Orders were being passed down one after another.
When Yoru heard the one concerning him, he let out a long sigh of relief.
The Yellow Dog unit had lost two of its sub-squadrons, their strength greatly reduced. Because of that, the higher-ups decided to assign them to guard Kato Dan.
Not having to face direct combat , that was perfect.
Inside Mount Ushi, a cavern had been hollowed out.
Kato Dan, two Senju ninjas, and Yellow Dog entered the cave.
Yoru and Purple Cat were assigned to guard the entrance.
Outside, to the left and right of the cave mouth, stood two ANBU squads. Yellow Dog himself stayed close, personally guarding Kato Dan.
When using the Spirit Transformation Technique, Kato Dan's physical body became completely immobile.
The high command believed that letting Kato Dan use the forbidden technique without restraint was more valuable than having a veteran ANBU like Yellow Dog fight on the front lines.
No wonder Kato Dan had once been a contender for the title of Fourth Hokage. His strength and prestige were truly extraordinary.
A fragrant breeze wafted through the cave.
Tsunade stepped inside, inspecting the guard arrangement around Kato Dan.
She wore a perfume laced with the scent of medicinal herbs , a mixture of floral and grassy notes that soothed the senses.
Yoru searched his inherited memories. Tsunade was four years older than his body's original owner. He had seen her back when he was at the Ninja Academy, back when the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, was still alive. At that time, Tsunade was the very image of a prodigy , the golden princess of the Senju clan.
As she passed him, Tsunade stopped.
"Fox, isn't it? Your intelligence was timely," she said.
"This is what I should do, Princess Tsunade," Yoru replied.
Tsunade wasn't the shy type.
Her loose, low-cut combat outfit exposed the proud curve of her chest.
She nodded and continued deeper inside.
Back when her great-uncle Tobirama was alive, the ANBU had been an extension of his will, his very arms. Because of that, Tsunade had always felt a kind of familiarity, even fondness, toward the ANBU.
Unfortunately, after Sarutobi Hiruzen took over, the ANBU had changed. Now Danzō acted as Hiruzen's enforcer, using ANBU to handle all the dirty work.
Even when the village's ninja voiced complaints, Hiruzen himself would descend from the tower to "settle matters", as judge and arbiter.
Hearing today that an ANBU squad had returned with only two survivors, yet had brought back crucial intelligence, stirred something nostalgic in Tsunade's heart, a reminder of her great-uncle's era.
Watching Tsunade and Kato Dan talking inside the cave, Yoru couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them both.
Kato Dan… should be dying soon, shouldn't he?
Both Nawaki and Kato Dan would die in the Second Great Ninja War.
After Tsunade left, Yoru raised his binoculars and looked out into the distance.
In the darkness of the night sky, a small black dot appeared.
It drew closer and closer, resolving into the shape of a short, stocky man.
That man wore a Tsuchikage hat , it was Ōnoki!
The battle exploded instantly into its fiercest stage.
Ōnoki immediately unleashed Dust Release!
Brilliant light flared in his hands, and the Dust Release barrier rapidly expanded, a beam of light shot straight toward the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
At the same time, from the Hidden Stone Village side, a surge of crimson chakra flared up.
The Steam Ninja, Han, didn't bother testing the waters, he entered his tailed-beast chakra cloak mode, three tails bursting behind him.
Deep within the Land of Fire, the Stone forces had no time to waste. They needed to finish the battle quickly. If Konoha's reinforcements arrived, even Ōnoki would suffer a heavy loss.
Facing Stone's ferocious assault, the Konoha side reacted instantly.
Hiruzen dodged the Dust Release with agile precision, summoned Enma, and the adamantine staff extended, swinging up toward Ōnoki in midair.
Han, cloaked in the chakra of three tails, began forming a Tailed Beast Bomb before him.
But suddenly, a jōnin standing behind him moved.
