Iwa jonin Yamashigeto stood behind the forest line, his expression resolute as he watched his subordinates charge toward the Rain nobles' ship.
His mission was simple: destroy the water diversion channel beneath the Yoshigane Mountains and weaken the Land of Wind.
Watching the samurai aboard the vessel, he felt only disdain.
Drawing swords? Could they really stop an entire squad of Iwa shinobi?
On the ship, Kojii Chisa felt a surge of panic. Seeing ninja racing across the water's surface, she instinctively assumed they had been hired by the Wind nobles.
The Wind noble himself looked terrified.
"Lady Chisa! I can represent the Wind Daimyō and correct any mistake—there's no need to involve ninja!"
"They're not ours," Chisa replied. "I'm only here for preliminary investigation, not combat."
Then she remembered Fox was nearby.
Her heart steadied immediately.
Whoever these shinobi were, they could not stir waves before Konoha ANBU's strongest.
On the opposite bank, Yako and Yak Squad crouched among the bushes.
Yak felt anticipation rising.
An A-rank target from the assassination manual.
A confirmed A-rank mission.
Yako raised his hand—and the squad vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Yamashigeto felt unease when ANBU suddenly appeared.
Why was ANBU here? Which village?
A white-hooded figure rushed across the water.
When Yamashigeto saw the mask, his pupils shrank.
Copper Fox.
He immediately formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Flying Gravel!"
After a single seal, earth-nature chakra surged from his mouth, transforming into countless stones that shot forward at high speed.
Yako nodded approvingly.
Authentic. The impact-type Earth Release he wanted.
The stones screamed through the air.
Yako drew his blade, testing their hardness.
He shattered five stones with swift strikes, but the barrage forced him to dodge sideways.
The attack was relentless—hundreds of stones, some sharpened like stone spears.
Yako shifted laterally, the barrage chasing him relentlessly.
Good. Excellent flexibility.
Activating Semi-Absolute Defense: Spiral Serpent, he endured the barrage and closed the distance.
Yamashigeto leaned backward, evading Yako's punch.
At the same time, he kicked upward. A hidden blade snapped out from his foot at a deadly angle, stabbing toward Yako's throat.
The blade pierced through.
Why hadn't Fox used his absolute defense?
No matter.
He had killed Copper Fox.
Fortune favored him.
[Host death detected. Arc of the Waning Moon system activating.]
Yako's vision shifted.
He returned to the previous full moon night—back in Konoha.
[Arc of the Waning Moon activated.
The host has one revival opportunity per month, returning to the previous full moon upon death.
Reward granted: one draw.]
Yako chose mastery-level Earth Release: Flying Gravel.
At last, he possessed five impact-type elemental techniques.
The Five Elements Great Barrage became White Ghost's primary trump card.
Events unfolded as before.
Standing along the Yoshimizu River, Yako encountered Yamashigeto again.
This time, there was little probing.
He shifted rapidly, avoiding Flying Gravel with precise movements.
Closing in, he watched Yamashigeto lean back again.
And again, the hidden blade snapped toward his throat.
Yako's neck turned bronze-red.
The blade shattered.
At the same instant, Yako revealed a concealed kunai and drove it into Yamashigeto's abdomen.
The same trick would not work twice.
Just as Yako thought he had everything under control, Yamashigeto slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Let's die together! Earth Release: Antlion Pit!"
The ground beneath them turned into shifting sand, as though countless insects churned the earth.
A vortex formed.
Yamashigeto seized Yako's shoulder, dragging him downward.
Antlion Pit was his final trump card.
The moment he saw Copper Fox, he had resolved to take him down.
Breaking Fox's defense was impossible—but burying him alive was another matter.
The vortex descended more than a hundred meters deep, suffocating anyone trapped within.
Pressure mounted.
Yako tried forming seals, but Yamashigeto gripped his arm while the sand crushed in.
Minutes later, White Crane arrived first.
"Captain!"
Another minute passed.
No movement.
White Crane pulled out a scroll, preparing to send urgent intelligence to Root.
ANBU's strongest… killed by an Iwa jonin's hidden technique.
Yak arrived shortly after, having eliminated Yamashigeto's subordinates.
He quickly formed seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Core Shift!"
The surrounding ground rose rapidly.
A massive earthen pillar formed, lifting the vortex over thirty meters—but the chakra density within made the sand incredibly heavy.
Yak reached his limit.
The pillar collapsed, releasing a mudslide.
No sign of Fox.
Gasping, Yak forced more chakra.
Again—Earth-Core Shift!
Another twenty meters raised.
Still nothing.
How deep was this pit?
Everyone knew Fox feared no physical attack—but even steel bones could be buried.
"What are you doing, White Crane?!"
While others searched desperately, White Crane summoned a messenger hawk.
A Root intelligence method.
She intended to confirm Fox's death and report immediately.
If Lord Danzo learned first, he could seize the opportunity to claim Fox's squad for Root.
She had always been Root's spy within ANBU—sent to observe, especially the strongest operative.
Suddenly, Yak went silent.
Behind White Crane, in the forest, stood Fox.
Unharmed.
Anyone else would have died in that final attack.
But for Yako, moving through deep underground was like returning home.
White Crane glanced at Yak, confused by his sudden calm—
Then she heard a chilling voice.
"Write this: Fox Squad Captain successfully evaded the dying counterattack—Earth Release: Antlion Pit—from an Iwa jonin. Fox's mastery of Earth Release far surpasses most Iwa jonin."
White Crane turned slowly, terror in her eyes.
The fox mask.
And the captain's cold gaze.
"Write it exactly like that," Yako said quietly. "Then send the report to Root."