With one clean slash, the miner boy cut the rope binding his coworker. He quickly organized the others, grabbing long and short blades from fallen samurai, slicing through restraints and freeing more captives.
The Blossom Deer squad had already wiped out the Cloud ninja squad, and most of the samurai had fled.
Samurai were mercenaries. They came for money, not to die. Cutting down defenseless miners might suit their noble code—but clashing with shinobi? Better not. Their blades would chip.
The miners fled toward the coastline.
But the boy ran uphill—straight toward Yako.
"Thank you for saving me!" the miner boy said. "My name is Ōzora!"
Ōzora had noticed that the fox-masked ninja seemed to favor him. Summoning his courage, he struck up a conversation.
Yako asked, "You're good. Have you trained in swordsmanship?"
"I used to serve as a slave in a noble's estate. I secretly watched the samurai train."
Yako nodded. No wonder his movements lacked refinement—he had only seen fragments.
"Where are you heading?"
"We're escaping to the Land of Iron across the bay. It's a neutral country. Once we're there, even the great noble Kinyama Shin won't be able to hunt us down."
The Land of Iron's neutrality was unexpectedly useful.
Among the smaller nations, it was the most unique. A land filled with samurai who wielded chakra and specialized in chakra-infused blade techniques.
Located on a rugged peninsula, it wasn't wealthy—but its declared neutrality had been accepted by the Five Great Nations. Like Switzerland in another life, it remained a place few sought to conquer.
There was no need. And if there ever was, neutrality would become nothing more than a joke.
Yako studied Ōzora. The boy carried a long blade across his back, his coarse clothes torn, his gaze stubborn and unyielding.
Rope burns bruised his ankles. Blisters marked his hands from endless labor with tools.
"This rebellious spirit suits you," Yako said. "Keep that reckless drive. Maybe you'll change your fate."
He pulled out a scroll.
It was a foundational chakra scroll he had prepared for Kyoi's future child—covering chakra refinement, basic taijutsu, and swordsmanship.
Yamanaka Riko's child would be trained by the Yamanaka clan itself, but Kyoi's child required more of Yako's attention.
He tossed the scroll toward Ōzora, who caught it in a panic.
"My name is Copper Fox. If you survive the next few years, you'll hear my name again."
Yako and his companions vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Ōzora held the scroll reverently, wanting desperately to thank him in person.
But—
He couldn't read.
He wasn't a noble. Not a shinobi. He had never been taught.
Opening the scroll, he found diagrams—human figures, pathways resembling meridians.
Fine. Whatever. He would follow the pictures.
Something was better than nothing.
It took Yako about ten days to return to Konoha.
More than twenty days spent traveling back and forth—missions for the village were truly time-consuming.
After returning to base, he found Yellow Dog.
"Commander. The A-rank target in the assassination manual—the Cloud jonin Takami—is dead. I killed him."
Yellow Dog accepted the report.
"Excellent. Danzo's assassination manual allows us to quantify ANBU results. At the end of the year, we can submit a clear report to the Hokage—how many enemies we've eliminated, how much we've weakened rival villages."
He continued, "I'll have Butterfly notify ANBU and Root to update the assassination manuals and remove Takami's name."
'Just wait,' Yako thought. 'Soon Danzo will assign KPI quotas. Quarterly assassination targets. Five this quarter, seven next quarter—steady growth metrics.'
'You'll be crying then, Yellow Dog.'
He flipped through the returned assassination manual and stopped at the profile of an Iwa jonin: Yamashigeto.
The ninja specialized in Earth Release: Flying Gravel—a mid-range impact-type technique.
Yako had learned the jutsu from ANBU scrolls. Facing this opponent would let him raise it to mastery.
Once he collected all mastery-level Five Elements techniques, he planned to shape his alternate identity, White Ghost, into a rogue Sarutobi.
Calm waters never forged skilled sailors. Konoha's internal conflicts were too few—stagnant, lifeless.
The windmill of Konoha spun too slowly. Someone needed to bring the wind.
"I wonder when Root will send intel on him," Yako muttered.
"Right," Yellow Dog added. "Fox, go check Orochimaru's lab in Root today. Review the progress."
***
Entering the Root base, Yako passed through the training hall.
The roof had been repaired. Since Tsunade's visit, new support pillars had been added.
New recruits and children trained on the field.
Five Root members—including K—had died in the Land of Rain. Danzo had finally restrained himself.
Instead of immediately replenishing official members, he allowed recruits to continue training and strengthen themselves. Assigning Root codenames too early would only get them killed—and more importantly, cause mission failures.
Yako spotted Danzo himself.
His heart tightened.
Wait—none of my misdeeds were exposed. Why am I nervous?
Danzo was personally teaching ninjutsu.
After repeated setbacks, he seemed more rational. More patient.
Root recruits—Danzo considered your survival and taught you carefully not because he had become kinder… but because I came.
On the other side of the field, twenty children sparred in taijutsu.
They used sharpened kunai.
