Fighting as he retreated, Yako was eventually forced to the shoreline.
In Captain Antelope's mind, Yako only possessed the strength of a Genin—someone unfit for heavy responsibilities.
By outliving Purple Cat, he had already far exceeded the captain's expectations.
Reaching the beach, Yako engaged his pursuing Cloud Ninja in close-quarters combat.
The two clashed with taijutsu, constantly testing each other.
Yako's eyes frequently darted toward the exploding wooden cabin, taking in the full scope of the battlefield.
A squad of Cloud Ninja charged out of the cabin. One of them, injured by an Explosive Tag, leaned against the stairs and panted heavily.
Kakugyu's head was covered in absolute filth. No wonder he was furious; shit really had gone flying.
A ninja had to be a jack-of-all-trades, and theoretical knowledge was equally important. Poor Kakugyu had suffered simply because he didn't understand architectural layouts.
Captain Antelope and Kakugyu were each dealing with a Cloud Ninja of their own.In the distance, the village fishermen, startled by the explosions, rushed out wielding harpoons.
Faced with ninja, these ordinary fishermen were terribly frail.
They didn't dare charge into the fray. Hesitating from afar, they stood protectively in front of their homes and fishing boats to guard their livelihoods.
Just then, two figures leaped up from behind the fishermen!
Damn it, Cloud Ninja had hidden among the locals.
This ambush from a second Cloud Ninja squad turned the tide against them.
Because Yako had kept his distance, the newly revealed Cloud Ninja rushed straight for Captain Antelope and Kakugyu.
It was now a two-on-one fight; both Captain Antelope and Kakugyu were in grave danger. If those two died, Yako wouldn't survive either.
Yako stopped holding back. He feigned a stumble, turning his back to the Cloud Ninja to deliberately expose a fatal opening.
The Cloud Ninja raised his ninja sword high, slashing down at Yako's head.
In reality, Yako was secretly forming hand seals entirely out of sight.
The Cloud Ninja fighting him went rigid, ensnared by the Self-Cursing Binding Seal.
In the darkness, cursed marks crawled up the Cloud Ninja's joints, locking him in place.
His ninja sword froze forever, hovering a mere thirty centimeters from Yako's head.
Yako spun around with a swift thrust.
His kunai sank deep into the Cloud Ninja's vulnerable abdomen.
After Yako gave the blade a vicious twist, the Cloud Ninja collapsed.
He sprinted toward Captain Antelope and Kakugyu.
But he was still a step too late. He watched helplessly as two ninja swords hacked from the front and back, severing Captain Antelope's head.
Yako wasn't the only one shocked; beside him, Kakugyu's body stiffened, nearly taking a blade himself in the distraction.
The captain was dead?
The captain's severed head and body both transformed into puffs of white smoke.
It was a Shadow Clone!
Captain Antelope had been using a Shadow Clone to test the waters all along.
One could even say that Yako and Kakugyu's infiltration was merely part of the captain's probing tactics.
The real Captain Antelope leaped out from the coconut grove in the rear, hurling kunai rigged with Explosive Tags straight into the crowd of fishermen.
A standard squad consisted of three to four people. Since only two Cloud Ninja had revealed themselves so far, it meant others were still hiding among the locals.
Captain Antelope didn't bother trying to distinguish the fishermen from the hidden Cloud Ninja. He just went straight for the Explosive Tags.
He would either blow up the Cloud Ninja along with the villagers, or force the surviving enemies to break their cover.
The Explosive Tags detonated among the crowd. Seven or eight slow-reacting fishermen were blasted into the air.
If they weren't killed outright, they were severely crippled.
An Explosive Tag packed the same immense destructive power as a Chunin-level Fire Release technique.
Yako pulled his gaze away from the explosions just as the two Cloud Ninja who had destroyed Captain Antelope's Shadow Clone charged straight at him.
Two against one?
Using the momentum of blocking their ninja swords, Yako rolled backward, pretending to be utterly outmatched.
Seeing how weak the ninja in the Fox Mask appeared, only one Cloud Ninja bothered to pursue him, while the other turned back to deal with Captain Antelope.
Yako let out a sigh of relief.
This was exactly how it should be. Why waste time tangling with cannon fodder like him when Captain Antelope was the real key to this battle?
The two of them fought their way from the sandy beach into the water. To prevent the Cloud Ninja from using a lightning release technique in the ocean, Yako formed hand seals underwater, using the Self-Cursing Binding Seal to briefly paralyze his opponent.
