Shinma stood near the Konoha Memorial Stone.
Behind it, he found a small gravestone—one that bore his brother's name.
"Brother... Lord Sakumo has recommended me for Jōnin. You were always so strict with me growing up.
Never thought you'd die a Chūnin… while I—I'm about to become a Jōnin.
I'll be just as strict with my sons… I want them to surpass both of us someday."
He gave his brother's photo one last glance, laid down a bouquet, and left the memorial.
A mission had come in. He'd been assigned to scout enemy activity near Kikyo Mountain Fortress, located on the far border of the Land of Fire.
It was Konoha's most remote military outpost, bordering the Land of Rivers.
At the village gates, Shinma met his three assigned teammates.
"Let's go. In and out quickly."
Shinma knew the Jōnin exams wouldn't cancel just because he was out on a mission—it would be deferred automatically.
Still, he wanted to catch the first round if he could.
A good attitude left a good impression on the Jōnin Council leaders.
—
Minutes later, Hippo's team also arrived at the Konoha gates.
Just as they were about to depart, a figure flickered into view before them.
"Captain?"
Yako looked at Hippo and the three ANBU operatives.
"I'm coming too. This mission carries certain… risks."
The mission to assassinate Shinma had to fail.
Yako wasn't about to let a loyal Tokubetsu Jōnin like Shinma be sacrificed in some political purge.
If he was present and the mission still failed, the higher-ups would chalk it up to the mission being too dangerous.
—
Shinma's squad traveled west, reaching the far southwestern border of the Land of Fire.
Upon entering Kikyo Mountain Fortress, the stationed Jōnin briefed him:
"I can't move too far from the fort. But 50 kilometers west, near the border, there've been Sand shinobi sightings.
That's why I requested reinforcements. We need to investigate and figure out what they're planning."
Shinma nodded.
"Understood. I'll head out immediately."
From the fortress, one could see the southeast port—Kikyo Port—bustling with ships.
It was the primary target the fortress had been built to protect.
The stationed Jōnin—a Sarutobi—gazed at the shimmering sea with a flicker in his eyes.
Shinma's squad headed west.
Far behind, Hippo murmured,
"Captain, it's all in place.
Our spy leaked intel to the Sand Village—they now know the exact makeup of Shinma's team.
Shinma is White Fang's subordinate. That alone makes him valuable.
If Chiyo and Ebizō catch wind of this, they'll definitely dispatch an elite unit to capture him."
Yako nodded.
ANBU rarely executed fellow Konoha shinobi directly.
It was far cleaner to let enemy hands do the job—just tip them off during a mission, and let nature run its course.
Mission assignments were one of the Hokage's most powerful tools—feared, respected, and ruthlessly efficient.
Hippo muttered, "If only ANBU controlled the spy network like Root does, we wouldn't have to keep coordinating with them."
'Yeah,' Yako thought. 'That's my weak spot—espionage. Wonder if Nonō Yakushi ever found the letter I left in the orphanage.'
After speaking with Pakkun, there'd been no updates.
No word from White Fang either.
The village definitely wouldn't let Hatake Sakumo leave right now.
This first postwar Jōnin Council would be brutal—shaping the village's power structure for years to come.
Whoever held the majority in Jōnin numbers would control the future.
'Who did Sakumo send?'
—
A Sand elite unit crossed rivers in the Land of Rivers, heading straight for Kikyo Mountain.
"Move! Our spy died to deliver this intel—White Fang's subordinate is near Kikyo Mountain. We must capture him!"
Konoha's White Fang was Sunagakure's greatest nemesis.
He'd killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, nearly wiping out the top puppet lineage.
They called her grandson Sasori a prodigy, but no one really knew how far he could go.
Capturing White Fang's subordinate—and extracting intel?
Guaranteed S-rank mission reward.
—
From a distant ridge, Hippo lowered his binoculars.
"Captain! Sand shinobi inbound!"
An entire squad had entered visual range.
Yako took the binoculars.
Shinma's team had spotted them too and immediately began retreating toward Kikyo Fortress.
But the Sand-nin were fast.
Shinma's three teammates were all far too weak—dragging him down.
They were chosen that way.
This mission had been co-coordinated by ANBU and Root.
The weak teammates were part of the plan.
Combat erupted fast.
Shinma drew his blade.
Like most civilian-born shinobi, he had honed his taijutsu and weapon skills to perfection—his fundamentals were solid.
He stepped in front of his three teammates and told them to run back to the fortress with the report.
Then he charged toward the Sand-nin alone.
Yako frowned.
'If Sakumo's reinforcement doesn't show soon, Shinma's going to die.'
Suddenly, flames burst along Shinma's blade.
'So that's it. He's mastered a Fire-infused sword style—channeling chakra through his weapon.'
No wonder he was up for Jōnin promotion.
Still, the Sand-nin were unfazed.
There were three Jōnin among them.
"...Hm?" Hippo muttered.
"Something's wrong. Why are some of the Sand-nin just… collapsing?"
A hole opened in the encirclement.
Shinma broke through and escaped.
"Captain, should we disguise ourselves as Sand-nin and finish him off?" Hippo asked.
Yako shook his head hard.
"No. Look closer. If you're missing something critical and rush in now, the mission will fail—and we'll be exposed."
Hippo kept watching Shinma stumble away, bleeding but alive.
"Sorry, Captain. I don't see anything—but the Sand-nin really are just… dropping."
Yako replied,
"During the Uzushio War, I worked alongside a Jōnin with a Kekkei Genkai—Transparent Release.
He could become completely invisible, launching silent surprise attacks."
"If I'm right… Shinma has a Transparent Release user watching his back."
"Transparent Release? You mean… Moonlight Kento?"
Hippo's expression twisted.
'Damn… Moonlight Kento?'
That guy wasn't just invisible—he was a blade master too.
It wasn't that Moonlight Kento couldn't be beaten.
But just like the captain said—
You couldn't find him.
If you couldn't locate him…
You couldn't kill him.
And if you couldn't kill him,
Then you couldn't clean up the witness.
No cleanup meant the entire mission was compromised.
—
On the way back, Yako finally exhaled in relief.
Among White Fang's subordinates, Moonlight Kento was one of the best.
No shinobi could complete every mission.
Even Fox Squad had to miss sometimes.
Sometimes, the world simply pushed back.
Sometimes, the mission failed.