The nagging sound stopped abruptly; both men's muscles tensed, cold sweat trickling down their backs.
Although they didn't turn around, they had already recognized the voice. It belonged to the subject they had been monitoring recently: Makiya Uchiha.
'How can this be? Why is he here? Such speed!'
Countless thoughts flashed through their minds. Their partnership's unspoken understanding allowed them to make the same decision instantly:
Resist and kill Makiya!
A ruthless glint flashed in the eyes beneath their masks. Both turned and lunged with their swords simultaneously. The blades pierced through Makiya's chest, but not a single drop of blood flowed.
"It's an afterimage, be careful."
The two quickly stood up and stood back-to-back.
Makiya stood on a tree trunk, the breeze fluttering his clothes as he looked down at them.
"Way of Binding No. 1: Sai."
An invisible force shot from Makiya's fingertips. The duo's bodies suddenly stopped obeying them, and their hands were forced behind their backs.
"Damn it, I can't move."
"It's that strange hand-signless ninjutsu again."
Losing control of their bodies caused the two Root ninjas to panic briefly. They reflexively resisted and suddenly realized that the binding force didn't seem very strong; they could break free if they exerted enough strength.
Makiya didn't give them the chance. Red light accumulated in his palm.
"Way of Destruction No. 12: Fushibi!"
Crimson flames erupted from Makiya's palm and spread out in mid-air, turning into a massive fiery net that enveloped the two.
The two struggled hard, but the fiery net only tightened further.
"Way of Binding No. 4: Hainawa."
Pure chakra transformed into a rope-like light lock, working in tandem with the crimson fire net to bind the two securely. Only their masked heads could move slightly.
The two Root ninjas looked despairing.
Neither was weak; it was just that Makiya was too abnormal, catching them off guard.
Instant release without hand signs and with all sorts of bizarre effects—this kind of ninjutsu was practically cheating.
As Root ninjas, mission failure meant death. They knew full well that their actions could never see the light of day. Long-term brainwashing by Danzo had prepared them to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Konoha.
Seeing that the two were completely restrained, Makiya bent down to pick up a scroll dropped in the grass. It was filled with dense records of his and Shisui's movements, including their daily lives and combat details.
As Makiya lowered his head to inspect it, one of the Root ninjas swung his head rhythmically.
"Hmm?"
Makiya sensed something was wrong and looked up in confusion. Suddenly, he heard a hissing, burning sound coming from beneath the mask.
"Explosive tags hidden in the masks? Lunatics!"
Being all too familiar with that sound, he immediately flickered away from the spot. The Root ninja let out a regretful sigh; Makiya was still too alert.
"Everything... for Konoha!"
BOOM!
The violent explosion blew the man to pieces. The shockwave shattered Makiya's Kido, allowing the other person to break free.
Instead of escaping or attacking, the other person spat out some blood. The first thing he did upon scrambling up was reach for a signal flare and raise it toward the sky.
A flash of a blade followed. The arm was severed at the root. Makiya stepped on the severed hand and snapped the signal flare while pointing a finger forward:
"Way of Destruction No. 1: Sho."
A shockwave emitted from his fingertip. The pure chakra shattered the mask, and the unignited explosive tags were torn apart, rendered useless.
The face beneath the mask was very young, not much older than Makiya. With blood at the corner of his mouth, he glared viciously at Makiya.
"Don't look at me like that." Makiya grabbed him by the throat, the three-tomoe Sharingan surfacing in his eyes. "Your direction is wrong. The harder you work, the more reactionary you become. You people are the true sinners of Konoha."
With that, his pupil power projected through his eyes.
Root ninjas were specially trained and had a certain level of resistance to genjutsu interrogation. However, Makiya was willing to spend his pupil power. Strength prevailed over skill, and the psychological defense line collapsed.
However, they still had a troublesome thing on them: the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal. Once they spoke of anything related to Danzo or Root's secrets, their entire body would be paralyzed. Forcing a break would be life-threatening.
Makiya knew very little about seals. After a few fruitless attempts, he could only give up.
