A narrow strait separated the Land of Waves from the Land of Fire, so narrow that a single bridge could cross it.
Even though it was closer to the Land of Fire, the Land of Waves' mission allocation had always belonged to Uzushiogakure.
After crossing the strait and entering the Land of Fire, Battalion Commander Yellow Dog sent for Yōkō.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog looked Yōkō up and down, then said, "You are the only one left from the Brown Bear Squadron. Your strength isn't sufficient to serve as a Squadron Leader yet. I'm assigning you to the Black Gorilla Squadron."
Yōkō nodded. He observed Squadron Leader Black Gorilla – tall, exceptionally burly, clearly very strong in taijutsu. He wondered what ability he could draw from Squadron Leader Black Gorilla.
He had drawn the Shadow Clone Technique from Captain Antelope and the Body Flicker Technique from Squadron Leader Brown Bear. The Anbu members were full of good stuff.
Upon joining the Black Gorilla Squadron, Squadron Leader Black Gorilla first had Yōkō act alone.
Yōkō was a squad leader, making it awkward to assign him to another squad. The other squads were also severely understrength and unwilling to give members to Yōkō.
The team continued forward.
As they walked, the surrounding mist grew thicker and thicker.
"Squadron Leader Black Gorilla, is this a natural fog bank, or..."
"This is the Land of Fire. Even if Kiri-nin come, we have absolute confidence in defeating them."
Yōkō glanced at the ragged remnants of soldiers around him, unsure where Squadron Leader Black Gorilla's confidence came from.
Uzumaki Yuka summoned the large Spear Egret, ready to have the egret carry Uzumaki Kushina away at any moment.
The atmosphere grew more and more oppressive.
In the thick fog, visibility was only two or three meters.
Yōkō adjusted his mask to ensure his vision wasn't overly restricted by the eye holes.
He could see trees two meters away, but beyond that, everything was a vast whiteness.
The damp mist made everyone uncomfortable.
A sound of something cutting through the air suddenly came from behind his head!
The back of his scalp tingled. Yōkō fell forward.
A kunai grazed his hair and embedded itself in the tree trunk opposite.
Yōkō quickly adjusted his posture on the ground, turning to stare into the thick fog behind him.
However, he could see nothing in the dense fog.
This time, the Kiri-nin weren't using the Silent Killing technique for close combat but were harassing from a distance with kunai.
With a visual range of only two or three meters, by the time you saw the kunai, it was too late to dodge.
Relying on hearing was better than relying on sight.
Screams of pain erupted around them as Uzumaki ninja were hit by kunai.
Compared to the Uzumaki ninja, the Konoha Anbu were more disciplined, keeping their mouths shut even if they were turned into pincushions.
Boom!
This wasn't a matter of keeping quiet anymore; the Kiri-nin started using explosive tags!
Kirigakure, primarily composed of Water Release users, was bringing out precious explosive tags. They were getting desperate.
Amid the explosions, an Anbu ninja was engulfed in flames and thick smoke, collapsing in front of Yōkō.
A gruesome death; everything below the thighs was gone, bone fragments exposed on the severed stumps.
At that moment, Yōkō suddenly felt a chill.
It was a chill brought by the wind.
Immediately after! A terrifying air pressure!
Yōkō disregarded everything else, turned, and pressed himself tightly against the large tree behind him.
The tree opposite wasn't sturdy enough; it was snapped by the wind and was about to fall on him.
Yōkō quickly formed hand signs and sank into the ground.
When he emerged back on the surface, the surrounding thick fog had completely vanished.
A single Wind Release technique had dispersed hundreds of meters of thick fog?
All the less sturdy trees around had been blown over by the gale.
Yōkō looked into the distance and saw Shimura Danzo, who had just finished his hand signs.
Danzo had brought two assistants for support.
My god.
Shimura Danzo actually made him feel such a great sense of security.
Danzo's Four White Eyes, with their small pupils, stared at a group of Kiri-nin in the distance.
Momochi Zabuza and Momochi Jinpachi of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen saw that it was Danzo and left without looking back.
Danzo glanced at the two miserable Anbu battalions, reduced to less than half strength, and did not order a pursuit.
The Anbu members jumped up from the wreckage of tree stumps and gathered behind Danzo.
