Yagami's vision shifted as he was pulled back to the previous full moon—the final silver night of the 40th year of the Leaf.
To compensate Yagami for her decision not to have children, Yakushi Nono had repeatedly employed her secret "Hip-Shrinking" technique. Eventually exhausted by her maneuvers, Yagami left the orphanage feeling satisfied. He moved deep into a dense forest using the Mayfly Technique.
[ Arc of Moon Initializing!]
[Host has one resurrection opportunity per month. Resurrecting at the previous full moon.]
[Reward: One Random Draw:]
1. Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu
2. Summoning Jutsu: Enma
3. Five-Style Great Combo Act (Entry Level)
Option one: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu. Hiruzen Sarutobi was a master of shadow clones and created this A-rank technique. It was useless to Yagami; at mid-to-long range, he preferred the lethality of Water Severing Wave over ninja tools.
Option two: Summoning Jutsu: Enma. Yagami hesitated, nearly picking this one. Enma was undoubtedly a top-tier summon, both for his independent combat prowess and his transformation into the Adamantine Nyoi Staff.
However, Enma was highly intelligent and deeply intertwined with Hiruzen's affairs; his loyalty to the Third's will was absolute. If Yagami summoned him, Enma might resist or even leak Yagami's secrets.
Suppreing the impulse, Yagami chose the third option.
[Five-Style Great Combo Act]
This was Hiruzen Sarutobi's signature move, a feat of elemental mastery that even Orochimaru coveted. Yagami mastered the theory instantly. By using Shadow Clones to manifest four duplicates, one can simultaneously unleash Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Lightning attacks to create a devastating explosion.
Usually, splitting chakra among clones was a poor tactic, but this technique ensured that five "one-fifths" equaled far more than a whole. The secret lay not just in covering every elemental weakness, but in the final cataclysm. Earth beats Water, Water beats Fire, Fire beats Wind, Wind beats Lightning—the elemental clash triggered a massive secondary explosion.
Now a master of all attributes, Yagami could use this as a terrifying trump card. However, the five components had to be high-impact, long-range "impact" types—like Fire Dragon Flame Bullet or Water Shockwave.
Reviewing his arsenal:
Fire: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet (Proficiency level) — Usable.
Water: Water Severing Wave (Proficiency level) — Unusable. It was a cutting-type move and far too iconic to "Copper Fox." He needed Water Shockwave or Water Dragon Bullet.
Wind: Great Breakthrough (Proficiency level) — Usable.
Earth: Earth Flow Spears — Unsuitable. He needed something like Earth Dragon Bullet or Flying Stones.
Lightning: He currently lacked a proficiency-level technique.
This jutsu demanded everything: massive chakra, all attributes, and specific types of sub-techniques. Yagami suspected Hiruzen used it mainly to show off—and it worked. Inducing psychological pressure was a key part of combat.
He could only imagine the shock if his smaller "White Ghost" persona used this. ' I'll claim to be a Sarutobi clan rogue; let's see who dares to object.
...
Yagami returned to the ANBU archives to fill the gaps. He selected a mid-range impact Lightning move: Lightning Style: Thunder Clap. He would gather the rest slowly. A "Sarutobi rogue" who mastered the clan's peak art would give the village quite a shock.
...
The first full moon of the 41st year arrived, granting Yagami a fresh resurrection charge. In the ANBU briefing room, four division commanders waited. A new year brought new policies.
Yellow Dog and Danzo entered, followed by C, who carried a stack of booklets and distributed them.
"Peace is temporary," Danzo said coldly. "As the Leaf's shadow, we cannot lose our edge to complacency. Root has compiled an Assassination Manual. It contains intel on every shinobi who poses a threat to the Leaf. Our next phase is to organize rounds of assassinations. Whether they are rogue ninja or enemies of other villages, anyone who threatens the Leaf must die."
Yagami flipped open the manual. The first page was... Uchiha Madara?
"Danzo, you're delusional,' Yagami thought. 'Why not put the Third Hokage on page one? You'll try to kill him eventually anyway, and he's a much easier target than Madara.'
He flipped through. Each page featured a photo and a detailed breakdown of abilities and habits. It seemed Root had been frightened into shifting from a combat unit to an intelligence-gathering one. They would stay in the shadows, using their spy network to feed targets to the ANBU.
Yagami looked at C, the Yamanaka loyalist serving as Danzo's assistant. 'This guy's luck is too good; I still haven't found a chance to deal with him.'
His eyes stopped on a specific entry: Cloud Jonin Takami, a specialist in Lightning Style: Thunder Clap. The entry mentioned unique tricks and insights into the technique.
'Perfect,' Yagami thought. He just happened to be missing a proficiency-level Lightning jutsu.
Yellow Dog spoke: "Root will provide daily intelligence updates. When these targets are out on missions, we must react instantly and neutralize them."
The meeting adjourned. Late that night, Yagami headed out to find Yakushi Nono. He wanted to know how Root's spy network was operating well enough to track enemy Jonin so precisely.
However, when he reached the orphanage, the Director's office was empty. He quickly checked the "Right-Hand Scroll." After a long wait, the seal flickered. He unsealed it to find a letter from Nono.