There wasn't much information in their uniforms either. Makiya casually flicked a flame, burning the corpses to charcoal.
When Danzo did dirty work, his most meticulous consideration was hiding himself. It was almost impossible to interrogate a handle on Danzo from Root members.
Fire was everywhere on the battlefield, so these two small fires were inconspicuous. As Makiya watched the flames burn, he suddenly waved his hand, sending a small clump of fire into the nearby bushes.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
A small white snake struggled desperately before turning to ash in the flames.
"A snake... Orochimaru?" Makiya pondered for a moment. Ignoring it, he checked the bushes again to ensure nothing was missed before quietly returning to the battlefield.
Inside a living area in the Kirigakure base.
Orochimaru held a young boy with one hand, looking full of regret.
Behind him, two Mist ninjas lay on the ground, bleeding from their facial orifices. The boy looked at Orochimaru with stubborn defiance, teeth clenched.
Snap.
Snapping the boy's neck, Orochimaru listlessly sealed the corpse into a scroll. Most ninjas capable of fighting on the front lines had firm wills. Orochimaru's abduction plan had failed, yielding only a bunch of bloodline-limit ninja corpses.
A giant white snake crawled out from the door behind him, hissing its tongue at Orochimaru.
"Oh?"
Orochimaru looked surprised and thoughtful. 'Two masked men... Root members were killed? Danzo... Right, he is an Uchiha after all. Perhaps I'll have a chance.'
Walking out while thinking, Orochimaru completely disregarded the Mist Village. He waved his hand dismissively. "The corpses inside are yours to feast on."
The white snake grinned excitedly and began to feast.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The war was over.
Kirigakure suffered heavy casualties. They fought desperately to pilot their remaining warships away from the harbor. After this battle, the Mist Village's strength was greatly diminished, and internal conflicts became difficult to reconcile; a violent outburst was likely imminent.
Many people died on the Konoha side as well. Genin and Chunin were mere cannon fodder in war, their greatest utility being to drain the opponent's chakra.
Standing on the cliff, gazing at the Mist warships growing smaller and smaller, everyone silently enjoyed a moment of peace. No one took the initiative to pursue; that would be seeking death.
Orochimaru emerged from the mountain riding a giant python and announced the victory of the war. Everyone cheered loudly, their voices echoing through the skies.
A ray of sunlight shot across the sea as the morning sun rose, illuminating the beach littered with corpses.
The cheering gradually faded. The brutal battlefield pulled everyone back to reality. After victory, the first thing survivors had to face was the death of comrades and loved ones.
Cleaning up the battlefield, treating the wounded, organizing intelligence... the battlefield became busy once again.
Simultaneously, a messenger squad set off immediately for the nearest intelligence station to send the news of victory back to Konoha.
Three days later, all the seriously injured received preliminary treatment and were escorted back to the village by an elite squad composed of the Hyuga and Aburame clans, along with medical ninjas.
A week later, those with minor injuries and the remaining medical ninjas returned to Konoha.
A month later, Orochimaru re-established the border defense line. After calculating military merits and arranging patrol routes and rotation systems for the stationed personnel, the army officially marched back to the village. Makiya was among them.
Traveling day and night, not a single person complained of hardship or exhaustion. Everyone was eager to return home.
As the Konoha gates grew from small to large, truly standing before them alive allowed everyone to breathe a sigh of relief, as if exhaling all the accumulated fatigue at once.
A snowflake landed on the tip of Makiya's nose. He looked up at the sky; goose-feather-like flakes were fluttering down.
At the end of the year 46 of Konoha, the first heavy snow finally fell.
Meanwhile, somewhere underground in Konoha.
A one-eyed, lonely old man pushed the heavy doors open. The pale light revealed Danzo's gloomy expression.
Repeated experimental failures, Orochimaru being disobedient, the Uchiha being troublesome and even gaining military merit and prestige on the battlefield—each piece of intelligence poked at Danzo's fragile nerves.
Gripping the intelligence in his hand, Danzo walked up the wall stairs to the surface and headed straight for the Hokage Building.
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