"Captain, what is our next mission?"
"Don't ask things you shouldn't."
His small request was rejected. These damned Anbu rules.
Yōkō followed Captain Antelope, waiting at a small dock.
A few days later, their target arrived.
A squad of Uzumaki ninja, led by an acquaintance, Uzumaki Yuka.
Seeing the fox mask, Uzumaki Yuka felt a bit more at ease.
"Captain Antelope, Fox, I didn't expect it to be you. Where's Horned Ox?"
Captain Antelope said, "He sacrificed himself to scout information on the Kumo-nin."
A look of guilt appeared on Uzumaki Yuka's face: "I'm sorry. The sacrifices Konoha ninja make for us, we will remember sincerely."
"Konoha and Uzushiogakure are allies. It's what we should do."
Yōkō was somewhat surprised that Captain Antelope would say something so warm.
The two squads moved together. Uzumaki Yuka's mission was to seal a certain powerful, roaming ninja beast.
Taking advantage of a moment when the Uzumaki ninja were scouting, Captain Antelope said to Yōkō:
"Fox, use the goodwill Uzumaki Yuka holds for you to get close to her. Especially during combat, you must stay by her side, within two steps.
The target is the Adamantine Sealing Chains scroll. If necessary, you can kill Uzumaki Yuka and frame the Kumo-nin."
"Understood, Captain."
By a small lake, Uzumaki Yuka directed three Uzumaki ninja to set up three traps.
In each trap, explosive tags were buried at the bottom, with large wire nets above them.
It seemed they wanted to blast the nets into the air.
After setting the traps, everyone hid in the woods by the lake.
Yōkō lay prone within a bush, not far from Uzumaki Yuka's hiding spot.
Unexpectedly, Uzumaki Yuka initiative came over to Yōkō's side.
The two lay on the ground together, their figures concealed by the bushes, staring out at the lake surface.
Fights for ordinary ninja weren't as earth-shattering as those for Kage-level ninja; often, it was tedious searching and quietly lying in wait.
Every ninja had their own survival wisdom, especially the weak, who needed to be extra cautious.
Uzumaki Yuka asked quietly, "Fox, can you tell me your name?"
"Sorry, I can't."
A flicker of disappointment passed through Uzumaki Yuka's eyes, but she immediately said, "I know, you're the Senju's spy in the Anbu, so you can't say, can't take the risk."
Yōkō didn't answer, neither denying nor confirming, maintaining an air of mystery, which could actually deepen Uzumaki Yuka's misunderstanding.
Yōkō searched his memory; he had only seen some Senju clansmen during his time at the Ninja Academy.
After the Second Hokage's sacrifice, the Senju clan had always proclaimed they would restore the Senju's glory.
The whole clan was like they were injected with chicken blood, even the children shouting about becoming Hokage.
For example, Senju Nawaki from the original story shouted in the Ninja Academy that he would become Hokage.
If Yōkō returned to the village now and shouted that he wanted to become Hokage, no one would care. But if Senju Nawaki shouted it, many would take it seriously. People are different.
"Miss Yuka, what are you trying to capture?"
"The Lance Egret, a relatively rare flying ninja beast," Uzumaki Yuka said.
"Every Uzumaki ninja can sign a contract with their own summoning beast.
Sealing techniques themselves aren't particularly strong, but after forming contracts with summoning beasts possessing various special abilities, one's strength can improve qualitatively."
Yōkō felt a bit envious.
The Sannin's Sage Land summoning beasts, each one was powerful enough to crush Chūnin or even Jōnin.
Not only were the Kumo-nin and Kiri-nin jealous, even Konoha ninja were envious.
Yōkō turned his head slightly, looking through the gaps in the bush leaves upwards to the side, and Just right saw Captain Antelope's mask.
Captain Antelope was hidden in the canopy to the side, his eyes behind the mask seemed closed, or slightly squinted.
The strongest in the Uzumaki squad was Uzumaki Yuka, and Captain Antelope was keeping a constant watch on her.
Yōkō waited a long time, but Captain Antelope never shifted his attention, so Yōkō didn't take any action.
The ground was damp and warm, with insects crawling past from time to time.
Uzumaki Yuka, unaware that Captain Antelope was constantly watching her, carefully shifted under the bush, avoiding insects crawling onto her body.
As she twisted, she exposed more of the snowy white skin on her chest.
Yōkō remained unmoved, adjusted his mask slightly to cover his eyes better, and kept a careful watch on Captain Antelope.
He ate two Military Ration Pills, lying in wait from morning until evening.
The sun slanted westward, making it darker under the bushes.
