The Yellow Dog Brigade returned to the frontline camp with significant spoils of war.
In the low hills of central Land of Whirlpools, the frontline camp tents were pitched in an area with good drainage.
Inside the command tent, Yellow Dog met with Danzo and Uchiha Murakumo.
Uchiha Murakumo looked over the mission report scroll:
"The ANBU Yellow Dog Brigade successfully killed the master of the Twin Swords Hiramekarei, during this mission. Additionally, by utilizing the Twin Swords Hiramekarei, you ambushed three Mist Ninja brigades. Two Mist Jonin and over 40 Mist Ninja were killed. Meanwhile, your brigade suffered only 20 casualties."
Uchiha Murakumo put down the scroll, his eyes filled with surprise.
If an ordinary Hidden Leaf brigade had completed this mission, it would have been enough to produce a war hero. However, the Yellow Dog Brigade was an ANBU unit; they generally did not publicize their military achievements and tried to remain hidden.
Yellow Dog said, "Lord Commander, Lord Deputy Commander, this only refers to the first part of my operational plan. The upcoming battle is the key to the plan. Now that the Twin Swords Hiramekarei is in our hands, having provoked and crushed the Mist Ninja this time, the next Mist Hidden Village sword recovery force will certainly be even larger. It won't be something a single brigade like mine can handle. We can use the Twin Swords Hiramekarei to design a larger-scale ambush. Lord Commander, Lord Deputy Commander, I would like to apply for a massive ambush operation involving at least five brigades."
Uchiha Murakumo felt a surge of excitement.
An ambush involving five brigades would mean nearly 300 shinobi participating. If the tactics were sound, it was possible to kill hundreds of Mist Ninja. If this ambush was a great success, it would be enough to change the course of the war. The Mist Hidden Village had sent over 3,000 Mist Ninja, and after several months of attrition, both sides had suffered casualties numbering in the high hundreds. If another four or five hundred Mist Ninja died, the Hidden Leaf would have a massive advantage.
Fighting a war of attrition with the Mist Ninja was too agonizing for the Uchiha clan. The Fire Style of ordinary Uchiha members was suppressed by Water Style, and the Sharingan was countered by the Hidden Mist Jutsu.
Although tempted, Uchiha Murakumo did not speak rashly but instead looked at Danzo beside him.
Being in the same tent as Danzo was a form of top-tier torture. Danzo rarely spoke, and the air pressure in the tent was very low. When he did occasionally speak, it was usually to offer sharp criticism of someone.
Uchiha Murakumo could not leave the main camp to fight on the front lines. Once he left, mission distribution would be completely controlled by Danzo, which was a terrifying thought. Who knew what dangerous missions Danzo would send Uchiha shinobi on. Uchiha Murakumo knew that Danzo was the person among the high-ranking officials who loathed the Uchiha the most, bar none.
Princess Tsunade was much more pleasant; after arriving at the front lines, she stayed in the medical tent and ignored the troubles of the command center.
Danzo stared at the scroll for a moment, then looked up at Yellow Dog and said, "Fine, I agree to your operational plan."
To one side, B slightly tilted his head and immediately turned back.
Yagami noticed B's movement and understood in his heart that Danzo's decision must have surprised B.
A battle involving a single brigade was not enough to make Yellow Dog a Deputy Minister. If he led a large-scale ambush, Yellow Dog's prestige would be greatly enhanced, making his promotion to Deputy Minister legitimate. In a few years, perhaps the Third Hokage would find an excuse to kick Danzo out of the ANBU and have him leave with the Root.
Yagami guessed that the Third Hokage was starting to prepare for the postwar situation of the Hidden Leaf. For the Third Hokage, Danzo's continued control of the ANBU during peacetime meant he held too much power. This wasn't like the period right after the Second Hokage died when Hiruzen Sarutobi had to rely on the other guards of the Second Hokage to control the Hidden Leaf. After the baptism of war, the Third Hokage's power was now secure.
Yellow Dog could not help but stand straighter, waiting for Danzo's orders.
Danzo said, "The ANBU Yellow Dog Brigade, the Uchiha Tohka and Uchiha Dao brigades, and the Moonlight Sō and Yamashiro Tera brigades—a total of five brigades. Complete the ambush operation as soon as possible."
Yellow Dog visibly relaxed. It went smoothly; Consultant Danzo did not make things difficult for him.
Hearing that he was allowed to allocate forces, Uchiha Atsushi also had some thoughts. He could let the younger generation of the clan participate in the ambush to share some of the glory.
