After this resurrection, Squadron Leader Brown Bear once again sent Yōkō to capture a Kumo-nin squad leader alive.
In his previous life, having used explosive tags to ambush the Kumo-nin, Yōkō remembered the landing spot of the Kumo-nin squad leader after his jump and laid a second explosive tag trap.
Having the advantage of knowing the plot was certainly convenient.
This time, the Kumo-nin squad leader fell into the second explosive tag trap. Coughing up blood, he struggled to his feet, leaning on his ninja sword.
Yōkō and the Kumo-nin engaged in a one-on-one fight.
He drew his short sword, not a kunai.
He hadn't used a sword much before, but now, holding it, the blade felt like an extension of his own arm, moving with perfect ease.
Clang!
The ninja swords collided, producing a clear, metallic ring.
The Kumo-nin squad leader was startled. It wasn't that this Anbu was exceptionally strong, but rather that the Anbu ninja's movements were identical to his own, even the speed was exactly the same.
They exchanged three blows consecutively, each time evenly matched.
The Kumo-nin squad leader felt like his every move was being anticipated by his opponent.
Yōkō was secretly pleased. Having closed the gap in swordsmanship, both sides were back on equal footing.
A ninja sword was more powerful than a kunai, making it more suitable for facing Kumo-nin who possessed both speed and strength.
As time passed and they continuously exchanged moves, the Kumo-nin squad leader grew weaker and weaker, the injuries from the explosive tags worsening.
He felt as if he had encountered an Uchiha ninja.
Every swing of his sword was seen through by his opponent.
Yōkō's sword skills could be said to be a complete copy of the Kumo-nin squad leader's; the system's reward was related to his previous death.
Two minutes later, the Kumo-nin squad leader could no longer hold on, and Yōkō's sword struck his wrist.
The Kumo-nin's ninja sword fell to the ground.
After successively severing the squad leader's wrist and ankle tendons and breaking both his arms, Yōkō hoisted him onto his shoulder and went to the beach to find the Squadron Leader.
The journey was fraught with troubles.
At first, the Kumo-nin squad leader was uncooperative, thrashing about on Yōkō's shoulder like a shrimp, forcing Yōkō to stab him in the lower back with a kunai.
Later, blood filled his mouth, and he tried to commit suicide, so Yōkō had to gag him.
While traveling, Yōkō looked up at the moon.
—
The full moon was like a silver platter, its light resembling white frost.
He had gained another resurrection opportunity.
Yōkō expended considerable effort to deliver this Kumo-nin squad leader to the seaside.
Squadron Leader Brown Bear saw Fox carrying someone back and once again approved of his own judgment.
An Anbu who continuously completed missions was the best Anbu.
Fox's performance far exceeded expectations; having completed a live capture mission, he was now a capable subordinate.
"Spotted Cat, you and Fox will interrogate this Kumo-nin squad leader. Find out why they came to the Land of Waves."
"Understood, Squadron Leader."
Spotted Cat was the squad leader of another team.
Yōkō followed, wanting to see how Captain Spotted Cat conducted interrogations.
After watching for a few minutes, Yōkō half-turned away.
Compared to his own method of severing tendons, Captain Spotted Cat was far more professional.
The Kumo-nin squad leader convulsed and groaned incessantly, but unfortunately, his mouth was gagged, so he couldn't make much noise.
Under the torture, the Kumo-nin's eyes filled with bloodshot veins, as if he had contracted pink eye.
Yōkō brought up another topic: "Captain Spotted Cat, I see you have three team members. How about giving me one?"
"Captain Fox, I value my comrades, second only to valuing the mission."
"Who values them isn't the point, is it? Give me one, and I'll value them for you."
The two haggled for a while, but unfortunately, Spotted Cat wouldn't budge, unwilling to give Yōkō a single member.
Yōkō was a commander without troops, with no one to help him gather intelligence or draw enemy fire.
