"What? Squadron Leader Hippo is dead?"
One week after the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing, news spread within the ANBU base.
Squadron Leader Hippo of the Yellow Dog Battalion had died on a mission somewhere in the Land of Fire.
Squadron Leader Hippo was very strong, only a step away from being a Jōnin.
On the night of the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing, Hippo was also one of the squadron leaders who had followed Yellow Dog beneath the Nine-Tails.
ANBU ninja died often. The key point was that, judging from Hippo's corpse, he had been killed by a subordinate attacking him from behind.
The fact that there was a spy in the ANBU was somewhat terrifying.
Over the next few days, ANBU members died frequently, all killed by their subordinates or squad leaders. The atmosphere within the base in the Forest of Death was tense and fearful.
In a forest somewhere in the Land of Fire.
Members of the Fox Squadron appeared one after another using the Body Flicker Technique.
Three squads formed a circle, some standing on the ground, some on rocks, some on tree trunks.
On the ground in the center of the circle lay two corpses.
Two ANBU corpses.
The atmosphere was extremely heavy.
This was the second incident of ANBU members killing each other that the Fox Squadron had investigated recently.
After carefully examining the bodies, Purple Cat came to report to Yōkō:
"Captain, the deceased are two members of the Yak Squadron from our Yellow Dog Battalion.
One ambushed the other from behind, a ninja sword piercing the other's lung.
Afterward, they briefly fought, resulting in both their deaths."
Yōkō asked: "Were they both recruits recently sent by Root?"
If Root's screening was lax and a spy had been mixed into the ANBU, it was possible that the spy acted violently to obtain intelligence.
Purple Cat said, "The one who was ambushed was a recruit. But the one who attacked from behind can't be considered new; he had already served in the ANBU for over six months."
"Six months? Then we can rule out suspicion of him being a spy."
White Goat, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow slightly. Could spy suspicion really be eliminated after just six months? Then Squadron Leader Fox, who had served in the ANBU for about a year now...
Yōkō looked at Purple Cat and said:
"After the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing, just our squadron alone has investigated two incidents of ANBU members killing each other.
I don't know about the other squadrons, but I estimate there are more.
This isn't a coincidence. Besides the possibility of spies, the Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Technique, the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique, and some forbidden techniques can all control others to kill each other.
Can we rule out suspicion of the Nara or Yamanaka clans?"
Purple Cat said:
"The final blow for both was a kunai stabbed into the eye, straight into the brain. The brains were destroyed, making it impossible to extract information from the corpses.
However, we can rule out the Shadow Imitation Technique.
Anyone under the Shadow Imitation Technique subconsciously exerts force with their feet, trying to break free, so the soil under their feet gets disturbed in the struggle, leaving deep footprints.
As for the Mind Body Switch Technique... I cannot rule it out."
Yōkō had no other methods either. This investigation mission once again ended without result.
The previous time, three ANBU ninja were on a mission to assassinate a noble of the Land of Fire, but ended up dead in the noble's garden. Not only did the mission fail, it nearly caused a diplomatic incident.
This time, two ANBU were delivering intelligence to the front lines in the Land of Grass, but died halfway.
The key point was that both times the manner of death was mutual killing, which was extremely rare for the ANBU.
"Take the bodies back to the village. Let's see if the Torture and Interrogation Corps can get some information out of them."
After returning to the ANBU, just as Yōkō delivered the bodies to the Torture and Interrogation Corps, the Yellow Dog Battalion Commander's assistant said the Battalion Commander wanted to see him.
Entering the Battalion Commander's office, Yōkō saw more than a dozen scrolls haphazardly thrown on the desk.
Yellow Dog said:
"The Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing caused significant ANBU casualties. Recently, there have been over ten more incidents of ANBU members killing each other. All six ANBU battalions have had deaths.
What were the results of your investigation today?"
Yōkō replied:
"Sorry, same as last time. We found nothing.
The brains of the corpses were destroyed. We cannot determine if it was genuine mutual killing or mutual killing under the control of Genjutsu, a secret technique, or a forbidden technique.
Within a several-hundred-meter radius, we found no traces of enemies hiding or lurking."
