Whirlpool Hidden Village was nestled among mountains, divided into northern and southern parts by a large river.
What shocked Kira was the moving mountain behind Whirlpool Hidden Village!
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an enormous turtle, as massive as a small mountain.
Vortex Yuka, on Kira's back, leaned close to his ear and explained:
"That's our Village Guardian Summoning Beast, Lord Spirit Turtle.
The Uzumaki Clan excels at sealing techniques, and during the Sengoku period, they sealed monsters for various Daimyo and nobles, accumulating many summoning beasts.
There are also many aquatic summoning beasts in the large river in the middle.
Our squad's mission this time was to go to the Wave Country to seal a rampaging large ninja beast, but we were targeted by Kumogakure and failed."
A high-pitched bird cry vibrated overhead.
Kira looked up and saw the summoning beast he had seen in the original work, Nagato's three-legged, giant-beaked Yatagarasu.
So that's it; this is the correct way to use sealing techniques—sealing powerful summoning beasts to aid in battle.
But why didn't the Uzumaki Clan get a Tailed Beast for themselves? With powerful sealing techniques combined with a Tailed Beast, wouldn't they be able to create perfect Jinchuriki?
Uzumaki Clan ninja arrived at the Village entrance to take Vortex Yuka to the hospital.
Vortex Yuka cast a final lingering look at the fox.
What a pity, she only remembered the fox's voice, but didn't know what the fox was called.
After returning, she would inquire about who the Senju Clan's spy in the Anbu was.
If it were before, the Anbu would obey Lord Tobirama, and it wouldn't be so troublesome.
It was said that after Hiruzen Sarutobi took office, he first carried out a brutal purge of the Anbu, replenishing a large number of new recruits and clearing out many of Lord Tobirama's subordinates.
The Antelope Squad entered deep into Whirlpool Hidden Village and arrived at the Village Chief's building.
Above the Village Chief's building was a huge Uzumaki Clan emblem, identical to the emblem on the back of the Konoha ninja vests.
After waiting for a long time, a group of people approached from a distance.
At the forefront was Danzo, followed by his assistant.
At this time, Danzo was in his prime, with both eyes and arms intact, showing no abnormalities.
The cross-shaped scar on his chin, combined with his extremely small pupils and four-white eyes, made him exceptionally sinister.
Those four-white eyes swept over, making people feel afraid.
Danzo walked up to the Village Chief's building, followed by the Captain and Advisor assistant, while the Squad Leader, Captain Ling, and other Squad Leaders waited downstairs.
Ordinary Anbu like Kira disappeared into the woods behind the Village Chief's building.
Kira stood in a tree with Horned Ox, watching the back of the Village Chief's building, always on guard against anyone who might pose a threat to Danzo.
Danzo was both a high-level advisor and the Anbu Director, holding an extremely high position.
Kira and Horned Ox had no communication; none of the Anbu communicated, each person acting like a machine.
After an unknown amount of time, Danzo came downstairs and headed out of Whirlpool Hidden Village with his assistant.
It was unknown what Danzo and the Whirlpool Clan Leader discussed, but Danzo's expression was grim, seemingly indicating that things had not gone smoothly.
Danzo's gaze wandered, seemingly deep in thought.
The Captain assigned tasks to the Squad Leader, and the Squad Leader assigned tasks to the Squad Leaders.
Captain Ling found the fox and Horned Ox and led them north.
Captain Ling revealed that they were heading to the Wave Country.
Kira didn't know the mission details and speculated wildly, perhaps they were going to investigate the Kumogakure ninja appearing in the Wave Country.
The main battlefield between Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village was on the northern border of the Land of Hot Water; logically, there shouldn't be many Kumogakure ninja appearing in the Wave Country.
This was during the Second Ninja World War; every village was on edge, and it was impossible to send out so many extra personnel. If they were sent, it must be for something major.
Captain Ling acquired a boat by the sea, and the three of them used transformation jutsu to disguise themselves as fishermen, rowing north towards the Wave Country.
Kira transformed into a dark-skinned young boy.
He leaned over the side of the boat, trying to see if he resembled his past life through the reflection in the seawater.
The boat's side stirred up white waves, and he couldn't see anything.
Rowing was exhausting, and the Antelope Squad gathered information from nearby fishing boats, searching for suspicious vessels at sea.
For Kira, rowing was fine; the slow pace meant several days passed by unnoticed.
By the time they reached the coastline, more than ten days had passed.
Kira waited for another full moon, finally getting a new chance at resurrection.
He was almost unable to eat the soldier pills anymore.
The Captain didn't allow them to roast sea fish, and Kira didn't know which sea fish could be eaten raw, so he had to keep eating soldier pills.
Soldier pills wouldn't let a person starve to death, but they offered no feeling of fullness, and his stomach, being empty for so long, cramped painfully.
After landing on the Wave Country, the squad reverted to their Anbu appearance and entered the coconut grove by the shore.
Kira estimated that the Anbu were conducting a carpet search, and their squad was constantly circling within one area.
After 7 days, Captain Ling found traces of a struggle.
There were no bodies on the ground, and the soil was blackish-red; judging from the blood-stained earth, the battle had occurred within two days.
Additionally, there were scattered kunai and ninja blades in the grass.
The ninja blade was a standard Kumogakure long blade.
Captain Ling said: "Everyone pick up a Kumogakure long blade; it will be convenient for disguising ourselves as Kumogakure."
Kira picked up a blade and carefully wiped away the bloodstains.
Disguising themselves as Kumogakure to do bad things would make it easier to frame Kumogakure.
Using this battle trace as a center, the Antelope Squad began searching for the enemy.
During the search, Kira lamented that it was no wonder Kakashi made almost no progress during his ten years in the Anbu.
Executing Anbu missions occupied all his time, leaving no time for training at all.
Most missions involved traveling, searching, and lurking, which were very time-consuming.
Just like in his previous life, leaders always had a dull insensitivity that disregarded the lives of those below them.
He had once thought of making a name for himself in this ninja world through his extraordinary effort and comprehension abilities.
But they weren't giving him that chance.
Captain Ling was experienced and found many clues, tracking them to a fishing village.
In the fishing village at night, most fishermen's homes had lights on.
Captain Ling pointed to a dark house and waved his hand.
Kira and Horned Ox stealthily approached the wooden house from two directions.
To prevent dampness and moisture, the ground floor of the seaside wooden houses was elevated, making it very convenient to enter from underneath.
Horned Ox on the other side suddenly wiped his face.
Kira had studied some architecture in his previous life and determined that one side of the small window might be the toilet, so he had chosen the other side of the large window early on.
Poor Horned Ox, I really hope what landed on your face was just water.
If it was free-flying, then you have to hold it in, this is a mission.
Kira lay under the floorboards, his ear pressed to the floor, listening to the movements above.
A blade suddenly thrust down from the floor!
Fortunately, Kira was alert enough to dodge the strike.
The blade grazed his scalp, cutting off a lock of Kira's hair.
The ninja blade was long and extremely sharp, clearly a standard Kumogakure ninja blade.
The battle erupted instantly!
Thudding footsteps resounded on the wooden floor.
Horned Ox was enraged; he directly attached exploding tags underneath the floorboards.
Kira cursed inwardly, damn it, the crawl space was very low, it would take some time to get out.
In the narrow space, the explosion's shockwave was so concentrated, making it easier to get injured.
Could Horned Ox really have been sprayed by 'flying'?
Amidst the explosion, Kira scrambled out.
The wooden house exploded from within, and several Kumogakure ninja rushed out of the wooden house.
Suddenly, the cold glint of ninja blades flashed on the beach.