Darkness fell, and his vision shifted.
Yako awoke on the small boat, just as it reached the shores of the Land of Waves on that full moon night.
He adjusted his fox mask; the memory of being burned alive hadn't yet faded.
His face still felt scorched, as if the flames had melted flesh and fused skin.
"Fox, hurry up and get off the boat!"
Unlike his previous life, Yako hesitated this time, not immediately leaping ashore, prompting the captain to rush him.
He distinctly remembered—Captain Antelope hadn't said that line last time.
After resurrection, most things followed the original sequence of events, but his actions could still shift outcomes. This unpredictability unnerved him.
Until he passed the point of his prior death, he had to tread carefully, sticking to the old script—only then would he have the advantage of foreknowledge.
He glanced again at Captain Antelope, deeply wary of the man's hidden Fire Release.
Too cunning—keeping a jutsu secret even from his subordinates.
A squad should know each other's abilities, sync as one.
If your comrades don't know your strengths, they might make bad decisions in battle—that's not just reckless, it's murder.
In ANBU, loyalty was paramount. Everyone was constantly under observation, even the captain.
Antelope glanced at Fox—what's with that look? I just gave him a little nudge.
[Arc of the Moonlit Omen activated!
Host gains one resurrection per month, reviving on the night of the previous full moon.
Reward: one random draw:
1 - Shadow Clone Jutsu (Basic)
2 - Fire-nature Chakra Affinity
3 - Taijutsu Lock Technique (Basic)]
The Lock Technique was the arm lock Antelope had used to restrain him—powerful and hard to break.
But Yako had the Self-Cursed Binding Seal—he didn't need it.
As for Fire-nature Chakra, it wasn't useful yet.
He was a pseudo-Chūnin. Mastering Earth Release alone was a struggle.
No point developing elemental chakra before becoming a full elite Chūnin. Even if he unlocked fire chakra, his reserves weren't enough to use it repeatedly.
In the end, Yako chose the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
It could create tangible copies, even capable of fooling dōjutsu users under the right conditions.
Antelope relied heavily on Shadow Clones—always using them or his subordinates to probe for intel.
Chakra splitting was the jutsu's downside.
But for ninja with either immense or meager chakra, that flaw didn't matter.
If your chakra was huge, even half was plenty.
If it was tiny—well, there wasn't much to lose anyway.
For Yako, dividing chakra just meant sticking to taijutsu. Not a terrible trade.
The mission unfolded as before. The squad reached the seaside fishing village.
Horned Ox, covered in filth again after scouting the crawlspace under a house, angrily used explosive tags.
Yako dodged around the outskirts, fighting while retreating.
This time, he knew where Antelope's real body was hiding, so he was careful to cast his sealing jutsu where the captain wouldn't see.
When Kumo-nin hidden among villagers attacked, Horned Ox died and the captain was injured.
Yako emerged from the sea, dragging the wounded captain away.
In the palm grove, Antelope felt a stab of pain in his side.
His scalp went numb—Was Fox trying to kill him?
He looked down—Fox had just given him a hemostatic injection.
The captain relaxed a little. Fox wouldn't be stupid enough to try killing me.
Even heavily wounded, he could still take Fox down.
They found shelter in a natural cave within the coral reef.
This time, Yako not only didn't try to kill him, but carefully dressed his wounds.
There were still ten days left until the next full moon. Without the captain, Yako wouldn't survive.
Being ANBU was a death sentence.
Captain Antelope sensed Fox's concern, and with no other subordinates left, warmed up to him.
He even started sharing strategic thoughts:
"Fox, within our search perimeter, there were two Kumo squads.
Looks like the Cloud Village is showing up in force in the Land of Waves.
That territory's always been contested between Kirigakure and Uzushiogakure.
To support Uzushio, Konoha's fought a lot of Mist-nin—and lost plenty of men.
Without Konoha, how could Uzushiogakure possibly resist the Mist?
But now, people in the village are complaining. Why help another village at all? Why not just take the mission quota from the Land of Waves for ourselves?
With Kumo getting involved, things just got more complicated."
Yako thought for a moment, then asked:
"Captain, isn't Uzushiogakure our ally?
Are those complaints in the village natural... or...?"
"Stop right there!" Antelope snapped.
"If you want to survive in ANBU, there are things you shouldn't know, and questions you shouldn't ask.
Those rumors about Uzushio—of course they're natural. What, are you saying ANBU's the one spreading them?"
He denied it—but Yako was almost certain it was ANBU's doing.
The Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Uzumaki Mito, was in poor health. Yako had even been on guard duty near the Senju compound once.
Mito had married into the Senju but hadn't changed her surname. No one could match her power or status.
But she was too old now.
And the village's leadership and the Senju Clan were clashing over who the next jinchūriki should be.
The Senju used to be the liaison with the Uzumaki.
Now, the village had bypassed the Senju entirely and sent Danzō to Uzushio—proving they couldn't agree anymore.
Antelope spent five days recovering, then resumed the mission—searching for Kumo-nin in designated areas.
This time, they found three squads—but Antelope didn't order Yako to probe.
Each time, they observed from a distance and backed off cautiously.
Days passed, and finally, another full moon arrived—Yako's safety net.
The full moon hung like silver, bathing the sea in pale frost.
Yako crouched on a rock outcropping.
The sea breeze was damp, brushing across his mask.
Far ahead, Captain Antelope was reporting something to the unit commander.
Waves crashed in endless rhythm. Yako couldn't hear what they were saying.
He only saw the captain nodding repeatedly, agreeing to whatever was said.
Behind the mask, Yako's dissatisfaction grew.
This won't do. Stuck as cannon fodder in ANBU—can't even know what the mission is. Just blindly follow orders.
He was always reactive, never in control.
He needed to become a squad leader at least—to get into the intel chain.
Information was everything. It kept you alive.
Staring at Antelope's back, Yako made his decision.
Last time, I failed to kill him. He got lucky.
I need to finish him. Soon.
He glanced at his system panel.
[Host Status:
Chakra Reserves: Chūnin-level
Chakra Nature: Earth
Ninjutsu: Basic Three Techniques, Earth Release: Underground Fish Projection Technique, Shadow Clone Jutsu
Taijutsu: Basic Taijutsu, Basic Kunai Throwing
Fūinjutsu: Self-Cursed Binding Seal
Other: None]
A good cook doesn't complain about the ingredients. A clever woman makes do with the rice she has.
With these abilities, he'd find a way to climb over Antelope's corpse—and become squad leader.
They were all ANBU.
No one had the right to call anyone else heartless.