Purple Cat, waiting in the distance from the fortress, saw Captain Fox return with a corpse.
"Purple Cat, process the corpse first to ensure we can extract intelligence from it later. After processing the corpse, we'll go support the division's four squads."
Purple Cat said: "Alright. The Yamanaka clan has a secret technique that can preserve the memory areas of a corpse's brain for a long time."
After Purple Cat processed the corpse, the two quickly headed towards the other stronghold fortress.
"Purple Cat, the secret technique you used to process the corpse seems similar to some kind of sealing technique?"
"I don't know what channel the clan recently used to obtain new sealing techniques, but they allow for better preservation of brain tissue."
Yōkō thought to himself, This is truly 'when one whale falls, ten thousand things live'.
After the annihilation of the Uzumaki clan, the overall level of sealing techniques in the entire ninja world had visibly risen.
Kumogakure's development of Jinchūriki had advanced a step, making them stable weapons in the decisive battle against the Iwa-nin.
By the time Yōkō reached the stronghold fortress where Flower Deer and the others were conducting their feint attack, he could see thick smoke rising from the fortress in the distance.
The battle was over, and there was no sign of the four ANBU squads nearby.
Yōkō assessed the battlefield. The combat intensity wasn't very high; the four squads had blown up the fortress and quickly fled.
Yōkō changed direction and headed towards the pre-arranged rendezvous point with the squads.
Under a certain waterfall in the north of the Land of Rivers, Yōkō waited for his squads.
The abundant rainwater from the Land of Rain flowed southeast, becoming the many rivers of the Land of Rivers; flowing northeast, it became the many lakes and waterfalls of the Land of Rivers.
The waterfall roared.
Purple Cat was extracting intelligence from the corpse. Yōkō looked into the distance, hoping his squads would return safely.
Before long, gliders appeared one by one on the horizon.
Seeing the number of gliders, Yōkō breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed there were no large-scale casualties.
After the gliders landed, the four squad leaders came before Yōkō.
"Report your combat status and losses."
The four squad leaders reported in turn.
The feint attack went very smoothly. The Earth Release users used the Earth Vibration Damping Cursed Seal to reach the base of the stronghold fortress's walls without the Iwa-nin detecting them.
They planted explosive tags and used them to blow up a section of the wall.
After pretending to attack inward to attract the enemy's attention, the Earth Release users quickly retreated.
During the escape, two team members sacrificed themselves.
The pre-prepared gliders descended from the sky.
Some gliders dropped explosive tags from high altitude to harass the Iwa-nin.
Some gliders picked up the Earth Release users.
Two other gliders seized the opportunity to retrieve the bodies of the two ANBU members, preventing intelligence leakage.
After luring the Iwa-nin far away, the Iwa-nin became increasingly disorganized.
Targeting isolated Iwa-nin squads, several squads managed to capture prisoners.
White Sheep had his Parasitic Destruction Insects burrow into the prisoners' bodies, controlling them. They couldn't commit suicide and lost control of their bodies.
Yōkō nodded repeatedly.
After being tempered by war, White Sheep and the others' judgment, strength, etc., had all improved.
Such a dangerous feint mission was actually completed with only two team members sacrificed.
Purple Cat also extracted sufficient intelligence and finished writing the scroll.
Yōkō looked at the scroll, and the first thing he saw was a term: Partial Tailed Beast Transformation!
In the Iwa-nin Jōnin's memory, Kumogakure's Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Ryūjin, had arrived at the front lines.
Ryūjin entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation on the battlefield and attacked the Iwa-nin with Tailed Beast Balls.
During the combat process, Ryūjin in Partial Tailed Beast Transformation was conscious, had clear objectives, and did not accidentally injure Kumo-nin.
This fact greatly shocked the Iwa-nin high and low.
Iwagakure's two Jinchūriki, Han and Rōshi, would both lose their minds and become unable to distinguish friend from foe after borrowing too much Tailed Beast chakra.
Iwagakure was very afraid of the Jinchūriki Han and Rōshi.
If Han and Rōshi participated in battles, the Iwa-nin would have to help suppress the Tailed Beasts afterward, often resulting in casualties.
Ryūjin's performance proved that Jinchūriki could perfectly control Tailed Beast chakra.
