Chapter 89: Kato Dan’s Oppressive Presence
All subordinates guarded outside the cave, while Yoru lay beside the campfire, silently sensing the changes in his body.
Platelets were extremely active, and the wound quickly stopped bleeding.
The wound was both numb and itchy, with granulation tissue slowly growing.
The physique of the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan gave Yoru a bit more margin for error.
Three days later, his injuries stabilized and improved, and Yoru met with the Anbu team members one by one.
First were the remaining three members of the Yagura Squad.
All three said the same thing: the Yagura Squad Leader had been completely normal before, and they didn’t know when he had been controlled.
After getting no useful information, Yoru designated Hanashika as the squad leader.
The Yagura mask was too unlucky—whoever wore it died, and it had nearly killed him too. It was a pity about Yagura, whom he had killed with his own hands.
Changing the squad leader, he hoped this squad could turn its luck around.
Next, Yoru met with Aries.
Aries said he had kept his Byakugan activated the whole time and detected no anomalies. Within three kilometers nearby, no one was hiding.
The enemy’s methods were undetectable even by the Byakugan.
Finally, it was Purple Cat.
Purple Cat said:
“Captain, I used the Mind Body Switch Technique on Yagura at the end, trying to control him and stop him from continuing to attack you.
My technique failed!
There were two souls in Yagura’s body! I’ve never seen anything like this!”
Yoru’s expression changed as understanding dawned in his mind.
He had once suspected that Yagura had also fallen victim to Uchiha Madara’s genjutsu—three Leaf Ninjas had been hit by genjutsu right in front of him.
He had nearly been misled by Uchiha Madara: the recent infighting among the Anbu, and Yagura’s attack on him, were not genjutsu but soul-based secret jutsu.
He had finally found evidence.
As far as Yoru knew, only one person possessed such an ability: Kato Dan.
Kato Dan, this talented vassal of the Senju Clan, had apparently made his move against the village.
Thinking carefully, he couldn’t blame the Senju Clan and Kato Dan for being extreme—the village had been extreme first, far more extreme than the Senju Clan.
Five days later, Yoru finally walked out of the cave.
The shoulder wound had fully recovered, with no impact on his combat power.
The enemy was too dangerous—either Uchiha Madara or Kato Dan. He needed to fully recover before taking action.
Outside the cave, it was still drizzling endlessly.
Yoru said:
“Return to the front line camp, but take a detour—go around through the Land of Fire first, then back to the camp. The situation we encountered here is too complex for our squad to handle.
We’re just here to complete the investigation mission; we have no mandatory objectives, so this doesn’t count as abandoning the mission.”
In a cave twenty kilometers away, Kato Dan said to his two guards:
“Today, I’ll use the forbidden jutsu one more time to scout intelligence on Hanzo. Please protect me, both of you.”
The two guards stood watch at the cave entrance, while Kato Dan leaned against the wall.
There was a Hyuga Ninja in the Anbu Fox Squad.
That Hyuga Ninja had also participated in the Nine-Tails transfer seal; he must have seen a lot of intelligence.
If he could obtain intelligence from that Hyuga Anbu, he might uncover the truth behind the Senju Clan’s heavy losses.
After forming hand seals, Kato Dan used the forbidden jutsu: Spiritualization Technique.
His soul flew out, passing through the mountain above the cave, and appeared mid-air.
The souls of everyone around were like candlelight in the dark night.
Under Aries’s command, the Fox Squad detoured south, preparing to enter the Land of Fire from the south of the Land of Rain.
Because of Yagura’s sudden ambush last time, all Anbu kept a certain distance from each other, giving one another reaction time.
Yoru was at the rear of the team, watching every subordinate ahead.
In the midst of calm, Ling suddenly reached into his ninja tool bag.
Yoru shouted: “Ling! Don’t move! Take your hand out!”
But the next second, Ling’s hand already held five exploding tags.
“Get out of the way!”
The exploding tags flew in five different directions and detonated instantly.
In the continuous blasts, Yoru saw Purple Cat blasted onto a nearby tree trunk, while Black Bull fell from mid-air, vomiting blood.
The Purple Cat Squad was severely hit.
Yoru rushed forward and caught Black Bull, who was closest to him.
Black Bull’s chest was blasted open, charred black, with blackened charcoal and tumors on the flesh.
Just as he was about to set Black Bull down, Black Bull suddenly raised a kunai and stabbed toward Yoru’s side.
From atop the tree trunk, Ling said in terror: “It wasn’t me! I was suddenly controlled just now!”
Kato Dan’s soul had already transferred from Ling to Black Bull!
Black Bull’s kunai only struck a lump of humanoid mud.
Kato Dan’s soul body paused— an earth clone?
Black Bull’s kunai missed, and he turned to stab the ground below.
Unfortunately, Yoru hadn’t ambushed Black Bull right away.
Seeing the counterattack fail, Black Bull turned toward Purple Cat, who was closest to him.
Purple Cat had also been blasted and was shakily trying to stand.
Black Bull charged straight at Purple Cat, his movements and habits completely different from before.
The kunai stopped three centimeters from Purple Cat’s mask forehead.
Yoru emerged from underground, his kunai piercing Black Bull’s arm.
He didn’t want to kill Black Bull.
However, Black Bull released his grip, dropping the kunai, grabbed one with his other hand, and continued stabbing toward Purple Cat.
Yoru kicked Black Bull flying.
Black Bull’s chest was already severely wounded from the blast, and after taking Yoru’s kick, he rolled in agony in the mud.
Ling dropped from the tree: “Sorry! Captain! I don’t know what controlled me!”
Ling’s tone was full of apology, but his ninja sword headed straight for Yoru’s throat.
Yoru felt his scalp tingle—not because Black Bull and Ling were particularly strong, but because this feeling that everyone around him could be an enemy made danger seem omnipresent.
“Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!”
A water wall surged out, blasting Ling away.
Ling crashed into an overhanging tree trunk above, left dizzy and disoriented, and fell heavily to the ground.
He struggled to look up, murmuring: “Captain, I really didn’t mean to.”
Yoru turned to look at Purple Cat—only Purple Cat now had the ability to discern if others’ souls were controlled.
Purple Cat slowly raised her head and said: “Captain, I’ll use the secret jutsu right now…”
Purple Cat began forming hand seals.
Yoru thought to himself: even if Kato Dan controlled Purple Cat, he couldn’t possibly know Yamanaka Clan secret jutsu, right?
The next instant, the senbon steel needles hidden at Purple Cat’s wrist suddenly stabbed toward Yoru.
Snap!
Yoru grabbed Purple Cat’s wrist, lifted her up, and punched her abdomen, eliminating her ability to resist.
In the heavy rain, Yoru watched Purple Cat slowly collapse, feeling a surge of heat throughout his body and irritation in his heart.
Was this the sense of oppression Kato Dan brought to his enemies?
No one around him was trustworthy; all squad coordination tactics had become a joke.
No wonder Kato Dan wanted to become Hokage—even a prodigy like Tsunade strongly supported him.
An ordinary ninja squad facing Kato Dan could only be unilaterally slaughtered.
With even Purple Cat unreliable, how was Yoru supposed to face an elite jonin who mastered forbidden jutsu?
One more chapter tonight.
