Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique!
Yako vanished and reappeared repeatedly, avoiding normal paths and traveling entirely underground with Earth Release.
When he reached the wooden walls of the town, he created a Shadow Clone and had it scale the wall.
"There's someone there! An assassin shinobi!"
The Uzumaki shinobi and samurai rushed out of the town, chasing after the clone.
Seeing the tactic work, Yako disappeared again with an Earth Release technique.
In a secluded alley, he panted heavily, slowly recovering chakra.
The mission was to assassinate the noble town chief. But Yako knew that wasn't enough.
If he wanted to become an official team captain, he had to earn Mid-Squad Leader Brown Bear's full trust—he had to go beyond.
Killing the noble was to cut off the Uzumaki's supply lines. That meant there might be stored provisions inside the town.
Destroying those would be overachieving the mission.
Catching his breath, Yako re-entered the inner city.
After a brief recon, he found two heavily fortified zones.
One was the noble's family residence—likely holding his heirs.
The other was a building guarded by three squads of samurai and an Uzumaki shinobi.
Whatever was inside had to be critical. Uzumaki shinobi wouldn't guard it otherwise.
At a corner, Yako slowly pulled back his head and eyes, estimated the distance, and began weaving hand seals.
His body sank into the ground.
Ripples spread across the earth like water.
Hiding Like a Mole Technique consumed a lot of chakra. It infused the ground with chakra to alter its density, letting the user swim through earth like a fish.
To avoid leaving behind a hollow tunnel, he had to use more chakra to restore the soil behind him.
The complex technique and massive chakra drain made progress slow.
Yako only knew the beginner-level version. Who knew what mastery would allow?
He emerged behind the Uzumaki shinobi—head and shoulders first.
"Ah!"
The Uzumaki ninja felt a sharp pain at his ankle—he turned to find his tendon slashed.
He immediately stabbed downward with a kunai.
Yako caught his wrist with his left hand and drove a kunai into the shinobi's stomach with his right.
He got the stab in—but his left hand took a hit from the enemy's kunai.
Ignoring the blood, Yako pulled himself fully out of the ground and dodged the Uzumaki's death throes.
The injured shinobi stumbled two steps forward—then gasped, "Poison! It's poison! This… this is Uzushio's poison?!"
Yako grinned inwardly. Of course it was Uzushio's. He still had some of Ujika's venom left.
The enemy collapsed, paralyzed. The nearby samurai charged.
Yako clashed with them directly.
Except for their captain, the samurai had no chakra. Their strikes were soft and easily broken through.
The captain was tougher—he'd infused his muscles with chakra for raw strength, but he lacked agility.
Yako killed four. The rest fled.
The Uzumaki shinobi was barely conscious on the ground.
Yako leaned against a wall, formed seals, and sank into it again with Hiding Like a Mole Technique.
Inside the building—it was a supply depot.
He opened one backpack after another—packed with supplies.
He grabbed six kunai and stuffed them into his tool pouch.
One large bag was filled with soldier pills. Jackpot.
A smaller pack held ten explosive tags.
Jackpot again.
Explosive tags were rare commodities. Only shinobi skilled in both Sealing and Fire Release could make them.
In Konoha, one tag cost 10,000 ryō.
ANBU issued flak vests and ninja swords, but not tags. Those had to be purchased out of pocket.
Risk your life for Konoha—and bring your own supplies. How generous.
He packed the tags into his tool pouch, pleased.
The rest—tents, bedrolls, medicine—he couldn't carry.
He took out an explosive tag with a heavy heart, infused it with a bit of chakra, and stuck it to the remaining supplies.
He phased out through the back wall and got a good distance away before forming seals—remote detonation.
Boom. Supplies rained down from the sky.
With a bag full of soldier pills, he fled amid the chaos.
Once safely away, Yako didn't rush to report to Brown Bear. He hid.
The full moon hung like a silver disc, moonlight pale as frost.
Only after the moon passed did Yako head to the coast and meet the mid-squad leader.
Paranoia. Always double-checking.
Brown Bear was alone.
"Mid-Squad Leader. I completed the mission. The noble who supported Uzushio is dead. I also looted some of his supplies. What I couldn't carry, I destroyed."
Yako placed the bag down and opened it—full of soldier pills.
And two explosive tags.
He kept the remaining seven for himself. No way he was turning those in.
He reluctantly revealed the two—he needed to explain how the explosion happened, after all.
If you're going to act, go all the way. No cracks in the story.
"Excellent. Very good. You performed far beyond expectations. Slow, yes—but steady. I thought for sure you…"
Brown Bear didn't finish the sentence.
He had sent Fox to kill a noble to pressure Uzumaki into reallocating shinobi for defense, lightening the front line burden.
But the noble was actually dead—and the supplies gone.
"Mid-Squad Leader, you thought I what?"
"Nothing. I'm satisfied."
"Also… there's some bad news."
"Bad news?"
Brown Bear's eyes narrowed. Was there a trap in the noble's court? A fallback plan from Uzushio?
"Matsudori… unfortunately, was killed in action."
Brown Bear exhaled deeply. Just nerves.
He said:
"For the village, a little sacrifice is necessary. We ANBU are the village's blade in the dark—razor sharp. But sharp blades break easily. It's inevitable."
Yako felt comforted. With the death toll in the squads—Antelope, Blue Wolf, and now Fox—he feared Brown Bear might grow suspicious.
But the mid-squad leader didn't care at all.
If ANBU didn't suffer losses, Yako would never have gotten in.
Brown Bear said:
"Leave the soldier pills. We desperately need them. I'll distribute them to the others.
As for the explosive tags—one for me, one for you. Keep one to protect yourself."
"You've grown. In this mission, you've proven yourself an elite ANBU—efficient and precise.
I now officially appoint you as team captain.
Our squad's taken heavy losses. I'll assign more operatives to you when I can.
If I can't find anyone suitable, you'll carry out missions solo."
"The squad's in rough shape. I can operate alone if needed."
Yako happily pocketed one explosive tag.
Didn't expect the mid-squad leader to be generous—even if he didn't care who died.
Now he had eight tags. Felt safer already.