Approaching Ryoma Aburame with quick steps, Jie Uchiha was genuinely surprised to find the man still breathing. Though his breaths were painfully shallow and he looked to be at death's door, he was undeniably alive.
'Worthy of being an elite Root ninja,' Jie thought. To survive an attack like that... Even Jie felt that if he had faced his own Susanoo's sword draw without activating its third form, he would have been killed on the spot. He hadn't expected a rat of Root to possess such tenacious survival skills.
However, since Ryoma was still alive, Jie knew better than to touch him directly. He remembered that the Aburame clan possessed an extremely dangerous secret technique: Venomous nano-insects. Similar to bacteria, these microscopic bugs would instantly invade an enemy's body upon contact. Once infected, the only options were to have the caster extract them or to immediately amputate the infected flesh to stop the spread.
While Ryoma didn't necessarily know this specific technique, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
Forming a hand seal, Jie summoned a Shadow Clone and ordered it to handle the fallen ninja. This way, even if Ryoma had mastered the nano-insects, Jie himself would remain completely safe.
The Shadow Clone thoroughly patted Ryoma down, eventually discovering a sealing scroll strapped to his chest. As the clone channeled chakra to activate the seal, several glass jars materialized in its hands. Inside were the stolen Sharingan eyes of the Uchiha clan.
The fact that the eyes hadn't been destroyed in the blast was a pleasant surprise. Instructing the clone to hoist Ryoma onto its back, Jie moved on to inspect the remaining Root ninja.
While the clone showed no signs of breaking down from nano-insects, Jie couldn't guarantee it wasn't a trap waiting to be sprung. Letting the expendable clone carry the burden was simply the most reliable choice.
After checking all the bodies, Jie surprisingly found two more survivors.
Including Ryoma on the clone's back, that made three.
One was Shin, whom he found entirely enveloped in a massive scroll painting and completely drenched in ink. Most likely, in the split second before the sword strike landed, Shin had drawn something to block the brunt of the attack, miraculously saving his own life.
The final survivor was Shikakazu Nara, the very first Root ninja Jie had heavily injured. Jie discovered that Shikakazu had managed to burrow underground during that brief window of chaos. Though entirely incapacitated and critically injured, he had somehow ended up with the lightest wounds of the three survivors.
'I have to admit, a high IQ is a wonderful thing,' Jie mused. In the perilous ninja world, sheer intellect often did more to keep a person alive than raw power.
Having learned how to use sealing scrolls during his time in the Anbu, Jie quickly sealed the corpses of the fallen Root operatives away. He then ordered the three surviving Kumogakure ninja—Arui and his team—to carry the three Root prisoners.
Carrying Hinata and Sasuke in his own arms, Jie and his bizarre entourage began the rapid trek back to Konoha.
After witnessing Jie's overwhelming strength, Arui and the others fully understood their situation. Running away was a death sentence; refusing to cooperate was a death sentence. They were better off returning to Konoha. Not only would it buy them some time, but they might also find an opportunity to cause a little chaos for the village's major clans. If they could frame a Konoha higher-up as a Kumogakure spy, they could sit back and watch the Leaf ninja tear each other apart.
At the thought, a calculating gleam flashed in Arui's eyes.
Feeling the chaotic atmosphere finally settle down, Hinata cautiously opened her eyes. Seeing Jie's familiar face, she asked timidly, "Brother Jie, are we going home?"
She still held a deep, fond impression of the older boy who had treated her to ramen and safely walked her home.
"You're awake, Hinata," Jie replied with a warm smile, not bothering to expose the fact that she had been pretending to sleep. "We'll be at the village soon. I'll take you straight home."
Hearing his gentle tone, a faint blush crept across Hinata's cheeks. "Mhm."
For some inexplicable reason, she felt that returning home wasn't quite as appealing as it usually was.
Jie led the group back to Konoha at top speed. After handing Sasuke over to a desperately waiting Mikoto Uchiha and safely returning Hinata to the Hyuga compound, Jie immediately sprinted toward the back mountain.
"Fugaku Uchiha! How much longer is your clan going to keep up this farce?" Hiruzen Sarutobi demanded, his patience wearing dangerously thin. "Are you truly going to keep Root surrounded for as long as Jie Uchiha is absent?"
They had been waiting for a long time without any news. Meanwhile, the commotion had drawn in more and more members from the other major ninja clans. Even Shikaku Nara, who had initially wanted to stay entirely out of this mess, changed his mind when he saw the sheer number of clans gathering. He had arrived at the back mountain alongside Choza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka.
Watching the situation gradually slip out of his control as time ticked by, a sense of foreboding rose in Hiruzen's chest. He needed to end this immediately, before the murky situation escalated any further.
"That's right. My clan will keep surrounding the perimeter of the hill until Jie returns..." Fugaku replied, his voice unyielding and completely shattering Hiruzen's expectations.
As long as Jie hadn't returned, and as long as Sasuke wasn't rescued, he would not lift the siege. He didn't care if Hiruzen Sarutobi was the one questioning him. Even if the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, crawled out of his grave, Fugaku Uchiha would not take a single step back.
"You... you... you!" Hiruzen stammered, his gaunt face flushing red with anger. "Treason! This is pure rebellion! Fugaku Uchiha, if your clan cannot produce concrete evidence this time, do not blame me for showing no mercy!"
'Mercy?'
Fugaku sneered internally, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
He realized now just how foolish he used to be. He had genuinely believed that the friction between the Uchiha and the village was a simple misunderstanding that could be mediated, which was why he had always chosen blind endurance.
But now, his eyes were open.
'Mercy? What mercy?'
The Konoha higher-ups wanted nothing more than to see every last Uchiha dead in the ground. They were ruthless enough to scheme against a toddler just to achieve their goals. Was this the 'mercy' Hiruzen spoke of?
If this was their version of mercy, Fugaku wanted absolutely no part of it.
"Does the Uchiha clan no longer have any respect for the Hokage?" a cold, raspy voice rang out. "Bringing an armed mob to surround a Root base... are you intending to betray the village?"
Having been besieged for more than half the night, the man of the hour, Danzo Shimura, finally strolled out of the Root facility.
The moment he laid eyes on Danzo, the flames of pure hatred ignited in Fugaku's eyes.
He was just about to open his mouth to demand answers when a familiar laugh echoed from nearby.
"The Hokage's Assistant truly is forgetful. Wasn't Root officially disbanded by the Hokage three years ago?"
Right before everyone's eyes, the figure of Jie Uchiha slowly stepped into the clearing.
Upto 40 chapters ahead on patreon :-
patreon.com/Vristikk