All his subordinates stood guard outside the cave, while Night Light lay by the bonfire, silently feeling the changes in his body.
His platelets were very active, and the bleeding from his wounds stopped quickly.
The wounds were numb and itchy, and granulation tissue was slowly growing.
The physiques of the Senju Clan and Uzumaki Clan gave Night Light a few more chances for error.
Three days later, with his injuries stable and improving, Night Light met with each Anbu member individually.
First were the remaining three members of the Leaf Monkey Squad.
All three said the same thing: the Leaf Monkey Squad Leader had been completely normal before, and they didn't know when he had been controlled.
After failing to extract any useful information, Night Light appointed Flower Deer as the Squad Leader.
The Leaf Monkey mask was too unlucky; whoever wore it died, and it nearly killed him. It was a pity about Leaf Monkey, who he had killed with his own hands.
Changing the Squad Leader, he hoped this squad would have a change of luck.
Afterward, Night Light met with Bai Yang.
Bai Yang said he had kept his Byakugan active the entire time and hadn't found any abnormalities. There was no one hidden within a three-kilometer radius.
The enemy's methods were so subtle that even the Byakugan couldn't detect them.
Finally, it was Purple Cat's turn.
Purple Cat said:
"Squad Leader, I last used the Mind Body Switch Technique on Leaf Monkey, intending to control him and stop him from attacking you further.
My technique failed!
Leaf Monkey had two souls inside him! I've never seen such a situation!"
Night Light's expression changed, and he understood in his heart.
He had once suspected that Leaf Monkey had also fallen under Uchiha Madara's genjutsu, as three Leaf Ninja had fallen under genjutsu before his eyes.
He was almost misled by Uchiha Madara; the recent infighting in the Anbu and Leaf Monkey's attack on him were not genjutsu, but soul-based secret techniques.
He had finally found the evidence.
As far as Night Light knew, only Kato Dan possessed such abilities.
Kato Dan, this talented retainer of the Senju Clan, seemed to have truly made a move against the Village.
Thinking carefully, one couldn't blame the Senju Clan and Kato Dan for being extreme; the Village was extreme first, far more extreme than the Senju Clan.
Five days later, Night Light finally emerged from the cave.
The injury to his shoulder had completely recovered and did not affect his combat ability at all.
The enemy was too dangerous, either Uchiha Madara or Kato Dan; he had to fully recover before taking action.
Outside the cave, the heavy rain continued to fall ceaselessly.
Night Light said:
"We're returning to the front-line camp, but we'll take a detour, first to the Land of Fire, and then back to the camp. The situation we encountered here is too complex for our squadron to resolve.
We are only here to complete an investigation mission; there's no mandatory objective to achieve, so it's not considered abandoning the mission."
In a cave twenty-odd kilometers away, Kato Dan said to his two guards:
"Today I will use the forbidden technique one more time to investigate Hanzo's intelligence. Please help me guard."
The two guards stood at the cave entrance, while Kato Dan leaned against the wall.
There was a Hyuga Ninja in the Anbu Fox Squad.
That Hyuga Ninja had also participated in the Nine-Tailed transfer sealing, and he must have seen a lot of intelligence.
If he could obtain information from the Hyuga Anbu, perhaps he could find the truth behind the severe damage to the Senju Clan.
After forming hand signs, Kato Dan used the forbidden technique Spiritual Transformation Technique.
His soul flew out, passed through the mountain above the cave, and appeared in mid-air.
The souls of everyone around him were like candlelight in the dark night.
Under Bai Yang's command, the Fox Squad detoured south, preparing to enter the Land of Fire from the southern part of the Land of Rain.
Because of Leaf Monkey's sudden ambush last time, all Anbu members maintained a certain distance, giving each other reaction time.
Night Light was at the very back of the team, watching every subordinate in front of him.
In the midst of the calm, Antelope suddenly reached into his Ninja tool pouch.
Night Light shouted: "Antelope! Don't move! Take your hand out!"
However, the next second, Antelope already had five Exploding Tags in his hand.
"Get away!"
The Exploding Tags flew in five different directions, exploding instantly.
Amidst the continuous roars, Night Light saw Purple Cat blasted onto a nearby tree trunk, and Black Bull fell from mid-air, spitting blood.
Purple Cat's squad suffered heavy casualties.
Night Light quickly stepped forward and caught Black Bull, who was closest to him.
Black Bull's chest was blasted, scorched black, with charcoal and tumors on his skin.
Just as he was about to put Black Bull down, Black Bull suddenly raised his Kunai and stabbed it towards Night Light's side rib.
On the tree trunk, Antelope said in horror: "It wasn't me! I was suddenly controlled just now!"
Kato Dan's soul had already transferred from Antelope to Black Bull!
Black Bull's Kunai only stabbed into a lump of humanoid mud.
Kato Dan's soul body paused, Earth Replacement Technique?
Black Bull's Kunai missed, and he then turned to stab the ground beneath him.
Unfortunately, Night Light did not ambush Black Bull immediately.
Seeing that his counterattack failed, Black Bull looked at Purple Cat, who was closest to him.
Purple Cat was also blasted and was swaying, trying to stand up.
Black Bull rushed straight at Purple Cat, his movements and habits completely changed, unlike the Black Bull from before.
The Kunai stopped three centimeters from Purple Cat's mask's brow.
Night Light emerged from underground, his Kunai piercing Black Bull's arm.
He didn't want to kill Black Bull.
However, Black Bull's palm loosened, the Kunai dropped, and he grabbed the Kunai with his other hand, continuing to stab at Purple Cat.
Night Light kicked Black Bull away.
Black Bull's chest was already severely wounded from the blast, and after taking another kick from Night Light, he rolled painfully in the mud.
Antelope fell from the tree: "Sorry! Squad Leader! I don't know what controlled me!"
Antelope's tone was full of apology, yet his Ninja blade was aimed straight at Night Light's throat.
Night Light felt his scalp tingle, not because Black Bull and Antelope were particularly strong, but because the feeling that everyone around him could be an enemy made him feel that danger was everywhere.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A wall of water surged out, sending Antelope flying.
Antelope crashed into a horizontally growing tree trunk above him, getting dizzy and falling heavily to the ground.
He struggled to look up, mumbling: "Squad Leader, I really didn't mean it."
Night Light turned to look at Purple Cat; only Purple Cat currently had the ability to discern whether someone's soul was controlled.
Purple Cat slowly looked up and said: "Squad Leader, I will use the secret technique now..."
Purple Cat began to form hand signs.
Night Light thought, even if Kato Dan controlled Purple Cat, he couldn't possibly use a Yamanaka Clan secret technique, could he?
The next instant, the senbon steel needles hidden in Purple Cat's wrist suddenly stabbed towards Night Light.
Crack!
Night Light reached out and grabbed Purple Cat's wrist, lifted Purple Cat, and punched Purple Cat in the abdomen, cutting off Purple Cat's ability to resist.
In the heavy rain, Night Light watched Purple Cat slowly fall, feeling hot all over and irritable in his heart.
Was this the pressure Kato Dan brought to his enemies?
Everyone around him was untrustworthy, and all squad cooperation methods became a joke.
No wonder Kato Dan said he wanted to become Hokage, and even a prodigy like Tsunade strongly supported him.
Ordinary Ninja squads facing Kato Dan would only be unilaterally slaughtered.
If even Purple Cat couldn't be relied upon, how was Night Light to face an Elite Jonin who had mastered forbidden techniques?