The interrogation lasted from noon until evening, and then from evening until midnight.
In the late night, Spotted Cat, breathing heavily, went to Squadron Leader Brown Bear's side to report the interrogation results.
"What?" Squadron Leader Brown Bear's tone was full of shock. After thinking, he said, "Go find the Battalion Commander immediately and report our intelligence."
The nearby Kumo-nin squads were all a diversion.
Kumogakure's true objective was to hold high-level talks with Kirigakure on the other end of the Land of Waves.
Kumogakure and Kirigakure had allied!
In the Great Ninja War, an alliance between any two major villages would put Konoha in an extremely difficult position.
The Brown Bear Squadron couldn't wait for the other squad and set off overnight to find the Battalion Commander.
The Battalion Commander wore a Yellow Dog mask. Upon hearing Brown Bear's report, he signaled the communications ninja to contact the Anbu Headquarters immediately.
Yōkō was far from Battalion Commander Yellow Dog and didn't know what method the Battalion used to contact headquarters.
One red signal flare after another shot into the sky; this was the Anbu's highest assembly order.
All Anbu who saw the signal flares had to gather rapidly.
Two understrength Anbu battalions, due to casualties, quickly headed towards the northeast direction of the Land of Waves.
The atmosphere was extremely tense. The Anbu had abandoned their original mission, indicating that the new situation was more troublesome and had a higher priority.
"Hurry! We must make it in time!"
Squadron Leader Brown Bear said to his three squad leaders:
"Uzushiogakure failed to seal the Three-Tails. The sealing operation was sabotaged by Kirigakure.
Kirigakure used this as a pretext to declare war on Uzushiogakure.
Combined with the intelligence we obtained, Kumogakure will likely declare war as well.
The Uzumaki clan's Princess Kushina is being pursued by Kiri-nin.
We must protect Princess Kushina. She absolutely cannot fall into Kirigakure's hands."
A change of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki was imminent, and Konoha urgently needed a new Jinchūriki.
To secure the new Jinchūriki, Shimura Danzo personally went to Uzushiogakure but was rebuffed.
For the sealing techniques, the Anbu secretly seized Uzumaki clan sealing scrolls in the Land of Waves.
The Anbu received a strict order: they must protect the Uzumaki Princess at all costs.
That princess possessed the strongest sealing talent, was a natural Jinchūriki, and was Konoha's chosen candidate to become the second Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
On the beach in the eastern part of the Land of Waves, the Konoha Anbu finally saw the Uzumaki ninja.
Over thirty Uzumaki ninja protected a little girl in their center.
The Uzumaki Princess had bright red hair, the color of a tomato, and was about seven or eight years old.
At that moment, she was watching in horror as one of her cousins died before her eyes.
Facing the Uzumaki ninja were two groups.
One group consisted of over a hundred Kiri-nin who had just landed, and the other was a group of Kumo-nin circling to the flank, preparing to encircle the Uzumaki ninja.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog gave the order: "At any cost! Protect the Uzumaki Princess!"
The Yellow Dog Battalion went to block the Kiri-nin, while the other battalion moved to intercept the Kumo-nin.
One Anbu member after another charged forward.
Yōkō realized that he was the only squad leader with no one behind him.
He was both the captain and the sole member of his squad, isolated and outnumbered. So, it seemed perfectly reasonable if he was slowed down by the reefs, right?
The two Battalion Commanders at the forefront had strength at least at the Jōnin level.
Their Fire Release techniques instantly covered half the beach.
"Fire Release! It's the Konoha Anbu!"
The cries of the Uzumaki ninja were filled with surprise and relief.
They were allies of Uzushiogakure!
The Kiri-nin stood by the sea, surrounded by water, allowing them to conveniently perform Water Release.
Water Dragons and Blazing Shots collided, stirring up countless plumes of white steam.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog shouted: "Uzumaki ninja! Take Kushina and run!"
(End of Chapter)