The newly formed Fox Squad first passed through the Land of Grass, then pressed north into the Land of Waterfalls. It took them over ten days to reach the northeastern border of the Land of Earth.
Though Iwagakure and Kumogakure had signed a ceasefire agreement before the new year, the scars of war still marred the landscape.
Abandoned villages, tiered and eroded farmland, and a scarcity of wildlife—
During wartime, shinobi consumed anything they could catch for protein.
Yako ordered all four teams to fan out in search of craters left by Tailed Beast Bombs.
Each of the four squad leaders was someone Yako deeply trusted—and they were all fired up.
Soon, White Ram Squad found the first target.
White Ram brimmed with pride. When it came to reconnaissance, his Destruction Bugs gave him an edge.
Yako stood at the edge of a vast crater, nodding to Purple Cat to take notes.
"Blast core zone: diameter about 200 meters, depth roughly 3 meters.
Shockwave radius: around 800 meters. Large trees and boulders completely obliterated.
The scale suggests a fully transformed Tailed Beast fired the Tailed Beast Bomb.
This much chakra… easily ten times that of an elite jōnin."
He muttered with a nervous chuckle,
"Take a hit from that and you'd be black and blue for days."
Purple Cat blinked. "'Black and blue'? Should I record that part?"
"…No. Leave that out."
One data point wouldn't satisfy the higher-ups.
A full squad deployment only to bring back blast measurements? That wouldn't cut it.
"We're switching to Sand ANBU uniforms," Yako said. "We need intel from Iwa shinobi—and we need captives. Preferably jōnin.
Wearing Sand gear means if we get caught using paragliders to escape, we can blame it on Suna's copies.
The world already suspects Suna reverse-engineered our tech—let's give Konoha room to deny everything."
Donning their disguises, Yako studied the map.
Along the Earth Country's border, every 30 kilometers stood an Iwa fortress outpost, each housing at least a battalion of shinobi.
These fortresses formed the outermost layer of Iwa's national defense.
Low-ranking shinobi wouldn't know much. What they needed were Iwa jōnin.
But the fortresses had sensory types and barrier specialists—sneaking in unseen was near impossible.
Yako focused on two fortress points.
This was their first major mission since forming the division. It had to be flawless.
He laid out his plan.
"We're going to use diversionary tactics.
White Ram, Blossom Deer, Hippo, Yak—your squads will mount a feint assault on Fortress Alpha.
Make it loud. Draw attention.
The goal is to force Fortresses Beta and Gamma to send reinforcements.
I'll infiltrate Fortress Beta and either capture or kill their commander, then extract the body."
He looked them all in the eye.
"This will be dangerous. Reinforcements from Iwa will be swift. You'll face multiple squads.
Your job is to make noise—then escape.
Blossom Deer, get our paragliders ready. Iwa's never seen anything like them."
White Ram and Blossom Deer lit up.
A high-risk mission. A high-reward outcome. Capturing an Iwa jōnin for intel?
This felt like S-rank material.
A chance to be promoted to Tokubetsu Jōnin—it felt real.
White Ram grinned. "Don't worry, Captain. We're not storming Iwagakure itself. Feint and flee—we've got this."
Blossom Deer nodded. "We'll pull it off."
Yako didn't reply.
'I know you can do it… the question is: how many of you will survive?'
He didn't want their very first mission to cost them dearly.
"This mission is dangerous. We'll conduct training and rehearsals in a terrain-matching location in the Land of Waterfalls."
The border terrain resembled the loess plateau from Yako's past life—deep ravines and eroded hills, shaped by decades of rainfall.
Each squad practiced escape tactics using ravines, and timed mid-retreat paraglider deployment.
—
The full moon hung like a silver disc in the sky.
Yako waited for his revival window.
On the afternoon of the 20th, he split off from his squads.
Must've been that peaceful New Year… I'm going soft.
He wanted White Ram and Blossom Deer to rise, but feared losing anyone in the process.
No. I need to recalibrate.
These four squads… they're assets. Expendable.
He couldn't let emotions override mission success.
Yako spent half a day reaching Fortress Beta.
He concealed himself in the yellow loess earth, watching from afar.
The fortress was built from compacted earth blocks, forming a multi-layered circular wall.
Tiny round windows dotted the exterior for observation.
Hyūga clan jōnin could see up to three kilometers with their Byakugan. Most sensors, like White Ram, maxed out around several hundred meters to one kilometer.
Yako kept himself just over one kilometer away.
'If only I had a Byakugan… it'd cover this hole in my recon abilities.'
Late at night, he saw two message birds fly into the fortress.
White Ram's attack succeeded. Fortress Alpha had signaled for aid.
Minutes later, two more birds flew out—each toward a different direction of Iwagakure.
Double insurance. Maximize delivery odds.
Then, the heavy front gates opened.
Two Iwa platoons marched out to reinforce.
'Perfect.'
With two platoons gone, it was time.
Yako began his infiltration.
At first, it went smoothly.
He crept 300 meters in, undetected.
But at the 200-meter mark, a sudden chakra fluctuation rippled through the air.
'A barrier!'
The fortress alarm blared, high-pitched and shrill.
'I've been made.
Should I go loud?'
A direct assault would draw immediate retaliation. Iwagakure would deploy en masse.
And Konoha was twelve days away.
He might not survive the escape.
But… it was a full moon.
He still had one revive.
'This life is for recon. I'll die here—and next time, infiltrate perfectly.'
Decision made, Yako dashed forward, hands flashing through seals.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
A high-pressure torrent erupted, punching clean through over 100 meters of air and stone—smashing into the highest circular window.
Water Instant Step!
In the blink of an eye, Yako teleported along the water path—appearing directly in the upper room.
An Iwa battalion commander stood inside.
He froze in place.
A Suna ANBU, suddenly in his room?!