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Under a clear blue sky, the vast forest echoed with sporadic explosions—roaring flames from Fire Style on one side, howling gusts from Wind Style on the other.
Every so often a red signal flare shot into the air, instantly sparking brutal chases and clashes in the woods below.
Then two flares unlike the others rose at the same time. They burned a deep blood-red and climbed far higher than the rest.
Every Sand squad within five kilometers spotted them instantly and knew exactly what they meant: at least two jonin were in serious trouble and needed immediate jonin-level backup.
Sure enough, multiple jonin teams received the call. They linked up fast and raced toward the flares.
Taiichi watched the two special flares climb, then glanced at the two Sand jonin now fighting side-by-side. He knew this fight was over.
He couldn't finish them quickly, and if he got pinned down here, the incoming reinforcements might actually wear him out. He wasn't ready to burn attribute points just yet.
With a sharp whistle, his two rampaging Shadow Clones got the signal. They broke off and rushed back, taking over the fight against the two Sand jonin. The clones didn't close in—they just hammered the jonin nonstop with Fire Style from range.
Taiichi's real body used the opening to carve straight through the outer ring of chunin and genin, then vanished into the distance.
Back at the fight, the two Sand jonin found themselves stuck. They were terrified of Taiichi's flames and refused to trade blows, so they could only dodge while the clones kept blasting them.
The chunin and genin wanted to help, but the clones were too slippery. They refused close combat, kept spamming Phoenix Flower, and punished anyone who tried to chase the real body or get too close. When no one advanced, the clones simply focused fire on the two jonin.
It was almost comical—over a dozen Sand shinobi held in place by just two Shadow Clones.
In truth, the clones' main job was only to stop the jonin from pursuing. If the weaker troops had scattered and chased the real body, the clones couldn't have stopped them all.
But no one was stupid. Any chunin or genin who caught up alone would die in one exchange. So they happily stayed put, wasting time with the clones.
In their minds, Sand held the overall advantage anyway. A few small setbacks here didn't matter.
They kept stalling until the clones finally ran out of chakra and popped on their own. Only then did the Sand jonin reorganize, leave people behind to treat the wounded, and resume the chase after Taiichi.
While Taiichi's side stayed intense but manageable, the wider battlefield wasn't so kind to every Leaf rearguard.
Some teams got cut off and surrounded. Others ran straight into elite Sand forces and died before they could accomplish anything.
On another part of the line, Yohei's five-man squad found themselves in a situation almost identical to Taiichi's earlier one.
At first they tore through the battlefield thanks to their superior strength. But the more squads they wiped out, the more pursuers they attracted.
Eventually they slammed into a Sand jonin squad.
The fight erupted without warning. Yohei and Kakashi took point and suppressed the enemy jonin almost immediately. Obito and Rin, backed by Saori, traded blows with the rest of the squad and actually held their own.
Under normal conditions, Yohei's team would have won.
But this was a war zone, and Sand held the numbers.
A few exchanges in, Yohei realized something was wrong. The Sand jonin was on the defensive, yet his guard was rock-solid—he refused to take risks and simply stalled for time.
When several minutes had passed, Yohei decided it was time to end it with his Mangekyō. That was the exact moment distant rustling reached his ears.
Every face on the battlefield changed.
Yohei knew he had hesitated too long. He should have used the Mangekyō the second he realized they were facing a jonin. Now the team was in real danger.
But there was no time for regret. The only thing that mattered now was breaking contact and getting everyone out.
He poured more chakra into his eyes. The three tomoe spun and merged into the Mangekyō pattern. His right eye's pinwheel spun faster as he activated his Susanoo at full power.
His strength doubled instantly. The sudden surge caught the Sand jonin completely off guard. After only two or three clashes the jonin's kunai was knocked away and his left arm was severed.
Seeing the enemy retreat, Yohei didn't press the attack. He fired a barrage of kunai at the Sand shinobi still fighting Saori's group, forcing them back.
"More enemies incoming—fall back now!"
Yohei's shout stopped Obito from chasing. Once the whole team regrouped around him, he gave the order.
"You guys go first. I'll hold them off."
Saori looked at Yohei, noticed the blood already trickling from the corner of his right eye, and simply said, "Be careful." Then she turned and ran without hesitation.
Kakashi and the others saw her move and understood there was no time to waste. They each told Yohei to be careful and followed her out.
It took only a few breaths.
With his teammates safely away, the weight on Yohei's chest lifted. His hands flew through seals while his right eye's pinwheel spun at maximum speed. He pushed Susanoo to two times amplification instead of the usual one.
Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!
A line of flame shot from his mouth, then exploded outward into a raging sea of fire that swallowed everything in front of him.
With Susanoo's boost, the jutsu wasn't just hotter—it covered an enormous area. A hundred meters of forest in front of Yohei turned into an inferno. The only reason it wasn't wider was the trees blocking the spread.
The Sand jonin who had retreated early survived. Everyone else—the three remaining squad members and the fastest pursuers—were caught in the flames, screaming in agony.
But power always came at a cost. Blood streamed from the corner of Yohei's right eye all the way down to his chin and showed no sign of stopping. His right eye's vision was already starting to blur compared to the left.
So Taiichi had been right. Before today Yohei had only used the Mangekyō in small bursts and always got healed by Taiichi afterward, so he hadn't taken the warning seriously. This time the backlash hit hard and woke him up—this power wasn't something you could spam.
