ANBU Assembles and the Border Sweep Mission's Death List

"Thwack!"

A pitch-black kunai slammed heavily into the moldy parchment map.

Venom Fang's thick finger jabbed at the spot where the kunai had pinned the paper—Kikyo Valley, on the border of the Land of Fire.

"Owl, listen closely." Venom Fang looked down at Baishi from his superior height, his single eye filled with mockery. "Your mission is to act as the vanguard and enter the valley three hours ahead of us. Once you encounter Iwagakure spies, you are not to retreat. You must latch onto them and hold them fast until our main force arrives. Do you understand?"

A few faint, mocking chuckles echoed through the hall.

The scrawny ANBU operative codenamed "Wildcat" leaned against a support pillar, toying with a senbon needle in his hand, while the female operative codenamed "Viper" kept her head down, wiping her ninja blade without even sparing Baishi a glance.

Three kilometers.

In a border forest with obstructed sightlines and complex terrain, a distance of three kilometers was a chasm between life and death for an average genin. By the time the main force arrived at their leisurely pace, the vanguard's corpse would have already gone cold.

Baishi kept his head bowed, his eyes beneath the mask as still as an ancient well, though his body trembled with practiced compliance.

"Captain..." he said, intentionally making his voice sound dry and strained. "Three kilometers is too far. The valley terrain is enclosed. If the Iwagakure forces are numerous, I fear... I fear I won't be able to hold out until your reinforcements arrive, and I'll ruin the village's grand plan."

"Bang!"

Without a word of wasted breath, Venom Fang kicked Baishi directly in the chest.

A dull thud of boot meeting flesh rang out.

The moment Venom Fang launched his leg, Baishi had subtly pulled his chest muscles inward by half an inch, dissipating most of the force. He allowed himself to be sent flying like a discarded sack, slamming hard against the wall before sliding to the floor.

"Cough, cough..." He clutched his chest, coughing violently, a realistic trickle of blood seeping between his fingers.

"Useless trash!" Venom Fang stepped forward, planting his boot on Baishi's shoulder and grinding it down slightly. "Do you even have the qualifications to question the Hokage's orders? For the sake of Konoha's peace, even if you have to throw yourself into an Iwagakure Earth Release trap, you will jump with a smile on your face! That is the Will of Fire!"

"This subordinate... this subordinate knows his error..." Baishi lay on the cold, damp stone floor, his voice weak.

The observing ANBU members shook their heads one after another.

Viper sneered, "With this pathetic display, I truly don't know how he survived the Nine-Tails jinchuriki yesterday. He was lucky, but unfortunately, his luck has run out."

The way they looked at Baishi was the way one looks at a dead man.

But no one knew that as Baishi lay pinned underfoot, the corners of his mouth beneath the mask curled into a cruel arc.

His right palm was pressed flat against the ground.

The cellular vitality granted by his max-level Lightning Release pushed his sensory perception to a terrifying level. Faint bio-electric currents spread along the stone floor, instantly mapping the chakra wavelengths of the four people in the hall with absolute clarity.

Venom Fang: Earth attribute, lowest chakra reserves among the jonin, heavy center of gravity, relies on his right leg for power.

Wildcat: Wind attribute, cold chakra, extremely low respiratory rate, a glass cannon specialized in assassination.

Viper: Water attribute, consistent chakra flow, poison on her blade.

Plus the sensory-type ninja in the corner who hadn't spoken a word.

Four people.

Baishi quickly constructed a tactical model of the four in his mind, then coldly passed a death sentence upon them.

He understood the underlying logic of this mission all too well.

Venom Fang and his ilk weren't going to clear out any Iwagakure spies. The real secret order they had received was to drive him, the "bait," into Kikyo Valley to draw out the elite Iwagakure forces.

Once the Iwagakure firepower was fully concentrated on him and he was torn to shreds, Namikaze Minato's squad, hiding on the flank, would descend like gods to reap the battlefield and secure the intelligence.

As for Venom Fang and the others, they only needed to write a report stating, "ANBU genin Owl died heroically covering the main force," and they could trade his life for merit at the Hokage's office.

Minato eliminated a romantic rival, Danzo erased a variable, and the Third Hokage gained the intelligence.

Everyone was happy.

A truly perfect script, Baishi sneered inwardly. Unfortunately, you all miscalculated one thing.

The roles of hunter and prey had been completely reversed since last night.

"Get up!" Venom Fang moved his foot away, wiping his sole on the ground with disgust. "Thirty minutes to prepare. Assemble at the main gate at 8:30. If you dare to be one minute late, I will execute you on the spot for desertion."

"Yes..." Baishi scrambled to his feet, head bowed, and limped out of the assembly hall.

The moment he left the hall, his hunched back straightened instantly, and his gait returned to a steady, rhythmic pace.

Thirty minutes.

That was enough.

Baishi did not return to the barracks; instead, he took a winding path into a dim alleyway on the outskirts of Konoha.

At the end of the alley was a dilapidated ninja tool shop without even a sign. It was an extension of the black market, specializing in contraband strictly controlled by official channels. They took only cash and asked no questions about the source.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a pungent smell of nitric acid and moldy leather rushed to meet him.

