In the dense forest along the border of the Land of Fire, the night was as dark as ink. Only occasional moonlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting scattered patches of light and shadow.
Sakumo led a ten-man Anbu squad escorting the mother of the Land of Fire's Daimyo, an elderly yet dignified woman.
They moved forward along a hidden path.
The old lady sat in a simple palanquin, her expression calm, as though completely unaware of the danger surrounding her.
"Captain, there is a chakra disturbance ahead."
An Anbu ninja suddenly warned in a low voice, eyes sharp as a hawk's beneath his mask.
Sakumo raised a hand to signal the team to stop. His right hand had already quietly closed around the White Fang blade at his back.
A faint glow of chakra rose along the blade, and an icy presence spread instantly through the air.
"All units on alert. Protect the client."
Before the words had fully left his mouth, dozens of kunai came shooting from the darkness, aimed directly at the palanquin in the center of the formation.
"Earth Style, Earth Flow Wall!"
An Anbu ninja quickly formed hand seals. A thick wall of earth rose from the ground and blocked most of the attack.
Even so, several kunai pierced through the defense and drove straight toward the old lady.
Sakumo's figure flashed. The White Fang blade traced several streaks of cold light through the air and knocked every kunai to the ground.
His eyes were ice-cold, his gaze locked on the enemies deep in the forest.
'Suna-nin... what are they doing here?'
As someone who had fought against Suna-nin in prolonged conflict, Sakumo would not mistake them for anyone else.
Was this a coincidence, or had someone arranged it deliberately?
The Suna-nin swarmed in from all directions. Wind blades shrieked in their hands, churning up clouds of sand and dust.
Sakumo's White Fang blade became a streak of silver lightning in the moonlight. Each swing took an enemy's life.
His movements were clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation, like death itself had descended.
"Do not scatter."
Sakumo barked sharply.
At the same time he swept his blade across a Suna-nin's throat. Blood spattered across his clothing, adding to the air of lethal calm around him.
The Anbu squad moved in tight coordination, surrounding the old lady in the center and falling back in a defensive formation while continuing to fight.
However, the number of enemies far exceeded what they had anticipated. The battle lasted a full quarter hour before the first wave of Suna-nin was finally wiped out.
Sakumo caught his breath and swept his gaze across the battlefield.
Two members of the Anbu squad had already been wounded. One of them had his arm sliced open by a wind blade, blood staining half his body red.
His brow furrowed.
'Given how many enemy ninja there just were, our casualty count seems off.'
"Captain, our location has likely been exposed."
An Anbu ninja came to Sakumo's side and spoke in a low voice, barely suppressed anger beneath his tone.
Before Sakumo could respond, that same person raised the blade in his hand and drove it straight at Sakumo.
Sakumo had already sensed something. He barely dodged the attack. The White Fang flared with light as he brought it back around in a counter and struck the man's body.
There was no sound of blade meeting flesh. Instead came a strange, hollow cracking.
The face of the "ninja" in front of him began to split apart in chunks, revealing the true form beneath.
It was a human puppet.
"Over there."
Sakumo did not hesitate for a single moment.
He went straight west and closed in.
Several cries rang out, and the forest fell silent again.
Sakumo confirmed there were no more threats and sheathed the White Fang. His gaze swept over his exhausted squad members.
Though their faces were hidden behind masks, the fatigue and tension in their eyes could not be concealed.
He drew a slow breath and pressed down the unease inside him.
"Keep moving, but reduce speed. Stay alert."
The team set out again. However, barely half an hour passed before the second wave of attacks came one after another.
This time the enemies were far more cunning, using traps and poison mist to break apart the Anbu formation.
Sakumo's White Fang blade cut streaks of light through the poison mist, cutting down the ambushing Suna-nin one by one, but his heart grew heavier with every passing moment.
'At this rate... we will not make it to the Land of Fire's residence.'
'Our movements are completely exposed.'
He thought grimly.
After the battle ended, five more squad members had been wounded. One had lost consciousness from poisoning.
Sakumo went down on one knee and checked the condition of his team members, his brow tightly creased.
He looked up toward the distance. The night was still deep and dark, as though concealing endless killing intent within it.
"Captain, the Suna-nin's target is clear. They are going after the old lady."
An Anbu squad leader came to his side and spoke in a low voice.
"Captain, we must pick up the pace and complete the mission as soon as possible."
Sakumo glanced at him. Whatever expression lay beneath his mask, no one could tell.
He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end he only nodded.
"...Keep moving."
The team set out again. But Sakumo's heart had sunk into something like ice.
He knew clearly that with the squad in its current state, one more ambush would mean complete annihilation.
He glanced at the old lady in the palanquin. Her expression was still calm, as though she had long since made her peace with life and death.
'Are we really going to send these brothers to their deaths for the sake of a mission?'
He demanded of himself in silence.
The third wave came faster than expected.
This time the Suna-nin came in even greater numbers, and their assault was even fiercer.
Sakumo's White Fang swept across the battlefield in a sheet of silver light. Enemies fell wherever it passed, but his own strength was being consumed at a brutal rate.
One Anbu ninja, in an attempt to protect the old lady, was run through the chest by a wind blade and died on the spot.
"Damn it!"
Sakumo roared. His chakra surged. The light on the White Fang blazed brilliantly, and a single swing cut down three Suna-nin.
Even so, the enemy's assault did not stop.
When the battle ended, only six members of the Anbu squad remained, four of them wounded.
Sakumo stood in a pool of blood. The White Fang in his hand trembled faintly.
He looked at the fallen comrades, and a wave of helplessness washed over him.
"Captain, the mission comes first."
The Anbu squad leader spoke again, his voice firm.
"We are ninja. To die for a mission is an honor."
Sakumo was silent for a long time. Finally, he slowly removed his mask, revealing a face that was exhausted but unyielding.
He looked at the remaining squad members and said in a hoarse voice.
"No. No matter how important the mission, it is not worth more than a brother's life."
Everyone was taken aback. No one had expected the captain, who had always placed the mission above all else, to say something like that.
Sakumo drew a slow, deep breath and made his decision.
"Abandon the mission. Escort the old lady back to Konoha. I will explain everything to Hokage-sama."
The Anbu squad leader looked as though he wanted to argue, but something in Sakumo's eyes made him close his mouth.
The team reversed direction and began withdrawing toward Konoha.
But the moment they turned around, the fourth wave of Suna-nin burst from the dense forest. At their head was a jonin wearing a Suna forehead protector, who said with a cold smile.
"Hatake Sakumo, did you really think you could still walk away from here?"
Sakumo gripped the White Fang, a flash of hard resolve in his eyes.
"Then... we fight to the last."
The battle erupted again. The light of the White Fang lit up the entire forest.
His figure moved like a ghost through the enemy ranks. Every strike carried the will to kill.
But the enemy numbers were simply too great. The Anbu squad was slowly being pushed to the edge of collapse.
At the most critical moment, a clear shout rang out from within the trees.
"Fire Style, Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
A blazing fireball descended from above and swallowed several Suna-nin whole.
Sakumo looked up and saw a familiar figure standing at the top of a tree.
Uchiha Chiya.
"It seems I arrived at just the right time."
Chiya gave a slight smile. The three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes rotated slowly.