Yako used the Mayfly Technique to leave Konoha, arriving in a secluded forest outside the village.
Then he opened the forbidden scroll containing the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The very first line inside read:
If you do not possess talent for space-time ninjutsu, you must never attempt to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Space-time ninjutsu talent?
Yako had no idea whether he had that or not.
The second line read:
If training fails, your body may be torn apart into pieces.
Yako reached up and touched his neck.
Torn apart?
Head separated from body?
Honestly… that didn't sound that terrifying.
He possessed the Immortal Body of the evil god. Just like Hidan in canon, even if his head were cut off, he wouldn't die.
On top of that, he had the Water Hydration Healing Technique and the top-tier regenerative vitality of the Senju Clan.
Compared to everything else he had already survived, this level of risk wasn't much.
If the risk was tolerable, then he might as well try.
Who knew?
Maybe he did have talent for space-time ninjutsu.
Following the instructions in the scroll, Yako first began learning the Flying Thunder God formula.
The Flying Thunder God Technique worked by using two formula marks to designate two separate spatial nodes, then instantaneously flooding the marks with a massive amount of chakra—
forcibly opening a path between those two points in space.
The actual appearance of the formula didn't matter.
It could be designed freely.
That was why the formula used by the Second Hokage looked different from the one used by Namikaze Minato in canon.
After carving the Flying Thunder God formula onto his own body, Yako created two Shadow Clones and had them stand by to deal with the aftermath.
Just in case he got decapitated or bisected, at least the clones could help piece him back together.
Then Yako took out a kunai and carved the Flying Thunder God formula onto it as well.
Once that was done, he hurled the kunai toward a tree in the distance.
The setup process itself was surprisingly simple.
Yako closed his eyes and began trying to sense the Flying Thunder God formula on the kunai not far away.
He sensed for several minutes…
and got absolutely nothing.
So next, he tried channeling chakra into the Flying Thunder God formula carved into his own body.
The moment chakra entered the formula, it finally reacted.
At the same time, the Flying Thunder God formula on the kunai also lit up with chakra.
More and more chakra began to flow.
At last, Yako could sense the chakra residue lingering in the formula on the kunai.
The formula on his body marked one spatial node—
Point A.
The formula on the kunai marked another—
Point B.
Yako gathered chakra, then violently surged it toward Point A.
When the amount of chakra reached a sufficient threshold—
the folded space channel opened.
At that instant, Yako suddenly felt that the sensation was oddly familiar.
It was a little like being hit by Reverse Summoning.
When he had previously been reverse summoned, he had been pulled by White Porcelain's chakra and instantly transported to a distant summoning formula.
The difference was that Reverse Summoning only involved a single spatial coordinate.
The Flying Thunder God formula involved two spatial coordinates, and the entire process had to be controlled manually.
Far more precise.
Far more difficult.
Yako's figure vanished instantly.
He felt himself passing through some kind of spatial tunnel.
That in-between layer was formed by the front and back ends of the two spatial nodes.
And then—
his body appeared instantly beside the Flying Thunder God formula on the kunai.
"Hm? Did it work? Tch—wait, no, something's wrong. Why does my ass hurt?"
The two Shadow Clones immediately grabbed Yako's lower half and rushed over to him.
One clone said:
"Why would your ass hurt? Your ass is still back there."
The other clone shouted:
"Hurry up and connect the main body! If we don't do it now, his intestines are going to spill out!"
Yako's condition was exactly like Tsunade in canon when Uchiha Madara sliced her cleanly into two pieces.
The overwhelming regenerative power of the Senju Sage Body, combined with the evil god's Immortal Body, rapidly reattached his upper and lower halves.
Only then did Yako finally understand the true danger of this technique.
The problem was that during the transition between the two spatial nodes, the speed was simply too great.
Too fast for him to properly account for his entire body.
The sensation had been something like this:
His head had already moved from Point A to Point B.
His consciousness had already completed the transfer.
But his lower half had remained behind at Point A—
and he hadn't realized it at all.
His awareness crossed over first, which meant he had no way to control the movement of his lower body in time.
And since chakra was directed by conscious intent, any part of the body other than the conscious core—
if it lagged even for a single instant and failed to continue outputting chakra—
would immediately separate from the whole.
