During the day, Yagami trained with the new recruits in the ANBU's training unit.
At night, he investigated Senju Rinki's movements.
Whenever Senju Rinki went out, he was always accompanied by six guards.
Otherwise, he stayed deep within the Senju compound or visited the Hokage Building.
Since the battle at Mount Ushigakure, Uzumaki Mito's death had become a mystery.
The transfer of the Nine-Tails' seal was no longer as urgent, but tension still ran high throughout the Senju Clan.
Yagami had yet to find Tsunade's whereabouts — she had vanished after performing surgery on Black Ape.
That afternoon, Yagami left the ANBU early and went to the tavern.
"Qiaoyi, lend me your property deed for a bit."
"What do you need my property deed for?"
"I think you've recovered a little too well lately. Come on — let's go to the back and I'll 'discipline' you properly."
An hour later, Qiaoyi, her legs weak, crawled out of bed and pulled the deed from the drawer beside it.
"You're a real troublemaker… Do I also need to write an authorization letter for you?"
With the property deed and a signed authorization in hand, Yagami headed toward the only bank in the Hidden Leaf Village — the Daimyo Bank.
The money he earned from the ANBU's bloody missions had all been spent at Tavern.
Now, taking out a loan against the tavern's property deed didn't seem too unreasonable.
After all, if he died on the 14th, everything would just reset to last month's full moon.
No matter how big the loan, it would all be erased.
He found a bank manager and asked,
"Manager, with this property deed, what's the maximum amount I can borrow?"
"That depends on your loan term. The longer the term, the higher the interest, and the more you can borrow. May I ask your age?"
"I'm eighteen," Yagami replied. "Let's make it sixty years."
The manager chuckled. "Ha, you're a funny young man — but not that funny.
The average lifespan in the Leaf is forty-five, so the longest you can borrow is forty-five minus sixteen — twenty-six years."
"Twenty-six years is fine. Let's do that."
"Wait," the manager interrupted. "Are you a shinobi?"
"I am."
"Then you can't borrow for twenty-six years.
The average lifespan of a shinobi is thirty-one. So your maximum term is fifteen years."
"Alright, fifteen then."
Not like I plan on paying it back anyway, Yagami thought.
But the manager wasn't done.
"Hold on, young man. After detailed statistical analysis, we've found that male shinobi from the Leaf live, on average, to twenty-seven, while female shinobi reach thirty-five.
If you work at Hospital as a medical-nin, you can borrow for fifteen years.
But if you're a regular combat-type ninja, the term is limited to eleven years."
The people in Daimyo Bank sure know their statistics.
"Eleven years!" Yagami snapped. "Fine, just tell me how much I can get!"
The manager reviewed the deed and authorization letter, tapped his abacus furiously, and finally said,
"You can borrow eight million ryō, to be repaid in eleven years.
But you'd better keep training hard, young man. If you die next month, we'll seize the property immediately. Understood?"
Yagami thought, You'd better hurry then. Next month, I might not even exist in this universe.
Once I'm gone, what happens to this world is no concern of mine.
After leaving Daimyo Bank, Yagami went to a ninja tools shop.
Explosive tags were ten thousand ryō each. Buying too many at once would trigger an investigation by the village, so he purchased forty per day in batches, gradually building up his stockpile.
Eight hundred explosive tags — more than enough for his plans.
In the original manga, Konan supposedly used six hundred billion tags.
Clearly, Kishimoto's math teacher must've been an art instructor in kindergarten — he knew nothing about numbers.
Back at the tavern, Qiaoyi didn't even ask what Yagami had done with her deed.
Late that night, the sound of a cane echoed through the tavern.
Senju Kaba entered, leaning on his crutch.
Instead of heading for the counter, he chose a table and sank into one of the tall sofas.
Yagami glanced over — Kaba's face was pale, his eyes empty.
Soon after, Dachi came in, carrying a long cloth-wrapped bundle on his back.
His footsteps were heavy as he searched around, eventually finding Kaba slumped in the sofa.
He unwrapped the bundle — inside was an artificial leg.
Seeing it, Kaba immediately understood.
"My son didn't die to enemy spies, did he? You know something, don't you?!"
Kaba rose on his single leg and grabbed Dachi's shoulders, shaking him violently, red veins bulging in his eyes.
Yagami recalled the morning's ANBU mission report — a young Senju had been killed by enemy agents.
Senju Haku's contact with the remaining Uzumaki had been discovered by ANBU, and one of their squads had likely carried out a cleanup operation.
"Shh!"
Dachi hushed him sharply.
Thankfully, the tavern was noisy, and no one paid them much attention.
Kaba snapped out of it, sat down silently, and began fitting the prosthetic leg.
At first, his hands trembled. But gradually, his movements became calm and steady.
Once it was secured, both men's faces were set with grim determination.
Without another word, they clinked glasses, drained their drinks, and left the tavern.
Yagami set down his cup and quickly followed them.
Kaba and Dachi were heading slowly toward the Senju compound.
"Are you really going to confront them?" Dachi asked.
"What else? My son died without reason! I can accept him dying on a mission or on the battlefield — but not in one of Leaf's alleys."
"If you expose this, the Senju Clan and the village will completely fall out.
It could lead to a civil war."
"So what? My son's dead — what do I have left to lose? What about you? If you're scared, go home. I'll face the clan leader alone."
Dachi's face softened with nostalgia. "You know... I actually liked your younger sister more.
Who doesn't like the young ones? But since your older sister couldn't find a husband, I pitied her and chased her instead."
"You bastard!"
The two middle-aged men quickened their pace.
At a corner, Yagami suddenly appeared before them.
Both men tensed immediately.
He was a familiar face — a regular at the tavern.
They exchanged glances. Had this boy overheard something?
Yagami spoke directly, "You're planning to confront Senju Rinki, aren't you?
To expose that Danzo and the ANBU were behind the Uzumaki Clan's destruction?"
Both men instantly drew kunai and charged at him from opposite directions.
Dachi was fast — but Kaba, slower.
Yagami's hands flashed through seals.
"Summoning Technique!"
A puff of white smoke erupted — and a white heron, Lancespear, appeared on Yagami's shoulder.
Kaba and Dachi froze at once.
They both recognized the creature.
The leader of the Uzumaki survivors, Uzumaki Yuka, was known to have this summoning beast.
Yagami glanced around, then said, "This isn't the place to talk."
He led them into the depths of a nearby forest.
"There's something happening next month, on the 14th," Yagami said quietly.
"We'll meet with Lady Uzumaki Mito. I'm the Uzumaki Clan's inside agent — this summoning beast, Lancespear, can prove it."
"Why wait until the 14th?" Dachi asked.
"Because this matter is too dangerous. If it leaks, it could split the Leaf apart — even destroy the Senju Clan entirely. Just trust me and follow my lead."
Dachi pulled Kaba aside, whispering a few words.
He'd heard Haku mention meeting Uzumaki remnants in the Land of Grass — and their summoning beast had indeed been Lancespear.
Kaba stepped forward and said solemnly, "We believe you. We'll act together on the 14th."
Yagami had secured two powerful allies.
With Senju Kaba as his inside man, finding Senju Rinki would be much easier.
***
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