The Hyūga ninja from Rat Squad spotted their target three kilometers away — Senju Haku.
"Captain! We've found the target!"
Inside his mask, the Rat Squad captain's eyes sharpened. "We're only a few kilometers from the command camp. We can't alert Senju Nawaki. We have to stop Senju Haku here!"
The three teams under Rat Squad moved swiftly, rushing toward their target.
Enemies ahead, pursuers behind.
Haku took out a secret medicine — a special pill given to him by a comrade from the Akimichi clan before that comrade's death.
After consuming it, one could burn their flesh and blood to create a massive surge of chakra. But if their control wavered, the excessive extraction would cause the body to explode.
Now, with no more concerns left, Senju Haku swallowed the pill without hesitation.
Every cell in his body screamed as he squeezed out the last drop of his potential. Chakra raged wildly within him. Before the Anbu could close in, he unleashed his final technique.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A torrent of water erupted beside him like a geyser.
The Rat Squad captain was stunned. Haku's strength was far beyond the intelligence reports. Quickly, he prepared his defense — that scale of Water Release was far beyond his ability to counter.
Still, he didn't back down. Even if it meant dying here, he couldn't let Senju Haku reach the front-line command camp.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
A wall of earth rose before the captain.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Captain Yellow Dog approaching from a distance.
But Haku's Water Release wasn't aimed at the Rat Squad captain at all.
The water dragon surged upward, straight into the sky.
Its serpentine body curved only slightly before shooting almost perfectly vertical. Under the blue sky, the pillar of water was dazzlingly bright.
Captain Yellow Dog, still two hundred meters away, suddenly felt a wave of dread.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
A massive fireball soared over two hundred meters, colliding with the ascending water dragon.
Watching from the side, Yagami couldn't help but click his tongue — that Fire Release range was astonishing.
The flame struck too late, hitting only the lower half of the water dragon.
Upon reaching its peak, the dragon suddenly twisted and exploded outward.
Several smaller water dragons scattered, forming a symbol in the sky — the Senju clan crest.
Even with Captain Yellow Dog's experience, his heart froze. Something was terribly wrong.
Meanwhile, the others continued rushing toward the site.
Inside the command camp, Senju Nawaki, who had been sparring with Orochimaru, turned his head in confusion.
High above the camp, he saw it — the Senju clan's crest formed of pure water.
"That's the Senju clan's distress signal! We're under attack! Stone shinobi are closing in on the camp!"
Before Orochimaru could respond, Nawaki had already leapt away, disappearing with a Body Flicker.
Orochimaru frowned slightly. Even if it was an attack, why not use the standard Hidden Leaf signal flare? Why a rare Senju distress code — one that hadn't been used since before the founding of the village?
Still, following his intent to let Nawaki grow through experience, Orochimaru followed at a measured distance.
If Nawaki made mistakes, Orochimaru wanted him to learn from them — not to be shielded from them. Only through independent judgment could a disciple surpass his master.
Outside the camp, other Senju clan members had also seen the symbol and rushed out anxiously.
Watching the sky, Captain Yellow Dog turned to his comrade. "Fox! Take your squad and locate Senju Nawaki. Don't stop him — just keep him under surveillance!"
Yagami nodded and left with his team.
After all this, Senju Haku let the water fall. The surroundings turned into a flooded disaster zone within seconds.
He was swallowed by his own Water Release.
From within the waves, the Rat Squad captain's blade pierced Haku's chest.
He blinked in surprise — that was… too easy.
When the waters finally settled, what lay before them was a shriveled figure, veins bursting through his skin — Senju Haku, reduced to a skeletal form. His flesh had been burned out by the secret medicine's power.
A few minutes later, Hidden Leaf shinobi from the front-line camp arrived. They saw the Anbu units and the charred corpse on the ground.
Senju Nawaki stepped forward, staring silently.
The corpse wore a Hidden Mist Village forehead protector, its entire body burned into a dark, oval lump.
Noticing Nawaki's expression, Captain Yellow Dog explained:
"Anbu captured a Mist Village spy skilled in Water Release. He had tortured a Senju ninja and learned their distress signal. He tried to infiltrate the camp but was killed before he could act."
Nawaki said nothing. Though the explanation made sense, something about it didn't sit right with him.
After a pause, the Senju ninja returned to the camp.
Yagami approached Captain Yellow Dog. "Captain, Senju Nawaki encountered no interference on the way. Nothing unusual happened."
Yellow Dog let out a long sigh. "Good. The mission's finally over."
Yagami thought to himself, That's good… if you're letting your guard down now, Captain.
Ten minutes later, a middle-aged Senju ninja — assigned to strengthen patrols after the incident — passed by a tree and stopped abruptly.
On the trunk was a carved mark — a hidden contact symbol between the Senju and Uzumaki clans.
He remembered hearing of such marks from his father — symbols from the Warring States Era, long before the founding of Hidden Leaf . Only the Uzumaki clan used them when sending secret messages to the Senju.
He bent down and found a small scroll hidden beneath the symbol.
The disturbed grass told him it had been placed there at least two days ago.
Who could have left this?
Wasn't the Uzumaki clan destroyed?
Only one member remains — Uzumaki Kushina.
Opening the scroll, the man's pupils contracted sharply.
What?
The words within made his mind go blank.
The Leaf Village had known about the Uzumaki clan's extermination — and had participated in it?
The Uzumaki were ambushed so suddenly, with no time to flee, because Hidden Leaf 's Anbu had leaked the locations of Uzumaki patrol posts along the coast to the Hidden Mist Village?
The supposed "rescue" of the Uzumaki princess… was just a performance?
All to ensure that the Nine-Tails would have a new vessel for Hidden Leaf ?
Forcing himself to breathe evenly, the Senju ninja immediately burned the scroll to ashes.
He then stepped on the trunk, erasing the hidden clan mark.
He was over forty, with years of battlefield experience — calm even in shock.
If he made this public now, the Senju clan would have to break from the village immediately.
And in the midst of the Shinobi World War, that would be catastrophic.
Others might destroy Hidden Leaf , but the Senju could not. The village was the blood and will of the First and Second Hokage.
He decided to report this only to Lady Tsunade or Lord Nawaki.
Lady Tsunade was away on a mission, so he would first contact Nawaki.
Days later, as Captain Yellow Dog's unit was returning to the village, a messenger hawk flew overhead.
Perched on a branch, Yellow Dog felt a chill of foreboding.
The hawk dropped a scroll into his hands.
From a distance, Yagami saw his captain's masked face go pale — cold sweat dripping down uncontrollably.
***
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