Orochimaru Returns

Time slipped away like sand as missions and training followed one after another.

Over the next few months, an ANBU squad with a 100% mission completion rate became the talk of the Leaf Village's ANBU.

Whether the assignment was a targeted assassination, high-risk intelligence theft, border reconnaissance, or the elimination of a rogue ninja hideout,

the squad always carried out its orders with maximum efficiency.

No target ever escaped. The number of A-rank missions they took on quietly climbed, while the quality of their work never wavered.

Other ANBU squads could only envy them and speculate about their secret.

The answer lay in absolute reconnaissance and battlefield control.

Since recovering from his severe injuries, their captain, Blue Bird, had become a shrewder, more cautious tactician.

Cat's poisons and traps remained reliable, as did Crow's seals and support. But

the one who had truly transformed the squad was Hyuga Tianyi, codenamed Fox.

His Byakugan and Magnet Release combined to form a surveillance network without blind spots.

Stealth? He could track chakra fluctuations and the distribution of metal for kilometers around.

Traps? Neither the chakra trigger of an Explosive Tag nor a metal mechanism could escape his Byakugan.

Ambushes? While enemies still thought themselves hidden, a precise strike would often come crashing down on them.

And when the squad encountered a powerful enemy, there was his elusive, razor-sharp Waterline Slash.

His area-control technique, Metal Storm, had proved its worth time and again.

Absolute awareness and overwhelming strength had driven the squad's risks to a minimum and its efficiency to a maximum.

One day, Tianyi had no mission. Instead, he followed a discreet route alone to an underground facility outside the village.

It was an even more secluded place, carrying the faint mingled smells of preservative and blood.

This was one of the