Yakushi Nono glanced at Fox and said, "I have heard much of your name, Bronze Fox—the man with the Absolute Defense."
"As expected of the Walking Priestess, your intelligence is very accurate," Yagami replied. "Informing Hatake Sakumo's team that Ryujin headed to the Land of Waves would save quite a bit of trouble."
Before D could interrupt, Yagami changed his tone:
"Wait, I can't do that. My mission, and D's, is to gather intelligence on Hatake Sakumo, including their reconnaissance and analytical capabilities. If this were any other mission, the ANBU would be obligated to assist a Hidden Leaf squad. But since it's Hatake Sakumo's team, the ANBU cannot help. In that case, we'll wait and see how long it takes them to discover this information on their own."
Hearing Fox's choice, D said nothing more.
Yakushi Nono left the area. Yagami noticed that as she turned, her foot dragged slightly on the ground, leaving a mark that pointed in a specific direction.
Late that night, Nono waited at a pre-arranged spot in the mountains. She had left a signal for Fox, wondering if he would understand it. After waiting for over two hours, she finally saw him. The ANBU Fox appeared with a Body Flicker.
Yagami noticed that Nono looked different from their meeting during the day; her features and skin tone had changed again. It was hard to imagine that the thin, dark-skinned girl from earlier and this fair-skinned, slightly plump girl now were the same person. It was a marvelous secret technique.
Once she confirmed it was him, Nono asked, "Fox, why did you donate to the orphanage and leave a letter?"
"Isn't a donation a good thing? Relying on the mission rewards from you and Kurumi alone won't support all those children."
Nono replied, "I am emphasizing the fact that you left a letter! If my contact with the ANBU is exposed, Consultant Danzo will not hesitate to seize all the children from the orphanage and send them to Shin's laboratory."
"D said you wander among enemy villages and don't understand the Hidden Leaf; it seems he was wrong if you even know about Shin's lab," Yagami observed. Since Nono didn't respond, he continued:
"When we met in the Land of Whirlpools, you feared Root's mastery of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, so you revealed the location of their Uzumaki research base to me. You understand Danzo's terror better than I do. When it comes to dealing with Danzo, we share a common interest."
"I am here on behalf of Lord Yellow Dog to specifically invite you to provide certain intelligence regarding Danzo. You don't want to be completely controlled by the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, do you? You don't want the children of the orphanage to be used as cannon fodder and death soldiers by Danzo, right? Trust Lord Yellow Dog, and trust me."
"Our moral baseline may be low, but it is slightly higher than Danzo's. We would never do something like kidnapping orphanage children."
Yagami layered his defenses, using Yellow Dog to back his actions. When dealing with someone like Yakushi Nono, one must mix truth with lies; if you are purely sincere, she will suspect a trap. If you are eighty percent truthful and twenty percent deceptive, she will evaluate it herself, making a successful cooperation more likely.
Since Yellow Dog became the ANBU Vice Commander, he had taken much of Danzo's power. A life-and-death struggle between the two was inevitable. By representing Yellow Dog, Fox's actions against Danzo became logical. Yagami couldn't exactly tell Nono that he was fighting Danzo to avenge the Uzumaki clan or for peace and justice in the shinobi world.
Nono thought for a full minute before asking, "What intelligence do you want?"
"I want intelligence on all members of Root," Yagami said.
"That's impossible. I don't know them all myself."
Yagami thought for a moment and added, "If Root ninjas leave the village, can you notify me?"
Assassinating Shimura Tan and Sarutobi Yui wasn't something he could do frequently, or it would trigger a frantic retaliatory investigation by the Five Great Clans or the entire Hidden Leaf.
However, targeting Root ninjas would involve much less pressure. It was common for Root members to die on missions; after all, every task they performed was life-threatening. When they take others' lives, it's inevitable they might lose their own.
What Yagami needed to do was not passively wait for investigation and revenge from the Five Great Clans, but like Hatake Sakumo, take the initiative—using offense as defense. Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others were currently so dominant because of their formidable strength.
