Yoru ordered the three surveillance squads to continue monitoring the Senju clan, then left the village alone to carry out his investigation mission.
The target was Shinmei, a 32-year-old chūnin and one of Sakumo Hatake's followers.
He was one of the older members of the group and appeared at every gathering.
Any shinobi who lived to thirty-two might not be outstanding in raw power, but their experience was always deep.
Sakumo Hatake was famous for valuing comrades, treating people with sincerity, and becoming genuine friends with those he worked with. He often gathered with them, visiting his home, going to yakiniku places, or to izakaya.
In Sakumo's eyes, every friend was precious. In the shinobi world, the next time they gathered might be at the memorial stone.
When he reached the village gate, Yoru saw the target squad.
The captain was Sarutobi Senjin, a 14-year-old special jōnin. The other three members were chūnin.
This was considered an elite squad by Konoha standards.
They quickly departed the village, and Yoru followed.
With the war in the Land of Rivers about to erupt, many ninja were leaving Konoha's main gate and heading west that day.
Trailing them, Yoru soon noticed something odd.
He himself had struggled until age 17 to become a special jōnin, but Sarutobi Senjin had reached that rank at 14, supposedly a prodigy. Yet his breathing during travel was heavier than the other three.
Yoru lowered his binoculars and checked the squad info on the mission scroll.
Sarutobi Senjin had completed an extremely difficult prisoner-capture mission in the Land of Grass and was promoted to special jōnin by the recommendation of Homura Mitokado.
During that mission, the other members of his team all died, only he and the prisoner returned.
Judging by his movements, his taijutsu seemed mediocre. Perhaps he was a ninjutsu-type.
On the roads of the Land of Rivers, many civilians were migrating with their families.
Hearing that war was coming, the civilians of the Land of Rivers were moving south to remote areas.
It was spring planting season, leaving fields abandoned, an autumn famine was almost certain.
The civilians had experience. Shinobi often disguised themselves as civilians to assassinate one another. When war reached its cruelest phase, civilians always died.
Sarutobi Senjin's team crossed the Land of Rivers and entered the desert of the Land of Wind.
At a border oasis, Senjin lay behind a sand dune.
"You three, approach the oasis from three directions. Gather intel inside."
The three chūnin exchanged uneasy glances. Shinmei, being the oldest, tried offering advice:
"Captain… the oasis has fresh water, it's a natural supply point. That means it's heavily guarded. Shouldn't we proceed step-by-step?
First inspect the Sand shinobi supply convoys going in and out. From the types of supplies they carry, for example, the number of puppet joint-rotators, we can estimate how many puppet masters are deployed."
Senjin's expression sharpened.
"Are you intending to disobey orders?"
Disobeying orders and refusing missions were serious crimes in Konoha, punishable by death if severe.
From afar, Yoru watched through his binoculars as the three chūnin split up to infiltrate. He was stunned.
This was suicide. Who in the world designed this tactic?
Three teammates entering from three sides, directly infiltrating the oasis?
Yoru could see over a hundred Sand shinobi inside.
Very quickly, the three chūnin encountered danger.
Meanwhile, Captain Senjin remained safely hidden, looking as if he didn't want to miss any intelligence.
In Konoha's system, when the captain failed his team, the team died easily.
Yoru calculated from afar whether he should intervene and save Shinmei.
The true question was whether Sakumo Hatake was worth investing in.
After weeks of investigation, Yoru understood: Sakumo had an impeccable reputation. He treated the people around him extremely well.
It was precisely because he valued comrades that a group had formed around him, yet he was completely unaware of the danger this posed.
The high council wasn't afraid of scattered civilian shinobi, they feared civilian shinobi uniting.
A village of isolated individuals is easiest to control.
Disobedient shinobi clans and united civilian groups were priority targets for suppression.
What Sakumo Hatake lacked was someone willing to walk in the shadows to shield him.
Yoru clenched sand over and over again, deep in thought.
To put it bluntly, Yoru moved through the darkness, he was part of Konoha's dark side.
He was more than suited to become the one shielding Sakumo from the shadows.
Sakumo in the light, Yoru in the dark, combined with the Senju clan's reputation, such a trio would give the high council a headache.
He even imagined creating a future situation for Sakumo like a staged "It's cold, wear more layers" moment.
Sakumo would clutch the Hokage robe in one hand, the Hokage hat in the other, saying:
"You're making this too hard on me…"
Hatake Sakumo, definitely worth investing in.
One bright, one dark… one high, one fast… this would become part of Yoru's future plan.
Having made his decision, Yoru rose and moved forward swiftly.
As an Anbu member, approaching Sakumo directly would never work; Sakumo would neither trust nor dare trust him.
But if he saved Shinmei, then Shinmei could carry a signal back, slowly building trust between Yoru and Sakumo.
From within the oasis, three Sand squads burst out, surrounding the three Konoha chūnin.
Separated on three sides, unaware of each other's status, the chūnin sped up, hoping to gather more intel on the Sand forces before dying.
Shinmei glanced toward Senjin's hiding spot, hoping that his death would at least be meaningful.
Yoru sighed from afar.
Such good subordinates wasted under Sarutobi Senjin, truly cruel.
Three Sand shinobi blocked Shinmei's path.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
Their hands released fierce wind, not aimed at Shinmei, but at the sand beneath him.
A sandstorm exploded instantly.
Shinmei's vision vanished.
Blindly, he dodged left, trying to escape the dust cloud.
The moment he burst out, he saw a crocodile puppet already waiting.
Its jaws opened, thousands of steel senbon loaded inside, all coated with black-purple poison.
The internal mechanism clicked, in that instant, an Earth Spear erupted from the ground, pinning the puppet's jaws shut.
Shinmei turned to see a masked fox-faced Anbu.
A Konoha Anbu…?
An iron ball attached to wires shot through the air, wrapping around Shinmei's waist and yanking him backward at high speed.
He skimmed across the sand for dozens of meters before crashing.
Scrambling up, he saw four puppets surrounding the fox-masked Anbu.
Humanoid puppets, beast puppets, each with different movement logic. Humanoids could be read; beast puppets were unpredictable, with hidden weapons in unusual places.
Yoru flipped and weaved among the puppets.
Breaking free of the encirclement, he formed hand seals.
"Water Style: Severing Wave!"
A high-pressure water jet blasted out, slicing across the air, cutting all four puppets cleanly in half.
Shattered puppet limbs and scattered kunai and needles rained down.
Shinmei was speechless.
Those fearsome puppets, reduced to pieces?
Yoru threw two kunai to the side, flushing two puppet masters out of the sand.
They had just leapt up when the water jet tore through them.
Their bodies split at the waist, pale yellow organs spilling onto the sand like tempura coated in crumbs.
The newly-learned Water Style: Severing Wave had elevated Yoru's combat power by a full tier.
He killed the remaining Sand shinobi who saw him, ensuring no witnesses, then called out:
"Follow me!"
Shinmei immediately ran after him.