His vision went black, then shifted.
Yōkō awoke on the small boat, arriving at the full moon night when they had just landed in the Land of Waves.
Adjusting his fox mask, the sensation of being burned to death in his previous life hadn't faded yet. His face felt scorched, as if his flesh had melted and charred.
"Fox, get off the boat now!"
Different from the last life, Yōkō hesitated for a moment, not jumping off the boat immediately, and was urged by the captain.
Yōkō remembered clearly that Captain Antelope definitely hadn't said this last time.
After resurrection, most things would follow the script, but some of his own actions or changes could lead to different situations, which Yōkō was unwilling to see.
Before reaching the time of his death in the previous life, he must be careful and try to act according to the past, as that was the only way to maintain the advantage of knowing the plot.
Yōkō took an extra look at Captain Antelope, feeling deeply wary of the captain's hidden Fire Release.
So treacherous, actually hiding his abilities, not even telling his subordinates.
A team should know each other thoroughly and cooperate with each other.
If team members don't know the captain's abilities and strength, they might make wrong choices because of it. Wasn't that treating lives like grass?
The Anbu extremely emphasized loyalty, everyone was monitored by other Anbu, and Captain Antelope was also guarding against his team members.
Captain Antelope glanced at Fox. He just urged him, why did Fox's eyes seem strange?
[Mochizuki's Arc Activated!
The host has one resurrection opportunity per month. Upon death, will resurrect on the previous full moon night.
Reward: One draw opportunity:
1- Shadow Clone Technique (Beginner);
2- Fire Nature Chakra;
3- Taijutsu Locking Technique (Beginner).]
The Taijutsu Locking Technique was the skill Captain Antelope used to lock him down with his arms, very powerful and hard to break free from.
He had the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal, so he didn't need a locking technique.
Fire Nature Chakra wasn't needed right now either.
He was a pseudo-Chūnin; being able to use Earth Release well was already good enough.
Before becoming an Elite Chūnin, there was no need to consider developing chakra natures.
Even if he developed Fire Nature Chakra, his chakra amount couldn't support using it multiple times.
In the end, Yōkō chose the Shadow Clone Technique.
The Shadow Clone Technique could create physical clones, sometimes even difficult to see through with ocular techniques.
Captain Antelope was particularly skilled in Shadow Clones, often using them, or the lives of his subordinates, to probe for information.
Dividing chakra equally was a flaw of the Shadow Clone.
This flaw wasn't a disadvantage for ninja with either exceptionally large or exceptionally small chakra reserves.
For those with large reserves, half was still enough to use.
For those with small reserves, there wasn't much to begin with, so how much less could it get?
For the current Yōkō, equal division wasn't a bad thing; at worst, he'd just use taijutsu to fight.
Same as the last life, the plot progressed, and the team arrived at the seaside fishing village.
Choosing a direction, they infiltrated the space beneath the stilt houses. Horned Ox got a face-full of flying [attack?], and in anger, used an explosive tag.
Yōkō fought while retreating, hiding to the side.
This time, he knew where Captain Antelope's real body was hiding, so he was more careful when forming hand seals to use the sealing technique, ensuring the captain wouldn't see it.
The Kumo-nin hidden among the fishermen made their move. In the end, Horned Ox died, and Captain Antelope was injured.
Yōkō rushed out from the sea water and carried away the injured Captain Antelope.
In the coconut grove, Captain Antelope only felt a pain in his side.
His scalp went numb, thinking Fox was trying to kill him.
He quickly looked down and saw Fox giving him an injection of a hemostatic agent.
Captain Antelope breathed a sigh of relief; Fox wouldn't be so foolish as to attack him.
Even if he was seriously injured, having taken several cuts, he could still kill Fox.
The two came to a natural cave in a reef and hid inside.
This time, Yōkō not only had no trace of murderous intent, but also carefully treated Captain Antelope's wounds.
