Uzumaki Yuka stared at Fox in utter horror.
Wasn't he a Senju spy embedded in the ANBU?
Wait—
Yuka suddenly recalled how, right after the explosive tags had gone off, Fox had coated his kunai with hemostatic medicine.
The stab hadn't gone deep, and with the wound sealed by the medicine, there hadn't been much bleeding.
Still clutching her wound, Yuka forced herself to activate the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Yako feigned weakness, eyes wide with helpless panic, acting as if he couldn't stop her.
Dozens of chains burst forth, impaling everyone on the field—except for Yako.
Kumo-nin, Captain Antelope—none were spared by the overwhelming sealing power of the scroll.
Under the sealing technique, all were frozen in place.
Inside, Yako felt a dark thrill. That carefully applied medicine had tricked Yuka into thinking he was one of her own. She hadn't attacked him.
The deception worked—he was the only one not caught by the sealing.
Yako stood, kunai flashing. One by one, he executed the immobilized Kumo-nin.
Captain Antelope's gaze flicked over to him. For the first time, he looked at Yako with genuine recognition.
The weakest ninja in the squad, the throwaway decoy—was showing frightening growth. The timing of his actions was sharp, measured—starting to look like a real ANBU.
Antelope glanced down at the chain piercing through his gut, pain searing through him.
The chains weren't just bindings—each link tipped with a spiked weight, and one had torn through his chest.
The Uzumaki's sealing arts... so terrifying they could manifest chakra into physical form.
Chakra given form—rumors said that required Yin-Yang Release. Not something an ordinary shinobi could grasp.
Yako didn't rush to treat Antelope's wounds. He first snatched the sealing scroll from Yuka's hand.
He handed it to the captain. "Mission complete. I retrieved it."
Antelope cursed silently. He'd told the kid to retrieve an unused scroll—not a spent one.
No time to scold Fox now. "Move. We're leaving!"
Yako slung Antelope's arm over his shoulder and leapt into the trees surrounding the lake.
"Captain, I'm administering hemostatic meds!"
The injection hit the captain's side—bleeding slowed.
In the darkness, Yako's eyes glinted beneath the mask.
Supporting Antelope, he carefully monitored the man's condition, tracking each muscle twitch.
Only a small portion of that shot was actual medicine. The rest? Poison.
The poison had been looted from Yuka—Chūnin-grade. Effective. Potent.
Yako wouldn't make the same mistake twice. No more charging in blind.
Antelope had a trump card—Fire Release—and Yako had no desire to get burned to death again.
That kind of death only happens once.
Away from the battlefield, Antelope gasped:
"Fox… you're weak. But lucky. You always survive to the end. Keep going like this… you might make something of yourself."
"Thank you for the compliment, Captain."
The man's breathing grew labored. "This time… cough… we failed. But… we can target the next… cough… Uzumaki squad… seize more scrolls…"
His vision swam, blackness creeping in at the edges. He figured it was blood loss.
Uzumaki's final retaliation—what a nightmare.
Yako, seeing the signs, asked quickly:
"Captain, if you fall unconscious, how do I contact the mid-squad commander? I'm afraid I can't treat wounds this severe… does the mid-squad have a medical ninja?"
Antelope nodded weakly. The kid had a point. A gut wound like his likely ruptured the spleen—standard meds wouldn't be enough.
He reached for his tool pouch… but saw three of them spinning in and out of focus.
Yako helped, pulling out a scroll and handing it over.
Antelope shook his head, dazed, but managed to undo the seal.
"For each mission… cipher team issues… new codes…"
He never finished the sentence.
Antelope collapsed, unconscious.
Yako waited a few seconds to be sure. When there was no response, he formed a seal.
Self-Cursed Binding Seal.
The black curse marks crawled across Antelope's entire body.
Once certain the man was fully immobilized, Yako raised his kunai and plunged it into the captain's throat.
Blood gushed. Antelope awoke in agony just long enough to see the blade, and what Fox was doing.
"You…"
He died before the words could finish.
Yako didn't stop. He knew the dangers.
Shinobi could extract intel even from corpses.
With savage thrusts, he cracked open the skull—scrambled the captain's brain.
Disgusting. But necessary.
Reassuring, even.
Captain Antelope was finally dead.
Now, maybe the mid-squad commander would promote him to squad leader. The team only had him left.
With that done, Yako slowly stood. He turned, scanned the area—no witnesses.
He slipped away.
Yako studied the ANBU communication scroll.
Every major joint ANBU operation had its own set of cipher codes, guiding fragmented squads back together.
With this scroll, he could find the mid-squad leader directly.
Once he became a squad captain, he'd receive missions directly. Learn more intel. No longer be just a pawn.
Back at the battlefield, Yako found Uzumaki Yuka lying motionless on the ground.
She hadn't dared to move—his kunai was still embedded in her gut.
The bleeding wasn't much, but she feared that pulling it out would trigger a deadly hemorrhage.
When a figure loomed over her, she exhaled in relief. "Fox… you came."
Yako crouched. "I'm here. Sorry. I had to obey the captain. I'll treat your wound now."
Yuka's heart tangled with confusion and anger. Why would Konoha ANBU want to steal her clan's new sealing scroll?
Luckily, Fox was one of the Senju. He'd prepared ahead of time—using hemostatic agents on his kunai. That's why she survived.
Thwack!
Her jaw trembled violently.
A kunai pierced her throat. Blood sprayed, splattering into her mouth.
Yako felt a flicker of guilt. It faded instantly.
He'd used the medicine to earn her trust. That was all.
He wasn't some Senju plant. He wasn't some martyr.
Who the hell wanted to spy for the Senju anyway?
That clan was destined for extinction.
Yako didn't come to this world to play at justice.
He came to survive.
Yuka's eyes filled with confusion and disbelief. She had no idea why Fox was doing this.
Yako offered no explanation.
You knew too much. You had to die.
The Self-Cursed Binding Seal. His hidden war with Antelope. Any of those secrets leaking—he was finished.
As the great scientist Newton once said: "Let others die. I'll live."
He rifled through her belongings. No extra Adamantine scrolls.
Fine.
He took a few spare kunai, then vanished.