The fortress's garrison Iwa-nin witnessed with their own eyes that Ryūjin in Partial Tailed Beast Transformation was covered in a dark brown-red Chakra Cloak, and ordinary kunai and explosive tag attacks were ineffective.
After the battle ended, Ryūjin ended the Partial Tailed Beast Transformation. Apart from burns all over his skin, there were no other abnormalities.
This Iwa-nin Jōnin participated in the entire battle against the Jinchūriki Ryūjin, leaving behind valuable intelligence.
What level of attack the Jinchūriki completely ignored, what kind of attacks the Jinchūriki would evade – these were all important firsthand materials.
Yōkō said: "The division mission is successfully completed. Let's return to the village!"
It took over ten days for Yōkō to return to Konoha Village.
One major reason for the low income was the excessive time spent on the road.
A trip to the border of the Land of Earth took over 20 days round-trip; a whole month had passed.
After returning to the ANBU, Yōkō submitted the mission scroll to Deputy Minister Yellow Dog.
"Minister Yellow Dog, we have obtained reliable intelligence. Kumogakure's sealing technique level has significantly improved.
The Two-Tails Jinchūriki, Ryūjin, entered Partial Tailed Beast Transformation on the battlefield, remained conscious, and could distinguish friend from foe.
After the battle ended, no large forces were needed to suppress the Tailed Beast chakra, nor did she need others to help her control the Tailed Beast; she withdrew safely.
This scroll contains detailed records, including firsthand accounts of combat against a Jinchūriki in Partial Tailed Beast Transformation."
Yellow Dog nodded repeatedly, carefully reading the mission report. After finishing, he said:
"Come, accompany me to see the Hokage-sama. Kumogakure's sealing technique level is concerning.
If we encounter such a Jinchūriki on the battlefield, who can casually fire off Tailed Beast Balls with explosion diameters of hundreds of meters, how are we supposed to fight?"
Yōkō said: "Lord Yellow Dog, Purple Cat, White Sheep, and Flower Deer performed well in this battle.
Purple Cat's perfect extraction of intelligence from the corpse's brain saved me many steps like capturing alive and interrogation.
White Sheep and Flower Deer perfectly completed the dangerous feint mission. Facing five Iwa-nin companies, including the reinforcements, they retreated unscathed.
Their judgment, execution, and combat strength have all met the requirements for Special Jōnin.
What about their S-rank mission and Special Jōnin recommendations?"
"I agree to recommend them for promotion to Special Jōnin." Yellow Dog wouldn't refuse a request from his number one division captain. He said:
"Let's first report the intelligence on Kumogakure's Jinchūriki to the Hokage-sama. You fill out the recommendation materials today. I will have Black Ant, Golden Eagle, and you – three Jōnin – recommend Purple Cat, White Sheep, and Flower Deer for promotion to Special Jōnin."
"Yes, Minister."
"Why are you calling me Minister? I'm the Deputy Minister. Call me Deputy Minister."
"I know I should call you Deputy Minister, Minister. Speaking of which, Minister, have you considered advancing further?"
"What, do you also want to become a Minister-level Deputy Minister now?"
"Minister, I believe you can go straight to the top and directly become the Fourth Hokage. That would save me the trouble of dealing with Deputy-Minister-level Ministers; I could directly become the ANBU Minister. What do you think?"
Yōkō had been with Yellow Dog for a long time and suspected Yellow Dog was Sarutobi Hiruzen's eldest son, who had been serving in the ANBU, and Konohamaru's father.
Teasing him about becoming the Fourth Hokage wouldn't make Yellow Dog angry; on the contrary, he would be secretly pleased.
The Senju clan had produced two consecutive Hokage. Where did the Sarutobi clan fall short? Why couldn't they produce two consecutive Hokage?
Yellow Dog thought, Twin Hokage brothers from the Senju clan, twin Hokage father and son from the Sarutobi clan – wouldn't that be a beautiful story?
But verbally, he said: "Fox! That's going too far!
Our main task now is to complete missions for the Hokage-sama! What Fourth Hokage or not, how could I have such ambition?"
"Minister, you're out of breath talking. Are you laughing under that mask?"
***
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