"Oh, you have a new mission!"
"This time, you're going to the border of the Land of Water. Something unexpected happened there."
Shihouin Naraku had thought that after reporting his mission, he could go back to rest, but before he could leave, Sarutobi Hiruzen assigned him a new task.
Damn!
I just got back!
I fought with a bunch of enemies and barely made it through.
I haven't even had a chance to catch my breath, and you're already sending me out of the village?
"Don't worry," Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled, puffing on his pipe. "You can leave before tonight."
Should I thank you for that?
Naraku cursed under his breath as he turned away. Being in Anbu was actually busier than working in the medical department!
Third, Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen paid no attention to Naraku's dissatisfaction. After all, Naraku was also from the Hokage lineage—these were trivial matters.
"I guess we'll just have to wait for that snake Orochimaru to come and comfort the old man!"
Naraku walked out of the Hokage building, muttering curses and looking back at the tower behind him.
"After all, it's the tradition of the Hokage for the apprentice to kill the master. This is just maintaining that tradition."
Because of the new mission, Shihouin Naraku didn't stay in the village for long and soon set off with an Anbu team.
However, he replaced some members and took the new team with him to the border of the Land of Water for the mission.
This could also be considered a bonding process. After completing two missions, he would be sufficiently familiar with his subordinates.
...
Upon arriving at the border of the Land of Water, Naraku separated from his team to gather intelligence.
"He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it..."
"Yes, there was a long scratch across his forehead protector..."
"..."
Isn't that the uniform of the Akatsuki?
Based on the description of the forehead protector, it must be Kakuzu...
Naraku was stunned when he heard the information from the civilian and then quickly regained his composure.
He hadn't expected to encounter Akatsuki members during what should have been a routine mission!
He casually gave the civilian some money, and after the informant left, Naraku carefully searched his memories.
At this time, the Akatsuki organization...
They should still be recruiting members, taking on dangerous missions from various countries, and saving money to buy explosive tags for Konan.
"Wait, let me think about who appeared first?"
That's right—Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame!
That was after Orochimaru launched the "Konoha Crush" operation when Uchiha Itachi appeared to warn Danzo not to harm Uchiha Sasuke.
"Why do I feel like the curtain on the shinobi world is slowly rising..."
Thinking about this, Naraku felt excited at the prospect of witnessing historical events with his own eyes.
Soon, the other Konoha Anbu members also found the battle site, and Naraku rushed over.
"Captain, according to our investigation, a fierce battle took place here..."
"Both sides used four types of ninjutsu, including lightning style, fire style, water style, and earth style, and they engaged in close combat!"
When Naraku arrived at the battle site, he confirmed that Kakuzu had indeed fought an enemy there.
The other jutsu types were harder to identify, but the damage caused by Fire Style to the environment was clearly the result of powerful techniques!
Naraku had just used similar jutsu when fighting the Iwagakure ninjas, so he recognized the signs.
Scanning the surroundings, Naraku examined the evidence with interest.
"Very powerful!"
"The range is impressive enough, that is..."
The Fire Style: Intelligent Hard Work used by Kakuzu was certainly powerful, but as Naraku carefully examined the surrounding environment, he felt it wasn't quite as devastating as expected.
"Is it because of how the Mera-Mera Fruit enhances my Fire Style?"
"Or did Kakuzu hold back his true strength?"
After contemplating for a while, Naraku became curious about who had been fighting Kakuzu. Who could stand against him?
The fact that someone could fight to this extent meant his opponent was at least Jōnin level, otherwise they would have been killed quickly, and it would have been impossible to cause such extensive damage to the surroundings.
However, during this period, the Akatsuki organization accepted very dangerous missions to raise funds—some were even war-level operations—so facing strong opponents was expected.
Of course, in the end, it was clear that Kakuzu had won.
"This mission is unexpectedly simple..."
No, that's not right. If they had arrived earlier, they would have likely encountered Kakuzu directly!
Then, this mission wouldn't have been easy at all!
In an earlier stage of his career, Naraku had conflicts with Kakuzu, and he wasn't sure if he could defeat him.
However, he was well aware of Kakuzu's weaknesses. With careful planning and some luck, he might have a decent chance of winning.
After gathering more intelligence with his subordinates, Naraku led the Anbu team back to Konohagakure.
In the following days, Naraku began going on missions frequently.
It was exhausting work, but he managed to learn everything about his subordinates in the shortest possible time.
...
On this particular day, Naraku had been busy for a long time and finally had some free time.
After two days of good rest and deepening his relationship with Uzuki Yugao, Naraku began focusing on his personal business.
After visiting a ninja tool shop and buying the materials he needed, Naraku returned to the Anbu headquarters.
With some adjustments and using the purchased ingredients, Naraku created a small bottle of red liquid.
This red liquid was one of the necessary components to unlock the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
That's right—Naraku was planning to remove the seal from several ninjas who were originally from the Foundation!
Of course, not all of them.
During this period, Naraku realized that not all members of the Foundation were loyal to Danzo!
Some ninjas had submitted to Danzo because of his former power, while others were forced to obey him due to threats against their families.
There were even some ninjas who were originally loyal to Danzo but became increasingly dissatisfied with the Foundation's dark and cruel methods and were actually relieved to return to regular Anbu.
For these people, Naraku decided to remove the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal selectively.
After all, the secrets they were hiding concerned Danzo, not him, so he wasn't afraid of exposure.
The key was that after solving this problem, he might gain some unexpected advantages.
"Tell Yue to come see me!"
"Yes, sir!"
In the past weeks, Anbu had been extremely busy with frequent missions. Now the workload had eased somewhat, though many operatives remained at the Anbu base.
There was soon a knock at the door. The rhythmic pattern identified the visitor as "Yue."
"Come in!"
"Excuse me!"
Yue, with her long hair tied behind her back, stood quietly before Naraku.
Yamanaka Yue!
A ninja from the Yamanaka clan!
The Yamanaka clan excelled at controlling enemies' minds, easily entering the minds of the dead to read memories. They could also use this ability to transmit intelligence and possess top-level sensory abilities.
Therefore, Yamanaka clan members were absolutely indispensable to both the Anbu and Foundation organizations!
Their sensory abilities were useful in countless situations.
The ability to read memories was extremely powerful—perhaps the ultimate interrogation technique. Even if someone died, as long as the body remained, key information could still be extracted!
Shihouin Naraku managed the "Corpse Disposal Team" in the Medical Department. This team's role was to handle corpses and prevent the Yamanaka clan from extracting intelligence from them.
For this very reason, the Corpse Disposal Team often provided exceptional talent to Anbu.
These facts highlighted Yamanaka Yue's importance.
But why had Naraku chosen to help her remove the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal?
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