The battle in the Gobi resulted in heavy casualties for both Konoha and the Kiri-nin.
The two recently established Anbu battalions were decimated once again; by combining them, they could barely form one battalion.
Battalion Commander Black Ant returned to Konoha to report, while Battalion Commander Yellow Dog reorganized the remaining personnel to search for Uzumaki remnants within the Land of Waves.
Squad Leader Black Gorilla, who had lost an arm, received new subordinates. However, he was most familiar with Yōkō, so Yōkō's new squad became his core unit, staying by his side.
For over ten days, the squad moved between several ports in the Land of Waves, investigating and searching for traces of the Uzumaki clan.
--
The full moon was like a silver plate, its light resembling white frost.
After a long, fruitless search, the full moon arrived once more.
During a rest period, Squad Leader Black Gorilla handed a scroll with information on the squad's new members to Yōkō.
Yōkō unrolled the scroll and saw the names, ages, abilities, and other details of the dozen or so squad members.
This information helped the squad leader quickly familiarize himself with his members, facilitating tactical planning.
"Captain, the turnover rate in the Anbu is just too fast. Since I joined, I've had several squad leaders and squad leaders," Yōkō said.
"It's the same with these members. After the next battle, many will be gone, and before the one after that, many new ones will be added."
Black Gorilla was practicing his arm muscles by lifting a stone with one hand, trying to restore his combat strength as soon as possible. He said,
"I heard Lord Danzo plans to establish 'Root' within the Anbu.
Root's duty will be to provide training for new Anbu recruits, improving the strength of Anbu shinobi and avoiding frequent, large-scale casualties.
Lord Danzo's proposal is truly excellent.
Forget you; since I joined the Anbu, I've had three different battalion commanders. Battalion Commander Yellow Dog is really strong, actually serving as my battalion commander for six months now."
After Yōkō found the one-armed Black Gorilla in the Land of Waves' capital, Black Gorilla had treated him better and better.
The despair of losing an arm and waiting for death had tormented Black Gorilla severely.
While resting, Yōkō suddenly heard a peculiar sound of water.
"Enemy attack!"
Shouting the warning, Yōkō quickly jumped up.
A water dragon surged out from the woods, carving a deep trench in the ground.
The Water Dragon Bullet Technique, one of the signature jutsu of the Kiri-nin.
Black Gorilla also jumped, hurling the large stone in his hand towards the woods.
Unknowingly, Yōkō had become the strongest squad leader in the squad.
The sword skills he had developed fighting Kumo-nin earned his teammates' admiration.
Basic swordsmanship, Cloud-Style Sword Technique, combined with his faster reaction speed, made Yōkō's taijutsu exceptionally outstanding among chūnin.
Yōkō took out a kunai with an Explosive Tag attached, threw it into the woods, then drew his ninjato and charged towards the trees.
He needed to acquire Water Attribute Chakra quickly to deal with Fire Release users within Konoha.
Dodging trees, Yōkō saw a Kiri-nin Anbu who had just finished forming hand seals.
That impressive Water Dragon Bullet had been launched by this Kiri-nin.
Other Konoha Anbu also entered the woods. Yōkō had a clear target: the Kiri-nin squad leader skilled in Water Release.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Seeing the glint of the ninjato, the Kiri-nin quickly used a defensive Water Release technique.
Black Gorilla entered the woods at this point, observing the overall situation.
His first glance fell upon Fox, whose ninjato was striking the Water Formation Wall.
This... Fox's swordsmanship was indeed strong, but using a sword to slash a ninjutsu was still somewhat perplexing.
Yōkō's blade struck the lower part of the Water Formation Wall. The blade, impacted by the water flow, was deflected upwards diagonally.
Visually, it looked as if he had sliced through the water flow with an upward diagonal cut.
The Kiri-nin was startled.
A kunai flew through a gap in the water flow.
The Kiri-nin hastily dodged, but the kunai struck his shoulder.
What a fast combo. How can this Konoha Anbu coordinate his ninjato and kunai so quickly in such a short time? Is his reaction speed that fast?
