Livid

Yagami followed Yellow Dog Squad Leader to a spot twenty meters away from the higher-ups.

Yellow Dog's appearance meant that ANBU had important intelligence to report to Minister Danzo.

Yagami glanced at the higher-ups, observing their expressions.

The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wore armor as he sat on a rock, smoking.

On one side of him stood the Senju Clan Head, Senju Rin, and Elite Jonin Dan Katō. On the other were Mitokado Homura and Shimura Danzō.

It looked as though the Third Hokage was acting as a referee between the two sides, trying to mediate their conflict.

Senju Rin's face was livid, yet he remained arrogant and refused to yield in the slightest.

On the other side, Mitokado Homura had grown tired from arguing and took a drink of water.

As for Danzo, he still did not say a word.

Whenever these higher-ups gathered, Mitokado Homura usually spoke on behalf of the others and expressed their stance.

The Senju Clan seemed to have major differences with the higher-ups. Perhaps it was over Uzumaki Kushina's placement, or perhaps it was over ownership of Uzu Hidden Village's Forbidden Scroll.

Both the Senju Clan and the village wanted control over the Uzumaki Clan's legacy.

Upon seeing Yellow Dog, Shimura Danzō walked over.

Yellow Dog hurriedly reported:

"Lord Danzo, the Black Gorilla Squad has obtained vital intelligence.

The Uzumaki Elder ultimately selected eight Uzumaki clansmen and sent them toward the Land of Waves on Yatagarasu.

Before dying, the Uzumaki Elder also took out a Sealing Scroll.

Kurozaru is doing his best to follow Yatagarasu."

Danzo's gaze sharpened upon hearing this.

If he could not obtain Uzu Hidden Village's Forbidden Scroll, then the Uzumaki Elder's Sealing Jutsu could serve as a temporary substitute.

Danzo gave an order:

"Yellow Dog, your squad has lost many subordinates. First organize the remaining men into a squad and immediately search for Kurozaru.

You and Hippopotamus will select and train new ANBU squads from the two thousand Konoha Ninja who came this time. Get them combat-ready as soon as possible.

Once two full squads have assembled, you and Hippopotamus will search for the Uzumaki Remnants and bring either them or the scroll back to Konoha."

Yagami thought, That "either" was used quite well.

Danzo meant that if those Uzumaki Remnants could be brought back, then bring them back and dissect them properly.

If they could not be brought back, that was fine too. The Uzumaki Elder's scroll absolutely had to be recovered.

Yellow Dog nodded repeatedly and left with Yagami.

Danzo turned and first swept his gaze over Senju Rin.

The Senju Clan was deeply entrenched. Many of the village's policies could not be enforced without taking the Senju Clan's wishes into account.

For example, during this transfer of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the Senju Clan actually wanted total control over the new Jinchuriki.

How could the village's safety be entrusted to the Senju Clan?

Yellow Dog led Yagami back to the squad.

"Our squad has gone through this arduous mission and has fewer than twenty people left.

Yak Bull, I now appoint you squad commander. Assemble a full squad and head for the Land of Waves. Fox has the temporary code Kurozaru devised.

Your squad's task is to find the Uzumaki Remnants and the inheritance scroll, then keep them occupied.

Be careful. The Uzumaki Clan's secret techniques are difficult to deal with, and they also have large Summoned Beasts. Captain Hippopotamus and I will bring two squads after you to carry out the capture."

Yagami left with Yak Bull Squad Commander.

After waiting for a long time, the equipment for disguising themselves as Cloud Ninja never arrived. It seemed there was no need to disguise themselves anymore.

Back when the Uzumaki Clan had not been exterminated, they had to be cautious when killing Uzumaki Ninja and even disguise themselves as Cloud Ninja.

Now that the Uzumaki Clan had been exterminated, they could kill them whenever they wished. As long as ANBU did not leak its secrets, no one would know.

--

The full moon hung like a silver plate, and the moonlight resembled white frost.

