In the midst of the battle, Yōkō deliberately looked out for Kurumi, eliminating several dangers for her.
After completely crushing the Suna-nin blocking the gliders' takeoff, the area in front of them cleared. Only then did Yōkō have time to observe the distant battle.
Before Rasa's great wave of Gold Dust, the Battalion Commander, leading two squadrons, had already been completely wiped out.
That Battalion Commander was completely outmatched by Rasa.
The squadron at his own side was also mostly dead.
Yōkō looked up at the departing glider group. The rearguard mission was over.
He body-flickered to appear in front of the fallen Kurumi, catching a kunai that was thrust towards her eyes.
Kurumi had just been hit by a Wind Release technique and smashed against a rock. She was barely breathing, nearly unconscious, her eyes only able to open a slit.
The kunai was only a few centimeters from Kurumi's eye, making it appear especially large in her narrow field of vision.
Snap!
The kunai was crushed by Fujikita... no, by the Fox Anbu?
Kurumi knew she was saved. Her last breath of relief escaped her, and she fell completely unconscious.
Yōkō hoisted Kurumi onto his shoulder and body-flickered away from the shore, appearing on the surface of the water.
Rasa arrived at the shoreline. He looked up at the fleeing glider group and knew it was too late to intercept them.
He stood on the shore, while Yōkō stood on the water, the two confronting each other.
To buy time, Yōkō did not leave immediately.
Carrying the unconscious Kurumi on his shoulder, he stood on the water, facing off against hundreds of Suna-nin alone.
Rasa took one last look at the ascending glider group. After assessing the situation, he concluded that even if he flew up after them, he could at most stop a few dozen Konoha shinobi.
Compared to a few dozen Konoha shinobi, he was far more interested in Konoha's Fox Anbu.
Rasa raised his hand. A whirlwind of Gold Dust formed in front of his finger, shaping into a Gold Dust Kunai.
The Gold Dust Kunai shot forth.
Yōkō neither dodged nor avoided it, allowing the Gold Dust Kunai to strike his chest.
Following a clear, sharp sound, the Gold Dust Kunai shattered.
Rasa furrowed his brow tightly.
The Fox Anbu's clothing was torn where the kunai had struck. The moment it hit him, his skin instantly turned into a thick red-copper color.
Rasa muttered to himself:
"Some kind of hardening defensive jutsu similar to Earth Release: Earth Spear. Instantaneous activation. Hardness is much higher than Earth Release: Earth Spear. The skin takes on a red-copper metallic luster."
Rasa formed hand signs. The ground churned with waves of sand, and Gold Dust gushed out, surging towards the Fox like a tsunami over ten meters high.
Failing to inflict harm, Rasa prepared to capture him using the great wave of Gold Dust.
Yōkō stood on the seawater, where Water Release jutsu consumed very little chakra.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A massive wall of water collided with the great wave of Gold Dust.
The Gold Dust was soaked by the seawater, becoming heavy.
By the time the Gold Dust and the Water Formation Wall dissipated, and Rasa prepared to use an even larger wave of Gold Dust, he found the water's surface empty.
Rasa pressed a finger from his right hand against his eye.
A Third Eye appeared in the air and swiftly flew high up.
The Third Eye looked around but couldn't find any trace of anyone.
What level of Body Flicker Technique was this?
In a place far from Saba Port, Yōkō, carrying Kurumi on his shoulder, ended his Water Body Flicker and appeared on the water's surface.
The ocean was the home ground for the Water Body Flicker. Without this technique, Yōkō wouldn't have dared to provoke Rasa like that.
He had a chance to revive, but he had chosen to escape. Rasa's abilities were special; his Gold Dust waves were adept at capturing and crushing.
If he hadn't left, being killed by Rasa would have been one thing, but if he were captured by Rasa, that would have been troublesome.
He quickly found a cave in the seaside cliffs and hid inside with Kurumi.
Yōkō's top and trousers were torn to shreds.