Fortunately, the Kiri-nin squad leader had a backup plan.
Recently, they had obtained quite a few sealing techniques from the Uzumaki clan's corpses.
With his right arm injured, he used his left hand to throw out a scroll sealed with a large amount of seawater.
With just one hand seal, he unsealed the scroll. Seawater rushed out, flooding the Konoha shinobi.
Yōkō thought, This is bad.
The Kiri-nin weren't just using Water Release; they were starting to use sealing scrolls.
When a whale falls, all things flourish.
With the destruction of the Uzumaki clan, the sealing technique levels of Kirigakure, Konoha, and Kumogakure had all improved.
As the seawater receded, Yōkō found himself trapped in a Water Prison.
Squad Leader Black Gorilla tried to rescue him but was blocked by a Kiri-nin squad leader.
He didn't know how many minutes passed before Yōkō suffocated to death.
--
The light of the full moon shone into Yōkō's pupils. His gaze slowly shifted from dazed to clear.
Coughing repeatedly, he still felt the awful sensation of drowning from his previous life.
[Mochizuki's Arc activated!
The host has only one resurrection opportunity per month. Upon death, they will resurrect on the night of the previous full moon.
Reward: One lottery draw opportunity:
1- Water Attribute Chakra;
2- Chūnin-level Chakra Reserve (Stackable);
3- Sealing Technique: Water Sealing Formula.]
The Sealing Technique: Water Sealing Formula was the sealing scroll the Kiri-nin used to store large amounts of seawater.
For a Water Release user, this sealing technique would be a powerful boost, saving the chakra needed to create seawater from nothing.
The Chūnin-level Chakra Reserve was also tempting.
However, Yōkō chose the first option.
If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand. He had to prepare for future conflicts with Konoha shinobi.
Water Release counters Fire Release; he absolutely had to master it.
The chakra extracted from the internal organs determines the chakra's nature.
A warmth spread in his lower back. Yōkō clearly felt he could now independently control his kidneys to refine chakra. This chakra, mixed with the chakra refined by his body's muscles, became Water Attribute Chakra.
His innate Earth Attribute Chakra came from his spleen.
The kidneys correspond to Water, the spleen to Earth.
If he wanted to refine chakra of a new nature, he would need to constantly stimulate a specific internal organ with chakra, which was not only easy to injure but also not guaranteed to succeed.
A few days later, Yōkō arrived near the woods where his squad was resting.
This time, he was more vigilant. The moment the Water Dragon Bullet appeared, he alerted the entire team, buying himself half a second.
Using this time, Yōkō formed the Ram Seal for the Shadow Clone Technique.
This time, he used the shadow clone for probing and his main body for a surprise attack, severely wounding that Water Release Kiri-nin.
In the subsequent fight, Yōkō cleanly killed three Kiri-nin with his swordsmanship.
Yōkō's strength was once again acknowledged by Squad Leader Black Gorilla and the other squad members.
After the battle, Yōkō hoisted the Kiri-nin onto his shoulder and left the scene.
Black Gorilla asked, puzzled, "Is there something special about this Kiri-nin?"
Yōkō didn't avoid the question, saying:
"Captain, I recently found I can refine Water Attribute Chakra. Water has become my second chakra nature.
I'll spend some time tonight seeing if I can interrogate a Water Release jutsu from him."
Hearing this, Black Gorilla didn't say anything more.
Yōkō had single-handedly wiped out an entire Kiri-nin squad in the battle, demonstrating strength outstanding among chūnin.
Of course, there were privileges for the strong.
Interrogating a Kiri-nin was normal for the Anbu; perhaps they could extract other intelligence as well.
Learning jutsu from prisoners was an important method for many Konoha shinobi to acquire new techniques.
It took Yōkō four hours to make the Kiri-nin talk, in exchange for a quick death.
He obtained the Water Release: Water Formation Wall technique.
Mastering this one Water Release technique would be enough to handle Konoha's Fire Release users.
...
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(End of Chapter)