After releasing the jutsu, Yohei didn't dare linger. He turned and raced after his team.
Moments after he left, four massive Water Style waves slammed into the sea of flames, dousing large sections and pulling the few still-struggling survivors free.
The lead Sand jonin looked at their horrific burns and shook his head. These men were beyond saving. Not everyone had Taiichi's medical skills.
"Give them a quick end. No point letting them suffer."
The medic hesitated, but when he saw the desperate, pleading look in the burned shinobi's eyes, he nodded silently.
He drew a kunai from his pouch, whispered "Sorry," and drove it up through the jaw and into the brain. Instant, painless death.
The rest of the wounded were finished the same way. Every Sand shinobi present now wore a mask of cold fury.
"Angry? Want revenge? Then chase them down and kill every last one of those Leaf bastards!"
"YES!"
The jonin's short speech ignited their hatred. They burned to catch the Leaf team and tear them apart.
Seeing their morale restored, the jonin didn't waste another second. He waved them forward, and the entire pursuit force took off again.
Back with Yohei, he was racing to catch up with Saori and the others. Even though he had only left a little later, they were moving at full speed and he had already lost their trail.
He could only rely on his Sharingan to pick out the faint traces they left behind. Tracking wasn't his strong suit.
After more than ten minutes, the sound of explosions ahead caught his attention. The direction matched exactly where his team should be. Yohei let out a relieved breath—he had finally caught up. Then tension flooded back in. Saori's group had run into more enemies!
He pushed harder, bursting through the trees, and finally saw the battlefield clearly.
Kakashi and Saori were locked in combat and couldn't break free anytime soon.
Obito and Rin were fighting two Sand chunin and were clearly in trouble. Even after months of training, they were still fresh genin. They weren't chunin level yet.
The two Sand chunin they faced were.
The moment Yohei moved to help, the situation turned critical.
Rin was the weakest. A Sand chunin found an opening and kicked her hard, sending her flying. She hit the ground coughing blood and couldn't get up.
The chunin grinned viciously and flickered straight at her, kunai aimed at her heart.
"RIN—!"
Obito's scream cracked with panic. His mind went blank. His body moved before his brain could catch up.
Ignoring the enemy right in front of him, he took a kunai across his back and exploded forward with impossible speed, throwing himself over Rin to shield her with his own body.
Shunk.
The sickening sound of steel sinking into flesh.
But the expected pain never came.
Right as Obito lunged, another figure appeared even faster, stepping calmly in front of him.
It was Yohei.
He had flickered in and taken the kunai straight through his own chest.
The blade, driven with the Sand chunin's full killing intent, pierced Yohei's heart cleanly. When it was pulled free, hot blood sprayed everywhere, soaking Obito and Rin.
Time seemed to stop.
Obito, still shielding Rin. Rin, wide-eyed in shock. The Sand chunin who had just "killed" Yohei. Even Kakashi and Saori, still locked in their own fights—everyone froze at the sight of yet another teammate taking a fatal blow for the others.
"YOHEI—!"
Saori's scream tore out of her throat, raw with despair and disbelief. It was a sound of pure agony and madness.
The chakra inside her erupted like a volcano. Violent lightning exploded from her body, forcing her opponent back in an instant.
She was about to flicker over when something even more impossible happened.
The Sand chunin who had just stabbed Yohei through the heart wore a triumphant grin—until his face froze in pure terror.
The Leaf shinobi he had just killed—the one whose heart he had pierced—began to dissolve like a dream. The wound on his chest vanished first, then the spraying blood, then his entire body. In the blink of an eye, Yohei disappeared like a fading illusion.
The sight shattered everyone's understanding. The word "genjutsu" flashed through their minds.
While they were still stunned—
Shunk.
The exact same wet sound of steel piercing flesh came from behind the Sand chunin who had just "killed" Yohei.
Yohei's figure appeared out of nowhere like a ghost—no warning, no chakra flare. Blood streamed from the corner of his left eye.
His kunai was buried deep in the Sand chunin's back, straight through the heart.
"Ugh… this… is impossible…"
The chunin's hoarse voice was cut off by a rush of blood. As he collapsed, the last thing he saw was the Leaf shinobi he had just stabbed—the one who had vanished like a phantom.
Karma. A shinobi's fate.
This was the exclusive ability of Yohei's left Mangekyō—the ultimate forbidden technique he had awakened after watching Saori nearly die from a fatal wound and feeling the overwhelming desire to escape death.
Izanagi.
It records the user's state with the Sharingan. For the duration of the technique, any damage the user suffers—including death—becomes nothing more than a dream, and the user is returned to the exact state recorded before the injury.
Unlike other Uchiha who had to sacrifice an entire eye to use Izanagi, Yohei's Mangekyō version only consumed ocular power.
The cost was heavy. At his current full strength he could only use it three times before risking blindness. But ocular power could recover, and as his strength grew, so would the number of uses. Three times now. Four, five, or more later.
With this technique, Yohei had become a half-immortal shinobi—as long as he didn't overuse the Mangekyō and go blind.
Ignoring the shock on his teammates' and enemies' faces, Yohei—already prepared—immediately joined the fight. With him in the fray, the battle that had been even turned completely one-sided in seconds.
A few exchanges later, every Sand shinobi on the field was dead.
"Move! More enemies are coming!" Yohei helped the injured Rin to her feet and led the team away at full speed.
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