Uzushiogakure lay nestled in the mountains, split into northern and southern halves by a massive river.
What shocked Yako was the moving mountain behind Uzushiogakure!
Looking closer, he realized it was an enormous turtle—a turtle as massive as a hill.
From her spot on Yako's back, Uzumaki Yuka leaned close to his ear and explained:
"That is our village-protecting Summoned Beast, Lord Spirit Turtle.
"The Uzumaki Clan excels at Sealing Jutsu. During the Warring States period, we sealed monsters for various Daimyo and nobles, accumulating many Summoned Beasts in the process.
"There are also many aquatic Summoned Beasts living beneath the surface of that great river in the middle.
"Our squad's mission this time was to travel to the Land of Waves and seal a rampaging giant ninja beast. We were targeted by Cloud Ninja, and we failed."
A high-pitched avian cry echoed overhead.
Yako looked up and recognized a Summoned Beast from the original story—Nagato's three-legged, giant-beaked Yatagarasu.So that was it. This was the correct way to use Sealing Jutsu.
Seal powerful Summoned Beasts to aid in battle.
But why hadn't the Uzumaki Clan secured a Tailed Beast for themselves?
With their formidable Sealing Jutsu paired with a Tailed Beast, couldn't they create a perfect jinchuriki?
Uzumaki Clan ninja arrived at the village gates and escorted Uzumaki Yuka to the hospital.
Before leaving, she cast a reluctant glance at Fox.
It was a pity. She had only memorized Fox's voice, but didn't know his real name.
Once she returned, she would have to ask around and find out who the Senju Clan's spy in the Anbu was.
In the past, when the Anbu took orders directly from Lord Tobirama, things wouldn't have been this troublesome.
Word had it that after Hiruzen Sarutobi took power, his first act was to ruthlessly purge the Anbu. He had cleared out many of Lord Tobirama's former subordinates and flooded the ranks with newcomers.
The Antelope Squadron ventured deep into Uzushiogakure, arriving at the village head's administrative building.
Atop the building sat a massive Uzumaki Clan crest, identical to the one on the backs of Konoha flak jackets.
They waited for a long time before a group of people approached from the distance.
Leading them was Danzo, followed by his aides.
Danzo was currently in his prime. Both of his eyes and arms were perfectly intact, showing no signs of anything unusual.
With the cross-shaped scar on his chin and his extremely small pupils surrounded by white space, his gaze was remarkably sinister.
When those eyes swept over them, it was enough to instill fear.
Danzo entered the building. The battalion commander and advisory aides followed him up, while the squadron captains and squad leaders like Captain Antelope stood guard downstairs.
Ordinary Anbu operatives like Yako vanished into the woods behind the building.
Yako stood in a tree alongside Kakugyu, keeping a close eye on the rear of the building, ready to intercept anyone who might pose a threat to Danzo.
As both a high-ranking advisor and the commander of the Anbu, Danzo held immense authority.
Yako and Kakugyu didn't speak to one another. None of the Anbu communicated; everyone acted like machines.
An unknown amount of time passed before Danzo came back downstairs and led his aides out of Uzushiogakure.
Whatever Danzo had discussed with the Uzumaki Clan head, his expression was incredibly grim. Things had clearly not gone well.
His gaze drifted, lost in some unknown train of thought.
The battalion commander handed out orders to the squadron captains, who in turn assigned missions to the squad leaders.
Captain Antelope gathered Fox and Kakugyu, leading the two of them north.
The captain revealed they were heading for the Land of Waves.
Yako had no idea what the mission entailed. He speculated wildly—perhaps they were investigating the Cloud Ninja that had appeared in the Land of Waves.
The main battlefield between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud Village was along the borders of the Land of Hot Water to the north. Logically speaking, there shouldn't be a large number of Cloud Ninja in the Land of Waves.
This was the height of the Second Great Ninja War. Every village was stretched thin, making it impossible to spare so much extra manpower. If troops were being deployed here, it had to be for something major.
Captain Antelope secured a boat on the coast. The three of them used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise themselves as fishermen and rowed north toward the Land of Waves.
Yako took on the appearance of a dark-skinned teenager.
