Dawn slowly lightened the sky.
Yen stood at the window of the second-floor room in Tsurugetsu Tavern, watching the full moon in the sky fade under the rising sun.
If I die this month, I should revive here.
After leaving Konoha Hospital, he did not return to ANBU but stayed at the tavern.
Earn it, spend it. If I do not spend it now, the captain will end up with it.
Yen turned to look at the bed.
Qiaoyi was fast asleep. The leg peeking from the blanket was smooth and firm.
They had spent half the night together, yet he still had not found proof that Qiaoyi was a spy.
Maybe his investigation had not gone deep enough.
Maybe it had not been intense enough.
Maybe he was overthinking it and Qiaoyi was not a spy at all.
Even if she was, she would be the kind who relied on her head rather than strength to stay undercover, not much of a threat.
Without a word, he pulled up his pants and slipped away. He jumped from the window and, taking advantage of the empty pre-dawn streets, headed for the Forest of Death.
Yen's ANBU battalion had been sent to the Land of Waves. Another battalion had been sent to the Land of Whirlpools.
Antelope Squad met a small Whirlpool team in a fishing village in the Land of Waves and escorted them back toward Uzushio Village in the Land of Whirlpools.
Yen brought up the rear and watched the three Whirlpool shinobi.
The original story barely depicted Uzushio Village. It had been wiped out before the plot began.
One woman and two men, all with red hair.
The kunoichi leading them had the deepest shade of red.
He wondered if hair color reflected the strength of the Uzumaki bloodline.
All three were injured.
Judging by the wounds, they had been cut by ninja blades.
The Hidden Cloud's academy taught kenjutsu with ninja blades, so Cloud shinobi loved using them.
Once they left the Land of Waves and entered the forests of the Land of Fire, the three Whirlpool shinobi finally relaxed a little.
The Land of Whirlpools sat on a peninsula southeast of the Land of Fire, and skirting the Land of Fire was the safest route.
To buy time, Yen pointed to the blood on the kunoichi's leg and said, "I have medicine. How about we treat that before we go on?"
Captain Antelope was about to scold Yen for being meddlesome when the kunoichi, Uzumaki Youjia, said, "Good. If I do not treat it now, it may leave a lasting problem."
Uzushio was an ally of the Senju, so Captain Antelope held his tongue.
Yen handed over his medical kit.
Youjia was not shy about the many eyes around her. She lifted the slit of her skirt to reveal the wounded thigh.
She undid the crude wrapping and scraped away the blackened, spent salve with a kunai.
When the blade touched flesh, pain made her clench her teeth tight.
Her right hand was injured too, so working left-handed was awkward.
Yen crouched. "Let me help."
"Thank you."
Watching an ANBU shinobi dress her wound, Youjia said, "You are different from other ANBU. Thank you for suggesting this."
Yen said nothing.
He was only stalling for time and might be scolded by the captain for it.
It had taken seven days to reach the Land of Waves, one more day from there to the Land of Fire. Inside the Land of Fire was comparatively safe, with little chance of running into Cloud shinobi.
The longer they stayed in the Land of Fire, the better.
If he could die one day before the next full moon, that would be perfect. He would know everything that happened before that death and enjoy a prophet's edge.
Youjia chatted as he worked.
"Cousin Tsunade once wrote to the Uzumaki clan, asking every squad to carry a medical shinobi.
Sadly, Uzushio cannot manage that. Our medical ninjutsu was taught by the Senju. If the Senju cannot do it, neither can we."
Yen did not move his head, but under the mask his gaze lifted slightly as he gauged her strength.
He glanced at her chest.
Even bound by a tight outfit, her chest was round and full. He wondered what kind of magnificent sight it would be unbound.
Worthy of Tsunade's cousin. Slender branches bearing heavy fruit.
When the bandaging was done, Yen stepped back without a word.
Youjia looked a little disappointed. ANBU from Konoha really were a silent lot.
They moved on and, after three days, reached the long, narrow peninsula that was the Land of Whirlpools.
Yen watched the waves of wheat by the road and felt as if he could see the shape of the wind.
If the mission could stay this simple, walking, resting, taking in the view, that would be
Boom.
A paper bomb trap detonated in the fields.
The blast targeted the three red-haired Uzumaki walking in the middle.
Two Cloud squads sprang from the surrounding wheat.
The cold gleam of blades made Yen's scalp prickle.
Youjia was hurled into the wheat and left a pit where she landed.
She coughed blood in midair.
Two Cloud shinobi rushed her, but froze before they could reach her.
From their ankles upward, sealing scripts crawled like vines. The two stiffened as if turned to stone, unable to move.
Yen was shocked. That was the Sealed Paralysis Mark seen in the original, one of the seals Danzo had used.
Captain Antelope shouted, "Complete the mission."
Then he moved to block the Cloud captain.
Purple Cat reached the closer Uzumaki male. One glance told her he was beyond saving.
Her blade flashed and finished the mortally wounded shinobi.
Keeping Cloud from obtaining sealing techniques was priority one. Getting the Uzumaki home was only a secondary goal.
In the Second Shinobi War, every village had suffered terrible losses and desperately needed sealing techniques to field jinchuriki.
Intelligence on sealing arts could not be allowed to fall into Cloud hands.
Yen dropped beside Youjia.
She lay among the half-height stalks, lungs crushed, her chest sunken in.
Without a medical shinobi, such wounds were certain death.
The wheat blocked her view, so she did not see Purple Cat kill the other Uzumaki. Seeing Yen, her eyes flashed with gratitude.
She had immobilized two Cloud shinobi. If he killed them, she could be saved.
Yen raised his kunai, but he did not strike the rigid Cloud shinobi to either side.
He drove the blade down and, catching Uzumaki Youjia completely off guard, pierced her skull.
This way Cloud would never obtain sealing secrets.
The light in Youjia's eyes vanished in an instant.
"Konoha. Konoha coveted it too."
She could not finish the sentence.
Shinobi are tools for carrying out missions.
ANBU are tools among tools.
Youjia's injuries were far too severe. Those two sealing techniques were a final flare of strength before death. There was no saving her.
With Captain Antelope right there, Yen's duty was to complete the mission perfectly and ensure Cloud obtained no sealing arts.
As soon as Youjia died, Yen used the last moment of the lingering seal to kill the Cloud shinobi on the left.
The one on the right broke free of the bindings and drove his blade at Yen's ribs.
Yen dove forward and rolled to evade.
While rolling, he was already thinking how to time Earth Release: Fish in the Earth, when a numbness shot up his leg.
Bad. The Cloud had laid Lightning Release across the ground.
Lightning counters Earth. His one earth-style jutsu was suppressed.
After a brief struggle, a ninja blade cut Yen down.
In his final moments he saw Captain Antelope flee alone. Purple Cat and Horned Ox lay dead among the wheat.
Damn it.
To protect the secrecy of sealing arts, it was acceptable to kill Uzumaki if necessary.
He had not expected to die here himself.
He had thought Uzumaki shinobi were the consumables. In the end, he was the consumable too.
[Arc of the Moon activated. The host has one resurrection per month and will revive on the previous full moon night upon death. Reward: one lottery draw.]
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