Chapter 64: Pigeon

Considering Habara's age in this lifetime, he was currently in his "growth period," so his chakra levels were constantly increasing. Chakra was a mysterious thing. Physical growth led to an increase in chakra, and continuous mental strengthening also led to an increase in chakra.

However, no matter how much he grew, Habara's progress could only be described as "mortal," a drop in the bucket... Habara wished his battery level would never drop below 70%, but that was pure wishful thinking.

Furthermore, after returning from the Uchiha mission, Habara's "legend of invincibility" in ANBU continued. Taijutsu was something that relied on either experience or talent. And Habara? He didn't seem to have much talent and was currently accumulating experience.

Maybe, if he got beaten up enough, quantity would eventually lead to a qualitative change?

During the previous mission, Habara had learned that Uchiha Sasuke had been born. This was undoubtedly a landmark event, signifying that certain major events were quietly approaching... Habara didn't believe his tiny butterfly wings could flap a Uchiha fanatic back onto the right path, so what was supposed to happen was almost destined to occur.

The Nine-Tails attack was one of the few events in the original story with a clearly defined time of occurrence. When did it happen? The day Naruto was born. And when was Naruto born?

You're asking the wrong person. Habara didn't know.

How could Habara possibly remember such a detail? He only remembered that Naruto was a few months younger than Sasuke. Sasuke's birth meant that Naruto's birth was imminent, and that meant the Nine-Tails attack was just around the corner.

So, in such a major event, what should Habara do, and what could he do? After thinking about it, he decided to do nothing, because he realized he couldn't do anything. To put it bluntly, with Habara's current strength, if he dared to get close to the Nine-Tails, it would be basically equivalent to suicide.

How should a ninja deal with a Tailed Beast? There were many methods, such as sealing jutsu, incredibly powerful offensive ninjutsu that exceeded the norm, extremely potent genjutsu, or the ability to engage in prolonged close-quarters combat... There were many methods, but Habara knew none of them. So, in the Nine-Tails attack, Habara had roughly two choices... either die or be a bystander.

Obviously, he didn't want to die.

After clearly understanding what "Kamui" was, the threat level of Uchiha Obito, who instigated the event, had plummeted. But the problem was that, regardless, the Nine-Tails' threat level was real and wouldn't diminish in the slightest.

Compared to worrying about Obito's combat power, Habara was actually more concerned about the Nine-Tails' combat power.

In fact, Habara had already done everything he could. He had subtly warned the Fourth Hokage, and that was already the best help he could offer.

If he said one more word, he would be the one in trouble. Ninjas wouldn't believe information with an unexplained source, and if that information came true, it would only mean that Habara was highly suspicious.

So, next, he just wanted to lie low and wait for the incident to be over.

However, it wasn't as if Konoha would cooperate with his wishes just because Habara wanted to stay out of trouble. His identity as an ANBU ninja prevented him from completely getting his way... Being an ANBU ninja wasn't just about standing guard or carrying out surveillance missions.

One day, just three days after the Uchiha mission had ended, Habara and his team were urgently summoned again.

Within minutes, several ANBU squads had assembled in the headquarters' underground space.

"Emergency mission!" a captain shouted.

Habara took a quick glance and couldn't help but twitch his eye. The scale of this looked like Naruto had been born prematurely because the assembled ANBU ninjas numbered over twenty.

Forget about dealing with the Nine-Tails; this number of people could at least raid the Root's headquarters.

A division captain announced the mission, and then he showed the official mission scroll to the several squad captains. It was signed by the Fourth Hokage... It was definitely an official mission; there wouldn't be any screw-ups this time.

"We have just received urgent intelligence from Sunagakure. According to this intelligence, Sunagakure is currently attempting to restore official communication channels with Kirigakure. Their intentions are unknown, but out of caution, we cannot ignore the potential threat that this communication, and even alliance, could pose to the Land of Fire and Konoha."

Habara didn't quite understand what this mission was about at first, but it was clear that this was intelligence obtained by a high-level Konoha spy in Sunagakure.

Geographically, the Land of Fire was sandwiched between the Land of Wind and the Land of Water. Although Konoha and Sunagakure, and Konoha and Kirigakure, had entered a de facto state of truce, and the situation seemed favorable, it was precisely at this time that Sunagakure's actions were most worthy of vigilance.

Hooking up with someone behind my back? What are you trying to do?

That was probably Konoha's mindset.

"According to this intelligence, Sunagakure has already dispatched a messenger to Kirigakure. This messenger will depart from the southeastern coast of the Land of Wind, cross the South Sea by water, then land in the southeastern inner bay of the Land of Fire, briefly traverse the Land of Bears, enter the East Sea, and head straight for the Land of Water..." the division captain continued.

Taking the sea route south of the Land of Fire indicated that Sunagakure was being very cautious. They placed great importance on the secrecy and safety of this mission, which made the communication between Suna and Kiri even more noteworthy... Sneaky, weren't they? They must be up to no good.

And after hearing the word "messenger," Habara seemed to recall something.

"So, our next mission is obvious – intercept the messenger."

Uh...

Sunagakure just wanted to send a letter to Kirigakure. Was it really necessary to kill the messenger? What if the messenger was delivering a "peace treaty"? Wouldn't that... Wait, whether Sunagakure and Kirigakure were at peace or not seemed to have nothing to do with Konoha.

Even if Sunagakure and Kirigakure continued to be at war, they couldn't possibly fight on the Land of Fire's territory. Conversely, if Sunagakure and Kirigakure were aligned, then Konoha could be in trouble.

It could only be said that ANBU was ANBU, after all. They were all about doing shady things.

Dispatching over twenty ANBU ninjas at once showed Konoha's emphasis on this mission and also indicated that the messenger should be quite powerful. But the problem was...

If they only knew the general route, Konoha's ANBU might not be able to encounter the messenger. The messenger was traveling mostly by sea, meaning Konoha needed to find someone at sea. Although, with a ninja's reconnaissance abilities, this certainly wouldn't be like finding a needle in a haystack, it still wouldn't be easy.

What Habara didn't know was that the division captain in charge of this mission, the ninja who was currently explaining the mission, had eyes beneath his mask where the iris and pupil were almost the same color, a very bright white.

"Any questions?" Seeing that no one had any doubts, the division captain immediately ordered, "Move out!"

Habara followed behind his captain, watching the ANBU ninjas file out. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Twenty-four again. That number isn't very auspicious."

However...

Twenty-four ANBU ninjas, and the twenty-four-man team Habara had previously been a part of – were they the same concept?