When news of Yu Ye reached Konoha, the upper echelons of the village were thrown into shock.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi was deeply moved.
And that was despite the explanation—that Yu Ye's strength came from the Eight Gates, a power that could only be unleashed for a short time. Even so, Hiruzen could not hide his astonishment.
After a long silence, the Third Hokage issued several orders.
Those orders were quickly relayed to the front lines.
First: All information related to Yu Ye was classified as top secret and was not to be disclosed under any circumstances.
Second: Yu Ye was reassigned to the ANBU Special Operations Unit, retaining his codename—Tenba (Heavenly Feather).
Third: Yu Ye was given a series of covert missions, to be carried out in secrecy.
In addition to these three directives, Hiruzen also passed along other instructions—most notably, that Yu Ye could submit personal requests, and Konoha would do its utmost to fulfill them.
Furthermore, once the war ended and Yu Ye returned to the village, he would be granted permission to consult the Scroll of Seals and select an appropriate forbidden technique.
Of course, the end of the war was still far away.
The conflict had only just begun, and in the midst of war, there was no real opportunity to cultivate forbidden jutsu anyway.
After leaving a hidden underground chamber, Yu Ye's expression carried a trace of curiosity.
He had not expected Hiruzen to place him directly into the ANBU's special unit—a force that answered only to the Hokage himself.
Within this unit, only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hatake Sakumo, the ANBU Commander, possessed the authority to issue orders.
Even Shimura Danzō's commands held no weight here.
In terms of authority, this unit might not surpass ANBU division commanders—but in status, its members were effectively on the same level.
Moreover, members of this special unit rarely met one another.
They operated independently, each acting alone—true secret weapons of Konoha.
After thinking it through, Yu Ye realized that Hiruzen's decision made perfect sense.
No matter how strong he was, Yu Ye was still very young. Assigning him as a squad or platoon commander—responsible for the lives of others—would have been unreasonable.
Besides, given Yu Ye's abilities and fighting style, solo operations suited him best.
He didn't need teammates.
On the surface, however, Yu Ye's official identity remained that of a Konoha genin—a deliberate measure to conceal his true role in the shadows.
Only if Yu Ye achieved merits under his public identity on the frontline battlefield would his visible rank be promoted.
But for now, large-scale frontline combat had yet to truly erupt.
Still, Yu Ye knew it was only a matter of time—just as Hatake Sakumo held the hidden role of ANBU Commander while earning the public title of "Konoha's White Fang."
Since Hiruzen explicitly allowed Yu Ye to make requests, Yu Ye naturally did not hold back.
For the time being, he had no urgent need for another ninja blade.
However, he had long held an interest in the Kusanagi Sword, and so his first request was access to Konoha's intelligence regarding the Kusanagi.
This request was approved almost immediately.
His second request was for Kumogakure's Lightning Release body-forging techniques.
Strictly speaking, these were not rare secrets. They were techniques commonly found in the Cloud Village—
though to reach the monstrous level of the Third Raikage, one would likely require far more advanced and specialized methods.
Even so, the scroll containing the technique was quickly delivered to Yu Ye.
Now, Yu Ye possessed two scrolls:
One containing intelligence on the Kusanagi Sword
One detailing Lightning Release body-tempering techniques
Within the Konoha encampment, the ANBU naturally had their own secured quarters.
Yu Ye's current status was similar to that of a Special Jōnin, or rather, a Special ANBU.
His rank stood just beneath Hatake Sakumo's.
As such, he was assigned a private room—spacious and isolated.
Once inside, Yu Ye began carefully examining the two scrolls.
The Kusanagi Sword
He read the Kusanagi intelligence first.
Almost immediately, Yu Ye's expression shifted from surprise to contemplation.
The information was extremely detailed—
starting from the origins of the Kusanagi Sword itself.
In the Naruto world, the Kusanagi was a legendary weapon forged by the Kusanagi Clan, a divine blade that stood above ordinary ninja swords.
Importantly—
There was more than one Kusanagi Sword.
Each possessed different properties, yet all could be paired with ninjutsu.
For example:
Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword
Sasuke Uchiha's Kusanagi Sword
Though they shared the same name, they were clearly not the same blade.
Orochimaru's Kusanagi could be extended and retracted freely, paired with his serpent-based techniques—even allowing countless snakes to spit forth blades.
Meanwhile, Itachi Uchiha's Totsuka Blade—which White Zetsu once described as a Kusanagi variant—was said to be the final Kusanagi Orochimaru sought.
That blade possessed powerful sealing abilities, its true form resembling a gourd, and it paired perfectly with Susanoo, enabling the legendary Totsuka Sword technique.
The exact number of Kusanagi swords was unknown, but this scroll suggested that three was the most likely number.
Yu Ye found this plausible.
In canon, Orochimaru had one, Sasuke had one, and Itachi wielded one—three in total.
Though it was also possible there were more.
Over countless generations, the Kusanagi swords were passed down until they eventually surfaced in a small minor village.
That village, however, had recently been destroyed in the flames of war.
The Kusanagi swords vanished without a trace.
The scroll further speculated that gathering all Kusanagi swords together might serve a special purpose—though no details were known.
At this point, Yu Ye's eyes flickered.
This explained why Orochimaru was so obsessed with collecting them.
One Kusanagi would have been more than enough for combat—there had to be another reason.
As for their current whereabouts:
One Kusanagi was confirmed to be in the hands of Sunagakure shinobi
It was Suna who had destroyed the minor village and seized that blade
One blade had appeared briefly on the underground black market before vanishing
The final blade was completely unaccounted for
That was the end of the intelligence.
Yu Ye closed the scroll and burned it without hesitation.
Though not entirely satisfying, the information was still useful.
At the same time, a strange thought crossed his mind—
He felt as though he had seen a Kusanagi sword before.
More than that…
He sensed some inexplicable connection between himself and the Kusanagi.
But the thought passed quickly, and Yu Ye did not dwell on it.
Lightning Release Body-Tempering Technique
Yu Ye then opened the second scroll.
After reading it thoroughly, his expression was neither excited nor disappointed.
As expected, this was only a foundational technique.
The scroll even stated clearly—
This was merely the first stage of Kumogakure's Lightning Release body-forging method.
There was a second stage…
and possibly even a third.
Still, the first stage alone was more than sufficient for Yu Ye's current needs.
After opening the Third Gate, further strengthening his body through vibration alone had begun to yield diminishing returns.
He needed another method to push his physical limits further.
And this Lightning Release technique was exactly what he required.
Without hesitation—
Yu Ye began training immediately.
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