Following Nara Umeka was quite easy; she handled all the arrangements meticulously.
The tracking went smoothly, and the camel caravan never detected Yagami's group.
Umeka looked down periodically, her expression growing increasingly solemn.
"This direction... it's toward Shapo Port."
Yagami asked, "Shapo Port? Wasn't it destroyed? Why are puppet materials being sent there?"
Umeka pondered for a moment before saying.
"We just secured a major victory at Shapo Port. I heard the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was furious that the Sand failed to protect his twenty-odd large ships.
With the port in ruins, the Leaf will inevitably lower its guard in that direction.
If the Sand ninja set out to sea from Shapo Port and then sail upstream through the rivers of the Land of Rivers...
It's a surprise attack route with an extremely high success rate.
The Sand delays us at the front while their elites launch a backstab; the Leaf could suffer a catastrophic defeat.
Everything is speculation for now. We need to follow for at least one more day to obtain concrete intelligence."
A night later, Yagami spotted a group of people through his telescope.
The line was long and disorganized, with most people carrying long objects wrapped in white cloth on their backs.
Inside those mummy-like wrappings were puppets.
Some puppeteers were accompanied by three to five walking puppets. Those puppets had strange joints—humanoid yet decidedly non-human, exuding a disturbing "uncanny valley" effect like a parade of the dead.
Yagami didn't know how she counted them so quickly, but after observing several hundred shadows, Nara Umeka said.
"Approximately 200 puppeteers are advancing toward Shapo Port! The one leading the vanguard is the son of the Sand's Advisor Chiyo, the elite Jonin Camel Thorn!"
Chiyo's son, Sasori's father.
Yagami thought to himself. 'It seems Sasori's parents are about to die.'
Yagami glanced at the sky; the full moon was imminent. Should he die at the hands of Sasori's parents?
He had no need for puppetry skills.
Yagami said, "Retreat. We have enough intelligence."
The group left quickly.
Once they were far from the Sand puppeteers, Yagami looked up at the moon. It was already very bright; the full moon was only a day or two away.
Walking through the sand, Yagami asked, "Jonin Umeka, you seem to know quite a lot about puppetry."
"Before entering the Land of Rivers battlefield, I deliberately paid attention to intelligence regarding puppet techniques."
"Then, Jonin Umeka, have you ever heard of Shadow Puppet Jutsu?"
Hatake Sakumo wouldn't let Shinmei's death go easily. Yagami asked with feigned casualness, watching Umeka's expression closely.
Umeka didn't stop her pace, but her eyes flickered slightly. "Never heard of it. Perhaps it's new intelligence the Anbu gathered on the Sand's puppets."
Umeka tried to turn her head, only to suddenly find herself unable to move.
Seal formulas had silently crawled from the ground, covering her entire body.
Yagami stood still and signaled White Sheep, indicating that his squad should stay on guard at a distance and not approach him or Nara Umeka.
White Sheep and the others flickered back, retreating to the distance.
White Sheep thought to himself.
'As expected, the Anbu issued an execution order for Nara Umeka.'
The Anbu was a special assassination force; what was a rescue mission doing here anyway? To White Sheep, executing her felt much more "normal."
He just wondered what that secret technique of his Captain's was—he had never seen it before.
Yagami was prepared to die once to try his luck with the system, so he didn't care about exposing the Self-Exerting Binding Seal. He approached Nara Umeka, kunai in hand.
"Recently, there have been several 'accidental' deaths among ninja on the front lines. In the end, only one person from each squad escaped—and coincidentally, those survivors were all Nara ninja.
Jonin Umeka, as an elite of the Nara clan and someone so skilled at gathering and analyzing intelligence, I imagine you know more than I do.
I've sent my subordinates away; it's just the two of us. I hope we can speak candidly."
Watching Umeka closely, he noted there was no cold sweat on her brow. Her gaze was calm, and she didn't even exert force to resist his seal.
