This time, after being revived, Captain Brown Bear once again ordered Yoru to capture a Cloud ninja squad leader alive.
In his previous life, Yoru had ambushed the Cloud ninja with explosive tags. Remembering where that squad leader landed after his leap, he buried a second explosive tag there.
Having the advantage of foresight made things much easier.
This time, the Cloud squad leader fell into the second trap. Coughing blood, he propped himself up on his blade with great effort.
Yoru faced him one-on-one.
Instead of kunai, he drew a short sword.
He hadn't used a sword much before, but now, holding it, it felt like an extension of his arm, completely under his control.
Clang!
Steel met steel with a clear ring.
The Cloud squad leader was shocked. Not by the Anbu's strength, but because this Anbu was mirroring his movements exactly, even the speed was identical.
They clashed blades three times in succession, evenly matched each time.
The Cloud ninja felt as if every move he made was being seen through.
Yoru's heart leapt. The gap in swordsmanship had been closed, and now they were fighting on equal footing.
A sword was far more effective than kunai against someone like this, who combined speed and power.
As time went on and they traded blows, the Cloud squad leader grew weaker and weaker, his wounds from the explosive tag worsening.
It felt to him like he was fighting an Uchiha.
Every slash of his blade was anticipated.
Yoru's swordsmanship was essentially a perfect copy of the Cloud squad leader's own, the system had rewarded him based on his last death.
Two minutes later, the Cloud ninja could no longer hold out. Yoru struck his wrist with a clean slash.
The man's blade clattered to the ground.
Severing the tendons in both hands and feet, Yoru broke his arms, then hoisted him onto his shoulder and carried him toward the coast to find his captain.
The journey was troublesome.
At first, the Cloud squad leader thrashed wildly on his shoulder like a shrimp, forcing Yoru to stab him in the lower back with a kunai.
Later, the man tried to bite his tongue to commit suicide. Yoru had to gag him with a wad of cloth.
On the way, Yoru glanced up at the moon.
The full moon was bright as silver, the moonlight pale as frost.
Another chance at resurrection awaited him.
Exhausted, Yoru finally brought the captive Cloud squad leader back to the coast.
Captain Brown Bear saw Fox carrying a live prisoner back and was once again satisfied with his judgment.
An Anbu who constantly completed missions, that was the best kind of Anbu.
Fox had exceeded all expectations. Capturing a Cloud squad leader alive made him a trusted subordinate.
"Spotted Cat, interrogate this one with Fox. Find out what the Cloud are plotting in the Land of Waves."
"Yes, Captain."
Spotted Cat was the leader of another squad.
Yoru followed to watch how he handled interrogations.
After only a few minutes, he turned his head aside.
Compared to his own crude method of severing tendons, Spotted Cat was frighteningly professional.
The Cloud squad leader writhed and groaned, though his gag kept him from screaming.
Bloodshot eyes glared in agony, as though stricken with some horrible infection.
Trying to make small talk, Yoru said, "Captain Spotted Cat, you've got three subordinates. Why not spare me one?"
"Captain Fox, I value my comrades almost as much as the mission itself."
"Valued is valued. Give me one, and I'll value them too."
They haggled, but Spotted Cat wouldn't budge. He refused to spare even a single teammate.
So Yoru remained a lone captain, with no one to scout or draw fire for him.
The interrogation dragged on from noon into the night, and then deep into the early hours.
At last, Spotted Cat reported back to Captain Brown Bear, gasping for breath.
"What?" Brown Bear's voice was sharp with shock. After a moment's thought, he said, "We must report this to the battalion commander immediately."
The Cloud squads in the area had only been decoys.
The real purpose of the Cloud was to hold high-level talks with the Hidden Mist on the far side of the Land of Waves.
The Cloud and Mist had formed an alliance.
In the middle of the Shinobi World War, any such alliance would spell disaster for Konoha.
Captain Brown Bear hurried his squad to meet with the battalion commander, leaving the other squad behind.
The battalion commander, wearing a Yellow Dog mask, listened to the report, then signaled a communications ninja to contact Anbu Headquarters at once.
Yoru stood far away, unable to see how the message was sent.
Then red signal flares streaked into the night sky, the highest-level Anbu summons.
All who saw them were required to gather immediately.
Two understrength Anbu battalions abandoned their current missions and rushed northeast across the Land of Waves.
The atmosphere was grim. To abandon an assignment meant the new situation was far more urgent.
"Hurry! We must arrive in time!"
Captain Brown Bear gathered his three squad leaders.
"The Hidden Whirlpool Village failed to seal the Three-Tails. Their ritual was sabotaged by the Mist.
Now the Mist have used that as an excuse to declare war on the Uzumaki.
According to our intel, the Cloud may declare war as well.
Uzumaki Kushina, the Uzumaki Princess, is being pursued by Mist ninja even now.
We must protect her at all costs, she must not fall into Mist hands."
The Nine-Tails jinchūriki was due for replacement, and Konoha urgently needed a successor.
Danzō had personally come to Hidden Whirlpool Village, only to be rebuffed.
In secret, Anbu were also raiding Uzumaki sealing scrolls in the Land of Waves.
Their orders were absolute: protect the Uzumaki Princess.
She possessed unmatched sealing talent, was born to be a jinchūriki, and had already been chosen as Konoha's next Nine-Tails host.
At last, on the eastern beaches of the Land of Waves, Konoha's Anbu saw them,
A group of thirty Uzumaki ninja, guarding a small girl in the center.
The Uzumaki Princess had a head of brilliant red hair, the color of ripe tomatoes. She was no more than seven or eight years old.
At that very moment, she was watching one of her cousins fall dead before her eyes.
Facing the Uzumaki stood two forces:
On one side, over a hundred Mist ninja freshly landed. On the other, Cloud shinobi circling to cut off their escape.
Yellow Dog gave the order: "At any cost, protect the Uzumaki Princess!"
His battalion charged at the Mist, while the other struck at the Cloud.
Yoru realized bitterly that he was the only squad leader with no squad behind him.
He was both captain and soldier, alone. Surely it would be reasonable to lag behind, slowed by the rocks?
Up ahead, the two battalion commanders, both at least jōnin-level, unleashed Fire Release in unison.
Flames engulfed half the beach in an instant.
"Fire Style, it's the Anbu from Konoha!"
The Uzumaki cried out in relief.
Their allies from Hidden Whirlpool Village's partner village had arrived!
The Mist stood at the shoreline, surrounded by water, perfect terrain for Water Release.
Dragons of water crashed into blazing fireballs, erupting into clouds of steam.
Yellow Dog shouted: "Uzumaki! Take Princess Kushina and run!"