At the same time, Kimimaro, Saya, and Reika were already cutting across the rocky slope toward the cavern, the distant echoes of fire and screams guiding them in.
Emi trailed behind, from a safe distance, at his order, Byakugan wide open to watch the field, her role not to fight but to observe, learn, and catch every detail.
Kimimaro's expression never shifted as he spoke, his tone cold, clipped, but decisive.
"The poison bug user looks vulnerable to genjutsu, but his Yamanaka partner can likely wake him. That means splitting them is the priority."
"Reika, you'll deal with the Yamanaka from a distance. His own weakness is large-scale ninjutsu. Don't get close to those near-range beams. Overwhelm him from afar, crush his rhythm, and freeze as much of the Aburame's poison mist as you can, too. I don't want us getting caught in it."
He flicked his eyes toward Saya, who grinned even before he finished.
"Saya, you're on the bug-user. Close-range pressure, more importantly, your genjutsu, whatever it takes, but be careful of his poisonous waves. If you draw his focus, I can cut down the Yamanaka directly. His genjutsu won't matter against me, and he has no answer to my taijutsu at close range."
The plan was clean, simple, sharp: Reika as the longer-range support, freezing terrain, and smothering the poison, while Saya and Kimimaro closed in to finish both.
Saya clicked her scythe against her shoulder, the grin widening.
"Finally, something fun. Don't complain if I make a mess out of your target instead."
Reika's golden eyes narrowed faintly, her voice quiet, even. "Understood. I'll freeze the field and keep them apart. But don't take unnecessary risks, both of you."
Kimimaro gave no more than a nod.
His focus was already forward, his bone blades sliding out with a low crackle.
The four of them approached the mouth of the cavern, the heat of fire and the faint violet shimmer leaking out, the echoes of battle still rolling through stone.
They were seconds away.
"Neither of them has the kind of overwhelming, wide-area power that could flatten a battlefield," Kimimaro said evenly, "but both carry near one-touch killing techniques, and their abilities complement each other well. They're both at an elite jōnin level and even stronger together. We can't underestimate them."
The two of them nodded, and together they moved to directly meet their newest, highest-quality sacrifices.
The cavern's walls shook as Kimimaro tore through them, his massive, make-shift kind of bone battering ram screeching against stone before bursting into the chamber in a spray of rubble and dust.
Saya's scythe swung wide behind him, slicing through the air with a gleam, while Reika's chakra shimmered faintly in the haze, the cold already gathering at her fingertips.
But even with the suppressive seals cloaking their approach, Junsaku's instincts didn't fail.
His senses prickled, and he snapped his head up in the final heartbeat, mind-threads flashing.
A silent command surged toward Tatsuma.
The Aburame reacted instantly, the faint violet shimmer thickening as his rinkaichū cloud expanded to choke the entire entryway that Kimimaro had made.
The poison pressed into the cave air in a suffocating tide, forcing Kimimaro's group to brace themselves right from the start.
At the same moment, Akane's strength gave way.
Her chakra reserves were scraped dry, every jutsu she'd forced out, leaving her trembling.
She collapsed onto her knees beside her father, her hands clawing at the dirt.
Her Sharingan still spun furiously, three tomoe burning even as the rest of her body screamed exhaustion.
She forced her eyes wide, scanning every flicker of haze, watching for the telltale glint of the nano-insects crawling invisible through the air.
For a moment, her chest lifted with a spark of hope.
Who were these new arrivals? Potential Allies? Other hunters?
Their entrance was violent, decisive, nothing like the chaos of their fading clan.
But the hope crumbled as her eyes flicked back to Kenshin.
His body was a ruin, pierced from all sides earlier by blades in the hands of his own entranced comrades at that time.
His breath was shallow, blood soaking his robes.
Her lips trembled as she dragged herself closer, one hand pressing against his chest.
"Father!"
The word broke out raw, desperate, her voice echoing through the smoke and flame as the battlefield shifted around her.
Meanwhile, Reika didn't hesitate.
