"That purple-haired ANBU woman—let go of my comrade and face me instead!"
Tamao swung the Executioner's Blade in both hands, effortlessly cleaving through a Konoha ninja, roaring his challenge.
Her sword flickered like a serpent, repelling an Uchiha attacker, when suddenly the bellowing Tamao came crashing down from above, Executioner's Blade slicing toward her.
Her eyes fixed on the giant blade, Yugao lowered her stance, flipped her body, and narrowly evaded the strike.
Meanwhile, Gekkō was locked in a duel with Minami.
Uchiha Izumi, wielding the massive Samehada that dwarfed her own body, held off several ANBU without faltering.
By now, the road ahead had been cleared.
Uchiha Yu led Nonō, Kushina, and Rin toward the street's exit.
As they passed the battlefield, none of the Konoha ninja dared stop him. In fact, the crushing weight that had been pressing on them seemed to vanish when they realized Uchiha Yu had no intention of cutting them down.
"Aren't you worried about them?"
Kushina looked back at Mikoto, who was still fighting fiercely against the Konoha shinobi, her voice laced with concern.
At her words, Rin lifted her gaze to Yu's back.
"Heh, just a bunch of small fry."
Then she fell silent, feeling guilty. She realized that after spending so much time among the Uchiha, she herself had grown arrogant.
Still, she wasn't wrong.
From Yu's perspective, there was no need to waste time here.
The air around his right hand rippled as space trembled—Dark Moon once again manifested.
They arrived at the mouth of the alley.
Sunagakure jōnin Baki was still dragging himself forward, desperately crawling toward freedom.
He knew that if he could just reach another squad of puppeteers, he might survive.
The Uchiha's appearance had saved him from becoming a corpse under Gekkō's blade.
Footsteps echoed from behind, drawing closer.
Baki turned his head in terror.
He saw Uchiha Yu walking toward him, black blade in hand, expression like ice. Yu raised the blade high.
The tip gleamed with deadly sharpness.
"No, no, wait—you… you have no reason to kill me, do you?"
The reflection of the pitch-black blade filled Baki's pupils as he begged for his life in terror.
With that, Uchiha Yu thrust the black sword straight into his heart, then drew it free.
Scarlet dripped onto the ground, yet not a single drop clung to the blade's pitch-black surface.
Baki's pupils dimmed.
Life slipped away completely.
Kushina and Rin both furrowed their brows, but Nonō was unfazed. She was already used to her captain's ruthless decisiveness.
Yu sheathed the blade, crouched beside Baki's corpse, and pressed his right hand onto it.
"Blame Rasa for this."
As the space around them trembled—
Baki's corpse was absorbed into Uchiha Yu's storage space, stacked together with the White Zetsu.
Whether they were Sand shinobi, Konoha shinobi, or others—it didn't matter. As long as they stood in his way, Uchiha Yu had no qualms about clearing them out.
Everyone knew that a shinobi's corpse was a valuable resource. Seeing Baki's current state, if Yu didn't take him, it would be a waste not to use him later with Edo Tensei.
Yu thought to himself—originally, Gekkō Hayate had died at Baki's hands during the Chūnin Exams. Yet now, Baki had been cornered and beaten down by Hayate and his squad.
A complete reversal of fate.
"Space-time ninjutsu??"
Rin and Nonō looked at her, confused by her overreaction.
When Yu had summoned Dark Moon earlier, Kushina hadn't reacted at all. But now, watching him store away a corpse—it brought back memories of the Nine-Tails' night.
Could he be the masked one who unleashed the Nine-Tails on the village and caused her and Minato's deaths?
"You don't need to overthink it. I'm not the masked man. That night when the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha, I was with the Uchiha clan's forces."
Uchiha Yu explained casually.
Rising to his feet, he looked toward the main battlefield where the war still raged.
Kushina sank into thought. This made her more curious about Yu. He seemed to know far too much, and his methods were bizarre.
In the alleyway, Gekkō Hayate and several Konoha shinobi who had been closely watching Yu were unsettled by how easily he had ended Maki's life.
The Sand's goal was to destroy Konoha.
The Uchiha's goal was the same. By all logic, the two sides should have shared interests. Yet Yu had casually taken the Sand shinobi's life.
Wasn't he worried about Suna retaliating afterward?
Watching Yu leave, Hayate glanced at Uzuki Yugao, who was still engaged against Tamao, and spoke in a low, firm voice:
"I'll leave things here to you. From the direction he's headed, Yu is likely aiming for the evacuation shelter. Whatever he plans to do there, we can't let him succeed!"
"Don't go!!!" ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NovᴇlFɪre.ɴet
Before Yugao could stop him, Hayate had already broken away from Minami's pursuit.
He ordered two teammates to hold off Minami, then took two others with him.
In her moment of distraction, Yugao was caught by Tamao's charge. His raw strength slammed into her shoulder, sending her crashing backward.
In the blink of an eye, Hayate disappeared down the street.
But just past the corner, he and his squad stepped into an open space—only to find Uchiha Yu and the others waiting there.
"This guy… was deliberately waiting for us?"
Hayate's eyes widened.
Suddenly, he felt his heartbeat quicken—each thud pounding like a war drum. When he tried to move, only his neck responded.
"This is Yu's ocular control jutsu… but he hasn't even activated the Sharingan."
Looking down, Hayate saw a single blade of grass coiling unnaturally around his leg.
Then he understood. He realized how the four ANBU had died earlier.
In the next instant—three muffled bursts echoed from within their chests.
Yu had used his Mangekyo technique to manipulate Hayate and the others' chakra, rupturing their hearts from within.
Watching Hayate's body collapse, Yu stepped forward, crouched, and stored him away into his space alongside Baki.
"I really must be starving… desperate for talent. Even someone like Hayate, I want to keep for Edo Tensei."
Yu muttered to himself.
Without wasting further time, he set off with the three women toward the shelter hidden beneath the rock walls.
According to Nonō's earlier sensing, there were still over a hundred Konoha shinobi gathered there.
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