By continuously weakening them and teaching them lessons with kunai and death, perhaps they would eventually be willing to listen to reason once they were weak enough.
"You want intelligence on Root ninjas leaving the village?" Nono said. "I might not be able to obtain it in time."
Hearing that she didn't flatly refuse, Yagami said:
"Not necessarily in time? That means there's a possibility. Yakushi Nono, you hold many secrets; Danzo will one day kill you to silence you. Don't leave things to chance.
Collaborating with me regarding Danzo may not be your only way out, but it is at least an extremely precious opportunity. Besides Lord Yellow Dog behind me, who else has the ability to oppose Danzo? Who else has the motivation?"
"Many ninjas retire from Root every year, and Lord Yellow Dog doesn't go around silencing anyone. His ambitions go far beyond just being a small ANBU official, so he wouldn't resort to assassinating subordinates to keep them quiet.
Ninjas who leave the ANBU remain an important part of Lord Yellow Dog's influence. I hope you can recognize the situation and seize this valuable opportunity to cooperate with him."
Nono thought it over once more and tossed him a scroll. Yagami opened it to find... a menu? The orphanage's menu?
Nono explained, "Pay attention to the daily menu posted at the orphanage. Sometimes, I will hide coded messages within it."
Yagami realized that although Nono wasn't in the Hidden Leaf Village, she must have some connection to the orphanage—perhaps something like his Reverse Summoning technique that allowed her to transmit information regardless of distance.
By having him watch the menu, it also meant that if the orphans were eating poorly, he'd feel obligated to donate something. After all, Fox and Yellow Dog claimed their moral baseline was much higher than Danzo's and that they still possessed a bit of humanity.
Nono asked, "Are you going to kill D this time? He is a ninja of the Shimura clan, skilled in Wind Style."
'Skilled in Wind Style?' Yagami wondered if D could provide him with a Proficiency-level Wind Style ninjutsu.
"Of course I won't kill D this time," Yagami said. "If D dies, wouldn't it be obvious that I'm the problem?"
Nono asked curiously, "Could you not just kill D and frame Hatake Sakumo?"
Yagami thought: 'Of course I can't frame Sakumo; that's my 'Sakumo the Great'.'
"Is there even a need to frame Hatake Sakumo? Shimura Danzo has long since hated him to the bone. Sakumo has designs on the Fourth Hokage position; he is an enemy of the high-ranking officials. There's no need for framing."
Seeing Fox refer to Danzo by name, Nono noted the detail that Yellow Dog and Danzo were already irreconcilable within the ANBU.
...
Yagami returned to his hiding spot. He didn't know when D would realize he had left. D asked, "Fox, where did you go?"
Yagami glanced at D and said:
"If Shin were here, perhaps he would be qualified to ask about my movements. Am I, a dignified ANBU squad leader, supposed to report my whereabouts to you? You should focus on how to replace Shin as soon as possible."
"You!" D was furious, but he could do nothing against Fox, who was Yellow Dog's favorite.
The next morning, Hatake Sakumo's team entered the docks. It seemed they had discovered Ryujin wasn't in Unoya Port city but had left with a specific ship.
Gekko Munen's reconnaissance skills were excellent; in a completely foreign port, he had cleared the target's movements in just one night. Sakumo's team waited outside the docks for their target.
The days passed one by one.
The full moon was like a silver plate; Yagami had once again reached a full moon night. During these past few cycles, he had been using the system to supplement his strength. His last full moon draw had yielded Proficiency-level Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, enhancing the strength of his "White Ghost" persona.
For the White Ghost to effectively strike the Five Great Clans and Danzo's factions, that persona had to be powerful and completely distinct from his "Fox" identity.
This month, Yagami prepared to continue strengthening himself. Whether it was filling in his Lightning affinity, mastering a Proficiency-level Wind Style, or acquiring other abilities, he would decide based on the situation.