Faced with the village leadership's near-outright pressure, Senju Rinmu remained silent for a long time.
The high-ranking officials stared at him, waiting for his compromise.
Finally, he spoke:
"I'll recall Tsunade. Let her return from the front lines, take part in Kushina's growth, and be responsible for her training."
Tsunade was the one thing everyone could agree on,Hiruzen Sarutobi's most gifted student, and the princess of the Senju clan.
"Tsunade, huh…" Hiruzen understood her better than anyone. Tsunade's love for the village far outweighed Rinmu's.
For the sake of the village, Tsunade would sacrifice anything.
The village was her grandfather's life's work. She would never allow a Jinchūriki to endanger it.
Seeing Hiruzen's softened stance, both Danzō and Homura chose to stay quiet.
Koharu's face even showed a flicker of relief,soon, they could see Tsunade again.
Hiruzen dismissed both sides. His last words were firm:
"Yellow Dog, I want a detailed report of tonight's events."
"Ten minutes, Lord Hokage."
Late into the night, the Third Hokage carefully studied the report.
It was clean, without embellishment, laying out every detail observed and carried out by the Yellow Dog squad.
The turning point came when the squad captain, Fox, discovered a Hidden Cloud spy.
Fox had reported to Black Ape, who led a pursuit, only to collide with the spy in the middle of abducting the Uzumaki princess.
So that's what happened, Hiruzen thought.
Since the fall of the Uzumaki clan, several promising new faces had risen in ANBU, Fox among them.
His swordsmanship, sharpened by mimicking cloud shinobi in combat, had grown steadily refined. His growth was organic, traceable. There was no chance he was a cloud infiltrator.
As Hiruzen read further, his brows rose with interest.
Uzumaki Kushina's classmate, Namikaze Minato… killed a cloud spy?
Black Ape's evaluation of the boy was glowing.
Even Fox, already known for speed and sword skill, was considered slightly inferior to Minato.
A ten-year-old child, stronger than an ANBU squad captain?
This was the first time Namikaze Minato entered Hiruzen's radar.
A fine seedling indeed.
He immediately issued an order: Minato's teachers were to watch and nurture him closely.
What's more, if Minato and Kushina became friends from this ordeal, the boy could serve as a stabilizing influence on her as well.
Strength, character, relationships, Minato was well worth investing in.
Time flowed on under endless monitoring missions.
Days later.
A silver disk of moonlight hung in the night sky, bathing the village in pale frost.
It was another full moon.
At midnight, after changing shifts, Yoru crouched in the treetops just outside the Senju compound, scanning the estate through his binoculars.
The Senju lands were vast, nearly a tenth of Konoha itself.
Once the mightiest clan of the village, even now, at their twilight, they boasted twelve elite jōnin and over thirty jōnin in total.
Inside those grounds, both Mito and Kushina were under the tightest protection.
Turning his binoculars outward, Yoru spotted a young couple in a nearby alley.
The kunoichi wore Senju colors; her partner was a civilian-born shinobi.
Thanks to Tobirama's policies, the Senju were unusually supportive of civilians. Since the fall of the Uzumaki, many Senju women had begun considering civilian shinobi as partners.
Beside Yoru, Purple Cat raised her binoculars to watch the couple. After a few moments, she lowered them, embarrassed.
The young man's hands were anything but polite, wandering restlessly over his lover's curves.
Senju women, famed for their statuesque builds, left a man's hands quite a mountain path to travel.
Purple Cat, being a woman herself, felt awkward lingering on the sight. She glanced aside,only to catch her three male teammates glued to their scopes, eyes wide at the intimate scene.
"Ahem."
She cleared her throat, hoping to remind them of propriety. This wasn't the Will of Fire,it was voyeurism.
Antelope and Black Bull flinched, guiltily lowering their binoculars. These were comrades of Konoha. It wasn't right to intrude.
But Yoru didn't budge. Instead, his voice was cold, authoritative:
"Purple Cat, you've made several fatal mistakes. If this weren't inside the village walls, you'd have killed the squad."
She stiffened.
"First, you spoke. An ANBU operative never makes a sound while surveilling. Here, outside the Senju compound, we can afford exposure. But in enemy territory? Would you be the first to die, covering our retreat?"
"Second, you assumed. Because the scene embarrassed you, you chose to look away. But what if that civilian shinobi was a spy? What if, the moment you turned aside, he struck down the Senju kunoichi? Any unknown near the compound is a potential threat to the princess."
"Third, you presumed authority. Until I give the order, none of you have the right to command your teammates. Do you understand?"
His voice hardened.
"Now pick up your scopes. All three of you. Watch. Watch carefully. Don't miss a single detail."
Beneath her mask, Purple Cat flushed scarlet,redder than when she'd seen the lovers' fumbling just moments ago.
"…Forgive me, Captain Fox! I was wrong!"
Antelope, Black Bull, and Purple Cat hastily raised their binoculars again, forced to resume their awkward surveillance of the amorous couple.
Antelope and Black Bull, secretly, thought their captain far too understanding. Good view, enjoyable, and now we even have official sanction to keep watching.
Their enthusiasm only grew, hands trembling as they focused.
But they had no idea, at least three other ANBU squads were hidden in nearby trees, also monitoring them.
Ten minutes later, the Senju kunoichi, red-faced and trembling in the legs, slipped back into the compound.
Ah, the sour stench of love…
Her partner lingered in the alley, staring after her.
From the neighboring treeline, Captain Black Chimp flashed a few silent signals.
Fox answered in kind, then waved his squad to move out.
Purple Cat felt her guilt deepen. This was how ANBU operated, wordless, invisible, precise. She had been careless.
Captain Fox is strict… but that makes him trustworthy.
Once they were a safe distance away, Yoru finally gave his next order:
"Follow that man. Rule out the spy possibility."
The squad shadowed him discreetly until he reached his home.
The man climbed upstairs, switched off the lights, drew his curtains.
Purple Cat said nothing, simply waiting. If her captain chose inaction, she would follow his lead.
So they waited. From midnight until dawn.
At last, the man emerged from his house. Only then did Yoru gesture for the squad to infiltrate.
They slipped inside, moving with the silence of ghosts.
Yoru's eyes swept the interior, sharp and calculating. Something wasn't right.
"Purple Cat, check the bed.
Black Bull, the bathroom.
Antelope, the desk."