Danzo in His Prime

Uzu Hidden Village lay amid the mountains, divided into northern and southern halves by a Great River.

What shocked Yagami was the moving mountain behind Uzu Hidden Village!

Only upon closer inspection did he realize it was an enormous turtle, as massive as a small mountain.

Perched on Yagami's back, Uzumaki Yuka leaned close to his ear and explained:

"That is our village-protecting Summoned Beast, Lord Spirit Turtle.

"The Uzumaki Clan excels at Sealing Jutsu. During the Warring States Period, we sealed monsters for various Daimyo and nobles, and thus accumulated many Summoned Beasts.

"There are also many underwater Summoned Beasts in the Great River running through the center.

"Our squad's mission this time was to seal a large ninja beast causing trouble in the Land of Waves, but we were spotted by Cloud Ninja and failed."

A soaring bird cry rang out overhead.

Yagami looked up and saw a Summoned Beast he had seen in the original work: Nagato's Three-Legged Great-Beaked Yatagarasu.

So that was it. This was the proper way to use Sealing Jutsu.

Seal powerful Summoned Beasts and have them fight for you.

But why didn't the Uzumaki Clan get themselves a tailed beast?

With their powerful Sealing Jutsu combined with a tailed beast, couldn't they create Perfect Jinchuriki?

Uzumaki Clan ninja arrived at the village entrance and took Uzumaki Yuka to the hospital.

Before leaving, Uzumaki Yuka cast one last lingering look at Fox.

What a shame. She only remembered Fox's voice and did not know his name.

After returning, she would have to find out who the Senju Clan's spy in the Anbu was.

If it had been before, when the Anbu answered to Lord Tobirama, it would not have been so troublesome.

It was said that after Sarutobi Hiruzen took office, he had first carried out a brutal purge of the Anbu, bringing in large numbers of newcomers and removing many of Lord Tobirama's subordinates.

Antelope Squad entered the depths of Uzu Hidden Village and arrived at the Village Head Building.

Above the Village Head Building was a massive Uzumaki Clan Crest, identical to the emblem on the backs of Konoha Ninja flak jackets.

After waiting for a long time, a group of people approached from the distance.

Danzo led the group, with his assistants following behind him.

Danzo was in his prime at this time. Both his eyes and arms were intact, without any abnormalities.

The crossed knife scars on his chin, paired with his tiny pupils and Four-Tomoe Sharingan, made him look exceptionally sinister.

When those Four-Tomoe Sharingan swept over them, they inspired fear.

Danzo entered the Village Head Building, followed by the Captain Commander and the Advisor Assistants. The Squad Commanders, Captain Antelope, and the other Squad Leaders remained below.

Ordinary Anbu like Yagami vanished into the woods behind the Village Head Building.

Yagami stood in a tree with Horned Bull, watching the rear of the Village Head Building and remaining alert for anyone who might try to harm Danzo.

Danzo was both a High-Level Advisor and the Anbu Director, holding an extremely high position.

Yagami and Horned Bull did not interact. None of the Anbu interacted; everyone was like a machine.

After an unknown amount of time, Danzo came downstairs and left Uzu Hidden Village with his assistants.

No one knew what Danzo had said to the Uzumaki Clan Head, but Danzo looked terrible, as though the meeting had not gone well.

Danzo's gaze drifted as he seemed to be pondering something.

The Captain Commander assigned tasks to the Squad Commanders, and the Squad Commanders assigned tasks to the Squad Leaders.

Captain Antelope found Fox and Horned Bull, then led the two northward.

Captain Antelope revealed that they were heading to the Land of Waves.

Yagami did not know what the mission was, so he guessed wildly. Perhaps they were going to investigate the Cloud Ninja appearing in the Land of Waves.

The main battlefield between Konoha and Kumogakure lay along the northern border of the Land of Hot Water. By all rights, there should not have been many Cloud Ninja in the Land of Waves.

This was during the Second Shinobi World War. Every village was stretched taut, and none could possibly dispatch so many spare hands. If they did, it had to be for something major.

