Kurumi shouted "No!" and grabbed Yōkō's wrist.
Yōkō was very strong.
As Yōkō swung his arm, before Yakushi Nonō could be struck, Kurumi was flung away first. She slammed sideways into a pillar behind Yakushi Nonō, her body sliding down and getting caught on a railing.
A loud thud echoed as the pillar visibly shook from the impact.
Yōkō was taken aback.
Despite such a severe blow, Kurumi hadn't let go of Yōkō's wrist with her right hand.
Kurumi's small hand gripped Yōkō's wrist tightly, her fingers contorted.
Yakushi Nonō, locked by the cursed seal and unable to move, watched in horror.
The copper-red fist was only a few centimeters from her head.
Kurumi spat out a mouthful of blood, used her other hand to push herself off the ground, and climbed down from the railing.
"Captain Fox! Please! The Matron is truly a good person. Please, don't kill her, okay?"
Yōkō looked down at Kurumi, who was half-kneeling on the ground.
Kurumi's eyes were full of plea.
The horror in Yakushi Nonō's eyes turned to confusion.
She saw Copper Fox slowly retract his fist and help Kurumi up.
Yōkō first checked the lumbar vertebrae where Kurumi had hit the pillar. Finding some bone fractures, he said:
"Kurumi, don't you know medical ninjutsu? Treat yourself first."
"I can hold on," Kurumi said urgently:
"Captain Fox, the Matron is a good person. I don't know what having a real older sister is like, but the Matron is my sister.
Is there some misunderstanding? Why do you want to kill my sister?"
Yōkō said: "Kurumi, we met on the battlefield in the Land of Rivers. Among the ninjas I've met, you are a rare, uncorrupted good person.
I believe what you say is true. Your Matron is a good person.
However, your Matron nearly got me killed.
She sold our ANBU Battalion's ambush intelligence to the Kiri-nin.
If I hadn't taken precautions beforehand, I'd be dead now.
If not successful this time, your Matron would eventually get me killed in some mission. She would sell my information to some important figure.
Kurumi, I'm sorry. Your Matron is a good person to you, and a good person to the orphans, but to Konoha, she is a traitor who nearly got five Konoha battalions killed."
"Please give the Matron a chance to explain! How could the Matron get five Konoha battalions killed? Please..."
Kurumi was already crying, but Yōkō's hand chopped the back of her neck, knocking her out.
Just as he was about to kill Yakushi Nonō, he found her suddenly leap backward.
Yōkō stared at Yakushi Nonō in shock.
Since he learned the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal, she was the first person capable of breaking his sealing technique.
Sweat poured down Yakushi Nonō's forehead; breaking the seal had cost her great effort.
Seeing the muscles in Copper Fox's legs tense, Yakushi Nonō quickly shouted: "Have you heard of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal!"
An instant later, Copper Fox's fist once again stopped just before Yakushi Nonō's forehead.
Staring at the copper-red fist before her, Yakushi Nonō thought, The gamble paid off.
An ANBU so skilled in the Uzumaki clan's secret sealing arts must know of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal could be called the Uzumaki clan's equivalent of the Caged Bird Seal.
If Danzo mastered this technique, then all ANBU would become Danzo's puppets.
Any shred of pride in this Copper Fox would prevent him from allowing himself to become Danzo's puppet.
By shouting out this Uzumaki clan secret technique, she had indeed piqued Fox's interest, buying herself a chance to live with this secret.
A ninja's strength isn't just combat power; it's also intelligence capability.
Quickly providing the opponent with sufficiently weighty intelligence had turned danger into safety.
Yōkō retracted his fist and asked:
"You are too dangerous, Yakushi Nonō. You'd better make me change my mind quickly. I don't like this feeling of being led by the nose.
You have only one minute to plead your case, otherwise you will certainly die."
The reason Yōkō held back was that Yakushi Nonō must know the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal; otherwise, she couldn't have broken the seal in just over twenty seconds.
That meant Yakushi Nonō possessed intelligence related to the Uzumaki clan, which prevented Yōkō from killing her immediately.
Yakushi Nonō gave him an extremely dangerous feeling, but the intelligence she offered made Yōkō's heart itch with curiosity.
Yakushi Nonō said: "When the Uzumaki clan was annihilated, several Uzumaki Jōnin, who were Guardian Ninja for the Daimyō of the Land of Whirlpools, were captured by Danzo.
Danzo established a secret base in the Land of Whirlpools to research Uzumaki sealing secrets.
I can give you the location of the secret base."
"Heh." Yōkō said, "Why should I believe you? Is this a trap?"
"The reason I could break your Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal is thanks to the results of that secret base.
In that basis, the crack of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal has reached a critical stage.
You showed mercy to Kurumi. I can tell you value her highly, which is why I'm cooperating with you.
You don't want the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal placed on you either, do you?"
Yōkō wasn't particularly worried about having the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal placed on himself; his status was different now. As one of the ANBU Jōnin, he wasn't someone Danzo could easily manipulate.
However, if Danzo obtained the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, cultivating Root ninja would become extremely easy for him.
Loyalty would no longer be a concern; every ninja entering Root would unconditionally execute Danzo's orders and keep his secrets.
Currently, Root ninja required loyalty screening and training.
Every one that died cost Danzo a loyal subordinate.
After Aburame Ryoma's death, it would take Danzo a long time to find someone with equal strength and loyalty.
Yōkō said:
"Do you think I'm so easily fooled? If it's Danzo's secret base, the defenses must be tight. Wouldn't I be walking to my death?
Don't think you can deceive me with just a few words. I must kill you today."
Although his words were harsh, both Yōkō and Yakushi Nonō could sense his killing intent had vanished.
He truly wanted Danzo's Uzumaki secret research base.
Yōkō said: "Fine, give me the address. This is our first cooperation. If you deceive me, I will definitely destroy your orphanage.
As long as you cooperate well with me, Battalion Commander Yellow Dog will not fail you."
Yakushi Nonō thought, The conflict between Yellow Dog and Danzo has reached an irreconcilable stage.
She could fully exploit their contradiction, even incite their conflict, to weaken Danzo and keep him preoccupied.
ANBU Copper Fox, despite his harsh words, was unexpectedly gentle with Kurumi. He seemed like a decent partner for cooperation.
Yakushi Nonō crouched down, treating the bone fracture on Kurumi's back as she spoke:
"20 kilometers southeast of the Whirlpool Country capital, there is an underground cave.
That is the location of Danzo's Uzumaki Sealing Secret research base. It contains many precious sealing techniques, not just the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal.
Good luck."
After treating Kurumi's back injury, Yakushi Nonō left the fishing village.
Seeing that Kurumi still had three genin squad members, and fearing they might see him, Yōkō also body-flickered away.
For this investigation of the Uzumaki secret research base, he could utilize the Stone Panda Clan's Reverse Summoning to summon Uzumaki Yuka, letting her help him, and also help her obtain more information about the Uzumaki clan.
***
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(Chapter End)