After his rebirth, Yagami followed the events from his previous life — first visiting Captain Black Ape, then informing Captain Yellow Dog that Black Ape would need more than a month to recover before he could return to duty.
Once he finished training the new recruits in his squad, Yagami entered the Tsurugetsu Tavern that evening.
Inside the tavern, he spotted Senju Kaba, whose leg had been crippled, drinking with his friend Dachi.
Watching the two men chat at the counter, Yagami silently pondered his situation.
Being part of the Anbu, he didn't want to spend his whole life as nothing more than Sarutobi Hiruzen and Danzō's hound.
If he wanted to maintain some independence, he couldn't allow those two to grow too powerful.
The Senju Clan was nearly gone, the Uchiha Clan would eventually face the same fate, and the Hyūga Clan had already been trampled under Hiruzen's authority — even Hyūga Hiashi, the head of the main family, had nearly been offered to the Hidden Cloud Village as a sacrifice. With Hiruzen holding absolute power within the Hidden Leaf Village, Yagami could foresee a future filled with shackles.
At this moment, the only one in the village capable of suppressing Hiruzen was Uzumaki Mito.
Yagami felt he needed to make use of Mito's influence to preserve diverse voices within the village and prevent Hiruzen's faction from completely dominating.
The Senju Clan was the key. Even if he couldn't fully save them, at the very least, he wanted to do as he had with Uzumaki Yuka — preserve the embers, protect as many Senju as possible, and make the higher-ups uncomfortable.
The more chaos within the village, the greater his space to breathe.
Yagami walked over to the counter, casually flirting with Qiaoyi, while listening to kaba and dachi talk about Hana's son.
The next day, Dachi arranged to meet kaba's son — Senju Haku.
When Haku heard Dachi mention his Uzumaki mother, his expression drastically changed. He leaned close to his teacher's ear and whispered a few words.
Dachi was shocked and quickly told his student not to act rashly, promising to investigate the matter himself.
After leaving the tavern, Dachi walked with a heavy heart.
Senju Haku had met a woman in the Land of Grass — an Uzumaki kunoichi who possessed a white heron summoning beast and wielded a long spear.
That woman told him the truth behind the Uzumaki Clan's destruction. It wasn't just the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud Villages that wanted them dead — the Hidden Leaf had the same intention.
It was a horrifying revelation.
Dachi had heard rumors among the upper echelons — Senju Rinki, the clan leader, had always seen himself as half the master of the village and often criticized the other high-ranking officials' decisions.
Because of his status, the others didn't openly oppose him.
But anyone could tell — the Hokage, the advisors, and the elders were all tired of hearing him speak about the "First and Second Hokage's Will."
Rinki claimed to have inherited the will of the previous Hokage, but did the rest of the leadership not also claim to uphold that same legacy?
Dachi was deeply confused. Had the conflict among the higher-ups grown so severe?
Would they really abandon an ally like the Hidden Eddy Village so casually?
The Uzumaki Clan were in-laws of the Senju. How could such betrayal be tolerated?
Looking toward the Forest of Death in the village's northeast, Dachi frowned. He knew the Anbu base was located somewhere within but had no idea how to begin his investigation.
Late that night, he wandered the village, rejecting one idea after another.
Investigating the Anbu in secret — if they ever discovered it, he would be branded a rogue ninja.
As he passed through a park, a white bird suddenly shot out from a tree to his left and disappeared into the trees on his right.
Dachi froze. That bird… it looked like a heron?
But there were no such bird in the Leaf.
A piece of paper fluttered down from the sky. Dachi caught it.
It read:
"Senju Haku is in danger tonight."
Kamo's heart skipped a beat. That bird — it was a heron!
His student had just mentioned meeting an Uzumaki woman with a white heron summoning beast in the Land of Grass.
Could someone be investigating the Uzumaki Clan's destruction from within the village?
He turned on his heel and sprinted back toward the tavern where he and his student had parted ways.
