Chapter 147: You’re Just An Employee
In the headquarters tent, Yoru met Nara Shikaku.
Nara Shikaku stared down at the map with furrowed brows; the war situation was still unclear.
Upon seeing the Copper Fox, he immediately smiled:
“Copper Fox, last time at Suna Harbor you successfully covered the retreat. I wanted to praise you in person, but unfortunately I was too busy and never had the time.”
“Commander Lord has worked hard,” Yoru said. “Time is urgent. Regarding the matter of rescuing Nara Baika Jonin, does the Commander Lord have any instructions?”
Nara Shikaku said, “I’ll give you a scroll. This scroll contains the Nara Clan’s unique code system. You can only look at this code in my presence; you cannot take it away.”
Yoru took the scroll and glanced at it, discovering the code was extremely complex.
Unlike normal codes with the three elements of direction, distance, and time, the Nara Clan’s code had six elements.
The six elements were grouped in pairs, scattered within a certain range.
As expected of the high-IQ Nara Clan, the code conveyed enough information, but it brought considerable trouble to the rescuers.
Nara Shikaku said, “Baika is very smart and won’t die easily. She must have found a perfect hiding place. What is needed now is a powerful ninja to take her away from danger and return to the camp.”
Yoru said, “Please rest assured, Commander Lord. As long as Nara Baika Jonin is alive, I will definitely bring her back.”
After memorizing the code, Yoru left the headquarters tent.
For the reconnaissance and rescue mission, Yoru brought along the Aries Squad.
According to the preliminary intelligence in the mission scroll, Nara Baika had taken people to reconnoiter the Sand Ninja’s replication of the gliders, was discovered by the Sand Ninja, then pursued by them, and unable to return to the camp.
Nara Baika had no choice but to turn around and head deep into the Land of Wind, hiding deep within the Land of Wind.
Yoru’s mission was extremely arduous.
To find the hidden Nara Baika deep within the Land of Wind, behind the Sand Ninja front line, and then escort her back to the camp, was very difficult.
There were still ten days until the full moon, and Yoru did not want to die in the Land of Wind.
Dying last time at the hands of Sakumo Hatake had brought enormous improvement, and even earned him a title.
Whether within Anbu, in Konoha, or among the high-ranking officials, he now had some standing.
Choosing death voluntarily yielded much greater rewards than being killed on a mission.
The problem was, too often one had no control over their own body.
Leaving the camp, Yoru led the Aries Squad on a northward detour, avoiding the front line combat zone.
Until night fell, the three team members of the Aries Squad opened their gliders.
Two of them carried Yoru and Aries into the night sky.
The desert gales carried the gliders into the night sky.
With Wind Release adding force, the gliders flew above the low clouds, using the cloud cover to head toward the Land of Wind.
Yoru had long since offered up the gliders, in exchange for an S-rank mission reward; otherwise, knowing they had been replicated would certainly have been heartbreaking.
After flying in the sky for several hours, Yoru saw a few faint black dots appearing in the distance.
Most likely Konoha reconnaissance ninja, less likely Sand Ninja reconnaissance ninja; the Sand Ninja had also replicated some gliders.
“Don’t panic! Maintain direction!”
The distant gliders also spotted Yoru and the others, approaching this way.
Yoru tilted his head and activated his single tomoe Sharingan.
With enhanced insight ability, Yoru saw the enemy’s details.
“It’s Sand Ninja! Prepare for battle! Be careful of each other’s gliders!”
The Sand Ninja held kunai, eager to attack the Konoha side’s gliders.
Falling from such a height, even the strongest ninja would be smashed into mashed meat.
Observing the Sand Ninja gliders’ flight posture, Yoru judged they had only learned the basics, a complete replication without understanding the principles, and were not proficient in controlling the ropes.
Before the Sand Ninja could act, Yoru struck first!
Water Style: Water Severing Wave!
A water stream dozens of meters long shot out.
The water stream sliced from top to bottom through one glider, also cutting the two Sand Ninja below it, and finally through a cloud.
Another glider hurriedly turned, trying to flee the area.
Too terrifying—the Leaf Ninja had mastered such powerful long-range Water Style ninjutsu.
Oases in the desert were precious, Water Style ninja very rare; these ninja didn’t even know Water Style could cut.
However, turning a glider was very slow, enough time for Yoru to use a second Water Style: Water Severing Wave.
The second glider was also sliced open.
Yoru didn’t look at his battle results; his gaze was drawn to the severed cloud.
Kakashi had split lightning with Chidori, creating the S-rank ninjutsu Raikiri. Now Yoru had split a cloud with Water Severing Wave—could it be called Cloud Cutter? Or Water Cloud Cutter?
Unfortunately, he already had a title and didn’t need another superfluous famous ninjutsu.
Aries thought to himself, the Fox Squad Leader was getting stronger and stronger.
He still remembered the first time entering the Fox Squad, carrying out a mission in the Land of Rain, when the squad leader had been extremely cautious.
Now the squad leader was accustomed to using ninjutsu for long-range kills on enemies.
After passing through the Sand Ninja defense line from the air, the Aries Squad carefully reconnoitered the surrounding airspace. With no Sand Ninja 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 had gotten lost in a sandstorm and luckily survived it.
Such travelers were very common in the Land of Wind.
People often lost their way in sandstorms, wandered aimlessly for days and nights, and finally appeared dozens of kilometers away from their hometowns.
The Aries Squad changed into Land of Wind attire: headscarves, robes.
Entering the first town, the Aries Squad searched for codes, while Yoru headed straight for the inn.
When the equipment department had rushed to produce 200 gliders earlier, Yoru had dealt with Nara Baika.
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 a male ninja might.
She would probably go to an inn first, rest, then seek a hiding opportunity.
The inn’s staff stood terrified facing the wall.
He didn’t know why, but when he turned to grab something, his body suddenly stiffened, unable to move.
Yoru used the Karma Seal of Retribution to control the staff, opened the inn’s ledger, and searched for special guests from the past week.
Nara Baika had gone missing about four days ago, meaning any woman who had checked in alone in the last four days was a suspect.
Yoru gripped the staff’s shoulder.
The staff heard his fragile bones creak and groan.
But his jaw was locked; he could only make faint muffled sounds.
Yoru held the ledger in front of the staff, pointing to two women’s names and asking:
“Do you remember these two women? If so, roll your eyes.”
Seeing the staff remembered, Yoru released the Karma Seal of Retribution on his head.
“Young man, don’t shout. You’re just a worker, earning a few hundred ryō a month—what are you fighting for? Tell me and I won’t kill you.”
The staff thought, yeah, the inn belongs to the boss, the wages are overdue—why risk his life for the inn?
The staff said, “This woman had two braids, the other woman was very fat.”
Yoru’s eyes lit up upon hearing this; his luck was surprisingly good.
Checking the check-in records, it was highly likely Nara Baika had rested here three days ago.
