"Antelope Squad! Move out!"
Yako's squad leader wore an antelope mask—everyone just called him Captain Antelope.
Besides Yako, the squad included Purple Cat and Horned Ox.
Their true identities were unknown. Even if someone under the Purple Cat mask was replaced, Yako wouldn't know.
The four of them departed from the Forest of Death, traveling alongside Konoha's outer wall.
As they moved, Yako grew uneasy.
This direction... were they heading toward the main gate?
Were they going outside the village?
That wasn't normal at all.
Inside Konoha, if something went wrong, you could scream, call for backup. No shame in that.
But outside the village? You could scream till your lungs burst, and no one would hear.
Captain Antelope brought the squad to Konoha's front gate.
No exit papers submitted. No slowing down. The four ANBU passed straight through.
One of the gate guards murmured enviously, "ANBU are so cool… all wearing masks, always so cold and sharp."
"You could apply to ANBU too. Wear a mask every day."
"No thanks. ANBU only see daylight when they're dead."
Yako felt miserable. Why the hell are we leaving the village?
Captain Antelope explained mid-run:
"The target is a tokubetsu jōnin. He's already a squad captain and is leading a genin team on supply runs near the frontlines.
He's suspected of colluding with Iwa-nin spies. We're to shadow him, gather intel, and be ready to eliminate him at any moment."
Yako's heart dropped.
In the shinobi world, a gap of two ranks could mean instant death.
The basic ninja hierarchy went: genin, chūnin, tokubetsu jōnin, jōnin, elite jōnin, Kage-level, and above that, Six Paths-tier.
A tokubetsu jōnin could obliterate a genin like him in a heartbeat. He was barely a chūnin by name—truthfully, still genin-tier.
Yako watched Captain Antelope and the other two closely, trying to gauge their true power.
Captain Antelope was definitely tokubetsu jōnin at minimum—he wouldn't be talking about "eliminating" one otherwise.
Yako was genin-tier. Purple Cat and Horned Ox were likely both chūnin—an average strength squad, enough to meet ANBU's minimum standard for chūnin-level units.
They crossed out of the Land of Fire, entering the disputed zone in the Land of Rivers. From here, every step was dangerous.
Captain Antelope located the target quickly.
Yako used binoculars to watch the Konoha squad from afar.
The suspect was a broad-shouldered, rugged man.
His three subordinates: a chubby Akimichi clan boy, a civilian girl with no clan emblem, and a bespectacled civilian boy.
All four carried massive backpacks—transporting something toward the front.
Yako only stared a few seconds before lowering the binoculars.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination—but the tokubetsu jōnin seemed to glance in his direction.
Captain Antelope kept scanning. "Maintain a 200-meter distance. Don't get closer. Slow, steady recon."
For five straight days, Antelope Squad trailed the target team from afar.
The target group zigzagged along the Land of Rivers–Land of Fire border, constantly moving supplies.
Five quiet, peaceful days.
Yako was counting.
Three days spent enjoying himself at the Tsurugetsu Izakaya, four days to reach the border, five days of tailing—twelve days gone. Just thirteen left until the next full moon.
He hoped the mission would stay this calm and uneventful.
Suddenly, Captain Antelope shouted, "Something's happening!"
The target veered behind a large tree, out of sight of his genin.
He shoved a scroll beneath the tree roots, then briskly walked off.
"Move in! Confirm the scroll's contents! Then follow the plan!"
All four ANBU sprinted toward the tree.
Yako ran fast.
He had to. Run fast, and maybe he could pick the weakest target.
He subtly shifted direction—rushing at the girl genin.
Eleven years old, a civilian, no clan emblem—had to be the weakest.
Captain Antelope reached the tree first, pulled out the scroll, and skimmed its contents.
"Confirmed. It's an Iwagakure spy drop! Eliminate the target!"
A tokubetsu jōnin spy from Iwagakure—not an easy investment. High-level spies like that usually had handlers or accomplices.
Most likely, the handler was one of his genin.
The Akimichi kid? Impossible—he was from a noble shinobi clan.
That left the two civilians. Either could be the contact.
But how to tell which?
ANBU protocol said: don't bother figuring it out.
Yako hurled two kunai at the civilian girl.
One aimed for her left eye—to catch her attention.
The other aimed at her abdomen—a guaranteed hit.
She instinctively blocked the kunai flying toward her face.
Didn't guard the other.
The second kunai struck her gut.
Blood sprayed.
Yako didn't care if she was truly the spy. He showed no mercy—kicked her down and pinned her hands to the dirt with kunai.
The Akimichi genin saw his teammate bleeding and snapped.
He charged straight at Yako, taking a kunai from Purple Cat along the way.
Yako stood still, watching the boy barrel toward him.
Purple Cat was chasing behind. Unless something went wrong, the boy would never reach him.
But then the Akimichi genin popped a secret pill into his mouth and swallowed.
Yako didn't even see the color.
Shit!
"Human Boulder!"
He exploded into a massive rolling sphere, hurtling at Yako with terrifying speed.
A true clan heir—no joke.
Yako jumped back in panic.
This was bad. Really bad. If this went south now…
The giant spinning body slammed into him, crushing him against a boulder.
But just before it hit, Yako silently formed hand seals behind the meatball.
Earth Release: Fish in the Earth!
He vanished into the rock.
Good thing he'd picked up a jutsu from the system. Otherwise, he'd be dead.
Debris flew everywhere.
As the boulder slowed, Yako reappeared—couldn't let anyone know he'd used Earth ninjutsu.
The Human Boulder was huge. No one saw a thing.
To sell it, he let himself get hit again—crushed hard, cracking multiple bones.
"Enough!"
Captain Antelope's voice rang out like a whip.
The Akimichi genin shrank back to normal size, turning toward the voice.
In the distance, the Iwa tokubetsu jōnin was pinned to a tree by a kunai.
The girl genin—skewered through the chest by Antelope's ninjatō.
The glasses-wearing genin—gutted by Horned Ox.
"Who are you people?!"
The Akimichi genin tried to shout, but Captain Antelope flickered before him and drove a punch into his gut, knocking the breath—and rage—out of him.
"We're Konoha ANBU. We deal with Iwa spies. Snap out of it—don't cause trouble."
The civilian genin were expendable. The Akimichi, though, had clan backing—couldn't kill him casually.
The boy crawled toward the girl, sobbing.
"I never even told you I… I liked…"
Konoha ninja matured early. Who knew what sort of feelings were between them. But death ends all emotion.
Captain Antelope walked up to Yako, looked down at his battered body.
Yako quickly said:
"Captain! The Will of Fire says—never abandon your comrades! I'm just injured—you won't abandon me, right?!"
"Trash. It'll take ten-plus days just to recover."
But hearing that he wouldn't be left behind, Yako exhaled in relief.
Wait—ten days of healing?
That meant… he could stall until next month's full moon? This was perfect.
Horned Ox carried him back to Konoha. Half a month of rest later, the full moon finally came.
And so did a new mission.
ANBU Commander Danzō had ordered two ANBU battalions to move toward the Land of Waves and the Land of Whirlpools.
Yako felt a chill.
The Uzumaki clan of the Land of Whirlpools… were they about to be wiped out?
A small fry like him… in a massacre of that scale… what could he possibly do?