ANBU

Kiba Inuzuka had experienced it firsthand. Ye Fan had merely given him a little guidance, yet his strength had increased by a huge margin.

Among the children who had graduated from the Ninja Academy, he had originally ranked near the bottom.

But now...

He could already be considered average.

He could imagine just how formidable the taijutsu created by Ye Fan would be!

Of course he was tempted.

What annoyed him was...

His sister had received taijutsu from Ye Fan, yet she was not practicing it.

She simply did not know how to cherish it!

At that moment, Ye Fan looked at Kiba Inuzuka's expression of envy, jealousy, and resentment and could not help laughing. "Kiba, this taijutsu, Fierce Wind Twin-Joining Hands, was specially created for Hua. You are not suited to practice it. Even if you learned it, you would not be able to bring out its proper power."

Kiba Inuzuka pursed his lips, looking like a child sulking in silence.

"How about this? During this time, I'll assess all your abilities, then create a type of taijutsu suited only for you as well!" Ye Fan said casually.

"Really?" Kiba Inuzuka's eyes immediately lit up.

"Of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you?" Ye Fan said.

"That's great!" Kiba Inuzuka shouted.

Hana Inuzuka could not help laughing from the side. When it came to these two younger brothers, she truly did not know what to say.

Was taijutsu really so easy to create?

Only children would have such naive thoughts, right?

Hana Inuzuka had never practiced Fierce Wind Twin-Joining Hands. Aside from having too many missions every day and being too busy, the most important reason was that she had not taken it seriously at all.

"Sis, don't underestimate Ye Fan's ability to create things just because he no longer has chakra. You've never truly understood Ye Fan."

"Just from the name Fierce Wind Twin-Joining Hands, you can tell it's a domineering taijutsu."

"Sis, if you trust your little brother, practice it seriously just once. I guarantee you'll see Ye Fan in a whole new light!" Kiba Inuzuka said with a serious expression.

"All right!"

Hana Inuzuka agreed verbally. As for whether she would actually do it, only she herself knew.

Just as Hana Inuzuka was about to return to her room for some rest, two sudden whooshes cut through the air from outside the courtyard.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

It seemed someone had arrived in the courtyard.

Hana Inuzuka frowned.

Looking through the window into the courtyard, she saw two Konoha ninja standing there.

Both wore white masks modeled after animals, hiding their faces. Only two cold glints shone from the eyeholes.

"ANBU! What happened?" Hana Inuzuka was startled and hurriedly ran outside with her Ninja Hound.

ANBU, short for the Assassination Tactics Special Squad, had been established by Konoha's Second Hokage. It was similar to a special forces division.

ANBU members were outstanding ninja selected from the village. Their primary duties were protecting the Hokage and preventing foreign enemies from infiltrating the ninja village. At times, they were also responsible for scouting enemy intelligence and carrying out assassinations. Their missions were generally either extremely dangerous or tedious, such as guarding important suspects.

ANBU answered directly to the Hokage, with all orders issued by the Hokage. The force was divided into multiple squads of four or five members, with squad leaders relaying orders and directing the execution of missions.

During missions, they were addressed by code names.

"ANBU? Did something major happen in the village?" Seeing the two outside, Kiba Inuzuka rose to his feet with an excited expression as well.

"Come on, let's see what happened." Worried that something might have happened to Hana Inuzuka, Ye Fan hurried outside.

These two ANBU members were not weak. Ye Fan had only noticed them when they came within twenty meters of the courtyard.

He quickly calculated in his mind that if he fought these two, there would be no chance for him to hold back.

If he did not reveal his true strength, it would be impossible to defeat these two ANBU members.

And—

Once they fought, he would have to end it quickly!

When Ye Fan and Kiba Inuzuka ran out of the room, they happened to hear Hana Inuzuka say to the two ANBU members, "All right, I'll come right away!"

"Hua, what happened?" Ye Fan could not help asking.

"It's nothing. Go back inside. Don't worry!" Hana Inuzuka said.

Ye Fan could see the unease and worry on Hana Inuzuka's face.

Something had definitely happened.

And it was absolutely not something minor!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Hana Inuzuka gave Ye Fan no chance to ask further and left with the two ANBU members.

"Ye Fan, what do you think happened? My sister isn't going to be arrested, is she?" Kiba Inuzuka asked, his face full of worry.

He had heard of ANBU. They generally only mobilized when an important incident occurred, and they took orders directly from the Hokage.

"Probably not. I didn't sense any hostility from those two." Rare seriousness showed on Ye Fan's face. After a brief silence, he asked, "Kiba, how much do you know about ANBU?"

"Actually, not much. ANBU is an especially mysterious department in our village. They usually wear masks, black skintight clothing, a white strapped vest over that, and pants that are mostly no different from other ninja. Sometimes they also wear black trench coats. Other than the upper ranks, no one knows their identities."

"What else do you know?" Ye Fan pressed.

Kiba Inuzuka shook his head. What he knew was limited.

"If I follow them now, I probably won't be discovered. Kiba, stay here. I'll go see what happened."

With a stern expression, Ye Fan finished speaking, picked up the little Dark Shadow Ninja Hound at his feet, and rushed outside.

"Ye Fan, where are you going? Take me with you!"

Kiba Inuzuka wanted to follow, but when he ran out into the courtyard, Ye Fan was already nowhere to be seen.

At the gates of Konoha Village.

Several ninja had formed a circle around a huge Ninja Hound, trying to save it.

"It's lost too much blood. This is bad, its vital signs are fading. Hasn't the veterinary unit arrived yet?"

"Hey, hey, don't give up! You have to hold on!"

"Has no one from the Inuzuka Clan arrived either? Damn it, what kind of battle did it go through? How could it be injured so badly?"

The ninja worked frantically. Some stopped the Ninja Hound's bleeding, while others transferred chakra into it. However, they were merely guards at the gate, not professional medical ninja. All they could do was keep the Ninja Hound from dying immediately.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

"Look, it's ANBU!"

"ANBU brought the veterinarian here. That secret letter really must be important."

At that moment, someone had already spotted Hana Inuzuka rapidly approaching.

"Brother, you have to hold on!" one of the ninja encouraged, pressing his palm over the Ninja Hound's bleeding wound.

Not long ago—

This critically injured Ninja Hound had relied solely on astonishing willpower to run back here. It collapsed the moment it reached the gate, still clutching a secret letter in its mouth.

That secret letter had already been delivered to the Hokage.

It was precisely because of this that the ANBU had been alerted.