Uchiha Atsushi said, "Let's go, Brigade Commander Yellow Dog. I will take you to the nearby Jonin class tent to further implement this ambush mission."
After everyone left the tent, B hesitated several times, wanting to say something to Danzo.
The Third Hokage had not approved B's application to be an official ANBU Brigade Commander; he was only an Acting Brigade Commander. Among the several squad commanders, there were those who were half-hearted and waiting for an official commander.
Why did Lord Danzo agree to Yellow Dog's operational plan so easily? Lord Danzo had said before that Yellow Dog must be stopped from becoming the ANBU Deputy Minister. Yellow Dog's identity was too special; if Yellow Dog became the Deputy Minister, the ANBU would be entirely controlled by the Sarutobi father and son, making it impenetrable.
B did not rashly ask or remind him of anything; Consultant Danzo must have his own considerations.
Danzo turned and said, "B, go and activate the Priestess. Have the Priestess contact Fuguki Suikazan."
B's pupils trembled. They were actually activating the Walking Priestess? She was the Root's most important spy in the Mist Hidden Village. Fuguki Suikazan was ruthless and had sold intelligence on the Mist Hidden Village several times for profit.
"Yes! I will get on it immediately!"
Inside the Jonin class tent, several Jonin gathered.
Yagami did not know the two Uchiha Jonin, but he knew Moonlight Sō and Yamashiro Tera; they were followers of Sakumo Hatake. Danzo had picked two civilian Jonin, and he had specifically picked Sakumo Hatake's people.
Combined with the Uchiha whom Danzo loathed, Yagami felt a bad omen in his heart.
Yellow Dog said to the four Jonin, "I will arrange for Fox to lure the enemy deep, drawing the Mist Ninja to a place far from the coast."
Uchiha Atsushi and the four Jonin all looked at Fox. This was Yellow Dog's capable subordinate, Copper Fox. If someone else were to perform this bait mission, it would be a near-certain death sentence. Since Copper Fox was famous for his absolute defense, he probably wouldn't die.
Yellow Dog continued, "The five of us will formulate the operational plan, select a battlefield that favors us, allocate personnel, and design tactics."
After the meeting, Yagami told the Fox squad to go to the training ground.
Standing before the squad, Yagami said:
"After returning to the village from the Land of Rivers battlefield, I applied for another round of ninjutsu for you, including Earth Style: Earth Style Wall. Earth Style counters Water Style, and Earth Style Wall will play an even more important role in the upcoming battles. During the ambush, two people from our squad were sacrificed. I hope you will survive and become stronger and stronger. Next, we will conduct special training for Earth Style Wall, striving to effectively block the Water Style impact of the Mist Ninja."
Yagami signaled an Earth Style shinobi and a Water Style shinobi to perform a practice match.
"Antelope, you use Water Style to simulate the Mist Ninja. Gorilla, you use Earth Style to defend."
Antelope used Water Trumpet, rushing toward Gorilla's Earth Style Wall. Antelope was stronger, and Gorilla's Earth Style Wall quickly collapsed.
Yagami spoke again, "Gorilla, change the chakra nature transformation of the Earth Style Wall. Use an Earth Style Wall just like mine."
After Yagami performed the hand signs, an Earth Style Wall appeared in front of him. The difference was that Yagami's Earth Style Wall was trapezoidal—wide at the bottom and narrow at the top.
Yagami thought to himself that this trapezoidal gravity dam was much more useful than a single wall.
Gorilla didn't understand why, but after several attempts, he also created a trapezoidal Earth Style Wall.
Antelope attacked Gorilla's Earth Style Wall with Water Trumpet again. The others were surprised to find that the trapezoidal Earth Style Wall actually blocked Antelope's Water Style. By the time the Water Style: Water Trumpet vanished, two-thirds of the trapezoidal Earth Style Wall remained very stable.
Yagami gestured for the Earth Style shinobi to listen carefully:
"A vertical Earth Style Wall is simple to release, but the force distribution is unreasonable. A trapezoidal Earth Style Wall is more effective against Water Style. The greater the water pressure, the more pressure is applied to the trapezoidal slope, which firmly presses the Earth Style Wall into the ground."
"So when facing Water Style, simply adding a bit of chakra nature transformation can Beld better results. I've heard that some shinobi carve dog heads on their Earth Style Wall; that is purely a bad habit, a waste of chakra and effort, and must never be emulated. Optimizing your Earth Style ninjutsu properly can provide better protection for your teammates."
The full moon was like a silver plate; Yagami had once again reached the night of the full moon. With a new chance for resurrection, Yagami felt much more secure in his heart.
***
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