Battalion Commanders Yellow Dog and Green Sparrow stood behind Danzo, awaiting his instructions.
The Uzumaki ninja also gathered.
The Head of the Sealing Unit looked relieved: "Minister Danzo, I didn't expect you to come personally to our aid. In all of Konoha, only you can deal with the large-scale dense fog jointly deployed by the Kiri-nin."
Danzo nodded and looked at Uzumaki Kushina: "The Uzumaki Princess... She doesn't seem like a Jinchūriki. Did it fail?"
The Head of the Sealing Unit nodded: "There were many Kiri-nin scouts around the wild Three-Tails. We sacrificed many people but still couldn't seal the Three-Tails."
Yōkō stood at the back of the Anbu ninja, pretending to rest, half-crouched on the ground.
Through the gaps between people, he saw Danzo's clenched fists, his knuckles white.
It seemed Danzo wasn't as calm internally as he appeared on the surface; he was very angry.
He always maintained a deadpan expression, not showing joy or anger; no one could tell before he erupted in rage.
If Uzumaki Kushina had become the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, all of Konoha's plans regarding the Nine-Tails would have fallen through.
The Nine-Tails was one of Konoha's foundations. Uzushiogakure's covert operation had almost caught Konoha off guard.
Danzo remained silent for several seconds.
No one dared to speak.
The young Kushina hid behind Yuka. She found this gloomy middle-aged man too frightening.
Danzo slowly said: "The remnants of the two Anbu battalions will continue escorting the Uzumaki Princess back to Uzushiogakure."
Having said that, Danzo turned and left with his assistants.
Yōkō was somewhat puzzled. Konoha was determined to get Uzumaki Kushina; why not seize her now?
Did they want Uzumaki Kushina to enter Konoha willingly?
The two Anbu battalions continued, escorting the Uzumaki Princess to the Land of Whirlpools peninsula.
Along the way, Uzumaki Yuka occasionally observed the Anbu, each time accurately finding Fox.
She would quickly look away to avoid being noticed by the Anbu.
Fox hid well, inconspicuous among the Anbu ninja.
If the two battalions hadn't been reduced to just over 40 Anbu ninja, Fox would have been even better hidden.
The spy selected by the Senju clan was of high quality.
The team arrived near Uzushiogakure. A Yatagarasu flew out from the village.
The massive Yatagarasu soared overhead, startling the small Spear Egret on Uzumaki Yuka's shoulder, making it tuck its neck in.
"Don't be afraid, that's our village's guardian summon. It won't harm you."
After seeing the Uzumaki ninja to the village gate, the Anbu ninja did not enter. After a brief farewell, they left.
Yōkō breathed a sigh of relief.
He had been away for too long and really wanted to return to the village. Ideally, he wouldn't have to come out again after returning.
The outside world was dangerous; he wanted to go home.
After leaving Uzushiogakure, Yōkō realized the direction was wrong.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog led the Anbu to a high mountain near Uzushiogakure.
Four Anbu Squadron Leaders used a Barrier Technique.
A transparent barrier enveloped the mountaintop.
From the outside, it still looked like a mountaintop, but the four Squadron Leaders had vanished, becoming invisible.
The Anbu ninja walked into the barrier, disappearing one by one behind it.
A Camouflage Barrier?
Yōkō also walked into the barrier.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog began assigning tasks to the Squadron Leaders. Squadron Leader Black Gorilla then gathered his three squad leaders, including Yōkō.
"Three shifts! Use telescopes from within the Camouflage Barrier to keep watch on Uzushiogakure!"
Yōkō was assigned to the first shift.
Lying behind a rock, Yōkō used a telescope to observe Uzushiogakure not far away.
—
The full moon was like a silver platter, its light resembling white frost.
Yōkō had been looking forward to the night of the full moon.
Three days later, Danzo brought a full-strength Anbu battalion into the Camouflage Barrier as well.
Advisor Danzo stayed within the barrier for several days, exceptionally patient, sitting quietly on a rock, neither anxious nor impatient, waiting for something unknown.
With all the Anbu inside the barrier under Danzo's watchful eye, everyone grew increasingly tense.
It seemed the great calamity for the Uzumaki clan was unavoidable.
(End of Chapter)