Uzumaki Yuka stared at the masked man in utter terror.
Wasn't Fox supposed to be the Senju clan's spy within the Anbu?
Wait—!
Yuka suddenly remembered—right when the explosive tags went off, Fox had coated his kunai with a hemostatic agent.
The wound hadn't been deep, and with the medicine slowing the bleeding, she hadn't lost much blood.
Gritting her teeth, Yuka forced herself to activate the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Yagami feigned weakness, panic flashing across his face as he made a show of being powerless to stop her.
A dozen golden chains burst forth, impaling everyone—except Yagami.
Whether it was the Hidden Cloud ninja or Captain Antelope, all were struck by the overwhelming sealing jutsu.
Under the effect of the sealing art, none of them could move.
Yagami's heart surged with satisfaction. He had purposely smeared the kunai with hemostatic medicine to make Yuka believe he was an ally and hesitate to attack him.
The deception worked—he was the only one untouched by the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Rising to his feet, Yagami swung his kunai, swiftly cutting down the immobilized Cloud-nin one after another.
Captain Antelope watched Yagami's fluid movements, his eyes widening slightly.
This squad's weakest ninja—the one who barely passed as cannon fodder—was improving at an incredible pace. His timing and precision were growing sharper with every battle. He was starting to have the air of a true Anbu operative.
The captain lowered his gaze to the chain piercing his abdomen, agony twisting across his face.
The Adamantine Chains carried barbed tips—one had pierced straight through his chest.
The Uzumaki clan's sealing technique could materialize chakra itself. What a terrifying secret art.
Chakra materialization—it was said to involve Yin–Yang Release, a field far beyond the reach of ordinary shinobi.
Seeing the captain's grievous state, Yagami didn't rush to treat the wound. Instead, he snatched the sealing scroll from Yuka's hands.
"Mission complete, Captain. I've got it!" he reported.
Captain Antelope cursed inwardly. Damn it, I said to retrieve an intact scroll, not one that's already been used!
But there was no time to scold him.
"Move! We're getting out of here!" he ordered.
Supporting the wounded captain, Yagami leapt into the forest by the lakeside.
"Captain, let me apply more hemostatic medicine!"
The medicine worked quickly. The bleeding along the captain's side slowed to a stop.
In the dark, Yagami's eyes glowed faintly beneath his mask.
Holding the captain upright, he carefully monitored his condition, paying attention to every twitch and shudder of muscle.
Half of what he injected wasn't medicine—it was poison.
Uzumaki Yuka was a chūnin, and poison used by a chūnin would be potent.
This time, Yagami wouldn't make the same reckless mistake as before.
Captain Antelope still had a Fire Style technique hidden as a trump card. Yagami wasn't about to get burned alive again.
The same trick wouldn't work twice.
After they had gotten far from the battlefield, Captain Antelope panted heavily.
"Fox… you're weak, but lucky. You always survive. Keep it up, and maybe one day you'll amount to something."
"Thank you for the praise, Captain."
The captain's breathing grew heavier and more ragged.
"This time… cough... the mission failed… but we can target another team next… cough… another Uzumaki squad, to steal their sealing scroll…"
His vision darkened—he thought it was from blood loss.
As expected of the Uzumaki… even their last counterattacks are terrifying.
Noticing the captain's state worsening, Yagami said hurriedly,
"Captain! If you pass out, how do I contact the upper squad? I'm afraid your wounds are too severe for me to handle. Doesn't our unit have a medical-nin?"
Captain Antelope's mind was fading into a blur, but he found himself agreeing.
A wound that pierced the abdomen—his spleen was likely ruptured. Hemostatic medicine wouldn't be enough; he'd need a medical-nin immediately.
Reaching for his tool pouch, the captain suddenly saw triple. Everything spun in front of him.
Yagami stepped in to "help," pulling out the scroll and handing it to him.
The captain shook his head, dizzy, yet forced his fingers to form a pattern, unlocking the scroll's seal.
"Every mission… huff... the Cipher Corps… creates… a new code…"
Before he could finish, the captain collapsed completely.
Yagami waited several seconds. When he was sure the man was truly unconscious, he formed hand seals.
"Curse Seal of Self-Binding."
Black sealing marks crawled across Captain Antelope's body.
Confirming the captain could no longer resist, Yagami lifted his kunai and drove it deep into the man's throat.
Blood gushed out as the captain's eyes shot open, pain snapping him awake. He saw the kunai—and Fox.
"You…"
That single word was the last thing he ever said.
Yagami didn't stop there. He knew ninjas could extract information from corpses.
He jabbed the kunai again and again, prying open the skull and shredding the brain matter.
Disgusting.
But reassuring.
Captain Antelope was finally dead.
I wonder if the commander will promote me now… the whole squad's gone anyway.
After finishing his grim task, Yagami slowly rose, scanning the surroundings to make sure no one else was around before disappearing into the forest.
He studied the Anbu communication scroll carefully.
Every large-scale joint Anbu operation came with a cipher system, used to guide scattered squads back to their leaders.
Each team could recognize their superior's location by coded markings, then regroup with the main force.
With this scroll, Yagami could locate the division captain directly.
Once he became a squad leader himself, he could take missions directly—learn more, act freely, and stop being just another expendable tool.
Returning to the battlefield, Yagami found Uzumaki Yuka lying on the ground, a kunai still lodged in her abdomen.
She didn't dare move. The bleeding wasn't heavy, but pulling it out might make it fatal.
When a shadow fell over her, she exhaled in relief. "Fox, you came!"
"I'm here," Yagami said, crouching beside her. "Sorry, I had to obey the captain's orders earlier. I'll treat your wound now."
Confusion and resentment flickered across Yuka's face.
The Hidden Leaf's Anbu… trying to steal a sealing scroll developed by the Uzumaki clan?
At least Fox was a Senju. He'd prepared ahead of time, coating the kunai with medicine—otherwise she'd be dead already.
Pfft!
Yuka's jaw trembled as a kunai buried itself in her throat. Blood sprayed into her mouth.
For a moment, Yagami felt a faint pang of guilt… which vanished instantly.
The hemostatic agent had only been bait—to win her trust, to make killing her easier, to fulfill Captain Antelope's orders.
He wasn't a Senju spy.
Who in their right mind would spy for the Senju clan—a clan doomed to extinction?
Yagami hadn't been reborn into this ninja world to play hero. He just wanted to live.
Yuka's eyes were wide with confusion and disbelief, silently asking why?
Yagami didn't answer.
Blame yourself for knowing too much.
The secret of the Curse Seal of Self-Binding… his silent rebellion against Captain Antelope… if any of it got out, he'd be dead.
As the great scientist Newton once said—better my companion die than me.
After searching Yuka's body and finding no more sealing scrolls, Yagami replenished his kunai supply and vanished into the night.
***
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