Late at night on the fourth day, a carriage departed from the Senju clan compound.
The carriage's doors and windows were tightly shut.
Inside were only two people — the elderly Uzumaki Mito and the young Princess Kushina.
Senju Rinju, Tsunade, and all the jōnin of the Senju clan followed in the darkness.
Behind the Senju procession was a squad from Konoha's Anbu.
Yako thought to himself, So the change of the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki is finally about to begin?
To avoid the Nine-Tails going berserk and destroying the village, the higher-ups and the Senju clan had decided to carry out the crucial sealing transfer on Mount Niuhe, ten kilometers northwest of the village.
Yako glanced at the carriage in the middle of the road.
If I were to die at Uzumaki Mito's hands… would I get some god-tier ability?
The Body of the Uzumaki Sage? Some secret sealing technique of the Uzumaki? Maybe even a portion of the Nine-Tails' power?
The thought alone made him a little excited.
It was the fourth day of the lunar month, eleven days until the full moon. If he chose to die now, he'd have to last eleven days before his next revival.
With the current tense atmosphere in the Anbu, lasting eleven days without dying would be difficult. If he died during an Anbu mission before that, it would be troublesome.
Living longer was the real deal — better not take unnecessary risks.
As Yako's thoughts wandered, Captain Black Ape fell back from the front of the Anbu unit, turning to give hand signals to the three squads behind him.
The Black Ape squad broke off from the main group and accelerated northward.
Yako glanced back at Uzumaki Mito's carriage in confusion. Where are we going?
Not just the Black Ape squad — two other squads also broke away, vanishing in different directions.
After traveling several kilometers, Captain Black Ape gathered the squad leaders and said:
"You three squads have all secretly sent out information before. Tomorrow, the Senju clan will be holding a funeral for Uzumaki Mito.
According to intel from the border, a powerful force has broken through the Fire Country's border defenses and entered deep into our territory.
Our squad's mission is to locate this force, determine their identity, and find out whether their target is Uzumaki Mito.
White Ram, your squad is the main reconnaissance unit; the other two squads will handle combat."
The masked White Ram hailed from the Hyūga clan — a reconnaissance specialist Captain Black Ape had fought hard to get.
The Black Ape squad reached Mount Niuhe first and began scouting the area from there.
An hour later, White Ram suddenly gave a hand signal.
"Four suspicious individuals spotted at our nine o'clock!
They have massive chakra reserves and are moving fast."
The Black Ape squad quickly moved to confirm the intruders' identities.
When large ninja units moved, they often dispatched scouts ahead to gather intelligence and detect enemies early.
These four suspicious figures were likely a recon team sent ahead of an invading force.
The Black Ape squad closed in swiftly.
White Ram's squad was in the rear, Fox squad and Leaf Monkey squad flanked the sides, and Captain Black Ape stayed in the center.
White Ram shouted, "They've spotted us! They're turning toward us!"
Black Ape said,
"This is deep inside Fire Country. Don't waste time — go all out and crush them in one blow!
Purple Cat, get ready to extract intel from their brains!"
The named Purple Cat looked nervous.
This was her first time facing a powerful enemy since joining the Anbu.
Anyone capable of breaking through the border defenses and penetrating into Fire Country's heartland was bound to be formidable.
"They're here! Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!"
A massive dragon of stone and earth roared toward them, shattering more than a dozen large trees in its path.
An intimidating jutsu.
That alone proved there was at least one jōnin among the enemy.
Except for the high-ranking inner-circle jōnin, most jōnin had personal ambitions and wouldn't hide away in the Anbu for long.
They preferred to walk openly under the sun, building their mission record and reputation.
The Anbu were absolutely loyal, but their jōnin numbers were limited.
Facing a jōnin, even Black Ape felt some unease. He was a tokubetsu jōnin — a step below full jōnin.
Still, unease was no excuse to retreat.
Everyone leapt to the sides, dodging the charging Earth and Stone Dragon.
The technique split the Black Ape squad in two.
North of the dragon were Captain Black Ape and Leaf Monkey squad; to the south were Fox squad and White Ram squad.
"Not good!"
Three enemy ninja suddenly appeared beyond the dragon, rushing straight for Captain Black Ape.
A full squad's strength was formidable, but half a squad going up against a jōnin-led unit was extremely dangerous.
Yako and White Ram leapt forward at the same time, leading their squads to cross to the other side of the dragon.
Suddenly, the dragon's back arched, flinging Fox squad and White Ram squad into the air.
The two squads tumbled midair.
Yako and White Ram adjusted their stances, landing steadily, while the weaker members staggered upon hitting the ground.
White Ram fixed his gaze on the relaxed Iwa-nin jōnin ahead and said firmly:
"Fox, your close combat is the strongest. We'll fight to the death to give you an opening."
"Got it."
On the other side, Captain Black Ape and Leaf Monkey squad clashed with the three Iwa-nin.
They had to regroup with the captain — otherwise they'd be picked off one by one.
Purple Cat and another Anbu member provided long-range kunai cover while White Ram charged forward.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear Gun!"
The Iwa-nin jōnin formed seals, and four stone spears shot from the ground.
"Rotation!"
White Ram displayed the Hyūga clan's secret technique, forming a spinning dome of chakra that shattered the stone spears.
The Iwa-nin jōnin's interest was piqued — he hadn't expected to encounter such a capable Hyūga.
He didn't drop his hand seals, sending wave after wave of stone spears.
The ground became like a hedgehog's back, bristling with spears or budding with spear points ready to erupt.
White Ram quickened his pace, using Rotation again to smash several more spears.
But high-level jutsu were hard to break. After two Rotations in a row, White Ram was panting heavily.
As more stone spears came, he forced out a third Rotation.
This time, one spear pierced the chakra dome and stabbed into his abdomen.
"Keep going!"
An Anbu member stepped on White Ram's shoulder, leaping toward the Iwa-nin jōnin.
He didn't get far before a spear impaled him midair.
Yako immediately followed, using the airborne Anbu's corpse as a stepping stone to close in on the Iwa-nin jōnin.
Catching a gap in the jutsu, Yako finally reached him.
His ninjatō came down in a heavy strike.
The jōnin finally released his seals, raising a metal-braced forearm to block.
"Cloud-Style Kenjutsu!"
At the last instant, Yako's downward slash shifted into a diagonal cut aimed at the jōnin's neck.
The essence of the Cloud-Style lay in changing the strike as late as possible, leaving no time for the opponent to predict or react.
His eyes lit up!
The blade connected with the jōnin's neck.
With long-range support from kunai, White Ram's all-out effort, and the sacrifice of an Anbu member as a stepping stone, they had finally secured an opening.
But Yako instantly tasted despair.
Something felt wrong.
A strike to the throat shouldn't feel like this.
The Iwa-nin jōnin's body suddenly went limp, melting into a pile of mud.
Earth Substitution!
The same A-rank replacement technique favored by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage.
The jōnin's figure appeared behind Yako in an instant.
Yako bent forward sharply, dodging the kunai aimed at his lower back.
Such reaction speed was almost unbelievable.
But while he evaded the first strike, he couldn't avoid the second.
A stone spear burst from the ground, piercing through his chest.
[Host death detected. Arc of the Waning Moon activating…]
If I die on recon duty in the outskirts… what's going to happen on the main battlefield?