A ninja from the White Goat Squad, seeing how severe the injury from the explosive tag on Black Bull's chest was, jumped down from the ground, trying to save him.
"Wait! Don't get close to him! Be careful!"
Just as White Goat called out the warning, he saw his teammate use a kunai to slash open Black Bull's throat!
Blood gushed out, drenching Black Bull's chest, a mess of black and red.
Chaos, utter chaos.
Yoko shouted: "Everyone, move back! Maintain at least fifty meters between each other! No one is to approach anyone else!"
Hearing the squadron leader's order, everyone retreated.
In the rainy night, only the sound of heavy rain pounding on leaves, pooling in puddles, and splashing in mud could be heard.
Five minutes passed. No abnormalities.
Ten minutes passed. No abnormalities.
Fifteen minutes passed. Yoko cautiously approached Purple Cat and began treating her injuries.
Purple Cat did not attack Yoko. It seemed Kato Dan had withdrawn.
He chatted with her, confirming she was normal again, then quietly discussed tactics with her.
Next time they encountered the enemy, they had to think of a way, they couldn't be so passive.
When they resumed their journey, Yoko ordered everyone to stay twenty meters apart from each other, ensuring explosive tags couldn't harm one another.
At the same time, Yoko no longer headed directly southeast towards the Land of Fire, but turned south, taking a much longer detour.
He feared Kato Dan would predict their escape route and intercept them ahead.
After walking for two hours, everything was calm. Yoko slightly relaxed; perhaps Kato Dan had lost patience and let them go.
An elite jonin like Kato Dan couldn't possibly keep playing games with them forever, right?
The squadron found a grove with dense foliage, each member seeking a large tree to rest under.
Yoko stayed alone under a tree. The canopy blocked most of the rain, making it lighter beneath.
He looked up at the low, oppressive black clouds, thinking, if lightning struck now, would it hit him?
You shouldn't take shelter under a big tree during a thunderstorm.
Useless knowledge from his previous life popped into Yoko's head again.
Finding a cave wasn't practical. Would they take turns going in?
A flash of lightning lit up a bright path within the clouds, followed by a rumble of thunder.
Yoko stood up, ready to order them to continue moving.
If necessary, they would detour from the south of the Land of Rain to the Land of Rivers, and enter the Land of Fire from there.
A second flash of lightning suddenly brightened.
Yoko narrowed his eyes slightly.
Wrong! Why was this lightning flash lasting so long?
An Anbu threw a flash bomb, aiming straight for White Goat!
Damn it, how was Kato Dan still haunting them, following them?
Yoko formed hand signs, using the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of White Goat.
White Goat was the squadron's scout ninja. He absolutely could not let anything happen to White Goat.
Without White Goat, the squadron would find it extremely difficult to move in the dangerous Land of Rain.
There weren't just Rain ninja here, but also Rock ninja, various rogue ninja organizations from the Land of Rain, and even Uchiha Madara.
Flash bombs, smoke bombs, etc., were all methods specifically used against dojutsu users.
Under the intense light stimulation, White Goat probably couldn't even open his eyes.
Yoko flickered in front of White Goat, kicking away the controlled Anbu.
He was unwilling to kill. Leaf Monkey and Black Bull were already dead, having died without any value.
At that moment, he heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind him.
Crap!
Could even a bloodline ninja with a dojutsu like White Goat not resist Kato Dan's forbidden technique?
White Goat's taijutsu was much stronger than his squad members', and his speed was much faster.
Yoko was prepared, so he immediately moved sideways, turning while dodging.
However, White Goat still managed to touch Yoko.
Yoko's left shoulder was struck by a palm.
He felt his left arm go numb; his tenketsu had been struck.
White Goat's Gentle Fist came at Yoko in an endless stream.
The movements weren't as fluid as White Goat's usual style, but they were still at seventy or eighty percent of his usual skill level.
He hadn't expected Kato Dan to have such deep knowledge of the Hyuga clan. After controlling a Hyuga, he could not only strike tenketsu but also use such a high level of Gentle Fist.
After a moment's thought, Yoko understood. The Hyuga clan was often sent to protect Kato Dan, so he was extremely familiar with them.
Yoko only used his right arm to fight back against White Goat.