The man lunged toward Han, pulling out explosive tags , intending to die together with him!
"It's Konoha's Spirit Transformation Technique!"
An Stone elite jōnin quickly used Earth Release to block the possessed jōnin.
The explosion sent confusion rippling through the Stone ranks.
The elite jōnin shouted, "I'll take a team to find Kato Dan!"
Kato Dan's power in direct combat couldn't match Hiruzen's three disciples, but his presence on the battlefield was far more terrifying.
His very name gave enemy commanders headaches.
The moment the Spirit Transformation Technique appeared, the opposing army would inevitably fall into chaos.
Very few sensory techniques could detect a soul. The Spirit Transformation Technique couldn't be fought head-on, the only counter was to find and destroy the user's real body.
Yoru glanced up at the faint glow of the sealing barriers carved into the cave walls, wondering if they could block Stone's sensory ninjutsu.
The elite jōnin led two sensory-ninja squads away from the main Stone force, flanking wide to search specifically for Kato Dan.
Even though Yoru wasn't fighting on the front lines, he still couldn't escape a battle of his own.
As he monitored Stone's movements, he asked the kunoichi beside him,
"Purple Cat, the Yamanaka clan's secret art can control others, right? Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation can also control people. Are those two techniques related somehow?"
Purple Cat nodded.
"Yes. Both the Yamanaka clan's secret arts and the Spirit Transformation Technique are Yin Release techniques focused on spiritual control.
But the Spirit Transformation is a forbidden jutsu, its range far exceeds anything the Yamanaka can do.
Even the Yamanaka don't know why it's so powerful. It's a Senju secret, passed down within the Senju and their allied clans.
During the Warring States era, the Senju fought the Uchiha for centuries. They united many smaller clans against the Uchiha, like the Kurama clan, whose illusions rivaled the Uchiha's Sharingan, and the Kato clan, who inherited the Spirit Transformation Technique.
Those smaller clans were targeted heavily by the Uchiha and never grew large."
Yoru thought to himself, the proud Uchiha never understood the power of alliance. The Senju had the Uzumaki through marriage, and allies like the Kurama and Kato clans , each with powerful secret arts. No wonder they kept growing stronger.
The roaring battle in the distance faded into a dull, constant background noise.
Outside the cave, everything was still.
Yoru formed hand seals for the Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique, then pressed his hand to the earth.
The ground rippled like water.
His chakra spread through the soil, searching for movement underground.
The skilled Stone-ninja fought like burrowing rats, slipping through the earth and using it as both shield and weapon.
After several minutes, Yoru suddenly looked up.
"Two o'clock direction! Eighty meters out! Two Stone-ninja moving underground!"
"On guard!" Yellow Dog barked immediately.
He would not leave Kato Dan's side for even a second.
An ANBU squad outside the cave rushed toward the direction Yoru had indicated.
Cold sweat trickled down Yoru's forehead.
He wasn't entirely sure what he'd sensed. There was another, faintly blurred presence underground, somewhere uncertain. Either his sensing was wrong, or that one's power far exceeded his own.
The outcome of this battle didn't matter to him. Kato Dan's life or death didn't matter either. The only thing that mattered was keeping himself alive.
If they ran into an elite jōnin, Purple Cat wouldn't last a second, not even ten deaths would be enough.
Black Bull and Antelope were already gone. Purple Cat was his only subordinate left, he'd better treasure her.
They couldn't stay here. Once their position was exposed, being near Kato Dan was suicide.
"Two o'clock! Multiple enemies!" Yoru shouted. "A single squad won't be enough! Captain, requesting permission to support!"
"Go! Quickly!" Yellow Dog barked.
"Our position's compromised, the rest must buy Kato Dan more time!"
Yoru and Purple Cat sprinted off toward the two o'clock direction.
From beneath the ground came an unsettling pulse of chakra. The Stone elite jōnin ignored Yoru entirely, and slipped straight into the cave.