Chapter 37: Entrapment, Raging Pillars of Fire
With the combined power of the Sharingan's dynamic vision and the Byakugan's piercing gaze, Uchiha Tonan stood in the corner of his courtyard, calmly watching as dense swarms of chakra-packed insects surged toward him.
Just as the chakra-laced swarm neared his feet, Tonan dashed along the inner wall like a shinobi possessed, easily evading the black tide. All the while, he hurled kunai at Aburame Ryosuke, who stayed mobile, deftly bouncing across the rooftops like a well-trained flea.
"Persistent brat," Ryosuke muttered with growing irritation. "But this ends now."
Without a word, he formed hand seals, while a second group of insects silently buried themselves under the shadows ahead, waiting in ambush. Behind Tonan, the first horde gave chase. The plan was simple: trap the kid between two swarms like squashing a bug with other bugs.
Stomp.
Tonan suddenly slammed his foot down hard on the ground—right as Ryosuke completed his jutsu.
"Secret Technique: Insect Sphere!"
"Ahh!" Tonan cried out as the insects lunged forward, enveloping him from all sides like a plague of chakra-hungry locusts.
Ryosuke grinned behind his mask. Under his control, the parasites devoured Tonan's chakra at full force. It was over. The moment the bugs retreated back into his body, he walked forward confidently to knock Tonan out and carry him back to Root like a good little drone.
A live capture meant more points on the assessment. And Ryosuke was a loyal tool—he always polished himself to perfection.
But then—
"Tch…!" The parasites inside him flared with unnatural chakra.
"No—another genjutsu!"
Ryosuke immediately dispelled the illusion, only to find that Tonan had been a wooden decoy all along.
"Where is he?!" Ryosuke hissed.
He scanned the courtyard with deadly calm, trying to locate the boy. But there was nothing—just eerie silence.
Then—a shadow bloomed on the ground. Ryosuke's instincts kicked in, and he looked up.
Perched atop the roof, Tonan stood tall, bathed in cold moonlight. His Sharingan glowed with murderous clarity, like crimson lanterns in the dark.
Coo coo.
Several dark pigeons settled on Tonan's shoulders. Their eyes, too, blazed red with Sharingan—his summoned surveillance flock.
Tonan stared down. "In your next life, pick a smarter boss."
With a flick of his left hand, he started weaving hand signs with his right. As his arm moved, a bright glint flashed through the courtyard like a warning.
"What's that?!" Ryosuke muttered, alarmed.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
BOOM.
A serpent of fire slithered along chakra-infused wires Tonan had laid earlier using fuma shuriken, turning the courtyard into a flaming spider web.
"Shit!"
Ryosuke scrambled for safety. Using his insects now would be suicide—they'd burn before they could scatter.
Still, he wasn't giving up. "If I can just escape this trap… I can finish the mission!"
Far away, Aburame Torune stood atop a power pole, watching the flames. His eyes reflected the inferno below.
"One more minute, Ryosuke. If you're not done by then… don't blame me."
Whether the mission succeeded or failed, Ryosuke wasn't walking away from this. Danzo had sent Torune not to assist—but to clean up. The moment Ryosuke's name got close to exposure, the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal would activate and liquefy his brain like a jutsu-blender.
No evidence. No ties to Root.
Back in the Uchiha district, the fire finally alerted others. Patrol teams rushed toward Tonan's courtyard. At the front were Uchiha Fugaku and the Great Elder.
"Who dares attack us?" Fugaku growled, eyes narrowing.
The elder's face was grim. "We should've moved Tonan to the center of the district when we had the chance…"
Meanwhile, Ryosuke dodged fire and wire, his chakra nearly depleted. His only option was to unleash a jutsu that would end Tonan in one strike.
"Don't damage the eyes…" he reminded himself. "Just the body."
But from atop the burning rooftop, Tonan smirked.
The fish was in the net.
Without warning, Ryosuke's foot found no ground—he was falling.
"What the hell?!" he snarled mid-air. "A trap inside his own courtyard?!"
Desperately, he began the Insect Transformation Technique to scatter and escape.
But Tonan was already moving.
With a whip of his left hand, he pulled the chakra wire net tight. With his right, he flung kunai mid-air. They collided with previously thrown shuriken, boosting their momentum and tightening the trap even further.
Tonan leapt high and yanked the blazing net closed.
"Do it!"
Ryosuke gritted his teeth. "I'll sacrifice the bugs! I'm getting out!"
But Tonan's eyes narrowed.
He could feel Ryosuke's chakra shifting for the transformation. No way he'd let that happen.
"Lightning Style: Ground Travel!"
CRACKLE.
Bolts of lightning danced through the burning net. Insect clones or not, Ryosuke's parasites were packed too tightly together.
Some were electrocuted. Others sizzled mid-escape.
In that split-second hesitation, Ryosuke slipped—and fell straight into the trap.
Tonan instantly slammed a blazing and electrified net over the pit's entrance.
Splash.
Ryosuke blinked. "Water…? Is he trying to fry me alive?!"
But then—the smell hit him.
"No… no, no—this isn't water. This is oil…"
His heart sank.
No insects. No transformation. Nothing would work.
Fire and lightning hovered just above.
Sizzle.
Looking up, he saw a writhing wall of flame and bolts of electricity, laced with… explosive tags.
They were burning.
BOOOOM.
A thunderous explosion tore through the courtyard as a pillar of fire shot into the sky, a vertical inferno that lit up half of Konoha like a rogue signal flare.