In other words:
Every single part of the body had to continuously release chakra during Flying Thunder God transit, maintaining the spatial tunnel between both nodes at all times.
No wonder it was classified as a forbidden technique.
Failure in training was absolutely horrific.
Without talent, if someone tried to master it through sheer repetition…
the only result would be their corpse getting chopped into smaller and smaller pieces.
He definitely couldn't keep practicing today.
Better to rest.
He'd try getting dismembered again tomorrow.
Yako returned to Tsurugetsu Tavern.
"I'm back!"
Kyoi immediately hurried out from the back courtyard and carefully looked him up and down.
"Why were you gone for so long again?"
"Konoha has been in chaos lately. Even the Third Hokage's son died."
"I'm not asking you to become a jōnin or anything like that.
I just want you to stay alive.
I want you to survive every mission you go on."
Yako smiled.
"Don't worry. Lately I've mostly been stationed at border outposts and forts. Those missions are pretty safe, and the pay's not bad either."
"This time, I brought back a full 100,000 ryō for you."
For Kyoi, ignorance really was the best possible state.
The less she knew, the better.
Kyoi said:
"The tavern is doing really well. We make around 200,000 ryō a month now."
"You don't need to give me this money. Keep it and use it to buy more explosive tags."
"You can even take the tavern's profits too. The child and I don't spend much."
"Though once the kid start at the Ninja Academy and begin taijutsu training, they're going to need a lot more meat."
As Yako listened to Kyoi ramble on, he felt a quiet warmth in his chest.
Of course…
what he really wanted was to feel the warmth of being wrapped up in something soft.
Inner warmth and outer warmth together—
that was true warmth.
That night passed in lingering intimacy.
And by the following morning, Yako left the tavern refreshed and in excellent spirits.
Today's Jōnin Council Meeting would be a particularly special one for him.
The jōnin had all arrived early.
The upper leadership entered last.
And among the final figures to walk in—
was someone both familiar and unfamiliar.
Lord Fox.
Unfamiliar because before, Fox had sat in the front row.
Familiar because now, he had already become one of Konoha's defining faces.
Among all of Fox's achievements, one stood above the rest:
He had killed a Tailed Beast head-on.
That single feat shone brighter than anything else.
Fox's strength had already surpassed the level of an ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
Normal jōnin became helpless in the face of a Tailed Beast.
Fox had killed one.
Nara Kyoichi presided over the meeting and began:
"First agenda item:
As you can all see, Lord Hokage has appointed a new ANBU Commander, Fox, and a new ANBU Vice Commander, Black Ant."
"Every shinobi village experiences peaks and valleys.
And Konoha is, without question, in one of its valleys right now."
"Every war brings sacrifice and death.
But Konoha has always given birth to heroes through the flames of war."
"As long as we uphold the Will of Fire, we will inevitably rise again."
Yako sat on the platform at the front, looking down over the more than two hundred jōnin gathered in the room.
At last…
I've become part of the upper leadership too.
Yellow Dog's seat…
I've finally taken it.
"Second agenda item…"
Throughout history, ANBU Commanders rarely spoke during large meetings like this.
They did not usually voice opinions on the village's concrete political affairs.
The ANBU Commander was meant to be the village's military deterrent in the shadows.
Even if there were important matters to discuss, they would never be handled openly in a jōnin council session.
After the meeting ended, Yako discreetly glanced at Danzo's retreating back.
That night—
inside the Root base—
Danzo emerged from the darkness and stepped into the central cross-shaped bridge.
Someone had entered Root's barrier.
And they had done so slowly.
Not like an intruder.
Like someone who had come with the intention to negotiate.
Danzo sensed the approaching presence.
Then he saw him.
A figure wearing a fox mask.
Yako's eyes were complicated.
There was expectation in them.
Temptation.
A subtle kind of seduction.
"Lord Danzo…
Just as Orochimaru once cooperated with you—
I wonder…
whether there might also be room for cooperation between the two of us?"
Danzo rarely left Konoha.
Always cooped up in the village.
Bad for the legs, really.
Yako still genuinely hoped the old man would get out more.