The Stone Jonin, Yamashige, stood behind the tree line with a resolute expression as he watched his subordinates charge toward the Rain noble's grand ship.
His mission was to destroy the diversion channel at the foot of the Yoshioka Mountains to weaken the Land of Wind. Looking at the samurai on the ship drawing their blades, Yamashige found them laughable. 'Do they really think they can stop a full company of Stone shinobi?'
On the deck, Chisa's heart fluttered with panic as she saw the ninja sprinting across the water. She initially assumed they were mercenaries hired by the Wind noble. The Wind noble was equally terrified, shouting, "Lady Chisa! I can represent the Wind Daimyo to correct our mistakes! There's no need for ninjas to get involved!"
"They aren't ours," Chisa replied, her voice steadying as she remembered Fox was nearby. No matter who these attackers were, they wouldn't stand a chance against the top expert of the Leaf's ANBU.
Across the riverbank, Yagami and the Yak squad were crouched in the brush. Yak was eager; an A-rank target from the manual was right in front of them. This was a massive mission credit. Yagami signaled, and the squad flickered out into the open.
Yamashige felt a surge of unease at the sudden appearance of ANBU. 'Why are they here? Which village?' Seeing the white-hooded figures and that specific mask, his pupils shrank.
Copper Fox!
Yamashige immediately wove his seals, performing his signature technique.
Earth Style: Flying Stones!
With a single seal, Yamashige spat out earth-natured chakra that solidified into high-speed stones, screaming toward Fox. Yagami nodded—this was exactly the high-impact Earth Style he needed.
The stones whistled through the air in a dense barrage. Yagami drew his blade to test the strength of the technique. After shattering five stones with sheer agility, the sheer volume of the attack forced him to dodge laterally. The technique had incredible endurance; there were hundreds of stones, and some were even sharpened into stone spears.
Yagami moved constantly, the barrage of flying stones tracking him with surprising flexibility. 'Excellent,' he thought. Using his Semi-Absolute Defense: Ouroboros to tank the stragglers, he closed the distance to Yamashige.
Yamashige leaned back to dodge a punch from Fox, while simultaneously launching a hidden blade from the toe of his boot at an obscure angle toward Yagami's throat. Yamashige saw his hidden blade pierce Fox's neck!
'Where was that famous absolute defense? No matter, a stroke of luck is still a kill.'
[Host death detected Arc of Moon System is initializing...]
---
The world shifted. Yagami was back in the Leaf during the previous full moon.
[ Arc of Moon activated!]
[Reward: One Random Draw...]
Yagami chose Proficiency-level Earth Style: Flying Stones. Finally, he possessed five high-impact elemental techniques. The Five-Style Great Combo was now the "White Ghost" persona's ultimate trump card.
The events played out exactly as before. Back on the banks of the Yoshimizu River, Yagami bypassed Yamashige's flying stones with ease. As he closed in, he anticipated the back-lean and the hidden toe-blade.
This time, Yagami's skin turned a bronze hue, snapping the hidden blade against his throat. Simultaneously, he drove a kunai deep into Yamashige's abdomen. The same trick wouldn't work twice.
Just as Yagami thought he had control, Yamashige slammed a palm onto the ground. "Let's die together! Earth Style: Antlion!"
The ground beneath them liquefied into quicksand. A massive vortex appeared, and Yamashige grabbed Yagami's shoulders, dragging them both into the depths. This was Yamashige's final ace. He knew he couldn't break Fox's defense, but he hoped to bury him hundreds of meters deep and suffocate him.
Pressure mounted. Yagami's arms were pinned, preventing seals. Minutes passed. White Crane was the first to reach the edge of the pit.
"Commander!"
Another minute passed with no movement. White Crane pulled out a scroll, preparing to send word to Root.
"The top expert of the ANBU, killed by an unexpected hidden move.'
This power level for Yamashige's Antlion had never been recorded.
Yak arrived after clearing the subordinates and immediately wove seals. "Earth Style: Moving Earth Core!"
The ground rose thirty meters, creating a square pillar. The sand was heavy with chakra, pushing Yak to his limit. The pillar collapsed, sand spilling out like a mudslide, but Fox was nowhere to be seen. Yak squeezed out more chakra, raising the earth another twenty meters. Still nothing.
"What are you doing, White Crane?!" Yak roared.
While the others searched frantically, White Crane was summoning an ink hawk—a Root communication method. She was waiting to confirm Fox's death to inform Danzo immediately. If Danzo got the news first, he could move to seize control of the Fox division.
Yak, usually irritable, suddenly went quiet. He saw the Fox standing in the woods behind White Crane, unharmed, staring at her back.
To anyone else, the Antlion would be a tomb. To Yagami, being a hundred meters underground was like being at home thanks to the Mayfly Technique.
White Crane noticed Yak's sudden calm and turned around slowly, her heart hammering against her ribs. She saw the mask. She saw those cold, piercing eyes.
"Write it down," Yagami said softly. "Write: 'Commander Fox effortlessly evaded the Stone Jonin's desperate Antlion trap. Fox's mastery of Earth Style far exceeds most Stone Jonin.' Write it exactly like that, and then send it to Root."