Chapter 16: A Harvest
The forest remained suffocatingly quiet under his killing intent.
It was as if the forest itself was aware of his pure, primal killing intent.
Even the wind that had been moving through the leaves earlier seemed to have faded, as if unwilling to disturb the silent slaughter unfolding within the trees.
High among the tree branches, Uchiha Kenzo moved like a shadow drifting silently through the canopy.
His movements were smooth and controlled.
Almost effortless.
Harvesting lives like a seasoned butcher.
Everywhere he passed, bodies fell like broken kites.
Landing with dull, heavy thuds on the ground below.
The quiet forest floor slowly began to fill with motionless figures.
The faint smell of blood mixed with the lingering scent of burnt wood from the earlier battle.
At that moment someone finally shouted.
The voice cut sharply through the heavy silence.
Finally breaking the suffocating pressure of the killing intent.
The ANBU down below broke out of their stupor with a violent jolt.
Several of them gasped for breath as if they had just surfaced from deep water.
Their lungs burned as they dragged air back into their bodies.
Goosebumps spread across their skin as their minds finally registered the terrifying killing intent pressing down on them.
Despite their training, primal fear still lingered in their eyes.
A significant shift from their earlier mentality of playing with a trapped animal.
Moments ago they had believed they were hunters closing in on their prey.
Now that illusion had shattered.
One of the ANBU grabbed his kunai tightly.
Sweat greased his palm and soaked through the back of his uniform.
His breathing became uneven.
His eyes moved nervously through the branches above.
Searching.
Trying to find the shadow that had already taken several of their comrades.
In the meantime—
Kenzo moved with rhythmic precision.
Each step flowed naturally into the next.
After harvesting the lives of two ANBU operatives, he stepped toward another in the same flowing motion.
Never wasting even a fraction of a second.
Not a single unnecessary movement.
One of the Root operatives stood among the branches.
His eyes were still trapped in a daze.
While holding his kunai, he still believed he was tightening the formation.
In his mind, the battle was continuing exactly as planned.
But in reality—
Death was already approaching him.
Uchiha Kenzo appeared in front of him in a swift motion, his hand already gripping a kunai.
With a single brutal movement of his upper body—
He thrust the blade straight into the man's chest.
The kunai slid between the man's ribs and pierced directly into his heart.
The ANBU's body stiffened violently.
His fingers twitched weakly around the kunai he had been holding.
A small choking sound escaped from behind the mask.
His eyes, which had been caught in a daze, quickly turned dull and lifeless.
The last strength drained from his body.
With a heavy thud, his body fell sideways from the branch.
The leaves shook softly as the corpse disappeared into the darkness below.
Uchiha Kenzo didn't spare him a single glance.
His steps continued forward.
Not once did he look back.
Not once did his movements falter.
To him, the man had already ceased to exist the moment the blade entered his chest.
The second ANBU, like his predecessor, still hadn't moved yet.
His fingers continued twitching slowly.
Still trying to complete the jutsu inside the illusion.
Kenzo appeared behind him like a ghost.
And slashed viciously across his throat.
A thin line of blood burst into the air.
The red droplets scattered across the surrounding leaves.
While doing so—
Kenzo took in his surroundings at lightning speed.
His pupils darted rapidly inside his crimson eyes.
The three tomoe of the Sharingan spun silently.
Taking in everything around him.
Every ANBU.
Every movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every shifting leaf in the forest.
Every fluctuation of chakra.
Looks like they finally snapped out of it.
Kenzo's mind calculated even faster than before.
The change, though not very significant—
Was not minor either.
The shinobi whose minds had now stabilized were clearly unsettled at how deeply he had been hiding his strength.
Their earlier confidence had vanished.
Now caution had replaced it.
But regardless of their thoughts—
Their bodies moved with discipline.
Years of ANBU training forced them to act even under fear.
And they quickly began moving toward him in a tightening semicircle.
Kenzo's face, however, remained completely expressionless.
As if the suffocating killing intent radiating from him did not even exist.
After giving them a brief, dismissive glance—
He continued his slaughter.
Before the previous ANBU's head could even reach the ground—
Kenzo had already arrived at the last operative in the canopy.
The final ANBU who had previously been observing the battlefield like a hawk.
His mind now seemed to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
His body trembled violently.
Every instinct in his body screamed at him to move.
To escape.
To survive.
But his efforts were ultimately meaningless against Uchiha Kenzo.
Kenzo arrived in front of him in less than a heartbeat.
A flash of steel.
A single motion.
And another life ended before the illusion could even fully fade.
The body collapsed from the branch like the others before it.
Kenzo did not look back.
His body flicker technique became even faster and more fluid.
The forest blurred around him as he moved.
With that final kill—
He moved forward at a rapid pace.
The remaining seven ANBU behind him were already beginning to give chase.
Branches cracked under their rapid movements as they pursued him through the trees.
One of the ANBU, while moving, pulled out a flare gun and fired it into the sky.
A bright red signal burst into the air above the forest.
The crimson light illuminated the dark canopy.
Visible from the surrounding forests for miles.
The flare burned brightly like a second sun in the night sky.
Upon hearing the sound of the flare—
And seeing the red light in the sky—
Uchiha Kenzo's expression darkened slightly.
Why?
He couldn't understand why they would send so many people after him.
The cost simply outweighed the benefits by a large margin.
By sending this many shinobi, the whole of Konoha would eventually become aware of the situation.
Rumors would spread.
Questions would be asked.
That would have severe political and economic consequences for the village.
Kenzo understood the principle of cutting the grass at its roots.
But mobilizing this much manpower for a single individual?
That would surely cause an uproar inside Konoha.
Unless—
Kenzo's eyes narrowed slightly.
Unless the person who ordered this did not care about the consequences.
Kenzo pushed those thoughts aside for now.
Speculation would not help him survive the next few minutes.
And focused entirely on his situation.
They have probably already set traps and sentries in a wide semicircle by now.
ANBU on his tail.
And a wide interception net ahead.
Kenzo's mind began calculating routes through the forest.
Possible ambush points.
Blind spots in the terrain.
The rhythm of the pursuing shinobi.
Kenzo's eyes narrowed slightly.
Looks like I'll have to adapt.