Yako returned to the night of the previous full moon.
Nonō Yakushi was in the middle of demonstrating the hip compression technique from her disguise repertoire.
Tight. Too tight.
Having once again suffered a heroic defeat, Yako and Nonō Yakushi had reached a deep alliance.
A very deep alliance. No longer just mutual exploitation—it was something else entirely.
And judging by Nonō's satisfied expression, she was quite happy with the depth of their arrangement.
After she left, Yako finally turned his attention to his system reward.
[Arc of the Waning Moon Activated! The host may revive once per month, returning to the night of the previous full moon.
Reward: 1 lottery pull.
1 – B-Rank Nintaijutsu: Lightning Blade Technique
2 – Storm Release Kekkei Genkai (Basic)
3 – B-Rank Lightning Release: Lightning Flicker (Skilled)]
The first option, B-Rank Lightning Blade Technique, was ruled out immediately.
He had plenty of close-range offensive tools. This wouldn't add much.
The second, Storm Release Kekkei Genkai—rare indeed. Darui had wielded it well in the original timeline during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
But from what Yako had experienced firsthand, it was flashy yet underwhelming in power.
It also would take a long time to purify and refine to peak usage. Too niche. Too costly.
He already had enough "fragments of the Six Paths." No need for another exotic lineage.
The third option, B-Rank Lightning Flicker—now that was interesting.
Lightning was his fifth chakra nature, slower to refine than his Earth or Water Release. Not suitable for primary offense.
But as an auxiliary movement tool?
Perfect.
Especially for the White Ghost.
That clone already possessed Silent Body Flicker. If enhanced with Lightning Flicker, it would elevate his assassination speed and burst power significantly.
A clean kill. A silent retreat. This was what the White Ghost needed most.
Yako selected Option Three: B-Rank Lightning Release – Lightning Flicker (Skilled).
Plenty of Hidden Cloud shinobi knew it. If he could find a true master and "draw again," he might even push it to Expert.
And any jutsu at Expert rank was a treasure.
He formed a hand seal to test it out.
Lightning chakra flowed into his calves and soles, stimulating nerves and muscles until they bristled with power.
In the blink of an eye, Yako vanished—appearing dozens of meters away.
After a dozen trials, Yako fully grasped its properties.
It was a modified form of Body Flicker, replacing standard chakra flow with Lightning Release. The surging chakra stimulated specific nerves and muscle fibers, producing explosive acceleration.
Using this technique, he raced back to camp.
Once again, he reported the Hidden Cloud base's location to Hatake Sakumo—this time, with exact coordinates.
"Lord Sakumo, I have complete confidence in my interrogation methods. The intel is accurate. Their camp is definitely hidden inside that valley."
Several staff officers shivered inwardly.
An ANBU squad leader—representing the darkest echelon of Konoha's military—was a specialist in torture.
They could snap bones into dust, then knead the fragments back into flesh.
Even imagining it made their scalps tingle.
Sakumo saw Yako's resolve and immediately ordered, "Good! Let's strike the Cloud command post!"
Hatake Sakumo and Yako personally led the raid, accompanied by White Ram squad and three elite strike teams.
Upon reaching the fog-covered valley, Sakumo made the same call Yako once had—they wouldn't charge straight in. Instead, all squads climbed the western slope.
But the enemy had already sensed them.
Cloud-nin employed some unknown sensory technique, detecting the Konoha strike force in advance.
This time, Darui brought eight squads to the summit himself.
It was king vs. king.
Spotting the White Fang of Konoha, Darui shot forward like lightning.
Yako gave White Ram a nod, then scattered.
Seeing the signal, White Ram squad moved in unison.
"Combination Ninjutsu! Don't hold back!"
All members quietly unlocked their Ten Seal.
In the future, White Ram squad would become famous for two things: chakra volume, and collaborative ninjutsu.
The Ten Seal's secret wouldn't leak, but massive chakra? That wasn't unusual.
White Ram had recently learned Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. It was perfect for amplifying Fire Release and delivering chakra insects with precision.
The rest of the squad used Fire techniques.
Darui had just dodged one of Sakumo's deadly sword waves when light suddenly blazed from the side.
The summit, once shrouded in mist, now glowed red.
Five Wind-Fire combo attacks detonated beside him.
It was like a volcano erupting beside his ear.
The second fire wave gained acceleration from White Ram's increasing wind pressure, layering atop the first.
The result—a massive, hundred-meter-long flaming projectile swept across the peak.
Even among elite jōnin, this level of output was impressive.
Three Cloud squads tried to flee—leaping in all directions.
But no matter how high or far they jumped, they remained inside the blast radius.
They were consumed by the inferno.
In a single clash—three Cloud squads were annihilated.
They didn't even get to show their skills.
The heatwave knocked a fourth squad flat.
One of the squad leaders rolled to his feet, screaming:
"They must be desperate! Burning their chakra dry for one last push!"
Believing this was their weakest moment, he led his team toward Yako and the others.
What a pity.
The massive jutsu they'd just used hadn't even tapped into their real chakra—it came entirely from the Ten Seal.
White Ram calmly raised a kunai and gave his orders:
"Hold back at first—pretend to be spent. Then strike hard. Erase another squad."
Darui, watching this unfold while trading blows with Sakumo, shouted in alarm:
"Fall back! Everyone, retreat!"
He'd realized it.
These Konoha shinobi weren't drained at all.
If he continued to face the White Fang while letting the Copper Fox clean up the rest, he'd be surrounded—and doomed.
While ANBU squads engaged the enemy, they suddenly unleashed another barrage of jutsu—finishing off two more squads.
The rest was clean-up: taijutsu, knives, shuriken.
Yako nodded with approval. White Ram was doing great.
He hadn't even joined the fight yet, and they'd already eliminated four squads.
The Ten Seal had boosted them beyond expectation.
The remaining Cloud squads were locked in battle with the teams Sakumo had brought.
Shinma, leading one of those squads, began to feel something was wrong.
Why was he struggling so much against just one enemy team?
Was the gap between him and jōnin really this vast?
And why did the ANBU squad leader wearing the White Ram mask feel so much stronger than him?
Wasn't it said that there weren't many ANBU-level jōnin?
Why were their techniques so overwhelmingly powerful?
Was this the true strength of Konoha's elite?
Shinma and his opponent were locked in a tight contest.
Just as Yako prepared to assist Sakumo in double-teaming Darui, new enemies leapt from the valley.
Reinforcements.
The battle had taken place too close to the Cloud command base. Seeing things go poorly, they had immediately dispatched backup.