"Purple Cat!"
When Purple Cat heard Yoru's shout, she knew — the Fox was about to use his do-or-die strategy.
That technique was perilous for both of them; one mistake could mean two lives lost.
Yoru sprinted in the direction White Ram had pointed, moving as if ready to fight Kato Dan to the death.
Staring at Yoru's back, Purple Cat quickly used the Mind-Body Switch Technique, sending her soul into his brain.
Yoru didn't resist — he completely let her in.
Now, two souls occupied Yoru's mind.
Purple Cat took control of his body and dashed forward using Body Flicker Technique.
Yoru was gambling — that once Kato Dan saw him charging toward his hiding place, he'd immediately attack.
He was also betting that two souls together — his and Purple Cat's — might be greater than Kato Dan's one.
Then, halfway through a step — Yoru froze.
Behind him, Purple Cat's face turned pale as snow — all color drained from her neck, the part not covered by her mask.
Her soul had just collided with the enemy's.
She instantly lost consciousness.
Before she fainted, her only thought was that she hoped she'd at least helped the Fox wear down the enemy.
A single mind could barely contain two souls — three was pure overload. When they clashed, all three suffered terribly.
This was the first time Kato Dan had encountered such a situation — his target had two souls in one body.
Even with his extraordinary spiritual power, he couldn't gain an absolute advantage over Yoru and Purple Cat combined.
He'd already noticed something unusual: the souls of the Fox Division's operatives were abnormally strong, their glow twice as bright as ordinary people's.
Yoru's experience was strange beyond words.
After being taken over by the Mind-Body Switch, he could no longer feel or move his own body. Between his consciousness and his body was a dense fog — Purple Cat's soul.
Then another mass of fog forcefully intruded, breaking into the two-soul world.
Three souls — three fogs — clashed violently.
Purple Cat's soul was struck first, suffering heavy damage as she collided with Kato Dan's.
Then Yoru's soul surged forward, smashing headlong into Kato Dan's.
Yoru's soul came from another world — fundamentally different from the souls of this one.
You might have stronger forbidden jutsu, he thought, but if you think your soul is stronger than mine — I refuse to believe it.
Yoru's consciousness rammed fiercely into the fog that represented Kato Dan's soul.
After two brutal impacts, Kato Dan's soul was crushed and faded away.
Purple Cat's wounded soul returned to her body.
Yoru wasn't unscathed — pain exploded in his head.
He stopped running and turned back toward his unit.
White Ram had only pointed him in a direction before dying — he hadn't said how far.
If it were dozens of kilometers, Kato Dan could have easily escaped or recovered enough to kill him again with another forbidden jutsu.
That head-on clash was just to buy time to escape.
Kato Dan, Yoru thought, next month, it's you or me.
When he returned to his squad, he hoisted the unconscious Purple Cat onto his back and barked,
"Run! Leave the Land of Rain! Head toward the Land of Fire!"
Purple Cat lay limp and breathing faintly on his back.
Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique could not only control others — it could also crush their souls.
Balancing between the Senju Clan and the Anbu, Yoru was now paying the price.
He had stopped Danzo from seizing the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Scroll, and prevented the Anbu from being enslaved by Danzo's sealing techniques.
He hadn't expected that instead of the Anbu hunting him as a traitor, it would be Kato Dan of the Senju Clan who came for his life.
The Senju were getting close to the truth — they suspected that the Uzumaki Clan's extermination and the Night of the Nine-Tails' transfer were both the result of the Anbu and the village elders' schemes.
Once they suspected, the Senju acted fast — and brutally.
At least twenty Anbu had already died by Kato Dan's hand.
Yoru couldn't help thinking bitterly — he'd practically led them to this point himself.
I've done so much for the Senju… I'm basically their guide!
If not for me, on the night the Nine-Tails was resealed, over 900 Senju shinobi would've died.
Before he died, White Ram had warned him — Captain Yellow Dog had started to suspect him.
Yoru couldn't go to the Senju for help now. He couldn't expose his true allegiance or identity.
He had to lay low, wait until Yellow Dog's suspicions faded, then find a way to reach the Senju — to clear his name.
Or… he thought darkly, maybe he should just kill Yellow Dog.
Being my enemy is dangerous. Being my superior is even more dangerous.
Then an idea struck him — he created a Shadow Clone.
"I'll have my clone cover our retreat! Keep running!" he ordered.
Once the squad was gone, the clone returned to White Ram's corpse.
With a hard expression, it drove a kunai into White Ram's skull.
Rain poured down, washing away the blood beneath the body.
This cursed country — always crying, never clean.
He couldn't allow anyone to recover information from the body.
No one could know that White Ram had revealed Yellow Dog's suspicions about the Fox.
Sorry, old friend, he thought.
When the clone's mission was done, it vanished — and its memories flooded back into Yoru. He exhaled slowly.
When it comes to Captain Yellow Dog, there's no such thing as too cautious.
Women and children can afford carelessness. Anbu cannot.
Upon entering the Land of Fire, Yoru had his subordinates fire a signal flare for help.
Moments later, a flare of the same color shot up in the distance.
"Good… other Anbu are nearby."
He desperately needed support — and a medical-ninja to heal Purple Cat's wounded soul.
Darting through the forest, he rounded two trees and froze.
Standing on a tree trunk ahead were three figures.
At the center — Danzo.
They had run straight into him — on his way to the Rain Country frontlines.
Captain Yellow Dog had warned earlier that Danzo might appear there.
Danzo stood calmly, one eye wrapped in bandages, the other cold as steel.
"Who did you encounter?" he demanded. "Why do you look so battered?"
Yoru swallowed hard and replied,
"Lord Danzo, my squad was ordered to investigate the mysterious deaths of Anbu members. In the southwest of the Land of Rain, we found what seems to be the culprit."
His mind raced — perhaps he could pit tiger against wolf.
He began his half-true, half-false report:
"Lord Danzo, we encountered three Leaf shinobi under genjutsu control — one jonin, two special jonin. I suspect the genjutsu user was the one killing our Anbu.
Only such a powerful illusionist could slaughter so many of us.
As we investigated deeper, more of my men were taken over, turning on each other.
Captain Leaf Monkey, Captain White Ram, and several others — all fell.
I could only determine the enemy's rough location, not get close."
Yoru deliberately blurred the truth — merging Madara Uchiha and Kato Dan into a single "enemy."
He knew of both men, but none of his subordinates did — and Danzo certainly didn't.