Two Konoha ANBU squads had entered the Land of Waves. After two months, their supplies were completely exhausted.
With no soldier pills, it beca difficult to secure food—and doing so risked exposure.
With no ninja tools, many ANBU had to carefully scour the battlefield, making them easy prey for traps hidden in discarded tool pouches.
Uzushio-nin had no such worries. Uzushio Village had long protected the nobility of the Land of Whirlpools, and in return, they could secure resupplies from the nobles.
To effectively pressure the Uzushio-nin, the key was to sever their supply lines—make the nobles realize that aiding them now was dangerous. Fatal, even.
The mission assigned to Yako was to assassinate a noble mayor—one of the strongest local supporters of Uzushio Village.
Yako hadn't told Pinebird where they were headed, or what they were going to do.
ANBU operatives only needed to follow orders. Thinking was unnecessary.
With a change of rank, Yako had beco the kind of commander who cared nothing for the lives of his subordinates.
The two moved toward their target town. They weren't aiming for speed—just survival.
"Pinebird, how old are you?"
"Captain Fox, I'm twelve this year."
He'd only just graduated and had barely qualified as a Chūnin after the village lowered the promotion criteria.
Yako didn't know what else to say, so he asked, "What's your dream?"
"My dream?" Pinebird replied:
"My dream is to beco the strongest shinobi, just like Lord White Fang—build up mission records in ANBU and grow stronger!"
Konoha's White Fang was a legend in ANBU, growing ever stronger through battle, honing his kenjutsu until he reached Kage level.
There were three ways Konoha shinobi learned jutsu.
The first was through family inheritance.
Top-tier jutsu and secret arts were like diseases—transmitted only through birth, blood, and body fluids.
White Fang's blade techniques were inherited from his clan.
The second way was to earn the trust of a squad leader or teacher, and be taught personally.
Finding such a compatible teacher or leader was rare—very rare.
The third way was joining ANBU and earning rit for the village.
That path required luck—the luck to stay alive.
But it was also the most fair. That was one of the fundantal reasons ANBU operatives stayed loyal.
"Good luck, Pinebird. One day, you will beco a shinobi like Lord White Fang."
When they reached the outskirts of the town, Yako used binoculars to carefully observe it from afar.
There were about a thousand households, all encircled by wooden walls. At regular intervals along the wall stood arrow towers, manned by samurai trained by the mayor.
Ordinary samurai trained their bodies daily and carried long swords. Even a Genin would need several moves to take one down.
Stronger samurai could refine chakra and use it to enhance their taijutsu—on par with a village Genin.
Even more advanced samurai could only be trained in the Land of Iron.
These samurai were paid poorly. Dirt cheap.
Yako and Pinebird found a blind spot in the samurai's line of sight. After avoiding a patrol, they climbed into the town.
The town was divided into an inner and outer district.
The inner city was where the noble mayor lived and worked.
A lively night was a luxury only big cities like Kyoto could afford. Small towns, for defense, enforced strict curfews.
Not a soul was on the street. Everyone hid inside.
Civilians could be killed by village shinobi—or wandering rogue ninja.
They all clung to their nobles, hoping their lords and the shinobi they hired would bring them peace.
Yako and Pinebird successfully infiltrated near the inner district.
"Careful!"
A squad of samurai appeared from the side. Yako imdiately ducked into an alley.
Pinebird followed quickly.
There were a few trash bins in the alley. Yako and Pinebird each hid behind one.
Once the samurai passed, Yako whispered, "Pinebird, be extrely careful from here on. Look for a weak point in the defenses—we're going over that inner wall."
The inner district had arrow towers and samurai, just like the outer one.
Once they climbed over the wall, they flattened to the ground and pressed themselves against the base of a building, slowly creeping along its foundation.
After more than ten minutes, they finally reached the brightest-lit area.
Up ahead was the mayor's study.
There were two silhouettes in the window, but it was impossible to tell which one was the mayor.
Suddenly, the window burst open—soone leapt out from inside.
It was an Uzushio-nin!
The mayor, still standing by the window, was stunned silent as the ninja smashed through the glass and charged toward a nearby wall.
Two more Uzushio-nin appeared from other buildings. Samurai rushed over at the sound.
The hiss of kunai slicing the air, the clatter of samurai armor—it all made Pinebird incredibly nervous.
When he saw the captain signal a retreat, he quickly ran back.
He hadn't expected to find a whole Uzushio squad here.
Kunai thunked into the wooden walls around him.
One struck his shoulder.
Another embedded itself in his foot.
He turned to call for help—only to see Captain Fox take a kunai and vanish in a puff of smoke.
What?!
A Shadow Clone?
When had he...?
Pinebird suddenly rembered how the captain had briefly disappeared when they first infiltrated the inner district, then appeared behind a different trash bin.
He let out a bitter chuckle, recalling what the academy instructor had said when teaching Substitution Technique:
It involved replacing yourself with a wooden log disguised to look like you, then ambushing the enemy when they attacked the decoy.
The key to Substitution was finding or creating a mont where the enemy lost sight of you.
Shadow Clones were like an advanced version of that technique.
Captain Fox had poured all his sneaky tricks... into himself.
His own life, like a clone's, was just another decoy to deceive the enemy.
Pinebird looked toward the noble.
He'd already guessed—the mission was likely to assassinate the town's noble.
Sure enough, behind the window, Captain Fox sohow snuck behind the noble and raised a kunai.
He really had mastered infiltration.
The Uzushio-nin and samurai had all focused on Pinebird. The captain had chosen the perfect mont to strike.
He and the mayor would die in the sa second.
When he was first recruited into ANBU, Pinebird thought he must have had so rare talent that had caught the higher-ups' attention. He thought he was about to soar.
But after a few months, he realized—he was just a tool.
Just that morning, the captain had wished him luck, encouraged his dream to beco like White Fang.
Now, just to complete the mission, he had been sacrificed—killed by the captain's own plan.
So this was ANBU?
An Uzushio-nin knelt by Pinebird's corpse and sliced open his mask with a kunai.
Beneath it was a young face.
Twisted in bitterness. Who he was resenting, no one knew.
Yako had only ordered Pinebird to infiltrate the inner district. He never told him the true objective. Pinebird had known nothing.
Even if they recovered the body, Uzushio Village would find no evidence.
"No! The mayor is dead!"
At the samurai's shout, the Uzushio-nin turned around in horror—only to see the mayor slumped over the window, a kunai lodged in the back of his neck.
"Damn it!"
The Uzushio-nin cursed. All the support they'd just negotiated—now gone in a puff of smoke.
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