Within seconds, one child's arm was sliced open, blood pouring freely.
They were Kakashi's age. While Kakashi trained under Hatake Sakumo, building strong foundations, these children were forced into life-and-death combat—growth accelerated beyond reason.
Seven of the twenty came from Nonō Yakushi's orphanage.
Yako walked deeper into the base.
Orochimaru's laboratory felt… empty.
No nutrient tanks. No corpses. No specimens.
Last time, there had been over a dozen Wood Release-transformed hands alone. Now, nothing.
Of the six staff members, only two remained.
They huddled in a corner, obviously pretending to work.
So fake—more obvious than when Yako slacked off in his previous life.
One person chopped something with a scalpel, nearly turning it into minced meat.
The other scribbled notes frantically, writing faster as Yako's gaze swept past.
Orochimaru stood with his back turned, calmly dissecting the left foot of a White Zetsu corpse.
Without turning, he said, "Fox… is that you?"
"It is."
"Fortunately, you brought me Wood Release constructs. Otherwise, this laboratory might no longer have any purpose," Orochimaru murmured.
"These maggots are too weak. How can they bear the God of Shinobi's genes?"
"Your White Zetsu corpse changed my research entirely. My previous direction was wrong. Gradual modification won't work. Hashirama cells emphasize vitality—the entire body must be transformed at once."
He had lost interest in ordinary subjects and purged useless materials.
An assistant hurried over with a scroll.
"Captain Fox, recent experiment records."
Yako opened it.
Two weeks earlier, during his journey to the Land of the Moon, Orochimaru had performed fifty transplant experiments.
All failed.
Every subject died within two days.
Enraged, Orochimaru increased dosage and intensity across all trials, destroying numerous samples in the process.
Despite possessing dual Earth and Water chakra natures, subjects simply couldn't host Wood Release tissue.
The experiments required stronger, more suitable bodies—ones capable of transformation at a fundamental level.
Orochimaru didn't specify, but Yako guessed he meant subjects with the Senju lineage.
No wonder Yellow Dog sent him. Anyone else might have triggered Orochimaru's wrath.
Fox was different. Even an enraged strike could be endured.
Yako left with the scroll.
He possessed key intelligence from the Scroll of Seals. Only when Orochimaru neared success with Hashirama cell transplantation would he offer it as bargaining leverage.
Researching Wood Release was extraordinarily difficult. Senju Hashirama was the reincarnation of Asura—the God of Shinobi. Orochimaru was attempting to study divinity with mortal means.
Progress was still too poor. Now was not the time to seize Hashirama cells.
After delivering the scroll to Yellow Dog, he left ANBU and returned to the tavern.
Everything was normal. Saka helped with the shop. Kyoi rested peacefully.
The full moon hung like a silver plate.
Another full moon night arrived.
Yako's luck held—an unexpected opportunity.
Instead of intel on Earth Release: Flying Gravel, he received information about Water Release.
A Mist jonin had infiltrated Uzushio Village, skilled in Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet with unique mastery.
Following Root intelligence, Yako ambushed him and gained mastery-level Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet through the system.
Soon, the third full moon of Year 41 arrived.
Daily, Yako checked Butterfly's intel—still no sign of Yamashigeto.
But another report caught his eye.
Two children had disappeared in Konoha.
The Military Police found no leads. Possible spy abduction.
Cloud Village was infamous for this.
They had kidnapped a Sand Village child with Magnet Release and reverse-engineered it—creating their own users.
They had taken an Iwa child with Lava Release, enabling Tōtai to wield it.
Konoha's bloodlines were equally coveted.
Whether or not Cloud was responsible, the blame had already fallen on them.
One missing child bore the surname Kazamatsuri.
Kazamatsuri Moegi—Konohamaru's teammate—also possessed Wood Release.
The surname suggested Senju lineage through marriage.
Yako donned his mask and began investigating secretly.
He quickly uncovered the truth.
Kazamatsuri Yuzu—originally Senju Yuzu—had married into the Kazamatsuri clan.
Her husband died in Uzushio. She had a son, just over one year old.
Yako sat on her balcony, listening to her sobs.
Inside, Uchiha Military Police explained that they had investigated fully—no leads.
The most likely culprit: Cloud spies.
After they left, she cried alone for a long time before heading toward the Senju compound.
It was her only remaining hope.
Outside the Senju grounds, Yako waited.
He watched Jiraiya get punched flying by Tsunade before she escorted Kazamatsuri Yuzu inside.
Jiraiya wasn't angry. He wiped the blood from his nose and staggered toward the bathhouse.
One last research session before leaving the village.
Tsunade might forbid it—but would the women in the bathhouse?
Jiraiya glanced toward a tree—an ANBU watching the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
He said nothing and walked on.
Yako hid within the canopy above him using the Mayfly Technique, unnoticed.
Looking toward the Senju compound, he thought:
'Orochimaru is about to begin…'
'I wonder which child is Yamato.'
'Once Yamato appears… how far behind can a perfected Hashirama cell transplant be?'