Leaning over the side of the boat, he tried to use the water's reflection to see if he looked like his past self.
But the hull kicked up white sea foam, obscuring everything.
Rowing was exhausting work. The Antelope Squadron gathered intel from nearby fishing boats, searching the waters for any suspicious vessels.
For Yako, the rowing was quite pleasant. With the slow pace, several days slipped by before he knew it.
By the time they reached the shore, more than ten days had gone by.
Yako finally saw another full moon, granting him a fresh chance at resurrection.
He was so sick of military ration pills that he could barely stomach them anymore.
The captain forbade them from roasting any caught fish, and since Yako didn't know which ocean fish were safe to eat raw, he had been forced to survive solely on the pills.
Military ration pills wouldn't let a person starve, but they provided zero sense of fullness. His stomach had been empty for so long that it clenched in pain.
Upon setting foot on the soil of the Land of Waves, the squad reverted to their Anbu appearances and slipped into the coastal coconut grove.
Yako figured the Anbu were conducting a carpet search, as his squad spent all their time circling a single designated sector.
Seven days later, Captain Antelope found signs of a struggle.
There were no bodies on the ground, but the dirt was stained blackish-red. Judging by the blood-soaked soil, the battle had occurred within the last two days.
Additionally, scattered kunai and ninja swords lay discarded in the brush.
The blades were standard longswords issued to Cloud Ninja.
"Everyone, grab a Cloud Ninja longsword," Captain Antelope ordered. "It'll make it easier to disguise ourselves as them."
Yako picked up a blade and carefully wiped away the bloodstains.
Disguising themselves as Cloud Ninja to commit atrocities was an easy way to frame them.
Using the battle site as their center point, the Antelope Squadron began to track the enemy.
As they searched, Yako sighed inwardly. No wonder Kakashi had made almost no progress during his ten years in the Anbu.
Executing Anbu missions consumed all of their time, leaving no room for training.
The majority of these assignments consisted of traveling, searching, and lying in wait—incredibly time-consuming tasks.
Just like in his past life, management possessed a certain power of insensitivity, completely disregarding the well-being of their subordinates.
He had once imagined carving out a place for himself in this ninja world through extraordinary effort and comprehension.
But they weren't giving him the chance.
Thanks to his wealth of experience, Captain Antelope uncovered numerous clues, tracking their targets all the way to a fishing village.
Night had fallen, and most of the villagers' homes were lit up.
Captain Antelope pointed to a pitch-black cabin and waved his hand.
Yako and Kakugyu crept forward from two different directions, closing in on the wooden structure.
To protect against the coastal dampness, the cabin had been built on raised stilts, making it incredibly easy to slip underneath.
On the far side, Kakugyu suddenly wiped his face.
Yako had studied some architecture in his previous life and deduced that the side with the small window was likely the toilet. Because of this, he had wisely chosen to approach from the side with the large window.
Poor Kakugyu. He really hoped that whatever had fallen on his teammate's face was just water.
If it was a "free-falling" deposit, well, he'd just have to endure it. They were on a mission, after all.
Yako pressed himself flat beneath the floorboards, pinning his ear against the wood to listen for movement above.
Suddenly, a blade thrust straight down through the floor!
Fortunately, Yako was alert enough to dodge the strike.
The blade grazed his scalp, slicing off a lock of his hair.
It was a long, incredibly sharp blade—unmistakably a standard-issue Cloud Ninja sword.
Combat erupted in an instant!
Heavy footsteps thumped rapidly across the wooden floorboards.
Kakugyu was furious. He immediately slapped an Explosive Tag against the underside of the floor.
Yako cursed inwardly. Damn it, the crawl space was extremely low; scrambling out would take time!
In such a narrow, confined area, the blast wave would be highly concentrated, making injury almost guaranteed.
Had Kakugyu actually been sprayed in the face by some "free-falling" filth?
Amid the explosion, Yako scrambled out from under the cabin, practically crawling on all fours.
The wooden building blew apart from the inside, and several Cloud Ninja burst from the wreckage.
In a flash, the cold gleam of ninja swords illuminated the shoreline.