Behind the counter, an old man with one blind eye was smoking a dry pipe.

Baishi walked up and, without a word of nonsense, slammed a heavy money bag onto the counter.

"Clatter."

The bag spilled open, revealing all the savings the original owner had scraped together over the past three years from the life-or-death dirty work he had performed in the ANBU. It even included the meager pension Konoha had issued when his parents died in battle.

A full three hundred thousand ryo.

The old man's cloudy, single eye brightened slightly as he exhaled a puff of blue smoke. "What'll it be? Kunai? Or chakra-conductive metal?"

"I don't need that scrap metal." Baishi's voice was hoarse, carrying a cold, unquestionable edge. "Give me nothing but high-explosive paper bombs. Also, three Soldier Pills and two flashbangs."

The old man's hand, holding his pipe, paused. He looked at Baishi with a startled expression.

Three hundred thousand ryo worth of paper bombs? This wasn't a standard mission; this was a suicide pact!

The Soldier Pills were even worse—forbidden drugs that forcibly squeezed out chakra by overdrawing one's life force. Taking just one meant being bedridden for half a month, and this kid wanted three?

"Kid, you buy this many paper bombs, aren't you afraid of blowing yourself into nothing but ash?" The old man grinned, revealing yellowed teeth.

"Don't worry about it," Baishi replied coldly. "Just get the goods."

He understood the combat logic of the Naruto world all too well.

No matter how flashy the ninjutsu or how formidable the taijutsu, everything was hollow in the face of absolute explosive force. Paper bombs—this form of pure physical damage—were the ultimate tool for low-level ninja to bridge the class gap and secure a counter-kill.

Although he now possessed max-level Lightning Release chakra nature transformation, his total chakra volume remained his weakness. He had to use his steel on the blade's edge, trading the minimum amount of chakra for the maximum lethality.

Soon, the old man pushed a thick stack of specialized paper bombs and a few small paper packets across the counter.

Baishi carefully inspected the sealing formulas on the paper bombs. After confirming they weren't damp or tampered with, he skillfully distributed them into hidden pockets on his thighs, behind his waist, and inside his trench coat.

Every position was chosen so that, regardless of his posture, he could draw them with one hand using the shortest possible path.

Finally, he tucked the three pungent Soldier Pills close to his body and turned to walk out of the ninja tool shop.

The thick morning mist gradually dissipated, and the sunlight struggled to pierce the clouds, spilling onto the streets of Konoha.

Baishi moved against the flow of people, heading toward the main gate of Konoha.

He touched his bulging ninja tool pouch, feeling the rough texture against his fingertips. The fear of death in his heart had been completely suppressed by extreme rationality and killing intent.

Namikaze Minato, since you want me dead, don't blame me for tearing your script to shreds.

Eight-twenty-five.

Baishi appeared at the main gate of Konoha right on time.

The other four members of the Venom Fang squad were already waiting. Seeing Baishi walk up alive, Venom Fang let out a disdainful snort.

"You know your place," Venom Fang gestured. "Move out. Owl, you take the lead."

Baishi didn't speak. His figure flickered, turning into a blur as he dashed out of the gate and vanished into the forest ahead.

Venom Fang and the others followed closely behind.

The five of them moved at high speed through the dense canopy. The wind whistled in their ears, and the leaves rustled with every movement.

Baishi ran in the lead. He appeared completely unguarded, but in reality, he was channeling a faint trace of Lightning Release chakra into the meridians of his feet. This not only significantly boosted his speed but also allowed him to hear the movements of the four behind him with perfect clarity.

About five kilometers from the Konoha gate, Baishi's pupils suddenly contracted.

Something was wrong!

He deliberately slowed his breathing, extending the range of his Lightning Release perception backward.

Venom Fang, Viper, the sensory ninja...

One was missing!

The thin, small ANBU codenamed "Wildcat" had slipped out of the formation at some point. He had silently increased the distance, and the moment he broke away, his chakra wavelength underwent a bizarre change.

The chakra that originally belonged to the Wind attribute had instantly transformed into a cold, viscous Yin Release chakra!

This feeling... Baishi knew it all too well.

It was the same scent as the Root assassin who had snuck into his dormitory last night and tried to strangle him with "Black Curse Binding"!

Under his mask, Baishi's expression darkened instantly.

Wildcat wasn't an ANBU; he was a plant sent by Root!

That old schemer Danzo wasn't just planning to use others to do his dirty work on the front lines; he had even buried a double insurance policy within Venom Fang's squad!

But what made Baishi's skin crawl wasn't Wildcat's identity.

It was the direction Wildcat was moving after leaving the team.

He wasn't circling around to flank him, nor was he following behind Venom Fang. Instead, with a highly stealthy approach, he was creeping toward the high ground on the flank.

That direction... was the designated ambush point for Namikaze Minato's squad!

Baishi's heart skipped a beat. A flash of insight struck his mind like lightning, and a truly insane thought shattered all his previous assumptions.

Danzo didn't send Wildcat to kill him—a mere piece of cannon fodder!

Danzo's true target was actually... Namikaze Minato?!

Baishi's fingers clamped tightly onto a paper bomb, ready to force a change in his tactical route to intercept Wildcat.