A certain town on the border of the Land of Hot Water.
The Fox Squad appeared one after another using the Body Flicker Technique.
Inside the noble's mansion lay six corpses covered with white cloths.
The noble's mother, her hair white with age, trembled as she walked towards Yōkō, supported by a servant.
Everyone else wore black robes; only Yōkō wore a white one, making him stand out immediately.
"Are you Konoha shinobi?! Isn't the Land of Hot Water under your protection?! Someone assassinated my son! And my five grandsons!" The old lady accused, tears streaming down her aged face. "Why are you so useless? So utterly useless! Had we known, we would have sided with the Land of Lightning like the Land of the Moon did!"
Yōkō thought to himself, That's not right. If you had sided with the Land of Lightning, then the ones coming to assassinate your son and grandsons would be us.
From the result's perspective, what difference would it make?
Out of respect for the dead, Yōkō refrained from retorting to the noblewoman.
Along the Land of Hot Water's lengthy border, Kumo-nin constantly provoked and caused destruction. Hatake Sakumo commanded four Konoha battalions, struggling to cope.
It was a protracted war of attrition.
During this stalemate, both sides would also concentrate superior forces to besiege or ambush the other. If they could eliminate one of the enemy's battalions, they would gain a significant advantage.
Yōkō glanced at the circle of servants kneeling in the courtyard and signaled White Ram to screen them first.
White Ram took the others and began checking the servants one by one, looking for any obvious signs of shinobi training.
Commoners within Konoha had the opportunity to become shinobi.
Commoners in the Land of Fire or other countries lived miserable lives.
In better-off areas, commoners were tenant farmers; in worse areas, like this one, there were no commoners, only serfs.
White Ram finished his inspection and found nothing unusual among the servants.
Antelope finished examining the bodies and said, "Captain, time of death is less than three hours."
Flower Deer came to report the intelligence gathered around the noble's residence: "Captain, the assassins fled northeast. There are leaves shattered by Body Flicker usage over there, and footprints spaced far apart further on."
Yōkō said, "Flower Deer, your team takes the gliders airborne. White Ram, use your Parasitic Destruction Insects to collect the scent and pursue them."
His subordinates vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Yōkō said to the noblewoman, "My condolences."
After speaking, before the old woman could continue berating him, he too used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.
After traveling for over twenty minutes, they entered the Land of the Moon.
The gliders in the sky were much faster than running through the mountains.
After about an hour, Flower Deer spotted a Kumo-nin platoon through his telescope.
Whether they were the assassins of the noble or not, this platoon would not see tomorrow's sun.
Flower Deer sent Leaf Monkey back to find the squad while he continued tracking the Kumo-nin platoon.
He was flying at a high altitude. Unless the Kumo-nin used telescopes, they would only see a black dot in the sky, like a vulture.
The Kumo-nin platoon, tired from their journey, rested on a hillside.
Their assassination had been very successful.
Killing a noble and his heirs in the Land of Hot Water would cause significant trouble for the country.
If there were enough assassinations, the Land of Hot Water would pressure the Konoha shinobi to seek a decisive battle with the Kumo-nin. Then, it would be easy for the Kumo-nin to lure the enemy in deep and find an opportunity for an ambush.
The Kumo-nin platoon leader sat on the ground, took out his canteen, and tilted his head back to drink.
Suddenly! A sharp sound tore through the air!
Mixed within this sound was a strange, high-frequency noise of flowing water.
A water line pierced through his canteen. The water inside burst out, spraying onto his face.
Three screams sounded behind him.
The platoon leader wiped his face and saw three of his subordinates standing in a line, their chests pierced through by the water line.
"Enemy attack!"
The Fox Squad charged out from the forest.
Each team had its own combination jutsu.
Fire Release plus Wind Release, Water Release plus Lightning Release. They instantly suppressed the Kumo-nin platoon from a distance.
The Kumo-nin platoon leader was extremely shocked. Why do all these people's jutsu seem to be at the level of Special Jōnin?
Yōkō slowly walked out of the forest, nodding frequently.
Under his deliberate care, the Fox Squad's casualty rate was relatively low, and many of his subordinates were growing rapidly.
The Fox Squad had moved past the days of jutsu poverty. Each team now had one offensive and one defensive combination jutsu, amplifying the team's strength.
After three consecutive rounds of combination jutsu, the hillside was scoured by flames and hurricanes, with water flows and lightning covering the ground.
Yōkō said to White Ram beside him, "From now on, when facing Kumo-nin, use fewer combination jutsu of Water and Lightning Release.
Kumo-nin are quite resistant to electricity; Lightning Release isn't very effective against them."
White Ram, seeing the Kumo-nin quickly shaking off the paralyzing effects of the Lightning Release, nodded repeatedly.
After the jutsu bombardment, over half the Kumo-nin were dead or injured. Next came close-quarters taijutsu to clean up the battlefield.
The Kumo-nin platoon leader saw that under the white hood was actually a fox mask and cried out in terror, "It's Konoha's Copper Fox, the one who took a direct hit from the Third Raikage-sama!"
The Kumo-nin didn't know how Copper Fox had performed on the battlefield in the Land of Rivers, but they knew he had taken a direct hit from the Third Raikage's Four-Finger Hell Stab in Kumogakure and stood up again as if nothing had happened.
That kind of feat was as absurd as a ghost story.
A strike from the Third, capable of piercing mountains, was actually blocked?
Therefore, upon seeing Copper Fox, the Kumo-nin platoon leader knew he was going to die.
Yōkō saw the Kumo-nin platoon leader turn to flee. He initially wanted to use the Body Flicker Technique but forcefully suppressed the impulse.
The Silent Body Flicker Technique had been assigned to his alternate identity, White Ghost; his main identity couldn't use it.
Yōkō raised a hand, forming a single seal. A water line instantly shot out, cutting the Kumo-nin platoon leader in half mid-air.
The battle became one-sided, and the Fox Squad quickly finished off the Kumo-nin platoon.
Yōkō captured a survivor and restrained him with the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal.
He said to White Ram, "You all handle the scene here. I'll go interrogate this one."
Yōkō took the prisoner and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
Arriving in the forest at the foot of the hill, Yōkō took out a scroll.
He wrote on the scroll: Return to the Kumo-nin camp. Set up a signal. Never reveal my intelligence.
Then, Yōkō bit his finger and drew a long line over the writing with his blood.
"Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal!"
The writing on the scroll, along with Yōkō's blood, transformed into a cursed seal that crawled onto the Kumo-nin's body, entered his mouth, and finally sealed itself into his brain.
The prisoner's tongue displayed the hexagram pattern of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was similar to a certain kind of restriction, etching a command in the form of a seal with extremely strong binding power.
Yōkō sighed.
He had ultimately become the very thing he hated most... But, Danzo's selections really were effective.
Yōkō said, "I've placed a seal on you. After you return to the Kumo-nin camp, set up a signal for me within the camp."
Yōkō wanted to meet Yakushi Nonō to obtain the latest intelligence.
"No! I will never set up any signal for a Konoha ANBU!"
Yōkō raised his hand, activating the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
The Kumo-nin instantly became paralyzed, convulsing on the ground.
"Complete the task, and you won't be tormented. Otherwise, this seal will activate once every six hours. Look at how much you're suffering. Even if you have a body of iron, how many times can you endure it?"
Yōkō drew the signal on the ground. "Memorize this signal. Complete the task, and you will no longer be tormented."
Yōkō used the Body Flicker Technique and left, paying the Kumo-nin no further mind.
***
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(End of Chapter)