A black dot suddenly appeared in the distance, flying towards them at high speed.
"It's coming! The Lance Egret is returning to its nest!"
It was a white egret about 3 meters long, with a hard, slender beak one meter long at the front; the remaining neck and body were also very slender.
After retracting its wings, the Lance Egret possessed an extremely fast diving speed.
Seeing Captain Antelope's attention was drawn by the Lance Egret, Yōkō asked quietly, "Yuka, do you have any poison needles?"
"Poison needles? Yes!"
Uzumaki Yuka took a poison needle from her tool pouch.
Yōkō didn't know poison-making techniques and had no poison.
To deal with the powerful Captain Antelope, he needed to rely on poison.
He took out a hemostatic agent, smeared it on a kunai, and placed the poison into his own tool pouch.
Fox's series of actions greatly confused Yuka.
Applying medicine to a kunai? Stabbing and staunching at the same time?
At that moment, the explosive tag traps detonated.
Three large nets were blasted into the air, one of them tangling in the Lance Egret's wing.
Uzumaki Yuka, I can't take care of it thinking about Yōkō's strange behavior, quickly jumped out and rushed towards the Lance Egret.
Seeing Uzumaki Yuka leave, Captain Antelope's attention completely shifted, and only then did Yōkō quickly take out the poison and inject it into the half-empty hemostatic agent bottle.
Everything was ready, waiting only for an opportunity to strike against Captain Antelope.
Following the captain's arrangement, Yōkō could not leave Uzumaki Yuka's side, so he also rushed out.
The Lance Egret's wing was tangled in the wire net, unable to fly, and it landed on the ground.
Its lance-like beak was exceptionally sharp; the first Uzumaki ninja to charge forward had his thigh pierced through by the beak.
That beak was just like a spear.
It was hard to imagine the killing power this ninja beast could have if it dove.
The Lance Egret's neck was long and powerful, constantly retracting and pecking forward, making the Uzumaki ninja afraid to get close.
"I'll do it!"
Uzumaki Yuka jumped forward, forming hand seals and using the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal.
The curse marks crawled up the Lance Egret's slender legs, then onto its wings and neck, finally binding the Lance Egret securely.
The Lance Egret was still struggling, trembling slightly.
Uzumaki Yuka explained to Fox beside her: "Next is the long process of taming it. This ninja beast is too big; we must first wear it down until it's exhausted, then use the contract summoning technique."
Yōkō glanced slightly and noticed Captain Antelope still hadn't appeared, remaining hidden in the canopy.
The contest of strength lasted a long time. Uzumaki Yuka finally subdued the Lance Egret; the ninja beast's eyes revealed a pleading look.
Seeing the time was ripe, Uzumaki Yuka took out a scroll hidden on her thigh under her skirt.
It was the Adamantine Sealing Chains scroll!
Just then, the situation changed abruptly.
While Uzumaki Yuka, Yōkō, and the three Uzumaki ninja were all focused on the sealing scroll, two squads of Kumo-nin, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, suddenly charged out from the side.
The scroll!
The Kumo-nin squads wanted to seize the sealing scroll to study the secrets of the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques.
To deal with the Kumo-nin, Uzumaki Yuka had no choice but to release the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal on the Lance Egret.
The Lance Egret's slender legs went weak, and it collapsed to the ground.
Uzumaki Yuka wasn't in much better shape; sweat had soaked her bodysuit and dampened her dress.
Her skirt clung tightly to her waist and hips, as if she had been fished out of water.
The Kumo-nin charged forward. Their squad leader instantly killed one Uzumaki ninja.
Yōkō blocked in front of Yuka, parrying a ninja sword.
Captain Antelope finally jumped down from the canopy, engaging in one-on-one combat with the nearest Kumo-nin.
With Captain Antelope's strength, he could absolutely instantly kill that Kumo-nin, but he was fighting back and forth.
Yōkō immediately understood: Captain Antelope was slacking off. Because he was good at slacking off himself, he recognized it at a glance.
If the captain was slacking off, Yōkō had to slack off even more.
He was forced back by a Kumo-nin, his side nearly slashed open, and had to dodge.
This also exposed Uzumaki Yuka.
Uzumaki Yuka raised the scroll.
This scroll was originally meant to seal the ninja beast, but now she had to use it against the Kumo-nin.
Captain Antelope suddenly shouted: "Seize it!"
This order was for Fox; the Anbu also wanted a complete Adamantine Sealing Chains scroll.
Yōkō turned and swung his kunai, stabbing it into Uzumaki Yuka's abdomen!
(End of Chapter)