Uzushio Village lay nestled among the mountains, divided into northern and southern halves by a wide river.
What shocked Yako wasn't the river—it was the mountain behind the village that was moving!
A closer look revealed it wasn't a mountain at all—but a massive turtle, as large as a hill.
Riding on Yako's back, Yuka leaned close to his ear and explained:
"That's our village's guardian summoning beast—Lord Spirit Turtle.
The Uzumaki clan specializes in sealing techniques. Back during the Warring States period, we were often hired by daimyō and nobles to seal away monsters. That helped us accumulate a lot of summoning beasts.
Even the river running through the village holds several aquatic ones.
Our squad's current mission was to head to the Land of Waves to seal a rampaging ninja beast—but we got targeted by the Hidden Cloud and failed."
A piercing bird cry echoed overhead.
Yako looked up to see a familiar summoning beast from the original story: Nagato's three-legged giant Yatagarasu.
'So this is how sealing techniques are really meant to be used...'
Sealing powerful summoning beasts to aid in battle.
But then... why didn't the Uzumaki ever just seal themselves a Tailed Beast?
With such powerful sealing techniques, couldn't they have created a perfect jinchūriki?
Just then, a few Uzumaki ninja arrived at the village gate to escort Yuka to the hospital.
Before leaving, Yuka glanced wistfully at the fox.
Such a shame—she only remembered his voice and still didn't know his name.
She'd have to ask around later: who among the Senju clan was working undercover in the ANBU?
Back in the day, the ANBU had taken orders directly from Lord Tobirama—it hadn't been so complicated.
Word was, once Hiruzen Sarutobi came to power, the first thing he did was conduct a brutal purge of the ANBU—replacing most of them with rookies and cleaning out Tobirama's old subordinates.
Antelope Squad moved deeper into Uzushio Village, arriving at the village leader's tower.
Atop the tower was a large Uzumaki clan emblem, identical to the one on the backs of Konoha flak jackets.
They waited for a long while, until a group approached from the distance.
At the front was Danzo, flanked by his assistants.
This was Danzo in his prime—his eyes and arms still intact, nothing unusual about him.
A cross-shaped scar marked his chin, paired with tiny pupils and white-ringed sclera that gave him a haunting stare.
Those eyes swept across the group, sending chills down everyone's spines.
Danzo ascended the village leader's tower, with the squad commander and consultants following behind. The platoon captains—Antelope and others—stayed below.
As for ordinary ANBU like Yako, they melted away into the woods behind the tower.
Perched in the trees with Oxhorn, Yako kept watch on the back of the building, ready to act if anyone tried to harm Danzo.
Danzo held dual titles—senior advisor and ANBU commander—his status was extremely high.
Yako and Oxhorn didn't speak. None of the ANBU did. They moved like machines.
Eventually, Danzo descended from the tower, his expression sour. He headed toward the village outskirts with his assistants.
Whatever he'd discussed with the Uzumaki leader hadn't gone well.
His eyes were distant, lost in thought.
The commander handed out orders to the platoon captains, who relayed them down the chain.
Antelope approached Yako and Oxhorn. "We're heading north," he said.
He didn't reveal the details of the mission.
Yako could only guess—maybe they were investigating sightings of Hidden Cloud ninja in the Land of Waves?
The main war front between Konoha and the Hidden Cloud was on the northern border of the Land of Hot Water. The Land of Waves shouldn't have many Cloud ninja.
It was the middle of the Second Great Ninja War. Every village was stretched thin. If Cloud had sent people here, it must be serious.
At the coast, Antelope secured a small boat. The three used Transformation to disguise themselves as fishermen and rowed toward the Land of Waves.
Yako transformed into a dark-skinned teenager.
Leaning over the edge of the boat, he tried to catch his reflection in the water, curious if he resembled his former self.
But all he saw was white foam—no reflection.
Rowing was exhausting. They gathered intel on nearby fishing vessels, searching for suspicious ships.
Yako didn't mind rowing. The slow pace passed the time. Before he realized it, several days had gone by.
By the time they reached the coast, over ten days had passed.
Under another full moon, Yako finally earned another revival chance.
He was so sick of soldier pills he could barely eat them anymore.
The captain wouldn't let them roast fish, and Yako didn't know which fish were safe to eat raw, so he stuck to soldier pills.
They wouldn't let you starve, but they didn't fill you either. With his stomach empty for so long, it began to cramp.
After landing, the squad dropped their disguises and returned to ANBU mode, slipping into the palm groves along the shore.
Yako figured the ANBU were sweeping the area. Their squad had been circling within the same zone.
Seven days passed before Antelope found signs of battle.
No corpses, but the soil was stained a dark red. Judging by the blood, the fight had happened within the past two days.
In the grass, they found scattered kunai and ninja swords.
The swords were the standard issue for Cloud ninja.
"Each of you take a Cloud blade," said Antelope. "It'll help us blend in."
Yako picked one up and carefully wiped the blood from the blade.
If they caused some trouble disguised as Cloud ninja, it'd be easy to pin the blame on them.
Using the battle site as a center point, Antelope Squad began searching for the enemy.
During the search, Yako couldn't help but sigh. 'No wonder Kakashi barely improved during his ANBU years.'
Missions took up all the time—no room for training.
Most assignments were just travel, recon, and stealth. Huge time sinks.
Just like in his previous life, leaders had that uncanny talent for ignoring how expendable the people below them were.
He used to think that with effort and talent, he could carve out a future for himself in the shinobi world.
But no one was giving him that chance.
Antelope's experience paid off. He picked up a trail that led to a small fishing village.
At night, most homes were lit.
Antelope pointed to one darkened hut and signaled.
Yako and Oxhorn flanked it from opposite sides.
The coastal houses were raised off the ground to prevent moisture buildup, making it easy to slip underneath.
From the far side, Oxhorn suddenly wiped his face.
Yako, with a bit of construction knowledge from his past life, guessed one small window led to the bathroom—and had wisely chosen the other side.
'Poor Oxhorn… hope that was just water on your face.'
'If it's something else, you better suck it up—we're on a mission.'
Yako lay beneath the floorboards, ear pressed to the wood, listening for movement above.
Suddenly, a blade stabbed down through the floor!
Luckily, Yako reacted fast and dodged in time.
The blade grazed his scalp, slicing off a lock of hair.
It was a long, sharp sword—clearly one of the Cloud standard blades.
Combat broke out instantly!
Footsteps pounded above.
Enraged, Oxhorn slapped an explosive tag onto the underside of the floor.
Yako cursed under his breath. 'Damn it—the crawlspace is shallow. Crawling out takes time!'
In a confined space like this, the blast shockwave would be brutal.
'Did Oxhorn seriously get something sprayed on him? Is that why he's pissed?'
As the explosion rocked the structure, Yako tumbled and crawled his way out.
The hut blew apart from the inside. Several Cloud ninja burst out.
In an instant, cold steel glinted across the beach—ninja swords flashing under the moonlight.