There were still over ten days until the full moon; without Captain Antelope, he wouldn't survive.
Being an Anbu ninja was too dangerous.
Captain Antelope felt Fox's concern, and coupled with Fox now being his only subordinate, his attitude towards Fox became much warmer.
Captain Antelope even started analyzing the situation:
"Fox, within our search area, there were actually two Kumo-nin squads.
It seems Kumo-nin are appearing in the Land of Waves on a large scale.
The mission share in the Land of Waves has always been a key point of contention between Kirigakure and Uzushiogakure.
To help Uzushiogakure, our Konoha has fought plenty against Kiri-nin, and many have died.
Without our Konoha Village, how could Uzushiogakure possibly stand against Kirigakure?
Recently, there have been many complaints circulating in the village, asking why we are helping an external village? Why not just seize the Land of Waves' mission share for ourselves.
Now with the appearance of the Kumo-nin, things have become complicated."
Yōkō thought for a moment, then asked:
"Captain Antelope, isn't Uzushiogakure our ally?
Are the complaints in the village arising naturally, or..."
"Stop!" Captain Antelope said sternly:
"If you want to survive in the Anbu, you must not know what you shouldn't know, and not ask what you shouldn't ask.
Those complaints about Uzushiogakure are, of course, arising naturally. Could it be that our Anbu is spreading them?"
Although Captain Antelope denied it, Yōkō felt it was eighty percent the Anbu's doing.
The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Mito's condition wasn't good; Yōkō had previously carried out a mission guarding the Senju clan compound.
Uzumaki Mito married into the Senju clan but actually didn't change her surname. That old lady's strength and status were unmatched by anyone.
Unfortunately, she was too old.
Regarding the arrangements for the next Jinchūriki, there seemed to be quite some disagreement between the village leadership and the Senju clan.
Previously, the Senju clan was responsible for communication with the Uzumaki clan.
This time, the village directly bypassed the Senju clan, with Danzo personally going to Uzushiogakure, proving that the village could no longer reach a consensus with the Senju clan.
Captain Antelope spent five days recovering from his injuries, then continued the mission, searching for Kumo-nin in a certain area.
This time, they found three Kumo-nin squads. Fortunately, Captain Antelope didn't order Yōkō to go probe for information.
Every time they found a Kumo-nin squad, they observed from afar and then carefully left.
Time passed day by day, finally arriving once again at the reassuring night of the full moon.
—
The full moon was like a silver plate, the moonlight like white frost.
Yōkō crouched on a reef.
The sea breeze was moist, blowing against his mask.
In the distance, Captain Antelope was reporting something to the Squadron Leader.
The sound of the waves was continuous, crashing and rustling; Yōkō couldn't hear what the two captains were saying.
He only saw Captain Antelope nodding repeatedly, agreeing to something.
Beneath the mask, Yōkō was very dissatisfied with his situation.
This won't do. Remaining a small fry in the Anbu, not even knowing the details of the mission, only able to follow the captain's orders.
This kept him passive in every mission.
He needed to at least become a squad leader, enter the mission assignment system, to know more intelligence.
Intelligence was too important, key to survival.
Staring at Captain Antelope's back, Yōkō calculated carefully.
Last time, he failed to kill him; consider him lucky.
Still needed to kill him quickly.
He looked at his system panel.
[Host Status:
Chakra Amount: Chūnin-level.
Chakra Nature: Earth.
Ninjutsu: Basic Three Techniques, Earth Release: Fish in Earth Reflection Technique, Shadow Clone Technique.
Taijutsu: Basic Taijutsu, Basic Kunai Throwing Technique.
Sealing Technique: Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal.
Other: None]
A good cook doesn't complain about the ingredients; a clever wife doesn't complain about the rice.
Using these abilities, he had to find a way to step over Captain Antelope's corpse and become a squad leader.
They were all Anbu; no one could call the other's heart black.
(End of Chapter)