After sending Tsunade back to the village with the Flying Thunder God, Yako immediately returned to the hollow in the tree where he had been resting.
What a shame… he'd only gotten to enjoy Tsunade's lips.
For the sake of Konoha, he had sacrificed far too much. The thought alone nearly moved him to tears, let alone Tsunade herself.
Once he got back to the village, he'd have to properly comfort her.
Yako stepped out from the hollow, and White Ram and the others quickly gathered around him.
Blossom Deer leaned in eagerly. "Lord Fox, you face look much better! I didn't expect you to recover so quickly after fighting Uchiha Madara!"
Yako froze for a moment, then hurriedly reached up to touch his mask.
Right—he was wearing it. That startled him. For a second, he thought he might've forgotten to put it back on after kissing Tsunade.
He shot Blossom Deer an annoyed glance.
No wonder Blossom Deer could only ever be a squad leader—Yako had never even considered promoting him to division leader.
That kind of flattery… how could he tell Yako's complexion through a mask?
Blossom Deer, however, remained blissfully unaware, secretly pleased with himself.
Yako said, "Enough. Bring Madara's ashes—we're heading back to Konoha."
They had just reached the border of the Land of Rain when a messenger hawk descended.
White Ram unrolled the small scroll tied to its leg, his expression turning pale. "Lord Fox! Root is suspected to be completely wiped out! Advisor Danzo is missing!"
"How is that possible? Advisor Danzo is missing?" Yako frowned.
"Before the battle, we agreed that our ANBU would deal with Uchiha Madara, while Advisor Danzo and Hanzo would join forces to handle Madara's subordinates. Could it be… Hanzo betrayed him? Joined forces with Madara's followers to set Danzo up?"
White Ram had no answer.
Then, one after another, nine more messenger hawks found Yako's group.
Judging by the sheer number, the village was panicking—panicking enough to disregard the consequences.
Using hawks to track ANBU risked exposing them. In total, Yako received ten messages.
By the time the fourth hawk arrived, spies had already begun lurking around them, peeking from the shadows.
If it had been any other ANBU squad, they would've been eliminated by enemy agents by the fifth hawk.
With Danzo missing, Sarutobi Hiruzen was clearly in a frenzy.
The final message bore the Third Hokage's personal handwriting.
"Investigate the disappearance of Advisor Shimura Danzo! He must be found!"
Yako thought to himself—he knew exactly where Danzo had disappeared. Even the collapsed remains of Uchiha Suigiku had been left behind at the scene.
"White Ram, take Blossom Deer's squad and bring Madara's ashes back to the village. Inform the Hokage that the rogue ninja Uchiha Madara has been eliminated.
Blossom Deer, Antelope, Black Ape—your three squads come with me. We'll investigate Advisor Danzo's disappearance."
Blossom Deer was secretly overjoyed. His flattery toward Lord Fox had paid off—he didn't have to return to the village with White Ram and had gained another chance to prove himself.
Feigning ignorance, Yako quickly made his way toward Amegakure.
Across the vast lake outside the village, he spotted Hanzo standing in full readiness.
Behind him stood more than three hundred Rain ninja.
Amegakure had only a little over two thousand shinobi in total—deploying over three hundred chūnin and above meant that nearly half the village's strength was gathered here.
"Hanzo," Yako called out.
"When we met here last time, we agreed I would hold off Uchiha Madara while you and Advisor Danzo dealt with his subordinates.
Where is Advisor Danzo? Why has he been out of contact with the village for so long?"
Hanzo signaled, and eight body bags were brought forward.
"It's true—we agreed to handle Madara's subordinates together.
We killed the leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko.
But eight of Danzo's Root ninja died in the process.
As for Danzo himself… he went after another of Madara's subordinates—Spiral Zetsu—and never returned.
Nagato was extremely powerful. I didn't remain at the scene, so I don't know what happened afterward.
If Danzo has disappeared… he was likely killed by Madara's followers."
Hanzo paused, then added:
"Doesn't Konoha want to eradicate Madara's rogue organization completely?
The force Danzo brought was too small. I'm willing to make a concession—Konoha may deploy a full shinobi army into the Land of Rain to eliminate Madara and his subordinates!"
He had been pushed to the brink.
All ninja villages knew Madara was hiding in Amegakure, yet Hanzo had no way to deal with him.
Madara's existence wasn't just a slap in Konoha's face—it was a humiliation for Hanzo as well.
So he was willing to relinquish sovereignty, allowing thousands of Konoha shinobi to enter his land just to kill Madara.
Yako shook his head. "Konoha won't be sending thousands of ninja to deal with Uchiha Madara."
"Why not?" Hanzo's tone darkened. "You released a rogue like Madara into the world—don't you bear responsibility? Shouldn't you reflect on that?"
"Calm down, Hanzo. You've led Amegakure for years—why so agitated?" Yako said evenly.
"The reason Konoha won't deploy an army… is because it isn't necessary.
I've already killed Uchiha Madara. You have no grounds to complain about Konoha producing a rogue of his caliber anymore."
Hanzo froze.
The Rain ninja behind him shifted uneasily, whispering among themselves.
Unable to save face, Hanzo scoffed. "Madara must've been in his seventies or eighties by now. Seems you were lucky enough to catch him in a moment of weakness."
Yako didn't expose the bluff.
"Back to the matter at hand, Hanzo. Where did Advisor Danzo disappear? Where was he last seen?"
Hanzo tossed over a scroll. Inside was a map—the site of his battle with Nagato.
"Search here. Hopefully the rain hasn't washed away all the traces."
Watching the Konoha ANBU vanish with Body Flicker Technique, Hanzo finally let out a breath.
After hearing that Fox had killed Uchiha Madara, he had been worried Yako might suddenly turn on him.
He knew Danzo—but not Fox.
Ever since developing his Water Body Flicker, Hanzo had believed himself invincible in the rain of the Land of Rain—a god, or at least a demigod who could not be defeated.
But after encountering Uzumaki Nagato… and now Fox…
He felt as though he had returned to his genin days, living in constant fear of death.
Had he truly grown old? Truly weakened? Could he really be killed now?
In the southeastern region of the Land of Rain, Yako led his ANBU to a series of stepped cliff faces.
They searched one cliff after another, until Yako first spotted the massive crater left by the summoning of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
The statue was tied to the God Tree—when summoned, it burst from the earth just like Wood Release.
Uzumaki Nagato and the others were long gone.
After checking several cliffs, Black Ape suddenly shouted, "Lord! Found something!"
Yako feigned surprise and hurried over.
Black Ape pointed at the ground. "Lord! This… this is the remains of someone crushed by a Mangekyō technique… Judging by the clothing, it's from Root—but I can't tell who."
Yako nodded. "Take this back to the village. Let Intelligence identify the body."
Blossom Deer suddenly called out again. "Lord! Over there—there's a perfectly round lake. Extremely round. That's definitely not natural!"
In just a few days, the massive crater left behind by Danzo's Four Symbols Seal had filled with rainwater.
After draining it, a perfectly smooth, circular pit was revealed beneath.
Yako said, "Record this in a scroll. I believe the Hokage will understand what happened to Advisor Danzo."