Two battalions of Konoha Anbu had entered the Land of Waves. Over two months, their supplies were completely depleted.
Without Military Ration Pills, obtaining food became difficult and risked exposure.
Without ninja tools, many Anbu needed to carefully scavenge battlefields, making them susceptible to traps enemies set on tool pouches.
The Uzumaki ninja didn't have this worry. Uzushiogakure had long protected the nobles of the Land of Whirlpools and could receive supplies from them.
To better pressure the Uzumaki ninja, they needed to cut off their supplies. They had to make the nobles realize that helping the Uzumaki ninja now was dangerous, fatal.
The noble town chief Yōkō's mission targeted was the ruler in the area most firmly supporting Uzushiogakure.
Yōkō didn't tell Pine Bird where they were going or what they were going to do.
Anbu squad members only needed to follow orders, not think.
With the roles reversed, Yōkō had also become an exploiter who disregarded his subordinates' lives.
The two advanced towards the target town. They didn't seek to complete the mission quickly, only to avoid recklessness and a miserable death.
"Pine Bird, how old are you?"
"Captain Fox, I'm 12 this year."
Freshly graduated, and also someone who luckily became a Chūnin after the village lowered the requirements.
Yōkō didn't know what else to say to his squad member, so he asked, "What's your dream?"
"My dream?" Pine Bird said:
"My dream is to be like the White Fang Lord, accumulate mission experience in the Anbu, and become the strongest ninja!"
Konoha's White Fang was an Anbu legend, constantly growing stronger through Anbu battles, honing his sword skills, and becoming a Kage-level ninja.
Konoha ninja had three paths to learn ninjutsu.
The first path was family inheritance.
Top-tier ninjutsu and secret techniques spread like infectious diseases, transmitted only through mother-to-child, blood, and bodily fluids.
The White Fang used a family-inherited sword style.
The second path was gaining the trust of a team leader teacher or captain, who would then teach ninjutsu.
Finding a teacher or captain whose temperament matched one's own was difficult, rare.
The third path was joining the Anbu and performing meritorious service for the village.
This one required luck – the luck to stay alive.
This path was also the fairest, one of the underlying logics of Anbu ninja loyalty.
"Good luck, Pine Bird. You'll become a ninja like the White Fang Lord sooner or later."
Arriving outside the town, Yōkō carefully observed it from a distance using binoculars.
The town had about 1000 households, surrounded by a wooden wall. Watchtowers stood every few dozen meters on the wall, manned by samurai trained by the town chief.
Ordinary samurai trained their physiques daily, wielded long swords; even a Genin would need several moves to defeat one.
Higher-level samurai could refine chakra, use chakra to enhance their taijutsu, equivalent to Genin in ninja villages.
Even higher-level samurai could only be trained by the Land of Iron.
These samurai had low pay and were very cheap.
Yōkō and Pine Bird found a blind spot in the samurai's line of sight, avoided the patrols, and climbed into the town.
The town was divided into an inner city and an outer city.
The inner city was where the noble town chief lived and worked.
A lively nightlife was a luxury reserved for large cities like the capital; small towns enforced strict curfews for defense.
The small town's streets were empty; everyone hid in their homes.
Commoners could die at the hands of ninja village ninja or rogue ninja.
All commoners gathered around the nobles, hoping the nobles and their hired ninja would bring them peace.
Yōkō and Pine Bird successfully infiltrated near the inner city.
"Careful!"
A squad of samurai appeared from the side. Yōkō was the first to hide in an alley.
Pine Bird quickly followed.
There were several trash cans in the alley. Yōkō and Pine Bird hid behind two different trash cans.
After the samurai squad left, Yōkō said, "Pine Bird, be extremely careful from now on. Find a weak point in the defense and climb the inner city wall."
The inner city, like the outer city, also had watchtowers and samurai.
After the two climbed into the inner city, they lay on the ground, quickly pressed against the base of a building's wall, and slowly moved along it.
Over ten minutes later, they finally reached the area with the brightest lights.
In the distance was the town chief's study.
Two shadows were visible on the study's window; it was impossible to tell which was the chief from the silhouettes.
Suddenly, the window burst open, and someone rushed out.
It was an Uzumaki ninja!
The town chief stood by the window, having noticed the Uzumaki ninja suddenly stop talking, then smash through the window and charge towards a certain building's corner.
Two more Uzumaki ninja emerged from elsewhere, along with samurai who had received the message and were running quickly towards the area.
The whooshing sound of kunai cutting through the air and the clanking of the samurai's armor made Pine Bird extremely nervous.
Seeing the captain's retreat signal, he hurriedly ran outward.
He never expected a full squad of Uzumaki ninja to be here.
Kunai thudded into the surrounding wooden walls.
One kunai he couldn't dodge pierced Pine Bird's shoulder.
Another kunai hit his foot.
Just as he wanted to call for the captain's help, he saw Captain Fox get hit by a kunai and turn into white smoke.
What?
A shadow clone?
When?
Pine Bird suddenly remembered when infiltrating the inner city, the captain had disappeared for a moment, then later hid behind a different trash can.
He let out a bitter laugh, recalling the key points the teacher mentioned when teaching the Substitution Technique at the Ninja Academy.
The Substitution Technique involved turning a log into one's own likeness, hiding in the shadows, and launching a surprise attack when the enemy attacked the log.
The key to the Substitution Technique was finding or creating a moment when the enemy lost sight of you.
The Shadow Clone Technique could be considered an advanced substitution.
All those cunning tactics Captain Fox used against enemies were now used on his own man.
His own life, like the shadow clone, was just a tool to deceive the enemy.
Pine Bird looked towards the noble.
He had suspected the mission might be to assassinate the noble in this town.
Sure enough, behind the window, Captain Fox had somehow infiltrated behind the noble and raised a kunai.
Captain Fox actually possessed such exquisite infiltration skills.
The Uzumaki ninja and samurai were all focused on him; the captain's timing was perfect.
He and the noble town chief would die in the same second.
When first recruited into the Anbu, Pine Bird had thought he possessed some special talent, noticed by the higher-ups, and was about to rise rapidly.
After a few months in the Anbu, he realized he was just a tool.
Just this morning, the captain was wishing him well, hoping he'd achieve his dream and become a ninja like the White Fang.
Now, to complete the mission, he was dying miserably in the captain's scheme.
Is this the Anbu?
An Uzumaki ninja arrived by Pine Bird's body, bent down, and used a kunai to slice open his mask.
Beneath the mask was a young face.
The face bore a venomous resentment, unclear what he resented.
The orders Yōkō gave Pine Bird were only to infiltrate the inner city; he never said what to do or revealed any secrets.
Even if they took the body, Uzushiogakure wouldn't get any evidence.
"Bad news! The Town Chief is dead!"
Hearing the samurai's shout, the Uzumaki ninja turned in panic and saw the Town Chief dead in front of the window, slumped over the windowsill, a kunai in the back of his neck.
"Damn it!"
The Uzumaki ninja cursed. The support they had just negotiated was now gone.
(End of Chapter)