The assassination of Shimura Kōhi had originally been intended to strike at Danzo—but unexpectedly, it had also benefited Hatake Sakumo. A pleasant surprise.
It seemed that as long as one kept targeting Danzo, rewards would always follow.
Now, Fox's squad was about to depart for the border of the Land of Hot Water.
Purple Cat followed Captain Fox into Deputy Commander Yellow Dog's office.
Yellow Dog spoke with Fox about what to expect on the upcoming mission.
At the end of the meeting, Fox made a request.
"Captain, while I was a guidance jōnin in Root, I noticed a promising newcomer—Yamanaka Ruri. I'd like her transferred into my squad."
"Oh?" Yellow Dog said. "Yamanaka Ruri… that name sounds familiar."
He glanced at Purple Cat and remembered—her real name was Yamanaka Riko.
Fox was clearly trying to keep Riko's younger sister from ending up in Danzo's Root.
And rightly so. Becoming a Root operative… was terrifying.
"Understood," said Yellow Dog. "Come with me. We'll go to Root and request the transfer now."
"Thank you, Captain!"
Yako and Purple Cat followed Yellow Dog into the Forest of Death, where Root's base lay about one kilometer from ANBU's.
Inside, they arrived at the training grounds and saw several new recruits and children being drilled.
Yellow Dog beckoned to Agent C.
C approached quickly.
"ANBU is preparing to supplement five new operatives," Yellow Dog said. "Select promising recruits from this batch. If they're up to the task, assign them immediately to ANBU. Bring me the list and training records."
Agent C instructed Agent K to fetch a scroll.
It contained the full list of trainees, along with their evaluations.
C hesitated. "Captain Yellow Dog, these recruits haven't even completed three months of training. Isn't this premature?"
Yellow Dog replied, "The squads are heading to Grass Country and the Land of Hot Water.
We're bound to suffer casualties. Better to assign reinforcements now.
They're all chūnin or tokubetsu jōnin—have the captains train them during missions."
Soon, five names were selected.
Yako noted to himself: if Yellow Dog had insisted on only one recruit, like Ruri, Agent C might have grown suspicious. But by requesting five, including her, the request looked much more legitimate.
C said, "Please wait, Captain. I'll take them to see Lord Danzo for approval."
Purple Cat, seeing everything go so smoothly, was visibly moved.
The five recruits followed C out of the training grounds.
Yako turned his attention to the twenty young trainees.
They were training with incredible discipline. At an age when they should've been enjoying school and innocence, they were already imitating shinobi movements with grim focus.
A few clearly had outstanding talent.
Time passed. And kept passing.
Purple Cat grew uneasy, glancing toward Fox. He also began to feel something was off.
Eventually, the five recruits returned with Agent C.
"You may take them now, Captain Yellow Dog," C announced.
Yellow Dog nodded and led them away.
Back at ANBU HQ, Yellow Dog turned to Butterfly.
"Gather the squad leaders. Let them each pick one recruit."
Yako immediately claimed Yamanaka Ruri and left ahead of the others.
Purple Cat led Ruri to her office, practically glowing with joy.
As a squad assistant, Purple Cat had her own scroll archive—doubling as her office.
She removed Ruri's Root training mask and whispered, thrilled, "Don't be scared, Ruri. It's me."
What she saw startled her.
Ruri's face was pale and frightened.
It had only been a month, yet her lively spark had vanished—replaced by alarm and trauma.
"Ruri, what happened to you?!"
"I'm fine," Ruri replied softly. "We're in ANBU now—we can't refer to each other as sisters. Purple Cat… what's my codename?"
Purple Cat's heart ached.
"Come on. Let's go see Captain Fox. He'll assign your codename and your mask."
The two entered Fox's office.
"Captain," Purple Cat said, "the recruit doesn't have a codename or a mask yet."
Yako paused.
They'd waited a long time to retrieve the recruits from Root.
Agent C had taken them to see Danzo.
Could it be…?
"I see. I'd like to speak with her privately first—to get a sense of her strengths and figure out the right squad. You're dismissed, Purple Cat."
Once she left, Yako casually asked Ruri about her skills—easing her into conversation.
Ruri replied that she specialized in Yamanaka clan jutsu, and had also studied basic medical ninjutsu.
Beneath the desk, Yako had already formed the hand signs.
Genjutsu: Temple of Nirvana.
Given his current strength, a genin-level Yamanaka couldn't resist.
Feathers fell like snow—and Ruri instantly fell into slumber.
Yako stepped forward, catching her gently, laying her on the desk.
He removed her mask.
A youthful, pretty face—very similar to Riko's, but even younger, still rich with collagen.
He pinched her chin to tilt her head back, revealing her tongue.
Nothing.
But he didn't trust it.
Forming seals again, he cast a simple dispelling technique:
"Five Elements Unseal!"
A common technique to dissolve chakra-based seals.
Only Yako's unique chakra—enhanced by the Uzumaki bloodline and its strong sealing affinity—could trigger what came next.
Ruri twitched uncomfortably but remained asleep.
A moment later, a cursed seal appeared on her tongue.
The Seal of Tongue Eradication.
An intricate hexagram—two yin lines crossed with four yang lines, taken from the sixty-four trigrams.
Yako's expression darkened.
He had considered giving Danzo a break… but clearly, Danzo wasn't giving him one.
He'd marked Ruri.
Danzo was likely using her to spy—because his intelligence network was collapsing.
With Root decimated, Danzo's intel flow had become unstable.
Was he using her to spy on ANBU… or on me?
Ruri awoke, finding herself standing near the wall.
"You're awake," Yako said calmly. "Looks like Root's training has worn you out.
Rest at Purple Cat's place for the next couple days. I'll assign you to a squad after you recover."
Once she left, Yako walked into the hallway.
He sensed—Golden Eagle Squad was currently away from base.
He infiltrated their locker room.
A recruit was cleaning his blade.
Feathers drifted silently from above—the boy slumped forward.
Yako removed the mask, cast Five Elements Unseal—and sure enough, a seal bloomed on the tongue.
That made two.
By midnight, Yako had located three more recruits resting in Black Ant Squad's locker room.
Three plain white masks. New faces.
Once again: Temple of Nirvana.
None of them had the strength to resist his genjutsu.
One by one, he checked them.
All three had the Seal of Tongue Eradication.
Which meant: when Yellow Dog had gone to request Ruri, Danzo had taken the opportunity to mark all five recruits.
The bad news—Danzo had placed spies inside ANBU.
The good news—Yako wasn't the target.
Danzo was casting a net over the entire organization.
Especially the Black Ant Squad.
The Third Hokage's most trusted unit—tasked with guarding the Hokage Tower, relaying orders, analyzing intel.
Three new recruits, distributed across three squads.
What secrets were left in Black Ant?
Yako didn't report anything to Yellow Dog.
Instead, he'd ask Uzumaki Yuka to help develop a way to break the seal.
Yellow Dog didn't have that kind of support.
Let Danzo and the Hokage clash.
The more chaos at the top, the easier it was to move in the shadows.
Yako's next step was the Land of Hot Water.
He'd assist Hatake Sakumo, build reputation, and slip away—just in time to avoid Danzo's frenzied hunt for enemies.