Chapter 138: Parker
Hearing Yoru say this was his third time seeing Sakumo Hatake, Kiiroinu said:
“Leaving Anbu when there are no missions isn’t something that means you can’t have friends.
If you carry out Anbu missions every day without any hobbies, you’ll quickly develop mental illness.
Jiraiya goes to the women’s bathhouse to peep on normal days, Princess Tsunade loves gambling, and among the high-ranking officials, it’s not much of an issue.
If ninjas kill every day without giving their tense minds some outlet to vent, very serious psychological problems will arise.
Those Anbu who stay at the base for entire months or years are key monitoring targets of Anbu; they can easily go to extremes due to mental abnormalities.
I know you went to Tsuruzuki Izakaya after leaving Anbu. As your Kiiroinu Captain, I strongly encourage you to relax this way to avoid post-war stress syndrome.
However, your private activities cannot affect Anbu missions or your stance.
I hope you won’t be influenced by Sakumo Hatake.”
Under the mask, cold sweat appeared on Yoru’s forehead.
Kiiroinu was secretly monitoring the entire battalion, and he knew all about Yoru frequenting Tsuruzuki Izakaya.
“Kiiroinu Captain, please refuse Sakumo Hatake on my behalf. I won’t go see him.”
“No.” Kiiroinu said:
“Lord Sakumo is my senior, the Kiiroinu Captain when I entered Anbu.
You must go. I’m just reminding you to watch your stance.”
“Got it, Captain. I understand. I’ll know the limits.”
Leaving the Kiiroinu Captain’s tent, Yoru’s expression under the mask was gloomy.
Yoru often went to Tsuruzuki Izakaya in private; this couldn’t be hidden.
After leaving Anbu, he had to have somewhere to go, either Tsuruzuki Izakaya or Yanazuki Izakaya.
No matter how many missions he carried out for Anbu, Anbu would never fully trust him.
Even if Yoru followed Kiiroinu Captain every day and professed loyalty daily, he wouldn’t gain absolute trust.
It wasn’t because of Yoru’s attitude, but because of his identity.
If Yoru were a ninja of the Sarutobi Clan or the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan, it would be easy to gain trust and training from the high-ranking officials.
A captain has great authority and strong control over Anbu ninjas.
He had to find a way to become a captain and gain autonomy, no longer being passive.
Entering Sakumo Hatake’s tent, only Sakumo Hatake was inside.
Sakumo Hatake immediately spoke in praise:
“Fox, many ninjas are stingy with their inventions and rarely offer them to the village after creating them.
If you had tightly held onto the glider, it would have become your unique ability.
I didn’t expect you to offer it to the village. This surprised me greatly.
I’ll apply for an S-rank mission reward for you. The successful poisoning was the first S-rank mission; inventing and offering the glider will be the second S-rank reward.”
Yoru thought to himself that there was an unexpected bonus. He said:
“I hope the war ends soon. Too many of my subordinates have died. I’m tired of death, tired of Anbu under the mask changing batch after batch.
For a while, my biggest trouble was how to remember which new recruit was who and what abilities they had.”
Sakumo Hatake also said:
“Anbu’s casualty rate has always been higher than that of ordinary ninjas. Like you, I want the war to end soon.
I have another matter to discuss. Last time you suggested concentrating efforts on promoting the Ninjutsu Assessment System.
This policy has been extremely successful. Many chunin have learned B-rank or even A-rank ninjutsu suitable for them.
Some universal abilities shouldn’t be hoarded selfishly.
Fox, thank you very much for your suggestion, and thank you very much for offering the glider.”
According to Konoha’s saying, the bond between Yoru and Sakumo Hatake was growing.
Successfully promoting the Ninjutsu Assessment System on the battlefield greatly increased Sakumo Hatake’s prestige, with more and more civilian ninjas lacking ninjutsu supporting Sakumo Hatake.
Yoru said: “Lord Sakumo, I am Anbu directly under the Hokage. This is your second time summoning me. It might not be convenient to see you again in the future.”
Sakumo Hatake said: “This is exactly the other purpose of finding you.”
