All subordinates were stationed outside the cave. Yako lay beside the campfire, silently attuning himself to the changes in his body.
His platelets were working overtime. The bleeding stopped quickly.
A numb, itchy sensation spread across his wound as granulation tissue slowly formed.
The bloodline physiques of the Senju and Uzumaki gave Yako a crucial buffer — a higher tolerance for injury.
Three days later, his condition had stabilized and was clearly improving. One by one, Yako summoned the ANBU members for private meetings.
He started with the three remaining members of the Leaf Monkey Squad.
Their stories matched exactly — they insisted their squad captain had behaved normally up until the incident. None of them knew when or how he'd been compromised.
After failing to extract any useful intel, Yako appointed Blossom Deer as the new squad leader.
The "Leaf Monkey" mask was cursed — whoever wore it ended up dead, and it nearly got him killed too. A pity, really. He'd killed Leaf Monkey with his own hands.
Better to change the name and the face. Maybe then, the squad would have better luck.
Next came White Ram.
He reported that he'd kept his Byakugan activated the entire time and had detected nothing unusual. There were no hidden enemies within a three-kilometer radius.
Not even the Byakugan could detect the enemy's trick.
Lastly, Yako summoned Purple Cat.
"Captain," she said, "I used the Mind Transfer Technique on Leaf Monkey. I was trying to stop him from attacking you."
"But I failed."
"There were two souls inside him. I've never seen anything like that!"
Yako's eyes narrowed. The final piece had clicked into place.
He'd suspected before that Leaf Monkey might've been caught in Uchiha Madara's genjutsu — just like the three Konoha ninja who had fallen under illusions before his eyes.
But now it was clear: it hadn't been genjutsu at all. The recent infighting within ANBU, Leaf Monkey's assault… it was all due to a soul-based secret technique.
And he finally had proof.
As far as he knew, only one man possessed such an ability.
Kato Dan.
A promising shinobi from the Senju-affiliated clans… it seemed he really had turned against the village.
Thinking on it further, Yako couldn't quite blame Dan or the Senju for becoming extreme. The village had gone down that road long before they had. Compared to them, Konoha's actions were far more radical.
Five days later, Yako finally emerged from the cave.
His shoulder had fully recovered. His combat capability was back at one hundred percent.
The enemies he was dealing with were no ordinary threats. Whether it was Uchiha Madara or Kato Dan, he couldn't afford to act while injured.
Outside, the rain hadn't let up — the same ceaseless drizzle.
"We're heading back to the frontline command camp," Yako said. "But we'll take a detour through the Land of Fire. Things here are too complicated — this is beyond the scope of our unit."
"We were only assigned an investigation mission. There's no mandatory objective to complete. It's not abandonment."
Twenty kilometers away, inside another cave, Kato Dan gave orders to his two guards.
"Today, I'll use the forbidden technique again to scout information on Hanzo. I'll need your protection."
The two stood guard at the entrance while Dan leaned against the cave wall.
There was a Hyuga among the ANBU Fox Squad.
That Hyuga had also participated in the Nine-Tails transfer and sealing. He must've seen plenty of sensitive intel.
If Dan could extract that intel from the Hyuga, perhaps he could uncover the truth behind the Senju's downfall.
Forming hand seals, Kato Dan activated his forbidden technique: the Spirit Transformation Technique.
His soul flew out of his body, passing through the rock overhead and emerging into the open sky.
All the souls below glowed faintly in the darkness, like candle flames in the night.
The Fox Squad, under White Ram's command, was looping southward, preparing to re-enter the Land of Fire from the southern border of the Land of Rain.
After what happened with Leaf Monkey's surprise attack, all ANBU maintained a cautious distance from each other, giving everyone enough space to react.
At the rear of the formation, Yako observed every subordinate ahead of him.
It was quiet.
Then suddenly, Antelope reached into his tool pouch.
"Antelope! Don't move! Take your hand out now!" Yako shouted.
But a second later, five Explosive Tags were already in his grip.
"Scatter!"
The tags flew in five directions, erupting in rapid succession.
Amid the thunderous blasts, Yako saw Purple Cat hurled into a tree trunk. Black Ox fell from mid-air, blood spraying from his mouth.
The entire Purple Cat Squad was devastated.
Yako rushed forward and caught Black Ox — the closest one.
His chest had been shredded by the explosion — charred black, his flesh blistered and lumpy.
Just as Yako tried to lay him down, Black Ox suddenly raised a kunai and drove it toward Yako's ribs.
Up in the trees, Antelope cried out, "It wasn't me! I was suddenly taken over!"
Kato Dan's soul had transferred from Antelope to Black Ox!
The kunai stabbed into nothing but a human-shaped lump of mud.
Kato Dan's soul froze mid-air. Earth Substitution Technique?
Black Ox's kunai slashed empty air and quickly redirected toward the ground.
Unfortunately, Yako didn't immediately strike back.
Black Ox, seeing his counter failed, turned toward Purple Cat — the nearest target.
She was still dazed from the blast, trying to rise.
Black Ox charged. His movements had completely changed — no longer resembling the man from before.
The kunai halted just three centimeters from the center of her mask.
Yako emerged from the ground and drove his kunai into Black Ox's arm.
He didn't want to kill him.
But Black Ox dropped the weapon, switched hands, and lunged again.
Yako kicked him flying.
Already heavily wounded, Black Ox tumbled through the mud in agony.
Antelope dropped from the tree. "Captain, I'm sorry! I don't know how I was controlled!"
His voice dripped with guilt — but his blade was already swinging toward Yako's throat.
Yako's scalp tingled.
Not because Black Ox or Antelope were strong — but because the feeling of never knowing who to trust was the real threat.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
A torrent blasted out, sending Antelope flying.
He slammed into a horizontal tree branch above, then crashed to the ground, groaning in a daze.
He lifted his head, murmuring, "Captain… I didn't mean to…"
Yako turned to Purple Cat — she was the only one who could verify if someone's soul was being manipulated.
She raised her head and said, "Captain… I'll use the secret technique…"
She began forming hand seals.
Yako thought, Even if Kato Dan took over her body, he couldn't possibly use the Yamanaka Clan's jutsu, could he?
In the next instant, a senbon needle shot from her hidden wrist sheath — straight at him.
Smack!
Yako caught her wrist mid-strike, lifted her off the ground, and punched her in the gut, knocking the fight out of her.
In the pouring rain, he watched her collapse and felt a wave of heat and frustration burn through him.
So this… is the pressure of Kato Dan?
When no one around you can be trusted — when every carefully crafted formation becomes a joke…
No wonder Kato Dan once said he wanted to become Hokage. Even someone like Tsunade — beloved by fate — had fully supported him.
Against someone like that, ordinary shinobi squads had only one fate:
Slaughter.
If even Purple Cat couldn't be relied on…
Then how was Yako supposed to face an elite jonin who had mastered forbidden techniques?