During the battle, Yagami took special care of Kurumi, neutralizing several dangers on her behalf.
Only after completely routing the Sand ninja who were obstructing the paragliders' takeoff did Yagami find a moment of respite to observe the distant fighting.
Before Rasa's massive waves of Gold Dust, the Battalion Commander and his two units had been completely wiped out.
That Commander was simply no match for Rasa.
The unit at Yagami's side had also been decimated.
Yagami looked up at the swarm of paragliders in the sky; the rearguard mission was over.
He flickered to the front of the fallen Kurumi, catching a kunai aimed straight for her eye.
Kurumi had just been slammed against a rock by a Wind Style blast. She was at death's door, nearly unconscious, her eyes barely slivers.
The kunai was only a few centimeters from her eye, making it appear monstrously large in her blurring vision.
Crack!
The kunai was crushed by Fujikita—no, by the Anbu Fox?
Knowing she was saved, Kurumi let go of her final breath and fell into a deep coma.
Yagami slung Kurumi over his shoulder and vanished from the shore, reappearing on the surface of the sea.
Rasa reached the water's edge. He looked up at the departing paragliders and knew it was too late to intercept them.
He and Yagami stood off—one on the shore, the other on the water.
To buy more time, Yagami did not leave immediately.
Carrying the unconscious Kurumi, he stood on the waves, a single man facing off against over a hundred Sand ninja.
Rasa gave the paragliders one last look. After an assessment, he concluded that even if he flew up now, he could only take down a few dozen Leaf ninja at most.
Compared to those few dozen, he was far more interested in this "Fox" of the Leaf Anbu.
Rasa raised his hand. A whirlwind of Gold Dust formed at his fingertips, coalescing into a kunai of gold.
The Gold Dust kunai shot out like a bolt of lightning.
Yagami didn't dodge or block; he let the kunai strike him square in the chest.
After a crisp metallic ring, the Gold Dust kunai shattered.
Rasa's brow furrowed tightly.
The Anbu Fox's clothes were shredded. When the Gold Dust kunai hit him, his skin had instantly transformed into a heavy, reddish-bronze color.
Rasa murmured to himself:
"A specialized hardening defense technique similar to Earth Style: Earth Spear. Instantaneous activation, significantly higher hardness than Earth Spear, and the skin takes on a reddish-bronze metallic luster."
Rasa formed a hand sign. Beneath the surface, the sand waves churned, and Gold Dust erupted, lunging toward Fox like a tsunami tens of meters high.
Failing to kill him with a direct strike, Rasa intended to use the Great Wave of Gold Dust to capture him.
Yagami stood on the seawater; Water Style techniques consumed very little chakra here.
"Water Style: Water Encampment Wall!"
A massive wall of water collided with the tidal wave of Gold Dust.
The gold became soaked and heavy.
By the time the Gold Dust and the water wall subsided, Rasa prepared an even larger wave, only to find the surface of the water completely empty.
Rasa pressed a finger to his eye.
A Third Eye made of sand appeared in the air and shot high into the sky.
The eye scanned left and right, but not a single shadow could be found.
What level of Body Flicker was this?
Far away from Shapo Port, Yagami finished a Water Flicker and emerged from the depths, still carrying Kurumi.
The ocean was the home turf for Water Flicker, without this technique, Yagami wouldn't have dared provoke Rasa so brazenly.
He had a chance to resurrect, but he chose to flee. Rasa's abilities were unique—his gold waves were exceptional at capturing and crushing.
If he didn't leave and Rasa killed him, it would be fine, but if Rasa captured him, things would get complicated.
He soon found a cave on a seaside cliff and hid Kurumi inside.
Yagami's shirt and pants were shredded beyond recognition.
He stripped off the tattered remains and immediately checked the rear of his pants.
Fortunately, despite the attacks of numerous deviant Sand ninja, the backside was intact; his reputation was preserved.
He spread his ruined clothes on the ground and let Kurumi curl up on top of them.
He walked to the cave entrance, looking out at the sea.
Sea birds flew lazily back and forth; the fierce battle at Shapo Port had nothing to do with them.
Yagami planned to return to the main camp slowly after the dust settled.
As a mature ninja, one must learn the art of "slacking off."
Returning too early meant being sent on new missions. When does the work ever end?
Joining the rearguard, successfully covering the escape, but being pursued and delayed on the way back—that sounded perfectly reasonable.
It was like getting paid to squat in the office bathroom; taking a break while turning a profit.
Seeing that Kurumi was still out, he formed a sign and used the Summoning Jutsu.
Pakkun appeared in a puff of smoke. He looked at Fox, then at the petite girl in the cave, and said, "You sure stay busy."
Yagami said speechlessly, "Pakkun, I didn't think you were that kind of dog."
Pakkun said, "Heh. Why did you call me?"
Yagami said.
"I've discovered the cause of Shinmei's death. Nara Mi, who was in Shinmei's squad, actually uses a Shadow Secret Technique to control his teammates, treating them like shadow puppets.
Nara Mi was the only one to return alive from that mission, and it's highly likely he used Shadow Puppet on Shinmei.
In this mission just now, he used the same Shadow Puppet technique and killed another Leaf ninja."
"Shadow Puppet?" Pakkun said, "I understand. I'll tell Sakumo."
Pakkun unsummoned himself, disappearing in a puff of white smoke.
Two hours later, Kurumi slowly woke up.
The first thing she saw were some strips of cloth.
This color?
Isn't this Fujikita's clothing?
Where is Fujikita? Why is his clothing shredded like this?
"You're awake."
Kurumi followed the voice and saw Fujikita sitting at the cave entrance.
Her face immediately turned bright red. She looked down, then couldn't help but look up again.
Fujikita was wearing his fox mask, but his upper body was bare, showing well-developed pectoral muscles. Below, he wore only his undergarments, his long legs corded with firm muscle.
Yagami stood up and walked toward her.
Kurumi watched as he knelt before her, massaging her head to check for any injuries from her coma.
"Not bad. You're recovering well."
"Fujikita... no, what should I call you? Fujikita isn't your real name, is it?"
Yagami said, "I have no name, only a code name. You can call me Fox."
"Oh. Fox... was the rearguard successful?"
"It was. Under your leadership as temporary squad leader, we successfully covered the retreat, and the other six battalions left safely."
Kurumi pursed her cherry-like lips and said, "You're so powerful, how could it be under my leadership? I didn't do anything."
Yagami smiled. If it hadn't been for the courage Kurumi showed at the final moment—even trying to protect her "teammate" Fujikita—he might not have resolved to fight the Sand so fiercely.
To that end, he had exposed some of his trump cards.
From his observations within the Anbu, Danzo might be ousted from the Anbu by Hiruzen Sarutobi to lead the Root independently.
This process couldn't just be Hiruzen saying a word and Danzo leaving quietly; there would surely be a storm.
During that storm, Yagami needed to seek out more benefits.
If Danzo moved, the position of Anbu Department Head would open up, allowing the brothers below to move up a rank.
Yagami wanted to get a Battalion Commander position for himself.
Commander Yellow Dog, as the Hokage's representative, was stationed at the front to monitor the entire battlefield, wielding immense power.
If he became a Commander, he could independently lead Anbu missions at a specific battlefield.