Chapter 84: Staring At The Fox
In the dark corridors of the Anbu, Aries followed the Fox Squad Leader toward the squad’s several locker rooms.
Under Aries’ mask was cold sweat continuously seeping out.
The Fox Captain was very perceptive and turned to ask: “Aries, what’s wrong with you?”
Aries quickly lowered his head, letting the cold sweat fall on his collar instead of dripping to the ground.
“I’m fine, Captain.”
In last night’s Nine-Tails transfer seal operation, Aries attacked the Nine-Tails with exploding tags on the periphery and did not follow the Squad Leader and Battalion Captain under the Nine-Tails to protect the Whirlpool Princess.
It was too dangerous under the Nine-Tails, and out of concern for the Squad Leader, he kept watching the Fox Squad Leader.
The Byakugan could see the flow of chakra, and he noticed that the Fox Squad Leader’s chakra emptied several times, which was somewhat strange.
Normally, he should have written these anomalies in the squad’s mission report.
The mission report recorded everyone’s behavioral details to judge mission performance and decide mission rewards.
However, Aries did not write it.
The Fox Squad Leader was very meticulous, and if he wrote these in the mission report, the Fox Squad Leader would definitely see them.
When it was late at night, Aries stayed in the lounge all along.
He wanted to wait for an opportunity to report to the Kiiroinu Captain beyond levels.
Purple Cat originally wanted to wait until everyone was gone to be intimate with Fox.
Seeing that Aries wasn’t leaving, she knew there was no chance tonight and there was a mission tomorrow, so she left first.
Seeing that Aries wasn’t leaving, Yoru walked over and asked: “Aries, why haven’t you gone home yet? Do you have something on your mind?”
Aries’ heart tightened. Had the Captain noticed something?
“No, I’m just a bit tired.”
Yoru remembered in the original work how Hyuga Neji hated the branch family identity and the branch family curse mark, and said:
“Aries, I’ve heard that every Hyuga Branch Family member is troubled by the caged bird curse mark.
Every ninjutsu has weaknesses, and every sealing jutsu has a release spell.
The Whirlpool Princess is skilled in sealing jutsu; maybe after she grows up, she can undo the caged bird.”
Aries breathed a sigh of relief; the Captain only thought he was troubled by the caged bird.
His mental resilience was too poor; he had actually been seen through by the Squad Leader multiple times.
Fortunately, the Squad Leader trusted him quite a bit.
“Thank you for the Captain’s comfort.” Aries went along with it and said:
“Every time I return to the clan compound, I feel like the clan compound is like a heavy boulder.
To avoid that oppressive feeling, I voluntarily joined the Anbu.
In the Anbu, it’s just a bit easy to die; everything else is much better than being in the clan compound.”
“Haha, Aries, I didn’t expect you to be quite humorous. In the Anbu, it’s not just a bit easy to die; it’s extremely easy to die.” Yoru stood up from the bench and said:
“Don’t worry, my strength growth has been pretty fast lately; you won’t die unless it’s necessary.”
“Unless it’s necessary?” Aries coughed: “Captain, you’re the truly humorous one. Does the Captain mean we’ll still die when it’s necessary?”
“If necessary, I’ll die myself. You and I both have a firm Will of Fire, don’t we?”
Yoru left the Anbu and returned to the izakaya.
After waiting a long time, Aries finally stood up from the bench.
The Fox Captain said he had a firm Will of Fire; was he overthinking it?
Using the Byakugan to confirm the Captain had disappeared, he then left the locker room, hesitated again and again, and headed to the Kiiroinu Captain’s Office.
Knocking on the office door, Aries entered the office.
Seeing it was a Squad Leader, Kiiroinu asked: “What’s up? Is there something?”
Aries saw on the Kiiroinu Captain’s table stacks of mission reports from the Night of Sealing the Nine-Tails transfer.
Aries said: “Captain, there’s one piece of information in the Aries Squad’s mission report that I didn’t write, and I think I should report it to you in person.”
Kiiroinu paused.
Reporting beyond levels meant the intelligence was extremely important, or the intelligence was targeted at the person being bypassed.
Targeted at Fox?
Kiiroinu said: “Speak, tell me in detail.”
Aries swallowed hard with difficulty and said:
“Kiiroinu Captain, I’ve been using the Byakugan to watch our Squad Leader to prevent any accidents with the Squad Leader, so I can warn in advance.
During the battle, I noticed the Squad Leader had… one instance of chakra rapidly draining, which was somewhat abnormal or even unusual, so I didn’t write it in the mission report.”
When the words reached his mouth, Aries wanted to say three times but ultimately changed it to one.
After joining the Anbu, the first Captain he followed was the Fox Squad Leader.
The Squad Leader trusted him greatly.
The Anbu wasn’t as terrifying as in the legends; the Squad Leader wouldn’t use subordinates’ lives to probe enemy intelligence.
Though the Squad Leader was cold, he didn’t persecute subordinates recklessly.
The Hyuga Clan had seen too many scenes on the battlefield; they knew what truly ruthless captains were like.
Those captains only had the mission in their eyes; as long as it helped complete the mission, anyone could die.
For some reason, Aries ultimately relented and didn’t say it was three times.
Under Kiiroinu’s mask, his gaze darkened.
Among his Squad Leaders, Fox had the best strength and a very high mission completion rate.
He didn’t understand either; if Fox had disloyal intentions, even if he valued Fox highly, he would have to cleanse him.
Kiiroinu asked: “Fox had one instance of abnormal chakra drain? What abnormality?”
“Captain, when the Squad Leader was near Senju Rinki Clan Head, his chakra suddenly nearly completely disappeared,” Aries said:
“But I’m not sure whether the Squad Leader used up all his chakra to dodge Senju Rinki Clan Head’s final Water Dragon Bullet, or for other reasons.”
Kiiroinu’s cold gaze softened a lot, and he said:
“Senju Rinki’s dying flash of that Water Dragon Bullet—even a moment’s hesitation would get you directly smashed into the sky by the Water Dragon Bullet.
Not to mention Fox; even I would undoubtedly die in front of such a Water Dragon Bullet.
However, even dodging with full power, Body Flicker Technique wouldn’t use up all the chakra in the body.
Did you see Fox get hit by the Water Dragon Bullet?
If hit by the Water Dragon Bullet, offsetting that terrifying Water Style impact might indeed use up all chakra.”
Aries shook his head and said:
“I’m not sure; both the Water Dragon Bullet and the Squad Leader’s speed were too fast. Maybe the Squad Leader foresaw the Water Dragon Bullet’s great power, so he tapped his potential and his speed surged.”
Kiiroinu frowned in thought.
After a full minute, Kiiroinu said:
“I understand, Aries.
Your intelligence is useful, but your intelligence isn’t enough to designate Fox as a spy; there’s no reason he must be cleansed.
However, I’m assigning you a secret A-rank mission.
From now on, keep a constant eye on Fox without the slightest slack, and report Fox’s intelligence to me at any time until I deem Fox’s suspicion cleared.”
“Got it! I understand!”
Aries came out of the Captain’s Office, his mind uneasy.
He didn’t know if what he did was right or wrong.
He didn’t know if reporting to the Captain was right or wrong, nor if concealing part of the truth was right or wrong.
Next, he would observe the Captain even more meticulously and definitely help the Squad Leader clear his suspicion.
