In the dark corridors of the ANBU headquarters, Byakko followed Captain Yako of the Fox Squad toward several changing rooms of the squad.
Beneath Byakko's mask, cold sweat continuously seeped out.
Captain Yako, sharp as ever, turned and asked, "Byakko, what's wrong?"
Byakko hurriedly lowered his head, letting the sweat fall on his collar rather than the floor.
"I'm fine, Captain."
During last night's Nine-Tails transfer sealing operation, Byakko attacked the Nine-Tails with explosive tags from the perimeter, not following the captain and the squad leader beneath the beast to protect Princess Kushina.
The area under the Nine-Tails was too dangerous, and out of concern for Captain Yako, he kept a close eye on him.
With his Byakugan, he could see the flow of chakra and noticed Yako's chakra being rapidly depleted multiple times—something strange.
By right, he should have written these abnormalities in the squad's mission report.
The report recorded everyone's detailed actions, used to assess performance and decide mission rewards.
But Byakko didn't write it.
Captain Yako was meticulous; if these were recorded, Yako would definitely see them.
Late into the night, Byakko stayed in the rest room, waiting for an opportunity to report directly to Captain Koton.
Shima intended to wait until everyone had left to spend some intimate time with Yako, but seeing Byakko linger, she knew there was no chance tonight. With another mission tomorrow, she left early.
Yako saw Byakko still hadn't left and approached him. "Byakko, why aren't you going home yet? Something on your mind?"
Byakko's heart tightened—had the captain noticed something?
"No, just a little tired."
Yako recalled Neji Hyuga's hatred for his branch family status and their cursed seal in the original story, and said:
"Byakko, I heard every Hyuga branch family struggles with the Caged Bird Curse.
Every ninjutsu has weaknesses; every seal has a counter-curse.
Princess Kushina excels at sealing jutsu—maybe when she matures, she can break the Caged Bird Curse."
Byakko sighed in relief; the captain only thought he was troubled by the curse.
His mental fortitude was poor—he'd been seen so clearly by the captain.
Luckily, Yako trusted him.
"Thanks for the reassurance, Captain." Byakko lowered his head, playing it safe:
"Every time I return to my clan lands, it feels like a heavy stone pressing down.
To avoid that suffocating feeling, I volunteered for the ANBU.
It's more dangerous in ANBU, but everything else is better than the clan."
"Ha, Byakko, you're quite funny. ANBU isn't 'a bit dangerous'—it's extremely dangerous." Yako stood up from the bench and said:
"Don't worry, my strength has increased recently. Without necessity, none of you will die."
"Without necessity?" Byakko coughed, "Captain, you're the real joker. You mean we will die if necessary?"
"If necessary, I'll die too. You and I share the unwavering Will of Fire, don't we?"
Yako left the ANBU base and returned to the tavern.
After a long wait, Byakko finally rose from the bench.
The captain said he had the Will of Fire—was he overthinking?
He confirmed with his Byakugan that Yako had left, then hesitated before heading toward Captain Koton's office.
Knocking on the door, Byakko entered.
Koton saw a squad leader and asked, "What is it? Anything urgent?"
Byakko saw Koton's desk was stacked with reports from the Nine-Tails transfer sealing night.
Byakko said, "Captain, there's one detail missing from the White Yak Squad's report. I think I should report it to you in person."
Koton paused.
Skipping levels to report means the information is extremely important or targeted at someone above.
Targeted at Fox?
Koton said, "Speak. Tell me everything."
Byakko swallowed hard and said:
"Captain Koton, I kept an eye on our squad leader's chakra flow to warn you if something went wrong.
During the battle, I noticed the squad leader had... one instance of rapid chakra depletion. It was abnormal, even abnormal enough not to put in the report."
He almost said it happened three times but settled on once.
Since joining ANBU, his first captain was Yako.
Yako trusted him deeply.
ANBU wasn't as terrifying as rumored; Yako wouldn't risk his men's lives recklessly.
Though cold, Yako did not arbitrarily persecute his subordinates.
The Hyuga clan had seen many brutal commanders on battlefields, men whose sole focus was the mission, willing to sacrifice anyone.
For some reason, Byakko finally relaxed and didn't mention the three times.
Under Koton's mask, his eyes darkened.
Among his squad leaders, Yako was the most capable, with the highest mission success rate.
He knew that if Yako turned traitor, no matter how much he valued him, he would have to eliminate him.
Koton asked, "Fox had one instance of abnormal chakra loss? What was abnormal?"
"Captain, when the squad leader was near Senju Linmu, his chakra almost completely vanished," Byakko said.
"But I'm unsure if it was to dodge Linmu's final water dragon jutsu or something else."
Koton's cold gaze softened. He said:
"Linmu's final water dragon jutsu was a last-ditch effort. Hesitating even a moment meant being knocked into the sky.
Even Fox wouldn't survive that.
Even I would die facing that water dragon.
Still, even using Body Flicker can't consume all chakra.
Did you see Fox get hit by that jutsu?
If so, cancelling that force might use all his chakra."
Byakko shook his head.
"I'm not sure. Both the water dragon and Fox's speed were too fast.
Maybe he sensed the water dragon's power and triggered his potential, speeding up."
Koton frowned, thinking.
After a minute, Koton said:
"Understood, Byakko.
Your intel is useful but not enough to brand Fox a spy or justify elimination.
However, I'm assigning you a covert S-rank mission.
From now on, watch Fox closely without any slack and report to me immediately whenever you have new information until I clear his suspicion."
"Understood! I'll do my best!"
Byakko left the captain's office, uneasy.
He wasn't sure if what he did was right.
He didn't know if reporting to Koton was right or if withholding part of the truth was wrong.
From now on, he would watch his captain more closely—he had to clear Yako's name.