Moon Izakaya, four days traveling to the border, five days of tracking—twelve days had already passed. Only thirteen more days until the full moon.
Yako hoped this quiet surveillance would simply continue like this.
Captain Antelope suddenly called out, "We have a situation!"
The target slipped behind a large tree, moving out of his squad members' sight.
He stuffed a scroll beneath the roots of the tree, then quickly left.
"Move out! Once we confirm the contents of the scroll, act according to plan!"
The four Anbu operatives rushed toward the large tree.
Yako charged forward at top speed.
He had to be fast. Only the fastest could pick the softest target.
He shifted his position slightly and charged toward the target squad's female ninja.
At eleven years old, and a commoner at that, she had to be very weak.
Captain Antelope reached the tree first, pulled out the scroll, and opened it for a quick glance.
"He's a spy from the Hidden Stone Village! Eliminate the targets!"
It wasn't easy for the Hidden Stone Village to plant a spy, especially one at the Elite Chunin level.
This spy definitely had a subordinate contact, and based on past experience, it was most likely one of his students or disciples.
The Akimichi Clan Genin definitely wasn't the spy; he was a ninja from a noble clan.
The remaining two students were both possible spies.
As for how to tell them apart... the Anbu's standard practice was simply not to bother.
Yako threw two kunai at the commoner female ninja.
One flew straight toward her left eye to draw her focus.
The other flew straight toward her abdomen to guarantee a hit.
The commoner female Genin instinctively raised her kunai, deflecting the blade aimed at her eye.
Unable to guard both top and bottom, the second kunai struck her abdomen.
Blood sprayed out.
Yako didn't know whether the girl in front of him was actually a spy or not, but he showed no mercy; after kicking her to the ground, he used his kunai to pin both of her hands to the earth.
Nearby, the Akimichi Genin saw his female teammate's miserable state and instantly lost his mind.
He took a hit from Purple Cat's kunai without flinching and charged straight at Yako.
Yako stood in place, quietly watching the charging Akimichi Genin.
Purple Cat was pursuing him from behind; barring any accidents, the Akimichi Genin wouldn't be able to reach him.
However, the Akimichi Genin pulled out a secret medicinal pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
Yako didn't even see what color the pill was.
Oh, shit!
"Human Bullet Tank!"
As expected of a ninja from a noble clan, the Akimichi Genin transformed into a massive sphere of flesh, rolling toward Yako at breakneck speed.
Yako hurriedly leaped backward.
Damn it! Something had gone wrong—he couldn't screw up here, could he?
He was overtaken by the Human Bullet Tank and crushed forcefully against a massive boulder.
In the nick of time, hidden behind the massive sphere of flesh, Yako secretly formed hand seals and used the Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique.
His body vanished, sinking directly into the boulder.
Fortunately, he had learned a ninjutsu from the system, or he would have died right here.
For a moment, broken rocks flew everywhere.
As the Human Bullet Tank was about to come to a stop, Yako quickly reappeared, not wanting anyone to discover that he had mastered an Earth Release ninjutsu.
The Human Bullet Tank was large enough that no one else could see a thing.
To make it look convincing, he intentionally let himself be crushed by the Human Bullet Tank, breaking several bones in his body.
"Enough!"
Captain Antelope gave a harsh shout.
Hearing the unfamiliar voice behind him, the Akimichi Genin shrunk back down and turned to look.
In the distance, the Hidden Stone Village spy Elite Chunin was pinned to a tree by kunai.
Captain Antelope's ninja sword was pierced through the female Genin's chest.
As for the bespectacled Genin, he had been stabbed to death by Kakugyu with a kunai.
"Who the hell are you people?!"
Just as the Akimichi Genin was about to say something, Captain Antelope flickered in and struck him in the abdomen with a single punch, cutting short his frenzy.
"We are the Konoha Anbu, dealing with Hidden Stone Village spies. Snap out of it and don't cause trouble!"
If a commoner ninja died, so be it, but this Akimichi Genin had a noble clan backing him, so it wasn't wise to kill him outright.
The Akimichi Genin crawled toward the pretty commoner female ninja, weeping bitterly.
"I never even got to tell you... that I like you..."
Konoha ninja all matured early. It was unknown what kind of emotional entanglement lay between them, but the female Genin was already dead, and death severed all emotional ties.
Captain Antelope walked over to Yako and checked his injuries.
Yako hurriedly said, "Captain! The Will of Fire! We can't abandon any Konoha comrade! I'm just injured, you wouldn't abandon me, right?!"
"You complete piece of trash. Going back to recuperate is going to take over ten days again."
Hearing what his captain meant and realizing he wouldn't be abandoned, Yako breathed a sigh of relief.
On second thought, recuperating would take over ten days?
Didn't that mean he could stall right up until next month's full moon? Could something really be this good?
Carried back to Konoha on Kakugyu's back, Yako spent half a month recuperating before the full moon finally arrived.
However, it also brought a new mission.
Anbu Commander Danzo dispatched two Anbu battalions to the Land of Waves and the Land of Whirlpools.
Yako felt a wave of unease.
Was the Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools about to be exterminated?
What could a small fry like him possibly do in an earth-shattering event like the extermination of the Uzumaki clan?