Black Ape looked at Yoru and, from his voice, realized it was Fox. His eyes lit up with surprise and delight.
"How did you find me?" Black Ape asked, but as soon as he spoke, his expression darkened:
"Not too hard to find, I suppose. A ninja from the Akimichi clan with both arms broken—there are only a dozen or so in the entire clan territory. You just check one by one, and you'll find them quickly."
"Yeah, I found you by checking one by one," Yoru said, not mentioning that he had gotten the information from the street corner gossip station. Saying "one by one" made it sound more sincere.
Yoru asked, "Why are you moving?"
Black Ape replied, "After I retired, I had no income. My wife retired even earlier to take care of the household. Such a nice house won't last long. That damned woman of mine said we should move early to save money for our daughter's upbringing."
Yoru sat nearby, watching several young Akimichi moving their things.
"From your tone, your wife hasn't been kind since your retirement?"
Yoru thought for a moment and said:
"I can give you some money. I don't have any kids to support anyway. Consider this your private stash. Practice using your feet as hands soon, or you won't even be able to access your own hidden money."
Yoru thought to himself: if necessary, he could put Shokyo through some hardship and borrow from her.
Black Ape said angrily, "It's not that she's been unkind! It's that she's been lying to me! Lying for over ten years! Women are all liars—there's not a single good one!"
Yoru was about to ask why, but then he saw Black Ape's wife come out of the house.
Hmm?
He had seen Black Ape's wife at the hospital before; her chest had been impressively large, even surpassing Tsunade's.
Why is she flat-chested now?
Black Ape almost cried:
"That woman confessed to me. When she was a kid, she secretly went through my collection of adult magazines and learned my preferences.
Since her puberty, she has been using Partial Enlargement Techniques to maintain her large-chest appearance!
If that's not being a liar, then what is?
A huge liar! She lied to me for over ten years! Ten whole years!
Now that I've lost both my hands, she says there's no need to maintain the Partial Enlargement Technique, so she's back to her original appearance.
I never imagined that the person lying next to me in bed could deceive me for so long."
Yoru listened in shock.
The Yamanaka clan had mastered the art of "Mind Body Switch Technique," which allowed self-pleasure while asleep, this was already beyond Yoru's imagination.
He never thought the Akimichi clan practiced cosmetic alterations.
Could the Ino-Shika-Cho clans all be perverted? Yoru was extremely curious, wondering what unique quirks the Nara clan might have.
Yoru felt deep sympathy for Black Ape:
"That's too much! You only lost your arms, not your sight—how could she do this?
Not even letting you touch or see the real thing—that's pure bullying!
But on the other hand, maintaining Partial Enlargement Techniques for over ten years… isn't that a form of true love?"
Seeing Black Ape's wife approaching, Yoru quickly shut his mouth.
Black Ape looked wronged, pouting.
His wife walked briskly over, holding chunks of watermelon:
"The fridge is cleaned out, there's half a watermelon left, you eat it all."
She tried to feed Black Ape, but he turned his head to avoid it. His wife leaned closer and whispered:
"Don't be angry. Tonight I'll let you see it back to a little while, isn't that enough?
You've been using Partial Enlargement Techniques too—I can feel it. Sometimes it's big, sometimes small. I even thought someone else was transforming you with a technique. Don't think I don't know."
Black Ape's face went red; he opened his mouth but dared not say more.
Yoru watched as Black Ape's wife patiently fed him watermelon bite by bite. After putting down the braised meat, Yoru left with peace of mind.
Black Ape was lucky.
Even if he couldn't touch or see the big ones, at least he had a woman by his side.
After the New Year, Yoru awaited the next full moon.
During this period, he had been on a mission monitoring the Senju clan.
Outside the Senju clan territory in the dead of night, the Anbu were everywhere.
The Anbu ninjas didn't need to hide in the treetops or transform into chimneys or stones.
They stood on rooftops and walls, all tense, keeping their eyes fixed on the deep parts of the Senju territory.
No need to hide anymore, because the Nine-Tails' chakra had leaked to everyone nearby.
During the day it was better; Lady Mito could suppress the Nine-Tails when awake.
At night, half-awake or even unconscious, the Nine-Tails became more active.
Sometimes, its dark-red chakra was visible to the naked eye.
Yoru took three scrolls and approached his three squads: the Purple Cat Squad, the White Ram Squad, and the Leaf Monkey Squad.
He couldn't help glancing at the Leaf Monkey Squad.
Since joining Black Ape's squad, the Leaf Monkey Squad had been wiped out three times and rebuilt four times.
He wondered how long this fourth-generation Leaf Monkey could last.
He had bonds with the Purple Cat Squad, so naturally, they would be very well taken care of.
The White Ram Squad consisted of Hyuga clan ninjas, whose sensory abilities were crucial to the squad; their retreat priority was even higher than Purple Cat's.
Leaf Monkey… he could only wish them luck.
Leaf Monkey was an elite Chunin and had been made squad leader upon entering the Anbu. Seeing the middle squad leader, Fox's gaze, made him shiver.
Was the Nine-Tails' chakra putting so much pressure on him? Why did the middle squad leader look at him so strangely?
What did the squad leader mean by looking at him twice?
Could the darkness of the Anbu fall upon him?
No one knew when the war would end; even Konoha couldn't withstand such severe casualties.
Every battlefield was a meat grinder, and every battle aged the frontline ninjas prematurely.
Yoru distributed the scrolls and said:
"The Senju territory stretches over 300 meters. Our squad is responsible for maintaining part of the barrier on the east side to prevent chakra leakage from affecting other areas of the village."
The nights in Konoha became cold and eerie.
The Hokage building explained that this winter was unusually harsh. Ordinary people believed it; the ninjas did not.
This was not a matter of cold—it was a certain type of chakra.
As soon as the three squad leaders received their scrolls, a Senju clan member jumped down from the wall.
"Anbu! The Hokage has revoked your order! You are not allowed to use barriers to enclose the Senju territory!
Using a barrier would publicly declare that the Senju have a problem!"
The three squad leaders ignored the Senju ninja and continued setting up the barriers.
Even Senju Rinmu here had no authority to command ordinary Anbu members.
The Senju ninja's expression darkened; after all, he was a Jonin and only wanted to convey orders earlier, but the Anbu ignored him.
After more than ten seconds, an Anbu ninja teleported next to Yoru.
"Squad Leader Fox! Recall the barrier setup mission! Please go to Captain Yellow Dog now—there's a new arrangement."
Yoru was secretly impressed; the Anbu were forced to retract orders—this was rare. It seemed the dispute between the Senju clan and the higher-ups was intense.
Yoru moved to the south of the Senju territory and saw Konoha's higher-ups.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in the center, Danzo on his left, and Senju Rinmu on his right.
The Senju clan and the higher-ups were arguing again.