Black Gorilla looked at Yōkō, recognized Fox's voice, and his eyes lit up, very pleasantly surprised.
"How did you find me?" Black Gorilla asked, but then his eyes immediately dimmed:
"It must have been easy to find, right? An Akimichi shinobi with both arms severed... There are only a little over ten in the entire clan grounds. Searching one by one, you'd find me quickly."
"Yeah, I found you by searching one by one." Yōkō didn't mention he found him at the street corner auntie intelligence post; searching one by one seemed more sincere.
Yōkō asked: "Why are you moving?"
Black Gorilla replied: "I have no income after retiring. My wife retired earlier than me to take care of the family. We can't keep living in such a nice house for long. My damned woman said we need to change houses early to save money for our daughter's upbringing."
Yōkō sat to the side, watching a few Akimichi youths move things.
"From your tone, has your wife not been treating you well since you retired?" Yōkō thought for a moment and said:
"I can give you some money. I don't have any kids to support anyway.
Consider this money your private stash. Practice using your feet as hands quickly, or you won't even be able to access your hidden money."
Yōkō thought to himself, if necessary, he'd just have to let Kyōi bear the hardship a bit and run up a tab with her.
Black Gorilla said resentfully: "It's not that she's treating me badly! It's that she's been lying to me! Lying to me for over ten years! Women are all liars, not a single good one among them!"
Just as Yōkō was about to ask why, he saw Black Gorilla's wife walk out of the house.
Huh?
He had seen Black Gorilla's wife before at the hospital; her impressive bust even surpassed Tsunade's.
Why was she flat-chested this time?
Black Gorilla was almost in tears:
"That woman confessed to me. When she was a child, she secretly looked through my treasured adult magazines and learned my preferences.
So, from her adolescence, she had been using the Partial Multi-Size Technique to maintain a busty appearance!
Isn't that being a liar?
A huge liar! She deceived me for over ten years, a full ten-plus years!
Now that I've lost my arms, she says she doesn't need to maintain the Partial Multi-Size Technique anymore and reverted to her original form.
To think the person lying next to me all this time deceived me for so long."
Yōkō was stunned, mouth agape.
The Yamanaka clan delving into the Mind-Body-Swap-Hearts Technique, sleeping with themselves, had already pushed the limits of Yōkō's imagination.
Who would have thought the Akimichi clan was into micro-plastic surgery?
Are the Ino–Shika–Chō clans all perverts? Yōkō was too curious; he wondered what peculiar hobbies the Nara clan had.
Yōkō felt great sympathy for Black Gorilla:
"That's too much! You only lost both arms, you're not blind. How could she do this?
Not being able to touch is one thing, but not even letting you see the large version? That's just pure bullying!
But then again, being willing to maintain the Partial Multi-Size Technique for over ten years for you, doesn't that count as a kind of true love?"
Seeing Black Gorilla's wife approach, Yōkō quickly shut his mouth.
Black Gorilla looked aggrieved, his mouth puckered.
Black Gorilla's wife walked over quickly, holding cut pieces of watermelon: "We've finished packing the things from the fridge. There's half a watermelon left; you should eat it."
She tried to feed Black Gorilla the watermelon, but he turned his head away. His wife leaned in and whispered:
"Don't be angry. I'll change it back for a little while tonight, okay?
You've been using the Partial Multi-Size Technique too; I could feel it, sometimes big, sometimes small. Sometimes I even thought you were someone else using a Transformation Technique. Don't think I didn't know."
Black Gorilla's dark face flushed red. He quickly opened his mouth, not daring to say anything more.
Watching Black Gorilla's wife patiently feed him watermelon piece by piece, Yōkō left the marinated meat and departed, feeling reassured.
Black Gorilla was quite lucky.
Even if he couldn't touch or see the large version, at least he still had a woman by his side.
—
After the New Year, Yōkō waited for the next full moon night.
During this time, he had been carrying out the mission of monitoring the Senju clan.
Outside the Senju clan grounds late at night, Anbu were stationed everywhere.
The Anbu shinobi didn't need to hide in the treetops, didn't need to use the Transformation Technique to become chimneys or stones.
They stood on rooftops, stood on the perimeter walls; all Anbu were tense, staring intently deep into the Senju clan grounds.
There was no need to hide anymore because the Nine-Tails' chakra had already leaked out, reaching everyone's vicinity.
During the day, it was somewhat better; when Uzumaki Mito was conscious, she could suppress the Nine-Tails.
When night fell, as Uzumaki Mito drifted in and out of sleep or even fell unconscious, the Nine-Tails became increasingly active.
Sometimes, even a visibly dark red chakra could be seen.
Yōkō, carrying three scrolls, came to his three squads: Purple Cat Squad, White Sheep Squad, and Leaf Monkey Squad.
Yōkō couldn't help but take an extra look at Leaf Monkey.
Since he joined the Black Gorilla Squadron, the Leaf Monkey Squad had been completely wiped out three times and rebuilt four times.
He wondered how long this fourth-generation Leaf Monkey would last.
Purple Cat had a connection worth Hundreds of Millions with him, so she would naturally be taken care of.
White Sheep was a Hyūga clan shinobi; his sensory ability was key for the squadron. His retreat priority was even higher than Purple Cat's.
Leaf Monkey... he could only wish him good luck.
Leaf Monkey was an elite chūnin, appointed as squad leader right after joining the Anbu. Seeing Squadron Leader Fox's gaze now, he just felt a chill run down his spine.
Is the pressure from the Nine-Tails' chakra this strong? Why does the Squadron Leader's look feel strange?
What does the Squadron Leader mean by that extra glance?
Could it be... the darkness of the Anbu is about to fall upon me?
He didn't know when the war would end. Even Konoha couldn't withstand such severe casualties.
The original work mentioned that in the battle where the Third Raikage died, Iwagakure lost over ten thousand shinobi. Shinobi wars were too cruel.
Every battlefield was a meat grinder; each battle led to the age of shinobi sent to the front lines dropping lower.
Yōkō distributed the scrolls, saying: "The Senju compound is over 300 meters long. Our squadron is responsible for maintaining part of the barrier on the east side of the Senju compound to prevent chakra leakage from affecting other parts of the village."
The nights in Konoha had become cold and gloomy.
The Hokage Building explained it as an exceptionally harsh winter this year. Ordinary people believed it; the shinobi did not.
This wasn't the feeling of severe cold; it was a special kind of chakra.
Just as the three squad leaders received the scrolls, someone from the Senju clan jumped out from over the wall.
"Anbu! The Hokage has rescinded the order! You are not to surround the Senju compound with barrier techniques!
Using barriers to surround the Senju clan doesn't that announce to the village that the Senju clan has a problem?"
The three squad leaders paid no attention to the Senju shinobi, proceeding to set up the barrier on their own.
Even if Senju Rinoki were here, he wouldn't have the authority to command ordinary Anbu members.
The Senju shinobi's face was very dark. He was, after all, a jonin, just trying to relay the order to the Anbu earlier, and the Anbu actually ignored him.
About ten seconds later, an Anbu shinobi Body Flickered to Yōkō's side.
"Squadron Leader Fox! The barrier setup task is rescinded! Please go to Battalion Commander Yellow Dog immediately; there are new arrangements."
Yōkō secretly clicked his tongue. For the Anbu to be forced to rescind an order was quite uncommon. It seemed the dispute between the Senju clan and the higher-ups was very serious.
Yōkō went to the south side of the Senju compound and saw Konoha's higher-ups.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood in the center, with Danzo on his left and Senju Rinoki on his right.
The Senju clan and the higher-ups were arguing again.
(End of Chapter)