The sudden evolution of Yohei's Susanoo caught every Root operative off guard. None of them were old enough to have seen the real thing in action, and reading about it in reports hadn't prepared them for the sheer pressure rolling off the construct now.
The skeletal form had grown thicker, denser, and the chakra pouring from it was noticeably stronger. Blood still streamed from the corners of Yohei's eyes, but the power radiating from him had clearly jumped.
"Change tactics," the cat-mask leader ordered. "He's burning through chakra fast. Drag this out until he collapses."
Yohei felt the same pressure. He'd only managed to kill three of them so far, and the rest had already adapted to his style. They were staying at range, wearing him down instead of committing to close combat.
He held out as long as he could, then slowly released the Susanoo. The massive warrior flickered and dissolved into blue sparks.
The Root ninja surged forward the second the defense vanished, closing in again like wolves scenting weakness. Yohei staggered, breathing hard, and forced himself to trade blows with one of the jonin. At the last second he stopped dodging and drove his kunai straight through the man's heart while taking a blade to his own side.
The Root jonin stared at the weapon buried in his chest in disbelief. Then he dropped. No high-level medical support meant a pierced heart was fatal.
The cat-mask leader exhaled in relief. Two jonin and five chunin lost, but the Uchiha was dead. Mission mostly complete. He walked over to the body, pulled out a specialized container, and crouched down to harvest the Mangekyo.
The other surviving operatives formed a loose circle around him, weapons ready. No one wanted any last-second surprises.
The cat-mask leader pried open Yohei's eyelids. The Mangekyo pattern was still active. Odd, but not important. He reached for his tools.
Yohei's body shimmered and vanished like a mirage.
For a heartbeat the entire group just stared at the empty ground.
Then a figure stepped out from behind a tree. Yohei's hands were already moving.
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation.
Right eye boosted by Susanoo, the flames came out darker, hotter, and far more violent than normal. They roared forward in a solid wall, incinerating everything in front of him—trees, dirt, and the remaining Root chunin. The ones who didn't die instantly were reduced to charred corpses before they could scream.
Yohei dropped to one knee, gasping. His Mangekyo flickered and collapsed back to three tomoe. Blood poured freely down his face. Izanagi on the right eye plus Susanoo on the left had drained him almost dry.
He backed away slowly, eyes locked on the burning wreckage. If anyone was still alive in that fire, he was finished.
The ground beneath his feet suddenly shifted. A hand shot up and grabbed his ankle.
Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.
In an instant he was yanked underground up to his neck. Only his head remained above the surface.
Two jonin had survived by diving underground during the fire blast. They'd used the chaos to get close while Yohei's attention was on the flames.
Now they moved without hesitation. Two kunai flashed toward his exposed head from different angles.
Yohei burned the last of his strength. A skeletal Susanoo arm materialized just in time to block the strikes. At the same moment he activated the special Flying Thunder God kunai in his pouch and sent the signal.
Taiichi had been training hard near the northern camp when the memory hit. One second he was mid-swing; the next he was gone in a yellow flash.
He reappeared right above Yohei's buried head. His short blade moved on pure reflex, knocking both kunai aside before his feet even touched the ground.
He landed, scanned the area, then glanced down at the head sticking out of the dirt.
"New welcome ritual?" he asked dryly.
Yohei gave a weak, blood-stained grin. "Yeah. Get me out of here. It's cramped as hell."
Taiichi stomped the ground. Earth chakra surged and spat Yohei out like the land itself was rejecting him. A shadow clone appeared, slung the exhausted Uchiha over its shoulder, and started moving back.
"Careful," Yohei warned as the clone carried him away. "They're Root."
Taiichi's expression changed instantly. The casual air vanished. So that explained why they hadn't run.
He turned to face the two surviving jonin, short blade spinning once in his hand. Phoenix Sage Fire orbs formed around him in a glowing swarm and launched forward like burning meteors.
The two jonin were already spent from fighting Yohei. Against a fresh Taiichi they lasted less than a minute. One after the other they fell, blades buried in vital spots.
Taiichi checked their mouths, pulled out their tongues, and confirmed the curse seal under each one. Root. No doubt.
He sealed both bodies into a storage scroll, then walked over to where his clone had set Yohei against a tree. The clone had already stopped the worst of the bleeding. Taiichi took over, focusing green chakra on the damaged eyes.
"You almost went blind pulling that stunt," he said flatly. "Next time you wait until you're actually about to die before calling me. Not when you're already half-dead."
Yohei stayed quiet for a moment, then let out a tired sigh. "They set me up from the start. Real mission scroll, real contact code… but it was Root the whole time. I almost didn't make it."
Taiichi kept healing. "Danzo's reach is long, even from the western front. We're not letting this slide quietly. We make it loud. Public. Let the whole village see what his people tried to do to one of their own on the front lines."
Yohei looked up at him, some of the gray finally leaving his face.
Taiichi met his eyes. "You got betrayed by some assholes wearing the same headband. That doesn't mean the whole village is rotten. So stop looking like someone kicked your dog. Next time they come for you, or for any of us, we hit back harder. Simple as that."
Yohei managed a small, genuine nod.
While the two of them rested and planned in the Land of Rain, several hours earlier back at the southern camp, Obito had been complaining loudly to Minato about how boring everything was.
That was when he mentioned Yohei had already been gone on a mission for two days.
Minato's expression sharpened instantly.