Uchiha Tamahiro's face was filled with fear. His eyebrows furrowed as his usually innocent, childlike face turned serious. Breathing heavily, he dodged the vines' attacks with great effort.
That night when they assassinated Danzō, the old man transformed into a tree, leaving an unforgettable impression on him.
Other Uchiha members wanted to step in, but when they saw that Kuroki wasn't moving, and that the vine-manipulating technique looked familiar, they hesitated and watched from the sidelines.
The Uchiha stared at Kuroki face, recalling the scene from last night when he used "Wood Release." Their pupils showed clear signs of shock.
It wasn't just Obito who was surprised by Kuroki 's hidden abilities. Even the Uchiha who followed him were unsure how many more tricks this former police force captain had up his sleeve.
Soon after, the vines split into five, becoming smaller, more agile, and flexible.
One of the vines caught Tamahiro off guard, tripping him up easily at his landing point.
The other four vines swarmed him instantly, suspending Tamahiro in the air from a tree.
Gritting his teeth, Tamahiro's face showed fear of the plants as he struggled and squirmed, but to no avail.
The Uchiha gasped in surprise.
Only then did Tamahiro's two subordinates rush forward, trying to figure out a way to save their captain.
After some struggle, Kuroki could clearly feel the toll of converting chakra into both Earth and Water-nature chakra simultaneously, infusing it into the ground to manipulate the plants. It consumed chakra at an alarming rate, more than maintaining the "Dark Moon" enchantment.
He quickly dispelled the vines.
Plop!
The vines suddenly loosened, losing all vitality.
"I thought I was going to die... I thought I was going to die!" Tamahiro collapsed to the ground, looking up at the green vines hanging from the tree, his forehead dripping with sweat as he breathed a sigh of relief.
Kuroki remained calm, shaking his head. In his mind, he evaluated that this "Wood Release" was still a bit weak.
He hoped it would continue to grow stronger over time. Otherwise, it would only serve as a control technique, easily dodged by highly agile shinobi.
Tamahiro had been injured and hadn't activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, which is why he fell for the vine trap. If it happened again, he wouldn't fall for it.
"Let's go, keep moving!" Kuroki said calmly, carrying Kurenai Yuhi on his back as he looked at the halted group.
The group moved forward again.
"Big brother, did you see that just now? The vines came to life! I suspect this is Danzō's doing!" Tamahiro instantly appeared beside his older brother, chattering nonstop.
Kurenai struggled to hold back her laughter.
"..." Kuroki .
There's no way Danzō could be blamed for this.
"It was me," Kuroki said succinctly.
Tamahiro's pupils widened as he exclaimed, "Big brother, you can use Wood Release now!!"
Last night, he had passed out from his severe injuries and the torment of Brahma's Sound Technique, so he wasn't aware that Kuroki had used vines to deal with White Zetsu.
Amid Tamahiro's constant exclamations, the group continued deeper into the forest, startling countless birds and animals.
...
In Kikyo Castle, the streets were bustling with people. Wooden houses lined the streets, creating a peaceful atmosphere.
"A big event just happened in the Land of Fire! A new rogue ninja has appeared in Konoha!"
"It's normal for rogue ninjas to emerge from the ninja villages. The Five Great Shinobi Villages have rogue ninjas every year. What's so special about this?"
"This time it's different. The rogue ninja is a newly classified S-Rank! We don't know exactly what they did yet."
"S-Rank???"
"Is that for real?"
"Yeah, my cousin who sells straw sandals in Konoha just came back yesterday, and he said things have been pretty tense there lately!"
The chatter in a teahouse quickly attracted a large group of onlookers, each of them looking concerned.
When people heard "S-Rank rogue ninja," they immediately thought of Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin.
Orochimaru had secretly conducted experiments on humans in Konoha. When his heinous deeds were exposed, his powerful abilities and ruthless nature earned him the rare classification as an S-Rank rogue ninja of Konoha.
But what kind of horrific crimes had this newly minted S-Rank rogue ninja committed?
This was what the onlookers were most curious about.
"Konoha Daily News! Extra, extra! A criminal has committed heinous acts! Assassinated high-ranking officials in Konoha! Massacred civilians! His methods were extremely brutal! Another S-Rank rogue ninja emerges from Konoha!!"
"Konoha Daily News! Extra, extra…"
A newspaper-selling ninja, dressed in a gray uniform, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and goggles that looked like windbreakers, held a stack of newspapers at a street corner, shouting loudly.
"So it really is an S-Rank rogue ninja. I'll take a copy!"
"Hey, I need one too!"
"Please make sure I get one!"
"…"
Within three minutes, the newspaper ninja's stack of papers was completely sold out.
This was his fastest sellout since Orochimaru defected from Konoha!
After changing into a fresh set of clothes and putting on his pants, the weary Dr. Nake held a copy of the "Konoha Express" in his hands, his expression exhausted as he scanned the front page.
Suddenly, his eyes widened, and his breathing quickened.
With swift reflexes, Nake immediately covered up the photo in the wanted section.
Just the headlines alone were like a thousand explosive tags going off in his mind.
The news was brief.
It described a few details about an S-rank rogue ninja, Uchiha Kuroki , leading a nine-member Uchiha squad in assassinating Konoha's elder and massacre Konoha civilians. However, it left out many key details.
For example, who among the Konoha elder had been assassinated, whether they were dead or alive, how many civilians were killed, from which family, and the extent of the casualties.
All of it was unknown.
Being sharp-minded, Nake knew that the fewer words in a news story, the bigger the event!
Kuroki ...
That name really did sound familiar!
Nake swallowed hard and slowly moved his hand away, his eyes narrowing as he nervously looked at the first photo in the wanted section.
It was Uchiha Kuroki —short black hair, delicate features, handsome face, and pale skin!
Below the wanted poster:
Wanted Status: Permanently Active.
Bounty: 50,000,000 Ryo! Fifty million Ryo, the currency of the Land of Fire!
Nake's heart raced as his thoughts flooded back to last night when he had interacted with those rogue ninjas.
This newly wanted S-rank rogue ninja, Uchiha Kuroki , aside from being arrogant and cold, wasn't nearly as vicious as the newspaper had portrayed.
Otherwise, Nake would've been dead last night.
In fact, those people were fairly easy to get along with.
They didn't look down on him as a refugee or a hunter.
Though the person who captured him did beat him up, they didn't go too far. That was only because he had acted improperly.
And that patient with the sharp tongue? Sure, the things they said were harsh, but they were true.
Nake had even taught tsundere young girl how to properly use bandages.
In the end, without that group of rogue ninjas, he might have been killed by Konoha's Jonin last night.
Could a group of people like that really commit a massacre of civilians?
Nake found it hard to believe.
Furrowing his brow, he suddenly felt as though he had aged ten years. He knew there was a massive secret hidden in all of this.
But it had nothing to do with him as a civilian.
With that in mind, Nake let out a long sigh, crumpled the "Konoha Express" into a ball, and tossed it into the trash can.
"This kind of thing… best not to read at all."
Walking down the street, Nake overheard a woman sigh in the distance:
"Such a good-looking person, yet they committed such atrocities against civilians… It just doesn't seem right."
On the street, passersby hurried along, afraid they might encounter the dangerous rogue ninjas featured in the newspaper!
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