The Useless ANBU, Stand Down

Seventh Commercial Road Entrance, South District, Hidden Leaf.

Dozens of cargo-laden carriages lay haphazardly blocked in the middle of the road.

More than thirty caravan workers were bound with coarse hemp ropes and pinned against the edges of grain carts, their chests covered in Explosive Tags with yellow backgrounds and black writing.

Several ANBU ninja crouched on the rooftops at the street corners, gripping Ninja Swords but not daring to advance.

The ANBU squad captain stared at the burly man in the middle of the street, his face darkening.

The man wore a tattered gray cloak, and a deep slash marked the forehead protector on his chest.

He was an elite Chunin who had defected from the Land of Grass, codenamed Vulture.

Vulture formed a defensive hand seal with one hand, spreading a pale blue chakra shield across his body.

The shield was thickly structured, its surface rippling with the heavy sheen of earth-nature chakra.

Vulture gripped a worker by the collar and held a short blade to the hostage's throat.

"ANBU cowards, stop hiding!"

Vulture's voice carried through half the street.

"I want five million ryo in cash!"

"If it isn't delivered within half an hour, I'll set off every last one of these Explosive Tags!"

"Those thirty-odd lives will all be on Hidden Leaf's head!"

The caravan manager knelt on the ground, tears and snot streaming down his face.

"My lords of the ANBU, save us!"

"We paid the city entry tax according to the rules!"

The ANBU squad captain was at his wits' end.

"Captain, a frontal assault won't work. That guy's shield is linked to the fuse lines on the Explosive Tags on the workers' chests."

An ANBU beside him reported in a low voice.

"As soon as the chakra shield takes a powerful ninjutsu hit,