Her hands blurred through seals, chakra flaring cold.
"Ice Release: Ice Dragon Bullet!"
From the ground, a massive dragon of frozen water coiled into being, its scales gleaming like jagged glass.
It surged forward with terrifying speed, jaws wide, freezing the very air it passed through.
The violet shimmer of Tatsuma's poison mist hissed and crystallized as the dragon plowed through, the nano-insects trapped and locked in ice before they could spread further.
The beast didn't stop.
Its massive body barreled straight between Junsaku and Tatsuma, carving the battlefield in half and forcing them apart.
The sudden divide opened the path forward, exactly as planned.
Kimimaro and Saya slipped past the breach like shadows, Saya's scythe already spinning in her hands, Kimimaro's steps silent but lethal.
The sheer size of the jutsu made both Root operatives falter for a heartbeat. Junsaku's lips tightened. Tatsuma's jaw set.
Who were these youngsters? How had they arrived so precisely, breaching Root and striking with such force at exactly the right moment?
What was their connection with the Uchiha?
Their ages also didn't fit their power.
Their techniques were also very rare.
From which village were they?
But Root conditioning was bone-deep.
Panic never lasted.
Emotions gave way to discipline.
Even if it meant their deaths later, they still had orders.
Their focus returned like knives, and their gazes snapped back toward the last two Uchiha, wanting to finish them first and then think later, as they were still their primary mission.
However, again, Reika moved. Her golden eyes narrowed, hands slamming to the ground.
Ice surged upward in a colossal wall, spreading into a dome that sealed off Kenshin and Akane from sight.
The structure rose in seconds, the air cracking with cold, walls gleaming thick enough to deflect flames or steel.
Junsaku cursed under his breath.
They sprinted, trying to cut down the Uchiha before the barrier closed, but Saya and Kimimaro were already there, blocking the path, the dragon's tail lashing behind them as the ice dome sealed with a final snap.
Root discipline met unyielding ice. And in those first moments, Junsaku and Tatsuma realized the dome wouldn't break in seconds, not without more destructive techniques they didn't carry. Their grim silence said it all.
They had no choice but to face the ones who had stepped forward first to finish the mission.
Kimimaro stepped forward without hesitation, his chakra flaring as two weapons emerged from his body.
From his right palm, a long, bone-crafted, narrow whip, that resembled a spine, cracked outward with a sharp snap, its barbed ridges gleaming white in the firelit cavern.
Across his left hand, a large bone drill-lance spun to life again, tearing the air with its hum. The strongest one he could currently safely muster.
For the first time in weeks, the faint markings of his freshly inscribed Yang Seal stirred on his forehead, the ancestral dots glowing faintly as they siphoned what little he had managed to store.
His Yang Release available fuel swelled, subtle but sharp, enough to make his grip heavier, his steps firmer.
Behind him, Reika mirrored the gesture.
Her violet mark glowed faintly on her forehead, her Yin Seal awake but not yet fully matured.
Even so, the reservoir already lent her a few "free" jutsu to use.
Cold air poured around her, frost creeping along the cavern floor.
With a single seal, another dragon of ice formed, this one tethered to her will directly.
Unlike the first, she didn't let it fly free.
She guided it continuously, its vast body coiling through the chamber to scour away every wisp of violet haze.
The plan was simple: separation and denial. The Aburame's greatest strength would not touch them again.
Saya also didn't wait. Her scythe swung wide, the steel singing as she charged headlong toward Tatsuma.
There was no banter on her lips this time, no mockery, only the sharp gleam in her eyes and the hunger of a predator savoring the hunt.
On the opposite side, Kimimaro advanced toward Junsaku, as planned, steps steady, expression unreadable.
Bone whip cracked once more, curling in the air like a serpent preparing to strike.
The cavern fell into silence except for the hiss of frost and the faint hum of bone grinding against itself.
No one wasted words.
No taunts, no threats. Even Saya's grin was silent now.
Each side understood: this was no longer a skirmish.
It was the beginning of the execution of someone.