Yagami obtained a temporary identity: Fujikita, a Genin sent from the village to the front lines of the Land of Rivers.
Using this new persona, he would disguise himself as an ordinary Hidden Leaf ninja to observe the surprise raid on Shapo Port, gathering the most accurate front-line intelligence for the Hokage.
Fujikita was an utterly mediocre Genin who had failed to pass the Chunin Exams for several years after graduating from the Academy.
While arranging his identity, Yagami noticed that Nara Mi had become a squad leader and was currently recruiting members to fill his team.
In Shinmei's final mission, only Nara Mi had survived.
When it came time to select a squad, Yagami chose Nara Mi's team.
Nara Mi hadn't sought out teammates from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans; instead, he had taken in three civilian teammates.
As the Nara Mi squad assembled, he held up a backpack and said to his three members:
"Inside this backpack is strategic equipment newly manufactured by the Nara clan—the paraglider.
The paraglider grants ninja the ability to fly, marking another significant contribution from the Nara clan to the village.
I will be responsible for piloting one paraglider. Is there anyone among you willing to learn how to operate the other?"
Yagami listened, completely stunned. He was the one who had offered the paraglider to the village; how had it suddenly become a "significant contribution" from the Nara clan the moment his back was turned?
Nara Mi claimed the Nara clan manufactured them—he didn't explicitly say they invented them—but he was certainly playing with words.
To maintain his Anbu cover, Yagami did not speak up.
A female ninja named Kurumi stepped forward: "I'm willing to learn the paraglider!"
Kurumi was quite petite with a cute baby face.
Nara Mi didn't ask the others and simply said:
"You have five days to master the use of the paraglider. After five days, we will execute the surprise raid on Shapo Port.
As long as we destroy Shapo Port, the Hidden Sand Village will face a shortage of steel in the near future, and the Land of Wind's foreign trade will be heavily impacted."
Ordinary Leaf squads would explain the mission details and emphasize its importance.
Unlike the Anbu, where a squad leader only told you the time, location, and target, leaving everything else unsaid.
For the next five days, Yagami and another teammate engaged in dull sparring sessions.
Meanwhile, Nara Mi trained Kurumi in the operation of the paraglider.
Five nights later, the Nara Mi squad arrived outside the main camp.
There were approximately 1,000 ninja gathered outside; the front-line camp had deployed half of its total strength.
Six hundred ninja, led by Vice Commander-in-Chief Hatake Sakumo, would engage the Hidden Sand head-on to stall for time.
Four hundred ninja, led by Commander-in-Chief Nara Shikaku, would use paragliders to launch a surprise attack on Shapo Port in the rear.
This was a massive operation.
As for Tsunade, she was responsible for guarding the main camp, remaining at the front-line medical department.
The hot winds of the Land of Wind blew continuously as the paragliders took off one by one.
The Nara Mi squad balanced their weight; Kurumi carried Fujikita, while Nara Mi carried the other thin teammate as they took flight.
Kurumi carefully secured the ropes for Fujikita and then maneuvered the paraglider into the air.
Yagami could feel the tension in Kurumi behind him; her muscles were stiff.
"Kurumi, I watched your training. You don't need to use your whole body's strength, right? You just need to handle the control lines."
Kurumi knew that, but she simply couldn't help it. Her legs and waist were tensing up instinctively.
"I wasn't this nervous when I flew alone. Carrying you makes it different. If we fall, both of us will die."
Yagami glanced down at the ground over two hundred meters below, thinking to himself that with Absolute Defense, he wouldn't necessarily die.
Once they flew above the clouds and the ground was no longer visible, Kurumi grew more practiced and relaxed slightly.
The two hundred paragliders above the clouds looked like a dense flock of wild geese.
The cold wind whistled past their ears as the paragliders moved at a rapid pace.
"Kurumi, I heard you're already a Chunin."
"Yeah, I just passed the Chunin Exams. It's easy to get promoted during the war; some of my classmates are already Special Jonin," Kurumi said:
"Fujikita, you have to work hard too. I've heard that some ninja are late bloomers, becoming stronger as they gain more experience.
Not all ninja reach their peak at twenty; some are at their strongest when they are thirty."
Yagami said, "Thirty? I'd be nearly dead by then."
Many mediocre ninja could achieve decent strength through long-term accumulation, but unfortunately, most never got the chance to accumulate anything, dying early during some mission.
After flying for a long time, the surrounding wind grew stronger.
Kurumi said, "We're almost there! The wind direction changed! This is the sea breeze!"
Flying past the final layer of clouds, Shapo Port appeared in the distance, brightly lit.
The paragliders in front began to lower their altitude one by one, starting their dive.
"Watch out! Captain Mi said the Sand will start counterattacking during the dive phase!" Kurumi said:
"I'm sorry. I'm a Chunin and you're a Genin, yet I'm letting you stay in front of me."
Yagami thought Kurumi was quite kindhearted, feeling guilty because he was acting as a shield.
Inside Shapo Port, chaos suddenly erupted.
Sand ninja shouted as they leaped onto rooftops and watchtowers, throwing kunai and explosive tags into the air.
Kurumi did her best to dodge the attacks, but some were still aimed directly at Fujikita.
Yagami used a kunai to swat away the incoming projectiles and said, "Kurumi, don't be nervous. The Sand's kunai are flying upward; by the time they reach this height, they've lost all their power."
"That's true. It's just that I'm not used to paraglider combat. The Nara clan's invention is truly amazing."
Yagami felt a surge of dissatisfaction; the Nara clan was certainly good at taking credit.
The Nara Mi squad's mission was to blow up a pier trestle at the docks.
Kurumi's landing was unstable, sending her and Yagami tumbling across the ground.
A Sand ninja saw the disheveled pair and jumped over, lunging at them with a kunai.
Clang!
After a crisp sound, the Sand ninja looked down in terror.
His kunai had failed to pierce the Leaf ninja's heart!
Yagami reversed his grip on his kunai and slit the Sand ninja's throat.
He patted his chest and said, "Luckily I had heart-protection armor under my vest, otherwise that Sand ninja would have gotten me."
Kurumi didn't suspect a thing, assuming Fujikita was just well-prepared, and quickly unfastened the ropes for both of them.
"Into the water! Dive under the trestle!"
Nara Mi shouted, signaling the teammates to jump into the sea.
The other two squads of the unit were responsible for distracting the Sand ninja on the trestle, while the Nara Mi squad jumped into the water to plant explosive tags beneath the bridge.
After swimming through the cold seawater for over ten seconds, Yagami suddenly sensed a dark figure moving at high speed.
"There's a puppet! A fish-type puppet!"
The dark waters beneath the bridge were the home turf of the fish-type puppet.
Yagami suddenly noticed the other teammate recklessly charging toward the puppet.
This was far too impulsive.
Wait!
Yagami noticed the teammate's movements were strange—he wasn't charging forward voluntarily. He was stiff. Why was this happening?
He was being controlled by a Shadow Secret Technique!
He collided with the fish puppet, his body pierced by the puppet's blades, but he managed to seize the puppet.
Yagami snapped his head around and saw Nara Mi, with only the top half of his head floating above the water's surface.
Nara Mi was using the seawater to hide the movements of his Shadow Imitation Jutsu.
Was he using the Shadow Secret Technique to turn his subordinate into a human puppet?