Yagami returned to the night of the last full moon.
Yakushi Nono was demonstrating the "Hip-Shrinking" technique of her disguise mastery.
'So tight.'
Amidst Yagami's "shattered halberd and sunken sand"—his defeat in that particular skirmish—he and Nono forged a deep alliance. A very deep, structural alliance that moved far beyond their previous state of mutual exploitation.
Evidently, Nono was quite satisfied with the "depth" of this new partnership.
After seeing her off, Yagami finally turned his attention to his rewards.
[Arc of Moon Active!]
The host has one resurrection chance per month, returning to the previous full moon night.
Choose your reward:
1. B-Rank Nin-Taijutsu: Lightning Blade Technique
2. Storm Style Kekkei Genkai (Common)
3. B-Rank Lightning Style: Lightning Body Flicker (Proficient)
Yagami immediately ruled out the first option. He didn't need another close-quarters Taijutsu; his offensive repertoire was already vast, and a blade technique wouldn't offer a transformative leap in power.
The second option, the Storm Style Kekkei Genkai, was tempting. Darui had used it to great effect in the Fourth Great Ninja War. However, Yagami had personally tested Garui's Storm Style and found the raw power to be underwhelming.
Its rarity also meant it would be difficult to "purify" the bloodline to a high level. With his collection of Six Paths-related traits, Storm Style felt redundant—a "chicken rib" of an ability.
He chose the third option: B-Rank Lightning Body Flicker (Proficient).
While Lightning was Yagami's fifth element and his molding speed for it was slower than Water or Earth, it was perfect as a utility skill. This was the missing piece for his "White Ghost" persona.
Adding Lightning-enhanced speed to his Silent Killing technique would make him a terrifying assassin: one strike, one kill, and a near-instant escape.
He formed a single seal to test it.
Lightning chakra surged into his calves and feet, stimulating the nerves and muscles into a state of hyper-reactive tension. With a sudden burst of power, he vanished, reappearing dozens of meters away in the blink of an eye.
After experimenting for several minutes, he grasped the mechanics. It built upon basic Body Flicker by replacing standard chakra with Lightning, using electrical stimulation to grant the legs explosive, unnatural speed.
Using this new speed to race back to camp, Yagami once again informed Hatake Sakumo that he had "interrogated" the precise location of the Cloud camp. This time, he didn't give a range; he gave a coordinate.
"Lord Sakumo, I am supremely confident in my interrogation techniques. I can guarantee the accuracy of this intel. The Cloud HQ is in that valley."
The tactical advisors nearby swallowed hard. As a high-ranking ANBU commander, the "Copper Fox" was the epitome of the village's dark side. Under his "interrogation," it was said bones weren't just broken—they were ground into powder and kneaded back into the flesh. The mere thought made their skin crawl.
Seeing Yagami's absolute certainty, Sakumo didn't hesitate. "Good! We launch a raid on their command center immediately!"
Sakumo and Yagami led the White Sheep squad and three other elite units straight toward the mist-shrouded valley. Arriving at the base, Sakumo made the same tactical decision as Yagami: avoid the mist on the floor and flank the ridge to the west.
However, the Cloud possessed some unknown sensory technique and detected the Leaf strike force early. This time, Garui met them at the summit with eight full squads.
King against King. Seeing the "White Fang," Garui lunged forward instantly.
Yagami, meanwhile, signaled the White Sheep squad to fan out. Following their Captain's subtle nod, White Sheep coordinated his team's positioning.
"Combined Ninjutsu! Do not hold back!"
Silently, every member of the squad activated their Cross Seal. In the future, the White Sheep squad would be famous for two things: massive chakra reserves and overwhelming combined attacks.
The secret of the seal remained hidden, but having a large chakra pool was a trait one could simply attribute to "elite talent."
White Sheep unleashed a Wind Style: Great Breakthrough to act as a propellant, while his teammates provided the fuel with high-intensity Fire Style.
Garui had just dodged a terrifying arc of white chakra from Sakumo's blade when the ridge suddenly lit up. The thick clouds covering the peak were burned away as five sets of Wind-Fire combinations converged.
To the Cloud ninja, it looked as if a volcano had suddenly erupted on the ridge. The trailing fire dragons were accelerated by White Sheep's enhanced wind, stacking upon the leading flames until they formed a colossal Great Fire Dragon Flame Bullet—over a hundred meters long and dozens wide.
The scale of the jutsu was easily at the level of an Elite Jonin.
Facing this inferno, three Cloud squads tried to leap to safety. But no matter how high or far they jumped, they remained within the kill zone of the massive dragon. In a single exchange, three full Cloud units were incinerated.
The resulting heat wave was so intense it knocked back a nearby fourth squad. That squad leader scrambled to his feet, screaming:
"They must be at their limit! They squeezed out every drop of chakra for that move—they'll be exhausted now! Charge!"
He led his men in a desperate counter-attack, believing the ANBU were in the vulnerable "cooldown" phase of their chakra molding.
He was dead wrong. The White Sheep squad hadn't touched their own natural reserves; that firestorm had been powered entirely by the Cross Seal.
White Sheep drew his kunai and commanded calmly: "Don't rush. Feign weakness with Taijutsu first. Draw them in, then use the second burst to wipe them out."
Garui, mid-duel with Sakumo, glanced at the skirmish and realized the horrifying truth. The ANBU weren't showing any signs of exhaustion.
"Retreat!" he roared.
He could see it—the "Copper Fox" hadn't even joined the fray yet. If Yagami finished off the support squads and joined Sakumo, Garui was finished.
As the battle devolved into a chaotic melee, the ANBU suddenly "exploded" with power again, unleashing a second volley of ninjutsu that crushed the fourth Cloud squad.
Yagami watched from the center, nodding in approval. Before he had even drawn a blade, his men had already neutralized half the enemy force. With the Cross Seal as their foundation, the White Sheep squad's combat power had tripled.
Nearby, Shinma was leading his own squad, but he felt a sense of unreality. 'Why am I struggling to finish off one squad when the ANBU are slaughtering them like cattle? Is the gap between me and a Jonin really this wide? Why is that guy in the White Sheep mask so much stronger than me? Are all of Leaf's elites this monstrous?'
Just as Yagami prepared to flicker in and join Sakumo for the pincer move on Garui, dozens more Cloud ninja surged out of the valley floor. They were too close to their HQ; the Cloud was pouring in every available reinforcement to save their commander.