By the time they reached the coast, Yagami had waited for the night of the full moon.

Things would be easier from here on. He had one chance to revive.

Yagami looked at Yak Bull Squad Commander a little longer. What good thing would this revival give him?

After entering the Land of Waves, the ANBU ninja carefully searched for the marks Kurozaru had left behind and asked around everywhere whether anyone had seen a three-legged giant bird.

After several days, they had not found the Uzumaki Remnants, but they did receive a new piece of news.

After the Third Mizukage's death, the Fourth had yet to be selected. Elder Genshi of Kirigakure had become the new leader and was temporarily managing Kirigakure.

Near the end of the month, ANBU finally found the code Kurozaru had left behind.

The code pointed toward the Capital of the Land of Waves.

Yak Bull Squad Commander gathered the squad leaders to assign tasks. He said:

"Uzu Hidden Village has been destroyed, so the mission shares in the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Waves have now been left open.

The Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools and the Daimyo of the Land of Waves have always been vassals of the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

We cannot cause too much bloodshed while operating in the Capital, or it will harm the negotiations over future mission shares.

There are still quite a few Uzumaki Remnants in the Capital of the Land of Waves. For instance, the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools' Guardian Ninja include Uzumaki Ninja."

All the ANBU ninja disguised themselves as ordinary merchants, carrying only Kunai as they entered the Capital of the Land of Waves.

The Land of Waves lay between the three great nations. To the northwest was the Land of Lightning, to the west was the Land of Fire, and to the east was the Land of Water. The situation here was complicated, making it another Land of Rain, a battleground among four sides.

Yagami moved through the streets and alleys, searching every trash bin and every tree trunk.

The Kunai behind him had to be hidden with great care.

Kunai were symbols of a ninja's identity. If civilians saw one, his identity would be exposed.

Ninja were relatively comfortable inside ninja villages, but once they left them, they were hated by all civilians.

The ninja world had many records of ninja slaughtering cities and destroying countries. To civilians, ninja were all monstrous calamities.

Ninja killed too many people, too quickly, leading to civilians' hostility and nonviolent resistance.

After searching for several days, Yagami finally found Black Gorilla Squad Commander.

"Squad commander, you..."

The Black Gorilla Squad was hiding in a cramped storeroom. His left arm had been severed cleanly at the shoulder.

Seeing that it was Fox, Kurozaru's tightly coiled muscles relaxed, and he let out a long breath.

"It wasn't just us who saw the Uzumaki Elder take out a scroll at the end. The Mist Ninja saw it too. I chased the Uzumaki Remnants here, and the Mist Ninja did the same.

Leaf Monkey is dead, and I lost an arm as well.

Juzo Biwa is too powerful. I was no match for him at all."

Yagami was secretly alarmed. He had not expected the Seven Ninja Swordsmen to come to the Capital of the Land of Waves as well.

"Captain, where are the Uzumaki Remnants?"

"I don't know. They hid with the help of the Guardian Ninja. I can't find them."

A trace of joy rose in Yagami's heart. Uzumaki Yuka should still be alive.

"Captain, I'll take you to find Captain Yak. The first reinforcements are Yak's squad. Two more squads will arrive afterward."

Kurozaru and Yagami found Yak Bull Squad Commander.

After the two squad commanders discussed matters, they decided to have the ANBU operate in pairs and search the Capital for the Uzumaki Remnants as quickly as possible.

They had to find those Uzumaki kunoichi before the Mist Ninja did.

Kurozaru and Yagami acted together.

Black Gorilla Squad Commander was truly cautious. He always walked on Yagami's left.

His left arm was gone, so his right hand was always guarding against Yagami.

Did Yagami really look that much like a traitor? Or was Kurozaru simply extremely cautious, which was why he was always on guard against him?

The Capital was enormous.

After several days, Yagami saw a small bird land beside a small lake in one of the Capital's parks.

A white heron. It was a white heron.