He formed hand seals with both hands, and under the tent’s wall cloth, a circle of silent lightning suddenly appeared.
This was a Lightning Release barrier, blocking reconnaissance.
Sakumo Hatake said: “Don’t worry, no one in this camp can eavesdrop on us.”
Yoru breathed a sigh of relief; Sakumo Hatake was still very cautious.
Sakumo Hatake’s expression was serious: “Fox, do you still remember Xinming?”
“Xinming?”
Yoru thought for a moment. Xinming was a civilian chunin, one of Sakumo Hatake’s followers.
Yoru had once carried out an investigation mission on Xinming and even killed a Sarutobi Clan special jonin to save him.
“I remember him. A very strong chunin with rich experience.”
Sakumo Hatake said:
“Xinming said he was once saved by a mysterious Anbu ninja—you were that mysterious Anbu, right?
Xinming was my friend, but he died on a mission.
If it were a normal death in battle, I’d regret it, but there’s something wrong with his death. He can’t die so unclearly.
I want to ask you, do you know anything about Xinming’s death?”
Yoru said: “Lord Sakumo, I know nothing about it. Moreover, doesn’t it seem inappropriate for you to probe into Anbu missions?”
Sakumo Hatake shook his head and said:
“My judgment has never been wrong. Last time you warned Xinming, then supported the Ninjutsu Assessment System, and now you’ve offered such a precious invention as the glider.
You’re different from other Anbu ninjas. If you weren’t Anbu, we would definitely be good friends.
If—and I mean if—you happen to know any clues about Xinming’s death, I hope you’ll tell me.
Please!”
Upon hearing this, Yoru seemed to hesitate and ponder, but inwardly he was delighted. Sakumo Hatake had finally acknowledged him. He said:
“Lord Sakumo, I really don’t know right now, but I can try to inquire.
As long as it doesn’t violate my Anbu duties, I’ll tell you what I know.
However, I can’t have private contact with you like this anymore. Kiiroinu Captain just warned me that I can’t frequently contact a certain jonin.”
Sakumo Hatake took out a scroll and said:
“This is the summoning scroll for the Eight Ninja Hounds.
This is the last time I’ll summon you. All our future communication will go through the Eight Ninja Hounds.
If you agree, you can sign a contract with my Eight Ninja Hounds.”
Offering the glider invention to the village and supporting the Ninjutsu Assessment System made Sakumo Hatake mistakenly think Yoru was like him—a person willing to give everything for Konoha.
Yoru nodded and said: “Okay.”
This was the best outcome, just like how he and Yuka Uzumaki communicated via scrolls using Long Spear Egret. Now he could do the same with Sakumo Hatake using summoning beasts.
Yoru bit his finger and pressed five fingerprints onto the scroll.
After forming hand seals, Yoru used the Summoning Jutsu.
White smoke dissipated, and eight ninja hounds appeared on the ground.
“Hm? Sakumo, no battle? Why did you summon us?”
The lead ninja hound was Pakkun from the original story, but Pakkun’s voice wasn’t as mature as in the original; at this time, Pakkun was very young, with the voice of a puppy.
Sakumo Hatake said: “Pakkun, the Fox behind you summoned you. You’re in charge of passing secret scrolls between me and the Fox. It must absolutely not be known to others.”
Pakkun turned his head to look at the Fox, thinking to himself how it was an Anbu.
Had the simple-minded Sakumo Hatake finally wised up and started recruiting the Hokage’s Anbu?
This was no small progress.
Yoru greeted: “Hello, Pakkun.”
“Hello, Fox.”
Yoru, carrying the investigation scroll on Xinming’s death, returned to his own tent.
From then on, their communication would be via summoning beasts, and there would be no more private meetings.
Friends recognized by Sakumo Hatake would receive extreme trust, and Yoru also benefited, signing a new summoning contract.
At the same time, he had to be especially careful. If his summoning of the Eight Ninja Hounds was exposed, the village would definitely consider him Sakumo Hatake’s man.
He didn’t know what had happened to Xinming; he had to investigate thoroughly and offer a token of loyalty.
