After his rebirth, Night Light followed the plot of his previous life, first visiting Captain Black Ape, then informing Captain Huang Quan that Black Ape would need over a month to recover his combat strength.
After training the new recruits of his Squad, Night Light entered the Crane Moon Izakaya in the evening.
Inside the Izagaya, Night Light saw Senju Kaba, who had a broken leg, and his friend Yachi.
Watching the two chat at the bar, Night Light pondered his situation.
Being in the Anbu, he was unwilling to remain a mere pawn for Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.
To maintain a degree of autonomy, he couldn't allow Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo to grow too powerful.
With the Senju Clan annihilated, the Uchiha Clan annihilated, and the Hyuga Clan being trampled upon by Hiruzen Sarutobi, with the Hyuga Hiashi of the Main Family almost sent to the Hidden Cloud Village, Hiruzen Sarutobi's absolute power within Konoha Village meant Night Light would face more situations beyond his control.
Currently, the only person in Konoha Village who could suppress Hiruzen Sarutobi was Uzumaki Mito.
Night Light felt that he should find a way to leverage Uzumaki Mito's influence to preserve dissenting voices within the Village and prevent Hiruzen Sarutobi from monopolizing power.
The Senju Clan was key; if not to save the entire Senju Clan, then at least to preserve their lineage, like helping Vortex Yuka, and save more of the Senju Clan to give the Village's high-ranking officials a headache.
The more chaotic the Village, the greater his own space for survival.
Night Light walked to the bar, bantering with Qiao Yi, while listening to Senju Kaba and Yachi discuss his son nearby.
The next day, Yachi arranged for Senju Kaba's son, Senju Bo, to come.
Senju Bo's expression changed dramatically when he heard Yachi mention his Vortex mother; he leaned close to his teacher's ear and whispered a few words.
Yachi was greatly shocked and told his disciple not to act rashly, saying he would investigate first.
After Yachi left the Izagaya, he was filled with worry.
Senju Bo had met a woman in the Land of Grass, a Vortex Ninja with the Spear Egret as a summoning beast.
That person had told Bo the truth about the annihilation of the Vortex Clan: not only did the Hidden Mist Village and Hidden Cloud Village want the Vortex Clan dead, but Konoha had the same intention.
It was truly shocking.
Yachi had heard some rumors among the higher-ups; Clan Leader Senju Rinmu had always considered himself half-owner of Konoha and frequently criticized the work of other high-ranking officials.
Due to Senju Rinmu's status, other high-ranking officials did not openly say much.
But it was clear to anyone with eyes that the Hokage, Advisor, and others were unwilling to listen to Senju Rinmu emphasize the wills of the First and Second Hokage.
If Senju Rinmu inherited the wills of the two Hokage, did the Konoha high-ranking officials not inherit their wills?
Yachi was very confused; had the conflict among the high-ranking officials become so sharp?
Could an ally like Uzushiogakure be casually abandoned?
The Vortex Clan was an in-law of the Senju Clan; how could such a result be accepted?
Yachi looked towards the Death Forest in the northeast corner of the Village; he only knew that the Anbu base was in the Death Forest, but he didn't know how to begin his investigation.
Late at night, Yachi paced around the Village, mentally rejecting one plan after another.
Secretly investigating the Anbu—if such a thing were discovered by the Anbu, he would become a rogue Ninja.
Just as he passed a park, a white bird flew out from a tree on his left, flashed past, and entered the forest on his right.
Yachi was startled; why did that white bird look like a water bird?
Konoha didn't have such water birds.
A piece of paper fell from the sky, and Yachi reached out and caught it.
The note read: Senju Bo, in danger tonight.
Yachi suddenly realized that the white bird just now was clearly a White Heron.
His disciple had just said that he had met a Vortex female Ninja in the Land of Grass who had a Spear Egret as a summoning beast.
Could there be a force within the Village pushing for an investigation into the annihilation of the Vortex Clan?
Yachi quickly turned around and rushed back to the Izagaya where he had parted ways with his disciple.
It was already 2 AM, and the Izagaya had just closed.
The beautiful female owner was busy closing the windows, occasionally looking back with a radiant gaze at the handsome young man leaning against the back door frame.
