Yako fought while retreating, gradually forced back to the coastline.
In Captain Antelope's mind, he had always considered Yako weak, barely at the level of a genin—not someone capable of carrying heavy responsibilities.
Ever since Purple Cat died, Yako had far exceeded the captain's expectations.
Now at the sea's edge, Yako clashed with one of the Cloud ninja he'd lured over.
The two exchanged blows in a contest of taijutsu, probing each other's techniques.
Yako's eyes occasionally darted toward the ruined shack nearby, where an explosion had gone off, quickly assessing the battlefield.
A Cloud ninja squad had rushed out of the wreckage—one of them was wounded by an Explosive Tag and now leaned against the staircase, gasping for breath.
Oxhorn's head was covered in filth. No wonder he was mad.
A shinobi had to be well-rounded—even theoretical knowledge mattered. Poor Oxhorn had paid the price for not understanding architectural layout.
Captain Antelope and Oxhorn each faced off against one Cloud ninja.
Farther away, fishermen from the village had been startled by the explosion. They rushed out carrying spears.
But against shinobi, these villagers were powerless.
They didn't dare charge in—only hesitated at a distance, standing in front of their homes or fishing boats, guarding their property.
Just then, two figures suddenly leapt up from behind the villagers!
Damn it—Cloud ninja had hidden among the fishermen.
Another Cloud squad's ambush turned the situation immediately dire.
Yako had kept his distance, so the new attackers were heading straight for Captain Antelope and Oxhorn.
Two against one—both the captain and Oxhorn were in danger. If they died, Yako wouldn't survive either.
No longer hiding, Yako pretended to trip, exposing his back to the enemy—a deliberate opening.
A Cloud ninja raised his Ninja Blade high, bringing it down toward Yako's head.
But in truth, Yako was forming hand seals under his body.
The Cloud ninja he was fighting suddenly stiffened—caught in the grip of the Self-Binding Curse Seal.
In the darkness, the cursed markings crawled across the enemy's joints, sealing him in place.
His sword stopped—forever—thirty centimeters above Yako's head.
Reversal kill.
Yako's kunai plunged into the Cloud ninja's unprotected abdomen.
He gave it a twist. The man collapsed.
Yako immediately rushed toward Antelope and Oxhorn.
He was still a moment too late—his eyes widened as he watched two blades fall from opposite directions and cleave off Captain Antelope's head.
Not only Yako—even Oxhorn beside him froze up, nearly getting struck as well.
The captain was dead?
But in the next instant, both the captain's body and head vanished in a puff of white smoke.
A Shadow Clone!
Captain Antelope had been using a clone the entire time.
In fact, it could be said that even Yako and Oxhorn's infiltration was part of the captain's test.
The real Captain Antelope now burst out from the coconut grove behind them, hurling a kunai with an Explosive Tag into the crowd of fishermen.
A standard squad was made of three or four members, and only two Cloud ninja had shown up so far—clearly, more were still hiding among the villagers.
Captain Antelope didn't bother distinguishing friend from foe—villager or ninja, he hurled the tag all the same.
Either the blast would kill the Cloud ninja and any nearby villagers, or the survivors would be the ones who revealed themselves.
The explosion tore through the crowd—seven or eight sluggish villagers were caught in it, sent flying.
Even if they didn't die, they were maimed.
Explosive Tags had power on par with a Chunin-level Fire Style—extremely destructive.
Yako turned his gaze away from the blast—those two Cloud ninja who had just decapitated the Shadow Clone were now charging at him.
Two versus one?
Using the force of his opponent's blade to roll backward, Yako faked a clumsy retreat.
Seeing how weak this fox-masked ninja appeared, the Cloud shinobi split up—one continued to pursue Yako, while the other turned to face Captain Antelope.
Yako exhaled in relief.
'That's more like it. Why waste time on me? The captain's the real threat here.'
The fight moved from beach to surf. To prevent the Cloud ninja from using Lightning Style in the water, Yako formed seals underwater—once again casting the Self-Binding Curse Seal for temporary control.
After killing his foe, Yako thrashed beneath the waves, gripping the Cloud ninja's wrists as they rolled together, faking an intense underwater battle.
A dramatic duet—performed by Yako and a corpse.
Only when the fighting onshore ended did Yako crawl back out of the water.
Tonight, he'd killed two Cloud ninja—exceeding the mission quota.
Captain Antelope stood surrounded by Cloud ninja corpses.
But the captain himself was wounded—a blade had pierced clean through his abdomen. The injury was grave.
As for Oxhorn, he was already dead.
This made Yako feel uneasy.
With Oxhorn gone, would the captain now monitor him constantly?
Would the little techniques Yako had picked up be exposed?
If he suddenly started using jutsu, ANBU would brand him a spy, launch an investigation, and dispose of him. Jutsu were the Leaf's second most precious resource—just after missions.
"Captain! We have to go! The villagers are surrounding us!"
Yako rushed to Captain Antelope's side, confirming his injury.
It was real—not a feint.
The villagers, seeing a blood-soaked shinobi clutching his gut and another one dripping wet and disheveled, finally found courage.
Brandishing their spears, they came charging to avenge their slain kin.
Yako slung the captain's arm over his shoulder and leapt away.
A few bounding steps later, they vanished into the dense coconut grove.
"Fox, you made the wrong call," Antelope said. "You should've killed all the villagers holding weapons instead of fleeing in panic."
Yako replied, "Captain, I was afraid some of them might still be Cloud ninja."
Between two coconut trees grew a broad-leafed plant Yako didn't recognize.
Its leaves were thick, casting deep shadows below.
Yako supported the wounded captain and jumped toward the plant.
Before they even landed, Yako suddenly drew his kunai and drove it into the captain's side!
Beneath the mask, Yako's eyes gleamed coldly.
He couldn't keep playing defense forever. Every time he used the Self-Binding Curse Seal, he had to hide it.
Eventually, Antelope would discover his tricks—and the fact that Yako had learned jutsu through means unknown to ANBU.
ANBU hated surprises. They demanded control over everything.
If Yuka from Uzushio Village could mistake him for a Senju spy because of one sealing technique, how could Captain Antelope not?
With kunai in hand, he decided to kill the captain, and betray the Leaf!
If not now, when?
So what if Antelope was a Special Jonin? He was gravely injured. A kunai could still take his life.
Captain Antelope grunted in pain.
"Huh?"
Yako felt thick, hot blood run down his fingers.
But the flow was far less than he'd expected.
The captain's ribs were hard.
And his kunai was dull.
Antelope was a ruthless man. He immediately counterattacked.
The arm he'd slung over Yako's shoulder suddenly locked around his neck in a chokehold.
With his free hand, he formed a seal together with the arm now clamped around Yako's throat.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"
A fireball erupted from Antelope's mouth.
Yako felt a wave of heat lick his ears.
At that distance, the fireball engulfed the fox mask—along with the captain's own arm.
Just before death, Captain Antelope had traded his right arm for the traitor's life.
Yako had no time to form the Self-Binding Curse Seal.
His kunai was caught in Antelope's muscles, wedged between bone.
Too cunning. Yako had only known the captain specialized in Shadow Clones—he never said anything about knowing Fire Style too.
He hid even this from his own team!
Judging by that hand sign speed, Fire Style had clearly been his trump card.
Yako's head was swallowed by flames.
He felt feverish.
Over a thousand degrees.
And then, he died a miserable death.