Captain Antelope acquired a boat by the shore. The three of them used Transformation Jutsu to disguise themselves as fishermen and rowed north toward the Land of Waves.

Yagami transformed into a dark-skinned youth.

Leaning over the side of the boat, he wanted to use the reflection in the seawater to see whether he resembled his former self from his previous life.

White spray splashed against the hull, and he could see nothing.

Rowing was exhausting. Antelope Squad gathered information from nearby fishing boats, searching for suspicious vessels at sea.

For Yagami, rowing was not bad. The pace was slow, and before he knew it, several days had passed.

By the time they reached the shore, more than ten days had gone by.

Yagami welcomed another full moon and finally gained another chance at resurrection.

He was almost sick of Soldier Pills.

The captain wouldn't allow them to grill sea fish, and Yagami had no idea which kinds could be eaten raw, so he could only keep eating Soldier Pills.

Soldier Pills would keep him from starving to death, but they provided no sense of fullness at all. His stomach had been empty for so long that it cramped with pain.

After reaching the Land of Waves, the squad changed back into their ANBU disguises and slipped into the coconut grove along the shore.

Yagami guessed that ANBU were conducting a carpet search. Their squad had been circling within the same area the entire time.

Seven days later, Captain Antelope found signs of a battle.

There were no corpses on the ground, but the soil was dark red. Judging from the bloodstained dirt, the battle had taken place within the last two days.

There were also scattered kunai and ninja swords in the grass.

The ninja swords were standard-issue long blades used by Cloud Ninja.

Captain Antelope said, "Everyone pick up a Cloud Ninja long sword. It'll make it easier to disguise ourselves as Cloud Ninja."

Yagami picked up a sword and carefully wiped the blood from it.

They could disguise themselves as Cloud Ninja, do some bad things, and conveniently pin the blame on the Cloud Ninja.

With the site of the battle as their center, the Antelope Squad began searching for the enemy.

As they searched, Yagami lamented that it was no wonder Kakashi had made almost no progress during his ten years in ANBU.

ANBU missions took up all of one's time, leaving no time to train at all.

Most missions involved traveling, searching, and lying in wait. They consumed an enormous amount of time.

Just like in his previous life, leaders all possessed a sort of obtuse indifference to whether the people below them lived or died.

He had once thought that, with his extraordinary effort and comprehension, he could make a name for himself in this ninja world.

But they weren't giving him that chance.

Captain Antelope was experienced. He found many clues and tracked the enemy to a fishing village.

At night, lights shone from most of the fishermen's homes in the village.

Captain Antelope pointed at one house that was completely dark and waved his hand.

Yagami and Horned Bull stealthily approached the wooden house from two directions.

To guard against moisture and dampness, seaside wooden houses were built with their ground floors raised off the ground, making it very convenient to crawl in beneath them.

On the other side, Horned Bull suddenly wiped his face.

Yagami had learned some architectural knowledge in his previous life and determined that the side with the small window was likely the toilet, so he had chosen the side with the large window early on.

Poor Horned Bull. He could only hope that what had landed on his face was just water.

If it had flown freely, then he would have to endure it. This was a mission, after all.

Yagami lay beneath the floorboards with his ear pressed against them, listening to the movements above.

A blade suddenly stabbed down through the floor!

Fortunately, Yagami was alert enough to dodge the strike.

The blade grazed his scalp and cut off a lock of his hair.

The ninja sword was long and exceptionally sharp. At a glance, it was clearly a standard-issue Cloud Ninja blade.

Battle erupted in an instant!

Heavy footsteps thudded across the wooden floor.

Horned Bull flew into a rage and directly stuck an Exploding Tag beneath the floorboards.

Yagami cursed inwardly. Damn it, the crawlspace was so low that getting out would take time!

In such a confined space, the blast wave would be concentrated, making injury far more likely.

Could it be that Horned Bull had really gotten sprayed on the head by something "flying"?

Amid the explosion, Yagami scrambled and rolled his way out.

The wooden house exploded from within, and several Cloud Ninja rushed out of it.

For a moment, the cold gleam of ninja swords flashed along the beach.