"What? Captain Hippo is dead?"
One week after the Nine-Tails transfer sealing, news spread inside the ANBU base.
Captain Hippo of the Hyena Squad under Captain Koton had died on a mission somewhere in the Land of Fire.
Hippo was powerful, just one step away from Jonin rank.
He was also one of the captains who followed Koton beneath the Nine-Tails during the sealing night.
Many ANBU had died recently, but the shocking part was that Hippo had been ambushed and killed by one of his own subordinates from behind.
There was a spy within the ANBU, which was terrifying news.
In the following days, ANBU deaths kept occurring—each time, killed by subordinates or captains. The Death Forest base was filled with tension and paranoia.
In a forest somewhere in the Land of Fire, members of the Fox Squad appeared one after another via Body Flicker.
Three squads formed a circle—standing on the ground, on rocks, on tree trunks.
In the center lay two corpses.
Two ANBU dead bodies.
The atmosphere was extremely heavy.
This was the second recent incident of ANBU killing each other discovered by the Fox Squad.
After careful inspection, Murasaki reported to Yako:
"Captain, the deceased were two members of Captain Koton's Ox Squad.
One ambushed the other from behind, stabbing through his lung with a ninja sword.
They fought briefly and both died."
Yako asked, "Were both new recruits from Root?"
If Root's screening was lax, a spy might have infiltrated ANBU and struck for information.
Murasaki said, "The ambushed one was a newcomer, but the attacker was not—he'd served in ANBU for over six months."
"Six months? That rules out spy suspicion."
Byakko raised an eyebrow. Six months was enough time to deploy a spy? Fox Squad's captain had served about a year.
Yako looked at Murasaki and said:
"Since the Nine-Tails transfer sealing, our squad alone has investigated two cases of ANBU killing each other.
Other squads may have more.
This isn't coincidence. Besides the possibility of a spy, there are techniques like the Nara clan's Shadow Manipulation, Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch, and forbidden jutsu that can cause people to kill each other."
"Can we rule out the Nara or Yamanaka clans?"
Murasaki said:
"The final blows were kunai stabbing the brain, destroying it, making intel extraction impossible.
But we can exclude Shadow Manipulation.
Victims of that jutsu struggle uncontrollably, disturbing the ground beneath their feet, leaving deep footprints.
As for Mind Body Switch... I can't exclude it."
Yako had no solution—this investigation ended inconclusively again.
Previously, three ANBU tried to assassinate a Land of Fire noble but died in his garden. The mission failed and almost triggered a diplomatic incident.
This time, two ANBU on a mission in the Land of Grass died on the way.
The key point: both deaths were mutual kills, extremely rare among ANBU.
"Bring the bodies back to the village. See if the interrogation division can extract any intel."
Back at ANBU headquarters, just as Yako delivered the bodies, Koton's assistant said the captain wanted to see him.
Inside Koton's office, scrolls lay scattered across the desk.
Koton said:
"The Nine-Tails transfer sealing caused heavy ANBU casualties, and now more than ten cases of ANBU killing each other have occurred.
All six ANBU squads have suffered deaths.
What did your investigation find today?"
Yako replied:
"Sorry, like last time, nothing conclusive.
Brains were destroyed, so we can't tell if it was true infighting or the result of genjutsu, secret or forbidden jutsu control.
No signs of enemies nearby or hiding within several hundred meters."
Koton pushed his mask up, revealing his own frustration. He said:
"Deaths all happened outside the village. The enemy is likely outside the village too.
No clues from local investigation.
Fox, take your squad to the Land of Rain. Investigate a case of ANBU deaths.
Your squad includes Yamanaka and Hyuga clans, so you have versatile skills.
In the Land of Rain, there are two main tasks: investigate ANBU squad deaths and monitor the battle situation for Lord Danzo.
Danzo plans to enter the Land of Rain within the next half month to a month.
The fiercest battle now is against the Hidden Rain Village.
Hanzo the Salamander is renowned—maybe these ANBU deaths are sabotage behind enemy lines orchestrated by him."
Yako nodded and asked, "What about the escalating conflict between the Senju and Uchiha clans?"
Koton said, "That mission will be assigned to other squads from other villages."
The Senju and Uchiha's friction continued, with bloodshed and injuries.
The weakened Senju remained aggressive, provoking the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha couldn't explain the Sharingan seen on the Nine-Tails sealing night, remaining silent in the face of accusations.
That day, Yako led his squad out of Konoha toward the Land of Rain.
Along the way, he stayed vigilant, wary of everyone, especially several new ANBU members.
Who was killing the ANBU?
A name surfaced in his mind.
Could it be him?
Kato Dan?
It wasn't strange for Kato Dan to be involved, but executing ANBU outright was unusual.
Had the Senju abandoned innocence and begun ruthless strikes against ANBU?
Upon arriving in the Land of Rain, Yako led the squad to the frontline command.
Commander Mito Monen had no authority over ANBU but needed to know all frontline forces, including ANBU, to avoid misjudgments.
Inside the ANBU tents, Yako saw many Jonin: Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kato Dan.
It seemed a small Jonin meeting had just ended.
Yako glanced at Tsunade—the devastation of the Nine-Tails sealing was known at the frontline.
Tsunade looked exhausted and sorrowful; much of her family died during the Nine-Tails sealing.
Yako then looked at Orochimaru—Danzo's Sharingan was probably transplanted by Orochimaru.
He'd once treated an experimental corpse of a Shimura clan boy whose eyeball was removed.
He wondered if Shimura clan members had become test subjects because of Danzo.
As for Jiraiya—he barely noticed Yako, too focused on Tsunade.
None of the three paid attention to Yako, but Yako clearly felt Kato Dan glance at him.
Yako watched Kato Dan's retreating figure thoughtfully.
Mito Monen said, "Fox, the bodies of the suspiciously killed ANBU squad are stored in the medical tent's morgue. You can investigate there."
"Understood, Lord Mito Monen."
At the medical tent area, Yako saw Tsunade again.
Tsunade wore the First Hokage's necklace taken from Shimura, busy treating patients.
The Hidden Rain Village raised salamanders whose poison was strong; many ninjas were poisoned and hospitalized.
Luckily, Tsunade was here; otherwise, the poisoned ninjas would have slowly died.
As Yako, Murasaki, and Byakko approached the morgue tent, they saw Kato Dan coming to see Tsunade.
Two ninjas followed Kato Dan—Senju clan guards assigned to him.
Passing by, Yako observed Kato Dan closely.
His muscles were relaxed, showing no tension as if facing enemies.
Yako was puzzled—had he misjudged?
Maybe Captain Fox wasn't worth Kato Dan's concern.