Chapter 55: The Feeling Of Promotion Is Great
The battle ended, and Yoru immediately went to find Kiiroinu Captain.
Kiiroinu Captain and Kato Dan were covered in dirt, with the corpses of Stone Ninja Elite Jonin at their feet.
Yoru sighed in admiration, as expected of Kiiroinu Captain, one of Anbu’s six captains, with overwhelming strength.
Seeing Fox arrive, Kiiroinu Captain avoided Kato Dan and took Fox aside to say:
“Fox, support from the village will arrive soon.
You and Purple Cat, along with the others from the battalion, remove your masks, disguise yourselves as normal ninja, and spread the heroic deeds of Lord Danzo.
Anbu Minister Lord Danzo laid out the scheme for half a year, using Mito Uzumaki’s old age as a cover and the Whirlpool Princess entering Konoha as bait, designing a trap targeting Hidden Stone Village.
In this battle, they killed 6 Elite Jonin from Hidden Stone Village, over 30 Jonin, and more than 300 Chunin.
Lord Danzo, Konoha’s Ninja of Darkness, is the hero of the Land of Grass war!”
Yoru was stunned, thinking to himself that this was truly shameless.
“Got it, Captain. I’ll go arrange it now.” Yoru asked again: “Captain, Kurozaru Squad Leader and Aries are injured. I don’t know if they successfully hid. After completing Lord Danzo’s propaganda, can we go rescue Squad Leader and the others?”
“Complete the propaganda mission first. After that, I’ll assign a Hyuga Ninja to you.”
“Okay.”
Yoru and Purple Cat passed on the captain’s orders, removed their masks, put on headbands, and disguised themselves as normal ninja.
Half an hour later, many ninja indeed arrived from the village direction.
Clan heads from various clans, as well as famous Jonin, and others.
Yoru and Yamanaka Riko mixed in the team, spreading rumors.
“Did you know? Hidden Stone Village lost 6 Elite Jonin! All killed by Lord Danzo!”
“Lord Danzo laid out the scheme for half a year and closed the net tonight, slaughtering over 300 Chunin. How many Chunin are there even in a Chunin Exam?”
“Oonoki can still be Tsuchikage? He’s too stupid, toyed with by Lord Danzo, actually venturing deep into the Land of Fire and walking right into a brutal beating.”
“Ninja of Darkness, as expected of Lord Danzo.”
“Instead of waiting for other forces to cause chaos after Mito Uzumaki’s death, better to detonate it early and give them a lesson.”
After spreading the rumors, Yoru asked Purple Cat for a water bottle and drank deeply.
This is a bit disgusting. How can they hype up Danzo like this?
Yoru suddenly thought of Qiao Yi.
Perhaps Qiao Yi’s spy identity had long been exposed, and Anbu kept her to feed false information to Hidden Stone Village.
If Qiao Yi was exposed, wouldn’t he himself seem suspicious too?
No, he must rescue Kurozaru Squad Leader and find a way to have Kurozaru Squad Leader clear his suspicions.
Yoru stood by the valley, watching Hiruzen Sarutobi, Senju Rinki, and other high-ranking officials leave amid the cheers of the support ninja.
As the lively crowd dispersed, Yoru met a Hyuga Ninja.
Finally, he could go search for Kurozaru Squad Leader.
After searching for most of the night, the Hyuga Ninja discovered two people squeezed inside the tree hollow of a big tree.
Yoru jumped onto the big tree and rhythmically tapped it to inform those inside the tree hollow that it was friendlies and not to attack by mistake.
Once the knocking code came from inside the tree hollow, Yoru jumped down, cleared away the bush disguise outside the tree hollow.
“Kurozaru Squad Leader! Are you okay?”
Hearing Fox’s voice, a trace of color finally returned to Kurozaru’s pale face.
“Good, Fox, did we win?”
“We won, a great victory.”
Yoru hurriedly checked on the two.
Kurozaru’s leg was broken, a comminuted fracture, with bone shards damaging blood vessels, the leg bent outward, severely swollen.
