During the day, Yako trained new recruits in the Anbu training squad. At night, he searched for any trace of Senju Rinju.
Senju Rinju never left his residence without six bodyguards. He was either deep within the Senju compound or at the Hokage Building.
Since the battle at Mount Ushiga, the timing of Uzumaki Mito's death had become a mystery.
The transfer of the Nine-Tails' seal was no longer urgent, but the Senju Clan remained extremely tense.
Yako still hadn't found any trace of Tsunade—he had no idea where she'd gone. After completing surgery on Captain Black Ape, she had simply disappeared.
That afternoon, Yako left the Anbu early and headed to the tavern.
"Kyoi, I need to borrow your property certificate."
"What for?"
"You've recovered a bit too well lately. Come on, let's go to the back and I'll give you a proper lesson."
An hour later, Kyoi crawled off the bed with trembling legs and pulled the certificate out of the drawer by the bedside.
"You damn bastard… Do I need to write you a power of attorney too?"
With the certificate and power of attorney in hand, Yako headed to the only bank in Konoha: Daimyō Bank.
All the blood-soaked money he'd earned in Anbu had been blown at the Tsurugetsu Tavern. Using its property as collateral for a loan now—wasn't that fair?
If he died on the night of the 14th, everything would reset back to last month's full moon.
No matter how big the loan, it would all be wiped clean.
Yako's golden finger, Arc of the Waning Moon, seemed to create a new parallel world every month.
In this parallel world, Yako had taken Kyoi's property certificate.
In the next one, it would start over again from the full moon.
Yako found a manager and asked, "Manager, with this property certificate, what's the maximum I can borrow?"
"That depends on how many years you plan to repay it over. The longer the term, the higher the interest, the more you can borrow. May I ask your age?"
"I'm sixteen. Best case, I'd like to borrow over 60 years."
"Haha, kid, you're a bit funny—but not that funny," the manager chuckled. "The average lifespan in Konoha is 45. So the longest term we can offer is 45 minus 16… that's 26 years."
"Twenty-six works. I'll take it."
"Hold on," the manager paused. "Are you a ninja?"
"Yeah."
"Then you can't borrow for 26 years. The average ninja lifespan is 31. That means your max term is 15 years."
"Fine. Fifteen years, then."
'Not like I was planning to pay it back anyway,' Yako thought.
The manager continued:
"Don't be hasty, kid.
Here at Daimyō Bank, we've run the numbers. Konoha's male ninja live to an average of 27. Female ninja average 35.
If you're a medic-nin from Konoha Hospital, you can borrow over 15 years.
But if you're a regular combat ninja? You only get 11 years."
Damn, the people here really knew their stats.
"Eleven years then! Just tell me how much I can borrow!"
The manager examined the certificate and the power of attorney, did a flurry of calculations, and finally said:
"You can borrow up to 8 million ryō, repayable over 11 years.
But listen—train hard and stay alive. If you die next month, we'll seize the property immediately. Got it?"
'Then you'd better act fast… I might not even be in this parallel world next month,' Yako thought.
'Once I'm gone, who cares if this timeline floods.'
After leaving Daimyō Bank, Yako visited the ninja tools shop.
An Explosive Tag cost 10,000 ryō apiece. Buying too many at once would draw the village's attention, so he bought them in batches—forty per day, stockpiling steadily.
Eight hundred tags. Enough for him to burn through recklessly.
The original story said Konan had 600 billion tags. Clearly, Kishimoto's math teacher had been an art teacher at a kindergarten.
He had no idea how numbers worked.
Back at the tavern, Kyoi didn't even ask what he did with her property certificate.
Late at night, the sound of a cane echoed.
Senju Kaba hobbled into the tavern.
Instead of heading for the bar, he chose a booth and sank into the high-backed sofa.
Yako glanced at him—Kaba's face was pale, eyes hollow.
Soon after, Yachi arrived with a long cloth-wrapped bundle on his back.
His footsteps were heavy. He searched around until he found Kaba curled in the booth.
He unwrapped the bundle—it held a prosthetic limb.
Seeing it, Kaba understood immediately.
"My son didn't die because of some spy! You know something, don't you?!"
Kaba rose on one leg, violently shaking his friend's shoulders, bloodshot eyes wide with rage.
Yako remembered a mission record he saw in Anbu that morning: a young Senju clansman had died at the hands of a spy.
Senju Haku had been caught contacting the remnants of Uzushio Village. Anbu discovered it. One of the squads had executed the cover-up mission.
"Shhh!"
Yachi silenced Kaba's outburst.
Thankfully, the tavern was noisy—no one seemed to notice.
Kaba sobered up, sat back down, and rolled up his pant leg to attach the prosthetic.
At first, his hands trembled. But then, they steadied with unnatural calm.
Once it was attached, both their faces were filled with grim resolve.
Without a word, they clinked glasses, downed their drinks, and left the tavern together.
Yako put down his own cup and quickly followed.
Kaba and Yachi walked slowly toward the Senju compound.
Yachi asked, "Are you really going to confront him?"
"What else can I do? My son died without any explanation. I could accept it if it happened on a mission, or on the battlefield. But not in some shadowy alley inside Konoha."
"If we expose this… the Senju Clan and the village will be at each other's throats. It could trigger a civil war."
"So be it. My son is dead. What do I have left to fear? What about you? If you're scared, go back. I'll face the clan head alone."
Yachi's face darkened with old memories. "You know… I actually liked your younger sister more. Who doesn't like youth? But your older sister was the one no one would marry. I only pursued her because I pitied her."
"You son of a—!"
The two middle-aged men picked up their pace.
At a bend in the road, Yako used the Body Flicker Technique to land silently in front of them.
Kaba and Yachi immediately tensed.
They recognized this kid—he was a regular at the tavern.
They exchanged glances. Had he figured something out?
Yako spoke plainly: "You're planning to confront Senju Rinju, aren't you? Tell him that Danzo and the Anbu were behind the extermination of the Uzumaki Clan?"
Both men immediately drew kunai and lunged at him from both sides.
Yachi was fast. Kaba… not so much.
Yako formed hand seals: "Summoning Technique!"
With a puff of white smoke, the Longspear Egret appeared on his shoulder.
Both men froze in place.
If they were familiar with the remnants of Uzushio Village, then they would definitely recognize this Summoning Beast.
Yako glanced toward the distance. "This isn't the place to talk."
Deep in the forest, Yako continued:
"On the 14th of next month, we'll go see Lady Uzumaki Mito together. I'm a mole planted by the Uzumaki Clan. The Longspear Egret can prove it."
"Why wait until the 14th?"
"Classified. The implications are massive. If this leaks, it could split Konoha—and even lead to the extinction of the Senju Clan. Just trust me."
Yachi spoke at length to Kaba.
He'd heard from Senju Haku about encountering an Uzumaki survivor in the Land of Grass, and her Summoning Beast had indeed been the Longspear Egret.
Kaba stepped up to Yako and said, "We believe you. We'll act on the 14th next month."
Yako had secured two powerful allies.
With Kaba as an inside man, finding Senju Rinju would now be much easier.