Yachi didn't bother to inquire about the relationship between the couple and hurried from there towards the Senju Clan's territory.
Night Light glanced at Yachi's retreating back, wondering if he could save that young man from the Senju Clan.
He put his arm around Qiao Yi's waist and walked into the backyard.
After this resurrection, he must be careful; he only had one resurrection chance per month, and he could only relax a little after the next full moon.
The next day, Night Light went to the Anbu.
Leaf Monkey was deemed unsuitable for Anbu requirements by Night Light, so he went to Root again, asking Root to reassign or transfer a new recruit with Squad Leader potential from another Squad.
While he was waiting at Root, another Squad Leader was also complaining there.
"Can Root live up to Lord Danzo's expectations? The quality of the new recruits you train is too poor; they can't even complete a simple cleanup mission and let someone escape?"
Without the Tongue Root Curse Seal, Danzo's control over the Anbu and Root was far less than in the original story.
Danzo greatly needed the Vortex Clan's Sealing Scrolls.
Night Light's heart stirred; could last night's cleanup mission have been targeting Senju Bo?
Night Light didn't get a new Squad Leader and returned to his Squad to continue training the new recruits.
Inside the training ground deep within the Death Forest.
Two new recruits from the Fox Squad, three from the White Sheep Squad, and three from the Leaf Monkey Squad—a total of eight new recruits.
Purple Cat held a blunt training Ninja blade, smeared red paint on it, and then handed the Ninja blade to Night Light.
After Night Light gained the Senju bloodline, he felt an itch all over, longing for a satisfying fight.
He said to the eight new recruits:
"Konoha ANBU is truly getting worse with each generation; if this continues, does the Village even have a future? All eight of you come at me; don't disappoint me, you brand new pieces of trash!"
Having passed the rigorous Chunin Exams, Chunin were already the backbone of the Village and held some pride; how could they endure such humiliation from an acting Squad Leader?
The eight of them, each holding a weapon, attacked from several directions.
Night Light felt an inexhaustible surge of power throughout his body.
Vigorous energy was also a type of talent.
Only abundant energy and a durable body could support continuous effort and combat.
With two breakthroughs in his stress response, Night Light's reaction speed was very fast; he easily dodged two Ninja blades and kicked one person away.
"Idiots! Can eight people fit around me? Why don't three of you engage in long-range harassment? What kind of tactic is swarming me?"
A Ninja blade struck a new recruit's arm, knocking his Kunai away.
Finally, a few people retreated to the rear and threw Kunai at Night Light.
Two of them were decent, but one's Kunai throw was weak and ineffective.
Night Light grabbed his Kunai and threw it back.
"Don't underestimate basic Kunai throwing Jutsu! Your Ninja tool throwing foundation is too poor! Do you perhaps think Kunai throwing isn't a high-level Ninjutsu, so you look down on it?"
The thrown Kunai struck the new recruit in the throat.
The training Kunai was blunt, but the man's throat was hit painfully, and he instinctively bent over.
Night Light kept shaking his head.
Konoha had steadily weakened during the Second and Third Ninja World Wars; even the decline in Anbu Ninja quality was so obvious, the strength of the Ninja in the Village was probably even worse.
Meanwhile, Purple Cat's surprise grew; how could the Fox Squad Leader be so strong?
Anbu Ninja combat primarily involved Taijutsu and Exploding Tags; the Fox Squad Leader's movements were fluid, without any sense of sluggishness, as if his body had undergone a second development.
Recalling the Squad Leader's performance in the changing room a few nights ago, Purple Cat's neck flushed red, and she quickly lowered her head to record each new recruit's performance.
Just as the Squad's training was in full swing, Captain Huang Quan's assistant appeared in a flash.
"Two Special Jonin-level rogue Ninja have appeared within the Village! One of them is a Special Jonin from the Senju Clan. Captain Huang Quan orders your Squad to send a small team to pursue and eliminate the rogue Ninja!"
"I understand. I'll take a Squad there now."
Night Light thought, 'This is bad.' After he warned Yachi, the butterfly flapped its wings, and the plot of this life changed.
Senju Bo and Yachi had both been identified as rogue Ninja by the Anbu.