After killing the Cloud Ninja, Yako began thrashing around in the waves. He gripped the dead man's wrists, dragging the corpse along with him to fake a desperate struggle in the water.
The supposed battle looked incredibly fierce.
It was a chaotic waltz, danced entirely by Yako and a corpse.
Only when the fighting on the shore ceased did Yako crawl out of the sea.
He had killed two Cloud Ninja tonight—far exceeding his required quota.
Several Cloud Ninja corpses now lay at Captain Antelope's feet.
The captain was wounded. He had taken a blade to the abdomen—a severe, penetrating wound that left him in terrible shape.
As for Kakugyu, he was already dead.
This left Yako with a sinking feeling.
Without Kakugyu around, would the captain be keeping a constant eye on him from now on?
Would the few techniques he had secretly learned be exposed?
If he inexplicably learned ninjutsu out of nowhere, the Anbu would absolutely label him a spy, investigate him, and dispose of him. Ninjutsu was the Hidden Leaf Village's second most heavily guarded resource, right after missions, making it extraordinarily precious.
"Captain! We have to leave, now! The fishermen are closing in!"
Yako rushed to Captain Antelope's side and confirmed the severity of his injury.
It was a real wound, not a fake one.
The fishermen saw one ninja clutching his stomach as blood poured through his fingers, and the other dragging himself out of the sea, drenched and looking utterly pathetic.
Bolstered by their enemies' sorry state, they bravely charged forward with their harpoons, intent on avenging the relatives who had just been blown to pieces.
Yako hauled Captain Antelope up by the arm and leaped away.
After a few bounds, the two of them left the fishing village behind, vanishing into the depths of the coastal coconut grove.
"Fox, you made the wrong choice," Captain Antelope said. "You should have killed every fisherman holding a weapon instead of fleeing in a panic."
Yako explained, "Captain, I was afraid there might be more Cloud Ninja hiding among them."
Nestled between two coconut trees grew a large, broad-leafed plant that Yako didn't recognize.
Its foliage was so dense that it cast a patch of complete darkness beneath it.
Supporting Captain Antelope, Yako leaped toward the broad-leafed plant.
Before they even hit the ground, Yako abruptly drew a kunai and ruthlessly stabbed it toward Captain Antelope's ribs!
Beneath his mask, a sharp, calculating light gleamed in Yako's eyes.
Constantly guarding against Captain Antelope wasn't a sustainable plan. He couldn't go on hiding every time he needed to use the Self-Cursing Binding Seal.
Sooner or later, the captain would uncover his little tricks and realize he had learned ninjutsu through channels outside of the Anbu's control.
The Anbu despised unexpected variables; they had to control absolutely everything.
Uzumaki Yuka had mistakenly assumed he was a Senju Clan spy just because of a single secret sealing technique. Wouldn't Captain Antelope make a similar connection?
With a kunai in hand: kill the captain, betray Konoha!
If he didn't stake his life on this right now, when would he?
So what if he was an Elite Chunin? Even an Elite Chunin's life could be claimed by a simple kunai after a severe injury.
Captain Antelope let out a muffled grunt.
'Huh?'
Yako felt thick, warm blood coating his fingers.
However, the amount of bleeding was far less than he had expected.
The captain's ribs... were incredibly hard.
His own kunai... felt incredibly dull.
Captain Antelope was a ruthless man, and he counterattacked instantly.
The right arm draped over Fox's shoulders hooked inward with tremendous force, locking around Fox's throat.
He raised his left hand and, together with his hooked right hand, formed hand seals.
Fire Release: Flame Bullet!
A blazing fireball erupted from Captain Antelope's mouth.
Yako felt a wave of searing heat scorch past his ear.
At such point-blank range, the flames engulfed Fox's head, completely swallowing up Captain Antelope's own right arm in the process.
On the verge of bleeding out from his severe wounds, Captain Antelope had traded his right arm for Fox's life.
Trapped in the captain's chokehold, Yako didn't even have the time to trigger the Self-Cursing Binding Seal.
His kunai was clamped tight by Captain Antelope's flexed muscles and wedged firmly against his ribs.
Too cunning. Yako had only known that Captain Antelope specialized in Shadow Clones; the man had never once revealed that he also knew Fire Release.
He had hidden his skills this deeply even from his own squad members!
Judging by the sheer speed of those hand seals, this Fire Release jutsu was undoubtedly his ultimate trump card.
With his head swallowed by the explosive flames, Yako felt as if he were running a bit of a fever.
A terrible fever of over a thousand degrees, ending in a miserable, blazing death.