Her eyes shifted slightly as she asked:
"Is the Anbu investigating certain abnormal deaths involving Nara ninja?
But why would you possess such a sophisticated sealing technique? If I'm not mistaken, this is a secret technique of the extinct Uzumaki clan: the Self-Exerting Binding Seal.
In all of the Leaf, only the elites of the Senju clan and Princess Uzumaki Kushina should know how to use it.
How do you explain that? Whose man are you, really?"
Yagami knew Umeka would be difficult, but he hadn't expected her to strike his "seven inches" immediately. He said:
"My affairs are not for you to worry about, Jonin Umeka. Let's talk about you. You were forced into the Land of Wind, yet you chose to stay in a refined inn.
The interrogation methods I'm about to use won't be nearly as refined."
Umeka's gaze grew hostile:
"You're willing to use interrogation against a fellow Jonin of the same village? This isn't the level of intensity one would expect for investigating accidental deaths. What is your true objective?"
Yagami scratched his head. Dealing with smart women was such a hassle—who was interrogating whom?
"Nara Umeka, my patience is limited. You're a smart person; you should see I'm not joking." Yagami said:
"Shadow Manipulation is the bread and butter of your Nara clan. The stronger the ability, the easier it is to lose control.
The Anbu has discovered that a small number of Nara take advantage of their teammates' lack of caution to use shadows to turn them into human puppets, controlling them to fight.
Every ninja wants to maximize their ability, but one cannot go to extremes.
Where is the conscience? Where is the morality? Where is the Will of Fire?
Since I've found you, it proves I have enough evidence in my hands.
Nara Umeka, I'll give you five last seconds to think. Will you help me excise the rot within the Nara clan and become a model for reform, or will you resist to the end?"
Umeka's expression grew increasingly downcast. She said:
"If the Anbu has found out, how could our Nara clan not know? I was originally in charge of this matter, but I simply hadn't gone public yet for fear of a scandal.
Since the Anbu has traced it to me, it proves your investigation is very deep. I'm willing to hand over some intelligence. Come closer; I'll whisper it to you. Don't let too many people know."
Yagami walked over and stood beside her.
Umeka said.
"According to my investigation, there is a small clique within the Nara clan, about five people. These five believe that for success—whether the mission's or their own—they should use any means necessary. They studied the Shadow Secret Techniques and developed this vile usage of manipulating teammates."
Yagami asked, "Who are those five?"
Umeka provided five names. Yagami heard the name Nara Mi and knew she wasn't lying.
Umeka added, "I have an investigation scroll; I can let you see it."
Yagami thought. 'No wonder Nara Shikaku asked the Anbu to rescue her. He knew there was a preliminary investigation scroll and feared the scandal being exposed.'
"Where is the scroll? I'll find it myself. I can't release your seal yet."
"The scroll isn't in my pouch. It's under my skirt, on the inner side of my left thigh."
Yagami suddenly thought of Uzumaki Yuka; she also hid the Adamantine Chains sealing scroll on her inner thigh. Did all women like hiding things there? Did they think it was that secure?
Yagami lifted Umeka's skirt and reached under. Sure enough, he felt a scroll.
However, he couldn't pull his hand back.
A shadow beneath the skirt had bound his hand! Then, it snaked up to bind his entire body!
Umeka had hidden the scroll there because there were shadows beneath her skirt—a specialized secret technique trap!
Yagami, like Umeka, was now unable to move. Umeka's eyes were filled with apology:
"I cannot betray my clan, nor am I willing to betray the village. I'll die with you. No one will know the Nara clan's scandal, and I will use my life to atone for my actions..."
The shadow crawled up Yagami's throat and pierced through it.
Yagami thought: 'Well, I got a lot of intel out of her. It was worth it.'
At that moment, two puppets suddenly burst from the ground.
The Sand puppeteers had caught up! The puppets pierced through Nara Umeka's heart as well.
The two fell together.
[Host death detected. Arc of Moon System is initiating...]
***
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