"Antelope Squad! Let's go!"
Katsura's captain wore an antelope mask, and the team members called him Captain Antelope.
In addition to Katsura, the team also had Purple Cat and Horned Ox. Their true identities were unknown, and even if the person wearing the Purple Cat mask had changed, Katsura would not know.
The four members of the team left the Forest of Death and walked along the wall of Konoha. As they walked, Katsura felt something was wrong. This direction is leading to the gate of Konoha?
Are we going out of the village? Leaving the village is not allowed.
If you encounter danger in Konoha Village, you can shout at worst. It 's not shameful to shake people. If you encounter danger outside the village, it's useless to shout at the top of your lungs.
The Antelope Squad arrived at the gate of Konoha. Without submitting an application to leave the village, the four members of the Antelope Squad passed through the gate of Konoha without slowing down.
One of the gate guards said with envy, "The ANBU are so cool! They all wear masks and look so stern."
"Then you could apply to join the ANBU. You wear a mask every day, too."
"Forget it, though. Working in the ANBU while wearing a mask means you'll only see the light of day after you die."
Katsura was in a bad mood. Why had he left the village?
Captain Antelope rushed along, saying,
"This time, we're monitoring an elite Chunin. He's been appointed captain and is leading a Genin team, completing transport missions near the front lines. That elite Chunin is suspected to be connected to the Iwagakure spies. We're going to track him down, gather evidence, and take him down."
Katsura felt even more afraid after hearing this. In the ninja world, those two lower ranks can be instantly killed.
Ninja ranks are generally categorized as Genin, Chunin, Elite Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin, Elite Jonin, Kage, High Kage, and Six Path.
Elite Chunin can instantly kill Genin, like Katsura, a pseudo-Chunin or a true Genin.
Along the way, Katsura carefully observed Captain Antelope and his two teammates, trying to gauge their strength.
Captain Antelope must be at least an elite chunin, otherwise he wouldn't have said something like "eliminate an elite chunin."
He was a genin, and between Purple Cat and Horned Ox, they were likely both chunin. Only with such average strength could they reach the ANBU's required chunin squad level.
After leaving the Land of Fire and entering the frontier Land of Rivers, caution was crucial.
Captain Antelope quickly located his target.
Katsura peered through binoculars at the distant Konoha squad. The target was a burly man with a stern face.
His three student subordinates were an Akimichi clan ninja, a girl without a clan crest, and a bespectacled male ninja with no clan.
All four carried large backpacks, apparently carrying supplies to the front lines. After observing for just two or three seconds, Katsura quickly lowered the binoculars.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but the elite chunin seemed to glance in his direction.
Captain Antelope continued to observe through the binoculars: "Keep a distance of 200 meters. Don't get too close. Slowly gather intelligence."
For five days, the Antelope squad followed the target squad from a distance. The target team moved back and forth between the borders of River Country and Fire Country, constantly transporting supplies.
These five days had been relatively peaceful. Katsura counted the days. Three days had passed at the Izakaya, four days had passed to reach the border, and five days had passed to track the enemy. Twelve days had already passed, and only thirteen days would pass until the full moon.
Katsura waited patiently, quietly monitoring the situation.
Captain Antelope suddenly shouted, "Something's happening!"
The reconnaissance target shifted to a large tree, hiding from his team members. He slid a scroll beneath the tree's roots and quickly left.
"Action! After confirming the scroll's contents, proceed as planned!"
The four ANBU members rushed towards the tree. Katsura rushed quickly. He had to be fast, because only by moving quickly could he pick on the weak.
He shifted his position slightly and rushed towards the female ninja of the target team. At only eleven years old and no clan, she should be very weak.
Captain Antelope rushed to the tree first, took out the scroll, opened it, and took a quick look.
"It's a spy from the Iwagakure Village! Eliminate the target!"
Katsura threw two kunai at the civilian female kunoichi. One aimed directly at the left eye, drawing the target's attention. The other aimed directly at the abdomen, ensuring a guaranteed hit.
The female ninja instinctively raised her kunai, deflecting the one aimed for the eye. But then, the other kunai struck her in the abdomen, spurting blood.
Katsura, unsure of whether the girl before him was a spy or not, showed no mercy. He kicked her down and pinned both her hands to the ground with his kunai.
The Akimichi genin, standing nearby, saw his companion's plight and went berserk.
He bravely took a kunai and charged at Katsura. Katsura stood still, watching the charging Akimichi genin silently.
Purple Cat was chasing him from behind. Without a surprise, the Akimichi Genin wouldn't be able to reach him.
However, the Akimichi Genin whipped out a secret medicine pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
Katsura didn't even see what color it was. Oh no!
"Human Bomb Chariot!"
True to his ninja roots, the Akimichi Genin transformed into a massive flesh bomb, rolling at top speed towards Katsura.
Katsura quickly jumped back.
Oh no! Something's wrong. Can't flip over? The Human Bomb Chariot overtook him, pinning him against a boulder.
In the nick of time, Katsura hid behind the massive flesh ball, secretly forming hand seals and performing the Earth Release: Fish Reflection in the Earth Jutsu. He vanished, diving beneath the boulder.
Fortunately, he'd learned a jutsu from the system, otherwise he'd be dead.
Stones flew everywhere. The Human Bomb Chariot was about to stop, and Katsura quickly appeared, not wanting anyone to notice his mastery of the Earth Release jutsu.
The Human Bomb Chariot was large enough that no one else could see.
To make it look realistic, he deliberately let himself be crushed by the Human Bomb Tank, shattering several bones.
"Enough!"
Captain Antelope shouted. The Akimichi Genin heard an unfamiliar voice behind him, shrank, and turned to look.
In the distance, the elite chunin spy from the Iwagakure Village, was impaled on a tree by a kunai.
Captain Antelope's ninja sword pierced the female Genin's chest.
As for the bespectacled Genin, he was stabbed to death by a kunai from Horned Ox.
"Who are you!"
The Akimichi Genin was about to say something when Captain Antelope appeared in an instant and punched him in the stomach, interrupting his madness.
"We are Konoha Anbu, dealing with Iwagakure spies. Keep your cool and don't cause trouble!"
A civilian ninja died, but this Akimichi Genin had ninja clan backing, making it difficult to kill him outright. The Akimichi Genin crawled towards the beautiful civilian female ninja, weeping bitterly.
"I haven't told you yet that I... I like..."
Konoha ninjas matured early, and it was unknown what kind of emotional entanglement existed between the two. The female Genin was dead, and death had cut off all feelings.
Captain Antelope came to Katsura and looked at his injuries.
Katsura hurriedly said:
"Captain! Will of Fire! You can't abandon every Konoha companion! I'm just injured, you can't abandon me, right?"
"What a waste, it will take more than ten days to go back and recuperate." Katsura breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the captain would not give up on him.
Then he thought again, it would take more than ten days to recuperate?
Wouldn't it be delayed until the full moon next month? There is such a good thing?
Being carried back to Konoha by the Horned Ox, Katsura finally waited for the full moon after recuperating for half a month.
However, a new mission also came. Anbu Minister Danzo sent two Anbu battalions to the Land of Waves and the Land of Whirlpools.
Katsura felt uneasy. The Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools is not going to be wiped out, right?
What can a weakling like himself do in such an earth-shattering event as the annihilation of the Uzumaki clan?