Night Shadow's First Cry

The training upon first joining the ANBU Reserve Unit was far more tedious and brutal than Uchiha En had imagined.

Every day, he spent his time in the dark underground facility, repeating the same taijutsu drills, ninja tool throwing, infiltration, tracking, and, most importantly, anti-interrogation training.

The instructor, Crow, was like a tireless ghost. There was not a trace of unnecessary mercy in his training methods; every correction was a test of both body and mind.

Uchiha En had no choice but to push his Observation Haki to its limits to minimize the damage before each "punishment" arrived. His body was tempered by exhaustion and pain, yet the numbers on the system panel remained completely unchanged.

That made him realize that conventional training could not awaken the sleeping beast within him.

He craved real combat.

The opportunity came sooner than he expected.

A week later. Before dawn.

Uchiha En was meditating in his stone chamber, attempting to further merge his Observation Haki with the surrounding underground environment.

A rapid knock shattered the silence. It was neither the cat mask nor Crow. Outside stood another ANBU, codenamed Owl. His presence was deeper than Crow's, and beneath his mask were a pair of weary eyes.

"Lava, mission." Owl's voice was hoarse, carrying an urgency that brooked no argument.

"Rally point: Training Ground Three. Arrive within ten seconds."

Uchiha En opened his eyes.

A cold gleam flashed through the darkness.

He donned the standard ANBU uniform at top speed, put on his mask, and shot toward Training Ground Three like an arrow loosed from its bow.

It was a semicircular sealed chamber deep within ANBU headquarters, used specifically for mission briefings.

By the time he arrived, four ANBU were already waiting inside, all members of the Reserve Unit.

Besides him, Owl was also there. The air was thick with tension and oppression.

A faint screen of light on the wall projected a blurred map, displaying the geographical information around Konoha Village.

Owl stood before the screen, his voice low. "Mission: track and eliminate. Targets: three defected chunin.

They belonged to the Konoha Reconnaissance Unit. They went missing at the Land of Fire border three days ago, and their defection was confirmed yesterday.

They are carrying important border defense maps. They have already left Konoha territory. Their last known location was the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice."

"The border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice..." one of the Reserve Unit members repeated quietly, his tone laced with unease.

The Land of Rice was where Orochimaru's Hidden Sound Village was rising.

Owl ignored him and continued the briefing. "Your mission is to recover the defense maps, eliminate the targets on the spot, and ensure the intelligence does not leak.

Mission rank: B. Lethal force authorized. Time limit: twenty-four hours. Once the time limit expires, the targets will be considered to have entered enemy territory, and the operation will automatically terminate."

"Lava." Owl's gaze fell on Uchiha En. "You will handle long-range reconnaissance and flanking maneuvers. Your sensory ability is an advantage."

"Understood," Uchiha En answered briefly. He knew this was a direct application of the sensory ability he had displayed during the graduation exam.

"Move." At Owl's command, the five ANBU Reserve Unit members immediately turned into five black shadows, rushing out of the sealed chamber and through the underground passageways. They swiftly left ANBU headquarters and vanished into Konoha's morning mist.

The Land of Fire border, dense forest.

The five-man squad moved through the woods at tremendous speed. They exchanged no words, relying entirely on ANBU-specific tactical hand signals and chakra perception to coordinate.

Uchiha En's Observation Haki was fully unleashed, spreading like an invisible giant net over the area five hundred meters ahead.

He could not only sense every stir of grass in the wind and the breathing of animals, but also "capture" the basic emotional states of every living being within five hundred meters.

"Three hundred meters ahead, three chakra signatures.

Emotions—excitement, mixed with a trace of fear and vigilance."

Uchiha En's voice entered the ears of the other four ANBU with perfect clarity. These were all elites of the ANBU Reserve Unit, each with their own specialty, and at this moment, Uchiha En's sensory ability had become the squad's sharpest reconnaissance tool.

The squad immediately changed course and silently circled around to flank them.

Uchiha En knew the defectors' excitement might stem from successfully escaping Konoha's borders, but that trace of fear and wariness made them seem uneasy.

Before long, they discovered the targets in a hidden valley.

The three chunin were sitting around a campfire. Though it was still early, they had clearly let down their guard, boasting to one another about the dangers of the previous night. In their hands was a border defense map with one corner torn away.

"Move," Owl's voice rang out again.

Uchiha En did not move.

He had been positioned at the farthest reconnaissance point, tasked with preventing the targets from escaping or sending out a distress signal.

However, at the same moment Owl gave the order, Uchiha En's Observation Haki caught something unusual. That abnormal chakra signature did not belong to the three defectors, but came from deeper within the valley, farther away. A powerful killing intent lurked there like a cold serpent.

"Ambush!" Uchiha En's voice came out urgently, carrying a rare hint of agitation. "There are two more people deep in the valley. Their presence is powerful. They're hiding at the tops of the trees, their killing intent concealed."

Owl's movements stalled for a moment. He was experienced and knew that Reserve Unit members' sensory abilities could be inaccurate, but Uchiha En's performance at the exam forced him to take it seriously. Almost instinctively, he changed his command. "Everyone, withdraw!"

However, it was already too late.

The instant Owl gave the retreat order, two black shadows suddenly leaped from the treetops on both sides of the valley, their targets the three defected chunin below.

They were incredibly fast and struck ruthlessly, without wasting a single word. A Water Release technique descended from above, instantly covering the entire valley floor. A Wind Release technique followed immediately after, intertwining with the water to form a crushing wind pressure that sliced through everything.

This was no simple elimination. This was clearly—silencing them.

"They're Hidden Sound ninja!" Owl shouted in a low voice, his judgment perfectly accurate. Only Orochimaru's ninja could possess such strange and vicious coordination.

They clearly intended to completely erase the three defectors and the intelligence they carried before Konoha's ANBU could reach them.

The situation had become complicated. What had originally been a simple mission to eliminate defected chunin had now turned into an encounter with a hostile force.

What made Uchiha En's heart sink even further was that he sensed an evil, twisted chakra flowing through the two Hidden Sound ninja—the aura of the Heaven's Cursed Seal.

"Spread out and take them down!" Owl ordered.

Battle erupted in an instant. Four Konoha ANBU and two Hidden Sound ninja became entangled in combat.

The Hidden Sound ninja were clearly well trained. Their objective was obvious: kill the defectors quickly and hold back the Konoha ANBU. Blades flashed, ninjutsu collided, and violent energy waves erupted through the forest.