After returning to the Anbu tent, Yōkō spent the latter half of the night reading the mission scroll concerning Arata.
As a squad leader, Arata had received a mission to scout the maritime supplies at Saba Port in the Land of Wind.
Saba Port was the only port in the Land of Wind, located in the southeastern corner of the desert, not far from the Land of Rivers.
The Land of Wind had relatively little iron ore and needed to import it from the Land of Lightning.
Saba Port was a key reconnaissance target for Konoha; squad after Konoha squad was sent there, leaving no piece of intelligence unchecked.
During the mission, Arata and his two Genin students died, but a Chūnin named Nara Nara survived.
On the surface, the scroll seemed fine, precisely because it was written by Nara Nara, the sole survivor.
The dead cannot speak.
Just like in fatal brawl cases, it's always the dead person who struck first.
The person who survives the brawl would certainly never admit they threw the first punch, insisting they were wronged and only fought back after being hit.
The mission itself showed no obvious abnormalities. Arata's squad encountered two Suna-nin squads, including elite puppet masters. The squad was outmatched, and only Nara Nara survived.
Yōkō then retrieved the recent mission reports from his own squadron.
During the poisoning mission, Kanojo's squad followed him, while the Purple Cat and White Ram squads were assigned other tasks.
Those two squads' missions were unrelated to Arata; they didn't go to Saba Port.
If Arata was killed by the Anbu, it might have been done by one of the other two squadrons, the Hippo Squadron or the Yak Squadron.
Yōkō did not have the authority to know the missions of the other two squadrons.
Yōkō looked at the name Nara Nara. Perhaps Hatake Sakumo was overthinking it. Maybe it wasn't the Anbu, but this Nara Nara who did it.
The Anbu was investigating Hatake Sakumo's followers. Arata was just a Chūnin; he hadn't reached the level where he had to be eliminated yet.
The next day, the Jōnin in charge of the Equipment Division, Nara Umeka, entered Yellow Dog's tent.
Nara Umeka's first glance was towards Fox behind Yellow Dog. She spoke:
"Battalion Commander Yellow Dog, our clan head requests Fox's presence."
Yellow Dog nodded and said, "Good, let him go."
"Eh?" Yōkō looked at Battalion Commander Yellow Dog, then at Nara Umeka, and quickly said:
"Battalion Commander, I am an Anbu shinobi. Didn't you instruct me yesterday that the Anbu must focus on Anbu missions and maintain an Anbu stance?
I am only loyal to the Hokage-sama. Please believe me, Battalion Commander, I truly don't know why the Commander-in-Chief is summoning me."
Yellow Dog was taken aback for a moment, then said, "This is an order. Go see the Commander-in-Chief, then follow his arrangements."
Yōkō put on a puzzled expression and followed Nara Umeka away.
Of course, he knew this wasn't a test; it was a case of treating people differently based on their status.
Yesterday, when he went to see Hatake Sakumo, Yellow Dog lectured him, worried he would defect to Sakumo.
Today, when he went to see Nara Rokaku, Yellow Dog couldn't wait for him to go immediately.
Only Nara Rokaku was in the Commander-in-Chief's tent.
Nara Rokaku said:
"Fox, I will soon issue you a mission through Yellow Dog.
You need to help the Equipment Division secretly manufacture 200 gliders.
Nara Umeka is the responsible Jōnin for the Equipment Division. Your job is to cooperate with Umeka."
Yōkō nodded and said, "Understood. Once Battalion Commander Yellow Dog issues the mission, I will immediately cooperate with Jōnin Nara Umeka."
Nara Rokaku noticed this Anbu had become rigid. Wasn't he very active last night when reporting the poisoning mission and demonstrating the glider?
Yōkō waited outside the Commander-in-Chief's tent. Nara Umeka wanted Fox to start work as soon as possible, but Fox turned a deaf ear.
It wasn't until Yellow Dog's assistant, an Anbu shinobi wearing a butterfly mask, delivered the mission scroll that Fox followed Nara Umeka away.
Nara Umeka highly doubted whether this wooden Anbu was really the inventor of the glider.
Arriving at the Equipment Division, Yōkō saw a disassembled glider.
Both gliders had been dedicated to the village; Nara Umeka had taken one apart.
Yōkō's eyes suddenly changed. Among the several Nara shinobi in the tent was Nara Nara, the survivor from Arata's squad.
He hadn't expected to encounter Nara Nara here.
Yōkō's spirits lifted instantly, feeling that being assigned to this kind of miscellaneous work wasn't a waste of time after all.
Nara Umeka said: "Squadron Leader Fox, although we can make new gliders based on this one, we still hope you can explain the principles to facilitate our improvements."
Yōkō thought to himself, your tone is a bit presumptuous.
He looked around, found a blackboard, drew some diagrams on it, and said:
"The key point of the glider is the canopy that provides lift.
The canopy consists of an upper surface, a lower surface, and dozens of ribs distributed regularly along the wingspan.
The different curves of the upper and lower surfaces result in different air flow velocities and wind pressures, providing lift for the canopy..."
The more Yōkō spoke, the more surprised he became. Nara Umeka kept up, taking notes occasionally.
Had she already studied and experimented overnight, grasping the key points of the glider?
The hereditary brain capacity of the Nara clan was indeed larger than most.
After finishing the explanation, Yōkō rested to the side, observing Nara Umeka.
Nara Umeka had her hair in two braids, a delicate face, and intelligent eyes.
She sometimes frowned, sometimes had a look of understanding, constantly adding to her notes.
After more than ten minutes, Nara Umeka looked up and asked some questions about the control lines.
Yōkō answered them one by one.
Nara Umeka was extremely surprised inwardly. How did an Anbu shinobi know so much strange knowledge?
The Ninja Academy taught some basic physics for calculating things like kunai drop, but not complex theories.
Aerodynamics, flow velocity, pressure... these were somewhat beyond the standard curriculum for shinobi.
The Equipment Division worked quickly, taking only a week to produce 200 gliders.
Yōkō looked at the backpacks, estimating that a large-scale mission was imminent.
—
The full moon was like a silver plate.
Finally, the new full moon cycle had arrived.
Yōkō entered Battalion Commander Yellow Dog's tent and found the Hippo Squadron Leader was also inside.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog said:
"Fox, you and Hippo will serve as Anbu Observers, participating in the headquarters' raid mission.
With 200 gliders, 400 shinobi will fly over the Suna defense lines, heading straight for Saba Port to destroy the seagoing vessels and supplies there."
Yōkō asked, puzzled, "Anbu Observers?"
"Yes," Yellow Dog said:
"Besides carrying out the Hokage-sama's orders, the Anbu have another duty: to collect intelligence for the Hokage-sama.
To be the Hokage-sama's eyes, collecting intelligence on enemy villages, and also intelligence within the village.
This mission is crucial.
You and Hippo will disguise yourselves as ordinary Konoha shinobi, participate in the raid, and record the results.
The performance of the civilian shinobi has been a bit too good; the village has some doubts.
Hatake Sakumo led the previous few large-scale missions, where many outstanding civilian shinobi emerged and many jutsu were distributed.
This time, Commander-in-Chief Nara Rokaku is personally leading the raid mission.
The two of you will separate, each joining a squad as an ordinary shinobi, to complete the observation task and record the performance of the civilian shinobi."
Yōkō thought to himself, sending two Anbu Observers was like a double insurance to prevent the higher-ups from being kept in the dark.
***
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(End of Chapter)