While dodging, Yoko hurriedly shouted: "Purple Cat! Help me!"
Not far away, Purple Cat quickly used the Mind Body Switch Technique on White Goat.
Just then, White Goat's body paused for a moment, and he shouted: "Squad Leader! I'm fine! Purple Cat has been controlled by the enemy!"
White Goat suddenly lunged forward, placing himself between Yoko and Purple Cat, preventing the Fox Squadron Leader from being controlled by Purple Cat.
Hearing White Goat say he was normal, Purple Cat unconsciously slowed down her Mind Body Switch Technique.
However, White Goat suddenly launched a fierce attack, violently swinging a kunai towards Yoko's throat!
Yoko turned his head slightly left and lowered it, staring at the approaching kunai.
The kunai was too fast.
Yoko saw the sharp blade of the kunai slicing through raindrops one by one.
Each raindrop shattered in mid-air, turning into tiny droplets.
At the critical moment, Yoko instinctively charged forward, crashing into White Goat's embrace.
White Goat's kunai pierced the back of Yoko's neck.
The tip of the kunai blade penetrated at least half a centimeter into the flesh of Yoko's neck.
"Ugh!"
White Goat cried out in pain as the squadron leader's kunai stabbed into his own abdomen.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye; everything was instinctive action.
If White Goat had been any faster, Yoko's neck would have been pierced.
Yoko looked down and saw his own kunai had pierced White Goat's lung. The flat sides of the kunai were also pressing against and breaking White Goat's ribs.
In the final instant, Kato Dan controlled White Goat to crash forward, turning a severe injury into a fatal one...
White Goat, ignoring his own injury, raised his hand and pointed north: "Squad Leader... I sensed it, in that direction... Squad Leader... I'm sorry..."
White Goat was dying.
In a cave over twenty kilometers away, Kato Dan instantly woke up. What a troublesome squadron. I thought I could control an Anbu with the Byakugan.
White Goat had followed Yoko for so long. To Yoko, he was the most important person in the squadron after Purple Cat.
Yoko mechanically carried out Anbu missions every day. Among the Anbu, the people he was relatively familiar with were Purple Cat and White Goat.
White Goat, like other Hyuga branch family members, was very gentle.
Before he could resolve the anguish of the Caged Bird, he died here, killed by Yoko's own hand.
After Yoko crossed over, his underlying nature was apathy.
Because he always felt that everyone here was a stranger.
This world gave him a strong sense of alienation.
Returning to the previous full moon night every month made him feel that nothing mattered.
If people died, they died. If people were killed, they were killed.
This month, Yoko killed White Goat. He couldn't bring White Goat back to the past, couldn't save White Goat.
At this moment, guilt peaked.
Rainwater flowed into Yoko's eyes.
He felt an unusual soreness in his eyes.
Intense chakra surged from his brain, rushing along the optic nerves straight to his eyes.
Yoko's eyes suddenly turned blood-red. His black pupils shrank into a single tomoe, spinning rapidly within his eyes.
The Sharingan had awakened!
This cursed bloodline, each tomoe opened by the death of someone close.
For a Sharingan of mid-to-high talent, it wasn't the death of someone as close as Purple Cat, but the death of someone like White Goat, who had accompanied him for a long time, dying right before his eyes, that caused the awakening.
A Uchiha with sufficient talent could awaken even if the family cat died.
No wonder the Uchiha clan loved keeping cats and had summoning animals like the Cat Messenger. The powerful Uchiha ancestors probably thought keeping a cat at home made it easier to awaken the Sharingan.
For a Uchiha with insufficient talent, even killing their way through the family register wouldn't open their eyes.
Being an enemy of the Uchiha is dangerous, but being a friend of the Uchiha is even more dangerous.
White Goat whispered by Yoko's ear: "Squad Leader... I reported it over my rank to Battalion Commander Yellow Dog... On the Night of the Kyuubi, your chakra showed an anomaly once..."
Yoko's heart trembled. Had Battalion Commander Yellow Dog started suspecting him?
He looked at White Goat again. Through the eyeholes of the mask, the white pupils had dilated, like expired, low-quality milk full of flocculants.
Yoko stood up.
White Goat was dead. He had to protect Purple Cat and the others.
(End of Chapter)