In the Commander-in-Chief's tent, Yōkō met Nara Rokaku.
Nara Rokaku was staring down at a map, his brow tightly furrowed; the war situation was still unclear.
When he saw Fox, he immediately smiled:
"Copper Fox, after your successful rearguard action at Saba Port last time, I wanted to praise you in person, but unfortunately, I've been too busy and never found the time."
"The Commander-in-Chief has worked hard." Yōkō said: "Time is urgent. Regarding the rescue of Jonin Nara Umeka, does the Commander-in-Chief have any instructions?"
Nara Rokaku said: "I'll give you a scroll. This scroll contains the Nara clan's unique cipher system. You can only look at this cipher in my presence; you cannot take it away."
Yōkō took the scroll and glanced at it, finding the cipher extremely complex.
Unlike ordinary ciphers based on the three elements of direction, distance, and time, the Nara clan's cipher had six elements.
These six elements were further paired into groups, scattered within a certain range.
Truly worthy of the high-intelligence Nara clan. The cipher conveyed sufficient information, but it caused quite a bit of trouble for the rescuer.
Nara Rokaku said: "Umeka is very smart and won't die easily. She must have found a perfect hiding place. What's needed now is a powerful shinobi to bring her away from danger and back to the camp."
Yōkō said: "Please rest assured, Commander-in-Chief. As long as Jonin Nara Umeka is alive, I will definitely bring her back."
After memorizing the cipher, Yōkō left the command tent.
For the reconnaissance and rescue mission, Yōkō brought the White Goat Squad.
According to the preliminary intelligence in the mission scroll, Nara Umeka took people to investigate the Suna-nin's replication of the gliders, was discovered by the Suna-nin, pursued by them, and unable to return to the main camp.
Nara Umeka had no choice but to turn deeper into the Land of Wind, hiding deep within the country.
Yōkō's mission was very arduous.
Finding the hidden Nara Umeka deep in the Land of Wind, behind the Suna-nin front lines, and then bringing her back to camp, was difficult.
The full moon was still ten days away. Yōkō didn't want to die in the Land of Wind.
Dying last time at the hands of Hatake Sakumo brought a significant boost, even earning him a title.
Whether within the Anbu, inside Konoha, or among the higher-ups, he now had some capital.
Choosing the death reward voluntarily yielded much greater benefits than being killed during a mission.
The problem was, too often, one had no choice.
Leaving the camp, Yōkō led the White Goat Squad on a detour north, avoiding the frontline combat zones.
They continued until nightfall, when the three members of the White Goat Squad opened their gliders.
Two of them carried Yōkō and White Goat up into the night sky.
The strong desert winds carried the gliders up into the night sky.
After applying Wind Release propulsion, the gliders flew above the low clouds, using the cloud layer as cover as they headed towards the Land of Wind.
Yōkō had contributed the glider early on, trading it for an S-rank mission reward. Otherwise, knowing it was being replicated would surely be heartbreaking.
After flying for several hours, Yōkō saw a few black dots appearing vaguely in the distance.
Most likely they were Konoha reconnaissance ninja, with a small chance of being Suna-nin reconnaissance ninja, as the Suna-nin had also replicated some gliders.
"Don't panic! Maintain course!"
The distant gliders also spotted Yōkō's group and moved closer.
Yōkō tilted his head and activated his Single Tomoe Sharingan.
With his perception enhanced, Yōkō could see the details of the other party.
"They're Suna-nin! Prepare for battle! Be careful of your gliders!"
The Suna-nin held kunai, each eager to attack the Konoha side's gliders.
Falling from such a height, even the strongest shinobi would be smashed to pulp.
Observing the flight posture of the Suna-nin gliders, Yōkō concluded they had only learned the superficial aspects, replicating them completely without understanding the principles, and were not very proficient with the control lines.
Before the Suna-nin could act, Yōkō struck first!
Water Release: Water Cutting Wave!
A stream of water dozens of meters long shot forth.
The water stream cut from top to bottom, slicing through one glider, also cutting through the two Suna-nin beneath it, and finally slicing through a cloud.
Another glider hurriedly turned, trying to escape the area.
It was terrifying; the Konoha ninja actually mastered such a powerful long-range Water Release ninjutsu.
Oases in the desert were precious, and Water Release users were very rare; these ninja probably didn't even know Water Release could cut.
However, turning a glider was very slow, giving Yōkō enough time to use a second Water Release: Water Cutting Wave.
The second glider was also sliced apart.
Yōkō didn't look at his results, his gaze drawn to the sliced cloud.
Kakashi used Chidori to split lightning, creating the S-rank technique Lightning Cutter. So, since Yōkō used Water Cutting Wave to split a cloud, could he call it Cloud Cutter? Or Water Cloud Cutter?
What a pity, he already had a title and didn't need another famous technique to gild the lily.
White Goat sighed inwardly; Squadron Leader Fox was getting stronger and stronger.
He still remembered when he first joined Fox's squadron, carrying out missions in the Land of Rain, the squadron leader acted cautiously.
Now the squadron leader was accustomed to killing enemies from a distance with ninjutsu.
After passing through the Suna-nin defense line from the air, the White Goat Squad carefully scouted the surrounding airspace. Once sure no Suna-nin were pursuing, the squad landed in an uninhabited area of the desert.
Emerging from the uninhabited area, they could pose as travelers from the Land of Wind who got lost in a sandstorm and were lucky to survive.
Such travelers were common in the Land of Wind.
People often lost their way in sandstorms, wandering aimlessly for days and nights, eventually appearing dozens of kilometers away from their homeland.
The White Goat Squad changed into Land of Wind attire: headscarves and robes.
Entering the first town, the White Goat Squad searched for signs, while Yōkō headed straight for the inn.
Yōkō had dealt with Nara Umeka before, back when the Equipment Division was rushing to produce 200 gliders.
She was a Nara clan Jonin, a refined woman. After entering a town, it was unlikely she would hide in a trash can for days like male ninja might.
She would probably go to an inn first, rest and recuperate, and then look for a hiding opportunity.
The inn clerk stood facing the wall in terror.
He didn't know why, but after turning around to fetch something, his body suddenly stiffened, unable to move.
Yōkō used the Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal to control the clerk, opened the inn's ledger, and searched for special guests from the past week.
Nara Umeka had gone missing about 4 days ago, meaning any woman who checked in alone within the last four days was a target for investigation.
Yōkō squeezed the clerk's shoulder.
The clerk heard the fragile creaking groan of his own bones.
But his jaw was locked; he could only make faint, muffled sounds.
Yōkō held the ledger in front of the clerk, pointing at two women's names, and asked:
"Do you remember these two women? If yes, roll your eyes."
Seeing that the clerk remembered, Yōkō released the seal on his head.
"Young man, don't scream. You're just an employee, earning a few hundred Ryo a month. Why risk your life? Tell me and I won't kill you."
The clerk thought about it; it was true. The inn belonged to the boss, the wages were often delayed, why should he take risks for the inn?
The clerk said: "This woman had two braided pigtails. The other woman was very fat."
Hearing this, Yōkō's eyes lit up; his luck was unexpectedly good.
Checking the check-in record, it was highly possible Nara Umeka had rested here three days ago.
***
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(Chapter End)