By now, it was already past 2 a.m., and the tavern had just closed.
The beautiful tavern owner was busy shutting the windows, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at the handsome young man leaning lazily against the back door.
Dachi didn't have time to care about their relationship — he rushed past, heading straight for the Senju Clan compound.
Yagami watched his back disappear, unsure whether that young Senju could still be saved.
He wrapped an arm around Qiaoyi's waist and led her into the back room.
This time, he reminded himself — after his resurrection, he had to be cautious. He could only revive once per month, so until the next full moon, he couldn't afford even a single misstep.
The next day, Yagami returned to the Anbu.
He decided Monkey wasn't fit for Anbu work and went to the Root Division, asking them to reassign him or provide a replacement with at least squad leader-level strength.
While waiting at Root, another squad captain was venting nearby.
"Does Root even deserve Lord Danzō's trust? The quality of your recruits is a disgrace! They couldn't even handle a simple cleanup mission — they let the targets get away!"
Without the Cursed Tongue Eradication Technique, Danzō's control over the Anbu and Root was far weaker than it had been in the original timeline.
He desperately wanted the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Scroll to strengthen his hold.
Yagami's expression shifted — could the "cleanup mission" from last night have been targeting Senju Haku?
He didn't receive a new squad leader that day, so he returned to his own unit and continued training the new recruits.
Deep within the Forest of Death, the training field buzzed with energy.
Two rookies from Fox Squad, three from White Ram Squad, and three from Monkey Squad — eight in total.
Purple Cat held a blunt practice sword coated with red dye and handed it to Yagami.
Ever since obtaining the Senju bloodline, Yagami's whole body had been itching for a real fight.
He addressed the eight recruits:
"The Anbu of the Leaf just keep getting worse with every generation. At this rate, does the village even have a future? All eight of you, come at me together. Don't disappoint me — you fresh trash!"
Though they had all passed the grueling Chūnin Exams and held pride as the village's backbone, none could tolerate such humiliation from their acting captain.
They drew their weapons and attacked from multiple directions.
Yagami felt power surging through every muscle.
Vigorous stamina was its own kind of talent. Only with a strong body and relentless energy could one endure the endless battles of a shinobi.
Having broken through twice under stress, his reaction speed was incredible. He easily dodged two blades and kicked another attacker flying.
"Idiots! Can eight people even fit around me like that? Why didn't three of you stay back for ranged support? What kind of strategy is this?"
He slammed the training sword into one recruit's arm, knocking his kunai away.
A few others finally retreated, throwing kunai from a distance.
Two of them had decent form, but one's throw was pathetically weak.
Yagami caught that kunai midair and hurled it back.
"Don't underestimate basic weapon throwing! Your fundamentals are terrible! What, do you think kunai throwing isn't a high-level skill, so you neglect it?"
The rebounding kunai smacked into the recruit's throat.
Though the training weapons weren't sharpened, the impact hurt enough to make the boy clutch his neck and double over.
Yagami shook his head repeatedly.
No wonder the Leaf had declined between the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars — even the Anbu's standards had dropped this far. The rest of the village must be in even worse shape.
Meanwhile, Purple Cat was becoming increasingly stunned. Fox Captain's strength was terrifying!
Anbu combat focused on taijutsu and explosive tags, yet Yagami's movements were smooth and natural — not the slightest stiffness, as if his body had gone through a second awakening.
Remembering what she'd seen of him in the locker room a few nights ago, her face flushed red. She quickly lowered her head and started recording each recruit's performance.
Just as the training was reaching its peak, Captain Yellow Dog's assistant appeared in a flicker of movement.
"There are two rogue ninja of special jōnin level inside the village! One of them is from the Senju Clan. Captain Yellow Dog orders your unit to dispatch a squad for the pursuit!"
"I understand. We'll move out immediately."
Yagami's heart sank. His warning to Dachi had set off a butterfly effect — the story of this life had already changed.
Now, both Senju Haku and Dachi had been branded as traitors by the Anbu.
***
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