Yellow Dog adjusted his mask, indicating his own anxiety. He said:
"The ANBU members all died after leaving the village. The enemy is likely outside the village.
The investigations near the village have yielded no results. Fox, take your squadron to the Land of Rain to investigate an ANBU death incident.
Your squadron has members from the Yamanaka and Hyūga clans, making its abilities quite comprehensive.
In the Land of Rain, your tasks are, first, to investigate the death of the ANBU squad, and second, to monitor the combat situation in the Land of Rain for Lord Danzo.
Lord Danzo has decided to enter the Land of Rain within the next half or full month.
Right now, the most intense fighting is against the Hidden Rain Village.
The 'Demigod' Hanzo is renowned and formidable. Perhaps the deaths of the ANBU are his method of sabotage behind our lines."
Yōkō nodded, then asked: "What about the mission to monitor the escalating conflict between the Senju and Uchiha clans?"
Yellow Dog said, "I will assign that to other squadrons stationed in the village."
Friction between the Senju and Uchiha clans was continuous, and incidents involving bloodshed and injury had already occurred.
The greatly weakened Senju clan, conversely, was the aggressive one, constantly pursuing and provoking the Uchiha clan.
The Uchiha clan, unable to explain the Sharingan from the night of the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing, found it hard to defend themselves and had been exercising restraint.
Yōkō left Konoha with his squadron that very day, heading for the Land of Rain.
Throughout the journey, Yōkō was very cautious, wary of his surroundings and of every ANBU member behind him, especially the few recruits.
Who exactly was killing the ANBU?
A name surfaced in Yōkō's mind.
Could it be him?
Kato Dan?
It wouldn't be strange if Kato Dan was involved, but directly killing ANBU members was somewhat strange.
Had the Senju clan abandoned their naivety and started resorting to any means necessary to target the ANBU?
Arriving in the Land of Rain, Yōkō led his squadron to report to the front-line headquarters first.
The Commander-in-Chief, Mitokado Homura, did not have the authority to command the ANBU, but needed to be aware of all forces at the front, including the ANBU, to avoid miscalculations.
Inside the ANBU tent, Yōkō saw many Jōnin.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kato Dan, and others.
It seemed a small Jōnin meeting had just concluded.
Yōkō glanced at Tsunade. The tragic events of the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing had long since reached the front lines.
Tsunade looked exhausted and sorrowful; most of her clan had died during the Nine-Tails' sealing, leaving her in extremely low spirits.
Yōkō's gaze swept over Orochimaru. Danzo's Sharingan had probably been transplanted by Orochimaru.
He had once disposed of experimental corpses for Orochimaru; the eyeballs of a Shimura clan youth had been removed.
He wondered if any other Shimura clansmen had become test subjects for Danzo later on.
As for Jiraiya... it was better not to look. He was solely focused on sticking close to Tsunade, nothing else could be discerned.
None of these three paid attention to Yōkō, an ANBU member, but Yōkō clearly felt Kato Dan glance at him once more.
Turning his head slightly to watch Kato Dan's retreating, Yōkō was thoughtful.
Mitokado Homura said, "Fox, the corpses of the ANBU squad that died under suspicious circumstances are still in the body storage tent in the medical area. You can go investigate."
"Understood, Lord Mitokado Homura."
Arriving at the medical tent area, Yōkō saw Tsunade again.
Tsunade wore the First Hokage's necklace, retrieved from Nawaki, around her neck and was busy in the medical area.
The Hidden Rain Village kept Salamanders, whose poison was very strong. Many poisoned ninja were in the medical area.
Fortunately, Tsunade was here; otherwise, these poisoned ninja would have slowly died.
As Yōkō led Purple Cat and White Goat towards the corpse tent, he saw Kato Dan again, who had come to find Tsunade.
Kato Dan was followed by two ninja; they were the guards assigned to him by the Senju clan.
As they passed by Kato Dan, Yōkō carefully observed every detail about him.
His body muscles were very relaxed, without any subtle tension that would appear upon seeing an enemy.
Yōkō was somewhat puzzled. Had he been mistaken?
There was another possibility: Squadron Leader Fox simply wasn't significant enough to make Kato Dan tense.
(Chapter End)