While patrolling the border of the Land of Hidden Steam for several days, Yagami chanced upon a secret signal left by Yakushi Nono.
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal had proven its worth.
Communication with Nono remained intentionally inefficient. Yagami refused to share summoning beasts with her; she was far too dangerous for that level of intimacy. Following the coordinates of the signal, Yagami arrived alone at the base of a secluded cliff.
This time, Nono appeared in the guise of a dark-skinned Cloud ninja girl. The complexion was so deep and lustrous it would have required professional tanning in his past life.
"Fox," she began, "what intelligence are you seeking this time?"
"The veterans of Root—only C and J who got promoted to D remain," Yagami stated. "I want to know everything about them, specifically whether Danzo has placed the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal on them. Also, I need a list of the new Root recruits, their identities, and their abilities."
"Abilities?" Nono'u mused. "Weren't you an instructor for Root? With your methods, I assumed you already knew their capabilities."
Yagami nodded slightly. "Your intelligence is as sharp as ever, knowing my history as an instructor. However, Danzo may have taught them specialized secret techniques. It is dangerous to be Danzo's enemy, but it is far more dangerous to be his subordinate. Without hidden strength, one doesn't survive Root's missions."
"The recruits' hidden abilities will take some time," Nono Yakushi noted.
"No rush," Yagami replied. "Within the next two or three months is fine."
Nono then asked, "Do you need the location of the main Cloud camp? I can provide it."
"No," Yagami said firmly. "In fact, you must ensure that no Leaf ninja obtains that information. This war must not go too smoothly. Lord Yellow Dog cannot accept a Hatake Sakumo whose prestige has grown too great."
Nono looked startled for a moment, then a knowing expression crossed her face. "I see."
She thought to herself: 'It seems Yellow Dog has truly inherited Danzo's "fine" traditions.'
...
The full moon hung in the sky like a silver platter.
Yagami had reached the ninth full moon of the 40th year of Leaf. Hatake Sakumo still desperately wanted to raid the Cloud camp, but without intelligence support, it remained an impossible dream. The most critical enemy data was held by Root, and if Root didn't share, Sakumo didn't get it.
Forced to shift strategies, Sakumo began leading high-intensity Jonin squads on rapid sweeps, hunting down every Cloud ninja they encountered.
This month, Yagami utilized the Arc of the Moon system to draw Lightning Release, finally completing his mastery of all five basic chakra natures. His fifth element, Lightning, was currently slow to mold and circulate; it would require long-term training to be viable in high-stakes combat.
For now, he treated it as a specialized counter to Earth Style or a foundation for future Lightning-based bloodline traits.
During this period, Yagami rarely fought personally, using the skirmishes as a training ground for his division. He remained wary of the Hippo and Yak squads—they were Yellow Dog's old subordinates, and their true loyalty was unknown.
But the White Sheep and Flower Deer squads—containing Leaf Monkey, Pintail, Gorilla, and Antelope—were those he had personally raised. He trusted them.
A skirmish in a valley was nearing its end. The floor was littered with Cloud corpses, leaving only two survivors backed against a cliff wall. Captain Fox remained in the rear, overseeing the battlefield.
"You won't survive either!" one Cloud ninja roared, turning and launching a Lightning Style jutsu at the cliff face.
The blast shattered the base of the rock. The seventy-meter cliff began to groan and collapse, sending massive boulders hurtling down toward the ANBU.
"Retreat!" White Sheep commanded.
The team leaped clear, but Gorilla, exhausted from the thirty-minute battle, was a half-step too slow. A fifteen-meter boulder plummeted toward him. He looked up in mid-air, horror etched on his face.
Fox had always emphasized that a ninja must never relax, for an enemy might always have a suicidal trump card. Gorilla had tried his best, but he was simply out of chakra.
A high-pressure line of water whistled through the air. That familiar sound caused Gorilla's fear to vanish instantly.
With only a single seal, Captain Fox unleashed a devastating Water Severing Wave. The jet sliced the boulder clean in half, allowing the pieces to crash harmlessly around Gorilla.
Gorilla slumped to the ground, gasping for breath. He stood and approached Yagami. "Forgive me, Captain. I was exhausted... my reactions failed me."
Yagami said nothing. He knew Gorilla was diligent and hardworking, but the man was twenty-three now. His body was fully developed, and his spirit had stabilized.
Chakra is the fusion of physical and mental energy, and for a commoner ninja without a special lineage, there comes a point where the pool stops growing.
Gorilla had hit his ceiling. He would likely remain a high-level Special Jonin for the rest of his life.
Many say one must accept mediocrity. But Yagami refused to watch a comrade who had bled with him through countless missions simply hit a wall and stop. It was easy to find a "Jonin friend," but hard to find someone like Gorilla—a bond forged in the crucible of life-and-death tasks.
'I need a way to help him break through,' Yagami thought.
In the Naruto world, there were several paths to exceeding one's limits, but most had dark side effects.
1. The Orochimaru Method: Body modification. It was powerful but unstable, eventually leading to a body that required replacement every three years. Yagami didn't have the research resources for this.
2. The "Hot-Swap" Eye Method: Transplanting a Sharingan or a main-branch Byakugan. This would boost power instantly, but Yagami couldn't even reveal his own Dojutsu, let alone let his subordinates flaunt stolen ones.
3. The Eight Inner Gates: A possibility, but it required a very specific physical genius that Gorilla might not possess.
Then, Yagami's eyes shifted. He thought of Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Seal.
The Yin Seal stored chakra in a diamond mark on the forehead, acting as a reserve for the Mitotic Regeneration or other high-level jutsu. While Yagami didn't know the specifics of that S-rank technique, he was currently studying the Uzumaki's Two Pillars Seal.
The *Yin Seal* sounded like a high-level evolution of the Uzumaki's Yin-Yang sealing system.
'Perhaps I can create my own sealing technique,' Yagami mused. 'Something that achieves a similar effect to help Gorilla and the others break their ceilings.'
The system's gifts were wonderful, but independent research was equally vital. The core of the Arc of Moon was taking the abilities of others. One day, he would have seen all the sights the ninja world had to offer, with no new powers left to draw.
If he relied solely on the system, he would at best become a "Super Kakashi"—capable of matching top tiers but never surpassing them. With all five elements and the foundation of sealing arts, it was time to forge a new path.