"Purple Cat!"
Hearing Yōkō's shout, Purple Cat knew he was about to use the desperate tactic.
That tactic, whether for Purple Cat or for Fox, carried extremely high risks; a single misstep could cost both their lives.
Yōkō quickly sprinted in the direction White Goat had indicated, putting on a show of fighting Kato Dan to the death.
Purple Cat stared at Yōkō's back and swiftly used the Mind Body Switch Technique, sending his own soul into Yōkō's mind.
Yōkō completely relinquished resistance, allowing Purple Cat's soul to enter.
Now, there were two souls inside Yōkō's mind.
Purple Cat, taking over for Yōkō, controlled his body and rushed forward rapidly using the Body Flicker Technique.
Yōkō was gambling. Gambling that when Kato Dan saw him charging towards his hiding place, he would immediately attack.
Yōkō was also gambling that one plus one was greater than two; that his and Purple Cat's combined souls were not inferior to Kato Dan's.
At a certain step, Yōkō's figure suddenly halted.
Purple Cat's face in the rear instantly turned deathly pale!
The skin on his neck, visible below the mas,k lost all color!
Purple Cat's soul had just collided head-on with the enemy's soul!
He lost consciousness instantly.
Before fainting, Purple Cat's only hope was that he had helped Fox by consuming some of the enemy's strength.
A single person's brain, accommodating two souls, was already crowded and burdensome. The collision of three souls left each one suffering.
This was the first time Kato Dan encountered such a situation; the target's brain actually contained two souls.
Even though Kato Dan's soul power was extremely strong, facing the two souls of Yōkō and Purple Cat, he couldn't gain an absolute advantage.
He had previously observed that the Fox ANBU's soul was unusually powerful and special, its radiance twice as bright as an ordinary person's.
Yōkō's sensation at this moment was peculiar.
After being hit by the Mind Body Switch Technique, Yōkō couldn't feel his body and had no control over it.
Between himself and his body was a large mass of fog—this mass was Purple Cat's soul.
Then, another mass of fog rudely squeezed in, breaking the intimate world of Yōkō and Purple Cat.
The three masses of fog tangled and fought.
Purple Cat's soul was the first to be heavily damaged, consuming a portion of Kato Dan's soul power.
Afterward, Yōkō's soul surged out and collided fiercely with Kato Dan's soul.
Yōkō's soul originated from another world, inherently different from the souls of this world.
If you said your forbidden technique was stronger than mine, he would concede. But if you said your soul was stronger, he refused to accept it.
Yōkō's consciousness slammed fiercely into the mass of fog representing Kato Dan's soul.
After two consecutive collisions, Kato Dan's soul was defeated and disappeared.
Purple Cat's soul, injured, returned to his own body.
Yōkō wasn't feeling well either, his head splitting with pain.
He immediately stopped and turned back towards the squadron.
Before he died, White Goat had only pointed out a direction, not knowing the distance.
If the distance was tens of kilometers, by the time he got there, Kato Dan would have long since escaped, or recovered enough to use the forbidden technique to kill Yōkō again.
His clash with Kato Dan was only to create an opportunity to escape.
Kato Dan, just you wait. Next month, I will be irreconcilably opposed to you!
Returning to the squadron, Yōkō carried the unconscious Purple Cat on his back and said to the others, "Run! Get out of the Land of Rain! Run towards the Land of Fire!"
Purple Cat, on Yōkō's back, breathed slowly, his limbs limp.
Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique could not only control others but also directly crush and kill an enemy's soul.
Yōkō, walking a tightrope between the Senju clan and the ANBU, was tasting the bitter consequences.
He had prevented Danzo from obtaining the Uzumaki clan's Sealing Scroll and prevented the ANBU from being controlled by Danzo using seals.
He never expected that instead of the ANBU purging him as a traitor, the Senju clan's Kato Dan would be the first to move against him.
The Senju clan was close to the truth. They believed that both the annihilation of the Uzumaki clan and the heavy losses the Senju suffered on the night of the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing were likely the doing of the ANBU and the higher-ups.
The Senju clan had extremely strong initiative. Suspecting the ANBU, they acted against the ANBU.
At least 20 ANBU members had died by Kato Dan's hand.
Yōkō felt a bit like he had dropped a rock on his own foot.
I performed great services for the Senju clan! I'm truly the one guiding them!
If not for me, over 900 Senju clansmen would have died on the night of the Nine-Tails' transfer and sealing.
Before he died, White Goat told him that Battalion Commander Yellow Dog was starting to suspect him.
Yōkō couldn't easily go explain himself to the Senju clan; he couldn't expose his true identity and stance.
He needed to lay low for a while, thoroughly dispel Battalion Commander Yellow Dog's suspicions, and then find a way to contact the Senju clan and clear his name.
Or, Yōkō suddenly contemplated, perhaps he should just kill Yellow Dog... Being my enemy is dangerous, but being my superior is even more dangerous.
Yōkō suddenly remembered something and left behind a Shadow Clone.
"I'll have the Shadow Clone cover our retreat! Keep running!"
After the squad members had moved farther away, Yōkō's Shadow Clone arrived by White Goat's corpse.
Steeling his heart, he plunged a kunai into White Goat's head.
The rain kept falling, washing away the blood beneath White Goat's corpse.
This was a cursed country, a place that never stopped weeping.
He couldn't let anyone discover intelligence from White Goat's body. No one could know that White Goat had told him that Battalion Commander Yellow Dog was starting to suspect Fox.
He could only wrong White Goat's corpse.
The Shadow Clone disappeared after completing its objective, its memories flooding back into Yōkō's mind. Yōkō breathed a sigh of relief.
One could never be too cautious around Battalion Commander Yellow Dog.
Women and children could afford carelessness; ANBU could not.
Upon entering the Land of Fire, Yōkō immediately had his subordinates fire a distress signal flare.
Soon, a flare of the same color shot into the sky from a certain direction.
Excellent, there were other ANBU nearby.
Yōkō urgently needed support, urgently needed to find a medical ninja to treat Purple Cat's soul injury.
Moving swiftly through the forest, after rounding two large trees, they saw three people standing on a tree trunk ahead.
Yōkō's whole body tensed. The one in the middle was none other than Danzo!
They had encountered Danzo, who was on his way to the front lines in the Land of Rain.
Before the mission, Battalion Commander Yellow Dog had said Danzo might be coming to the front.
Danzo stood on the tree trunk, one eye bandaged, the other coldly looking at his subordinates: "Who did you encounter? Why are you in such a wretched state?"
Yōkō swallowed hard and then said:
"Lord Danzo, my squadron was ordered to investigate the accidental deaths of ANBU members. We found the suspected culprit in the southwestern part of the Land of Rain."
He calculated rapidly in his mind. Could he drive a tiger to swallow a wolf?
Yōkō began his report, mixing nine parts truth with one part lie:
"Lord Danzo, we encountered three Konoha ninja in the Land of Rain who were under a Genjutsu—one Jōnin and two Tokubetsu Jōnin. I suspect that the Genjutsu user is the one killing the ANBU.
Only such a powerful Genjutsu could kill so many of our ANBU ninja.
During our in-depth investigation, squad members were continuously controlled by the enemy, leading to mutual killing.
Squad Leader Leaf Monkey, Squad Leader White Goat, and several other members died one after another.
I can only determine the enemy's general direction; I cannot get close."
Yōkō intentionally conflated Uchiha Madara and Kato Dan, describing them as a single person.
He knew about Uchiha Madara. He knew about Kato Dan. None of his squad members knew about either, and Danzo knew even less.
(Chapter End)