He took off the tattered clothes and hurriedly checked the seat of his trousers.
Fortunately, despite the attacks from the many perverted Suna-nin, the backside area was intact, preserving his... honor.
He spread his own torn clothes on the ground and let Kurumi lie curled up on them.
He went to the cave entrance and looked out at the sea.
Seabirds flew about leisurely; the intense battle at distant Saba Port had nothing to do with them.
Yōkō planned to wait for the commotion to die down before slowly returning to the main camp.
As a mature shinobi, one must learn to slack off.
Returning too early would just mean being assigned a new mission. When would there ever be an end to missions?
Joining the rearguard battalion, successfully covering the retreat, but being pursued himself, thus getting delayed on the way back... that sounded perfectly reasonable, right?
It was like getting paid to use the bathroom at the company – a double win.
Seeing that Kurumi was still unconscious, Yōkō formed a hand seal and used the Summoning Technique.
Pakkun appeared in a puff of white smoke. He glanced at Fox, then at the petite girl in the cave, and said, "You keep yourself busy."
Yōkō said speechlessly, "Pakkun, I didn't expect you to be such a dog."
Pakkun said, "Heh, what did you call me for?"
Yōkō said:
"I've investigated the cause of Arata's death. Arata's teammate at the time, Nara Kaya, actually used his shadow secret technique to control his teammates, using them as Shadow Puppets.
Nara Kaya was the only one who survived and completed the mission. It's highly likely he used Shadow Puppetry on Arata.
During this mission, he used the same Shadow Puppetry technique and killed a Konoha shinobi."
"Shadow Puppetry?" Pakkun said, "I understand. I'll inform Sakumo."
Pakkun released the summoning technique himself, disappearing in a puff of white smoke.
Two hours later, Kurumi slowly woke up.
First, she saw some strips of cloth.
This color?
Wasn't this Fujikita's clothes?
Where was Fujikita? Why were his clothes torn to pieces like this?
"You're awake."
Kurumi followed the voice and looked towards the cave entrance, seeing Fujikita sitting there.
Her face immediately flushed red with embarrassment. She lowered her head but couldn't help looking up again.
Fujikita wore his fox mask, his upper body bare revealing well-developed pectoral muscles. Below, he wore only underwear, his long legs tight with solid muscle.
Yōkō stood up and walked towards Kurumi.
Kurumi saw Fujikita crouch in front of her, pressing and rubbing her head, checking her injury from the knockout.
"Good, recovery is good."
"Fujikita... No, what should I call you? Fujikita isn't your real name, is it?"
Yōkō said, "I have no name, only a codename. You can call me Fox."
"Oh, Fox... did we succeed in the rearguard action?"
"We succeeded. Under the leadership of you, our acting squad leader, we successfully covered the retreat. The other six battalions got away safely."
Kurumi pursed her small, cherry-like mouth and said, "You're so strong, how could it have been under my leadership? I didn't do anything."
Yōkō smiled slightly. If it weren't for the courage Kurumi showed at the last moment, even trying to protect her teammate Fujikita, he wouldn't have resolved to fight the Suna-nin so fiercely.
Because of that, he had exposed some of his trump cards.
From his observations within the Anbu, it seemed Danzo might be driven out of the Anbu by Hiruzen Sarutobi to lead Root independently.
This process wouldn't be as simple as Hiruzen saying a word and Danzo obediently leaving; there was bound to be some turmoil.
Amidst this turmoil, Yōkō needed to secure more benefits for himself.
If Danzo moved positions, vacating the seat of Anbu Commander, wouldn't all the brothers below get to move up a rank?
Yōkō also wanted to become a Battalion Commander.
Battalion Commander Yellow Dog, as the Hokage's representative, was stationed at the front lines, monitoring the entire battlefield for the Hokage, wielding immense power.
If he became a Battalion Commander, he could also independently direct Anbu missions in one area of the battlefield.
***
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(Chapter End)