If not treated promptly, amputation was highly likely.
Kurozaru Squad Leader had already lost his left arm; losing his right leg too would mean immediate retirement.
Aries’ condition was also dire, small abdomen pierced, even internal organs visible.
It was only due to ninja physique that such wounds hadn’t killed him yet.
Kurozaru Squad Leader had given Aries simple emergency treatment, barely keeping him alive.
“Let’s go! Back to the village, to Konoha Hospital! Princess Tsunade is right in the village; you’ll both be fine!”
Kurozaru was deeply moved.
Among his subordinate captains, Fox had been with him the longest, performed excellently, always completing missions.
Moreover, Fox had saved him twice already—once in Kyoto of the Land of Waves, once here.
Truly a lucky charm.
After delivering Kurozaru and Aries to Konoha Hospital, Yoru saw several medical ninja enter the ward.
Leading them was Tsunade.
Tsunade first checked the unconscious Aries and immediately judged: “Intestines shattered and infected. Human intestines are very long; cut off a section.”
The medical ninja behind her immediately recorded the treatment scheme and wheeled Aries away to the operating room.
Tsunade then checked Kurozaru; this examination took a long time.
“Hmm… very tricky. Amputation poses no life threat; he’d be discharged soon.
If he wants to retain combat power, a major leg surgery is needed.
Shattered bones damaged blood vessels, muscles, and nerves; success rate is low, and postoperative recovery very lengthy.
If unlucky, still amputation.”
Tsunade turned to the Anbu by the wall and saw the familiar Fox Mask.
“You? I was going to ask the family which scheme to choose.”
But Kurozaru said: “Princess Tsunade, I choose surgery. I must stand again and recover my combat power.”
Tsunade closed the record book and said: “Wheel him away, surgery now.”
Soon, the ward was empty.
Ten-plus minutes later, Kiiroinu Captain entered the ward and asked: “Where’s Kurozaru?”
“In the operating room.”
“Surgery, so there’s still a chance of recovery?”
“That’s what Princess Tsunade said.”
Kiiroinu Captain went straight to the operating room.
After a while, the captain returned and said:
“Kurozaru Squad is down to four members. Kurozaru is in surgery himself; he recommends you temporarily act as Squad Leader.
Depending on Kurozaru’s recovery, if he doesn’t recover well, you’ll be promoted to permanent Squad Leader.
Anbu has a lot going on lately; get Kurozaru Squad operational quickly.
Return to Anbu now and familiarize yourself with all missions currently held by Kurozaru Squad.”
The captain’s assistant was outside the door, escorting Yoru back to Anbu and transferring acting squad leader authority to him.
Promoted.
Yoru first went to the Anbu Archive Room and found all member files for Kurozaru Squad.
Kurozaru Squad Leader was an Akimichi Clan Ninja, Purple Cat a Yamanaka Clan Ninja—these were intelligence Yoru already knew.
He saw his own file: after joining Anbu, he had carried out missions successively in Brown Bear Squad and Kurozaru Squad.
He suddenly noticed that on Brown Bear Squad Leader’s file, he had been active long-term in the Land of Grass, interrogating many Stone Ninja.
Yoru had a flash of inspiration: his Earth Release: Earth Clone could be said to have been learned from Brown Bear Squad Leader.
Brown Bear Squad Leader had died early in the Land of Whirlpools; no one could verify.
If Anbu Ninja hid certain abilities or suddenly gained certain abilities, they would be investigated for enemy village ties.
He found his own file and wrote on it that he had received an Earth Release Ninjutsu Scroll from Brown Bear Squad Leader and spent several months mastering Earth Release: Earth Clone.
As for why Brown Bear Squad Leader was so good to Fox, just look at Kurozaru Squad Leader—he was even better to Fox.
The feeling of promotion was great; autonomy increased further.
If he became an Anbu Captain, wouldn’t he be able to do whatever he wanted?
If he became Anbu Minister, he’d be a big figure influencing the Ninja World.
Danzo could be Ninja of Darkness; couldn’t he, Yoru?
