"Murasaki!"
Hearing Yako's shout, Murasaki knew the Fox was about to use a desperate tactic.
That tactic was extremely risky—for both Murasaki and Yako, one slip could cost them both their lives.
Yako quickly sprinted toward the direction Byakko had pointed, looking ready to fight Kato Dan to the death.
Murasaki focused on Yako's back, swiftly casting the Mind Transfer Secret Technique to send her soul into Yako's brain.
Yako completely gave up resistance, letting Murasaki's soul enter.
Now, Yako's brain held two souls.
Murasaki took control of Yako's body, using Body Flicker to dash forward.
Yako was gambling—betting that once Kato Dan saw him charging toward his hiding spot, he would attack immediately.
Yako was also betting that one plus one would be greater than two—that together, the two souls inside him could match Kato Dan.
Then, at a certain step, Yako's figure suddenly froze.
Behind him, Murasaki's face instantly turned pale!
The neck exposed outside her mask drained of all color!
Her soul had just collided with the enemy's soul!
She immediately lost consciousness.
Before passing out, Murasaki only wished she had helped Fox exhaust their foe.
Two souls inside one brain was already crowded and burdensome.
Three souls clashing meant none would feel comfortable.
This was Kato Dan's first encounter with such a situation—the target's brain holding two souls.
Even though Kato Dan's soul was extremely strong, he could not gain absolute dominance against Yako and Murasaki's two souls.
He had previously sensed that Fox ANBU's soul was unusually strong and special, its brilliance twice as bright as a normal person's.
Yako felt strange.
Under Mind Transfer, he couldn't feel his body or control it.
Between himself and his body was a thick fog—Murasaki's soul.
Then another thick fog violently pushed in, breaking their two-person world.
Three fogs twisted and grappled.
Murasaki's soul took heavy damage, exhausting with Kato Dan's soul.
Then Yako's soul burst out, colliding fiercely with Kato Dan's soul.
Yako's soul came from another world—innately unlike the souls of this one.
"You say your forbidden technique is stronger than mine? Fine. But say your soul is stronger? I won't accept that."
Yako's consciousness slammed into the fog representing Kato Dan's soul.
After two clashes, Kato Dan's soul was defeated and vanished.
Murasaki's soul, wounded, returned to her body.
Yako felt terrible—his head splitting with pain.
He stopped and turned back to the squad.
Byakko had only pointed in a direction before dying, distance unknown.
If it was dozens of kilometers away, Kato Dan would have fled or recovered and used forbidden jutsu again to kill Yako.
His fight with Kato Dan was just to buy a chance to escape.
"Kato Dan, just wait—next month, we won't be allies!"
Back at the squad, Yako carried the unconscious Murasaki on his back.
"Run! Get out of Rain Country! Head toward the Land of Fire!"
Murasaki breathed slowly; her limbs were limp.
Kato Dan's Soul Transfer Technique could not only control others but also directly strangle enemy souls.
Yako was walking a tightrope between the Senju clan and the ANBU—and it was bitter fruit.
He had prevented Danzo from gaining the Uzumaki clan's sealing scrolls, and stopped Danzo from controlling ANBU with sealing techniques.
Unexpectedly, it wasn't the ANBU purging their traitor but Senju's Kato Dan who struck first.
The Senju were close to the truth—they believed the Uzumaki clan's near extinction and the heavy losses on the Nine-Tails transfer night were all caused by ANBU and high-ranking conspirators.
The Senju moved fiercely, suspecting ANBU, and took action.
At least twenty ANBU had died at Kato Dan's hand.
Yako was basically shooting himself in the foot.
He had done great for the Senju, but truly was leading them into danger.
Without him, the 900+ Senju ninjas would've all perished that night.
Before dying, Byakko told him Captain Kōken was beginning to suspect him.
Yako couldn't risk explaining to the Senju—his true identity and stance must stay hidden.
First, he needed to weather this storm and fully dispel Captain Kōken's suspicion, then find a way to contact the Senju and jump the system.
Or... Yako suddenly thought, maybe kill Kōken...
Being the Uchiha's enemy was dangerous; being his superior was even more so.
Suddenly recalling something, Yako left a shadow clone behind.
"I'll send the clone to cover the rear! Keep running!"
After the squad moved out of sight, Yako's shadow clone approached Byakko's corpse.
Resolutely, the kunai pierced Byakko's head.
The rain kept falling, washing away the bloodstains beneath the body.
This cursed land cried endlessly.
No intelligence could be gleaned from Byakko's corpse, nor could anyone know Byakko had told Captain Kōken to start suspecting Fox.
Yako silently apologized to Byakko's body.
After completing the mission, the shadow clone vanished, memories flooding back to Yako, who exhaled.
In front of Captain Kōken, no caution was ever too much.
Women and children could be careless, but ANBU could not.
Entering the Land of Fire, Yako immediately ordered his subordinates to fire distress signal flares.
Soon, a matching signal rose in the distance.
Good—there were other ANBU nearby.
Yako desperately needed support and med-nin for Murasaki's soul injury.
Quickly weaving through the forest, bypassing two large trees, he saw three figures standing on a fallen trunk opposite.
Yako's heart tightened—there was Danzo himself!
They met Danzo, headed to the Rain Country front lines.
Before the mission, Captain Kōken warned Danzo might appear at the front.
Danzo stood on the log, one eye bandaged, the other coldly watching his subordinates: "Who did you encounter? Why are you so beaten?"
Yako swallowed and said,
"Lord Danzo, my squad was ordered to investigate the ANBU's mysterious deaths. We found a suspect in the southwest of Rain Country."
His mind raced—could he play the tiger to swallow the wolf?
Yako began a half-truth report:
"Lord Danzo, we encountered three genjutsu-controlled Leaf ninjas here—one Jonin, two Special Jonin. I suspect the genjutsu user is the killer of our ANBU.
Such powerful genjutsu could explain the many ANBU deaths.
Our squad is still investigating, but members keep being controlled and turn on each other.
Yamashiro, Byakko, and several others have died.
I can only identify a general direction for the enemy but cannot close in."
Yako deliberately confused Danzo, describing Madara Uchiha and Kato Dan as the same person.
He knew both Madara and Kato Dan.
None of his squad knew about either, and Danzo certainly didn't.