BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions kept ringing through the forest.
Inside the dense woods, branches crossed over each other, blocking out the sky and moon.
Uchiha Izuna led his six disciples as they fled quickly through the forest. Their robes whipped loudly in the fierce wind.
After the battle with the powerful enemy earlier, Izuna already understood clearly that their side was far weaker than the opponent.
Combined with the many strange things in the battle, he instantly realized there were traitors and internal chaos within Kumogakure.
Continuing to fight would only lead to everyone being wiped out, so he decisively led the group to break through and escape.
The master and six disciples ran all the way and finally shook off the pursuers for the moment, hiding deep within the forest.
"Split up and break through immediately. Move in groups of two!"
"Danzo and Hiruzen in one group, Homura and Koharu in one group, Kagami and Torifu in one group. Everyone must regroup at the Valley of the End camp!"
Uchiha Izuna stopped and gave orders at rapid speed.
Unlike the situation in the original story where Tobirama entrusted the future to his students, the current Uchiha Izuna only wanted to reduce his disciples' casualties as much as possible, decisively choosing the strategy of escaping separately.
On top of that, Kinkaku and Ginkaku had not eaten the Nine-Tails' flesh, so they were much weaker than in the original story.
"Teacher, what about you?"
Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke almost at the same time. Their brows were tightly furrowed, and their eyes were full of worry and unease as they stared at Izuna.
Izuna slowly closed his eyes. His voice was low and resolute. "I'll hold back the main force led by Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Use the chance to escape."
"No! Absolutely not!"
"It's always the guards risking their lives to protect the Hokage. Since when does the Hokage protect the guards instead? You're Konoha's Hokage. You carry the future and hope of the whole village on your shoulders!"
Hiruzen immediately stepped forward, his voice rising sharply, "That's right, Teacher!"
Danzo nodded heavily beside him.
Danzo's gaze suddenly became extremely firm. He violently tore open the clothes on his chest and said in a deep voice, "Teacher, I've already prepared the Four Symbols Seal. I'm ready to sacrifice myself for you and for Konoha at any time!"
"We'll protect the Hokage to the death!"
Homura, Koharu, Torifu, and Kagami all stepped forward together. Their eyes were firm. Not a single one of them showed even the slightest hesitation. All of them looked at Uchiha Izuna without fear.
Looking at these sincere and loyal disciples before him, Izuna slowly opened his tightly shut eyes. Deep in his gaze surged relief, emotion, and undisguised pride.
Actually, in the beginning, he had never intended to accept these disciples. It was all because his great-grandfather insisted that he take them as direct disciples.
Now, after facing life and death together, he finally truly understood how accurate his great-grandfather's judgment of people had been.
These six children before him all had strong hearts, loyalty, and courage. Every one of them was one of Konoha's finest younger generation.
"You don't need to say any more."
"You are my personal guards, and also the disciples I taught with my own hands!"
Uchiha Izuna's expression gradually became calm and firm as his gaze swept across each disciple one by one.
"In your lives, there will eventually come a time when you sacrifice yourselves to protect Konoha, but it is not now."
"Before that day comes, you must preserve your lives and keep living well."
"Wherever the leaves of Konoha dance, fire also continues endlessly. The flames will light every inch of the village and will also nurture new buds, allowing Konoha to continue forever."
"I'm old, and you are Konoha's new strength. As elders, it's only right that we leave the hope of survival to the village's future."
Izuna's words slowly fell. There was no passionate speech, yet every sentence carried immense weight.
Everyone listening had red eyes and sore noses. Even though they were unwilling and reluctant deep inside, they knew their teacher had already made his decision. There was no changing his mind.
"Yes!"
The six disciples all knelt on one knee together, backs straight, and gave Uchiha Izuna an extremely solemn Konoha salute.
"Hurry and go!"
Izuna closed his eyes again and slowly turned around, leaving only a lonely back facing his disciples.
"Yes!"
Homura and Koharu forcefully held back the tears in their eyes and answered loudly before immediately turning and rushing toward their assigned direction.
"Teacher, please take care of yourself!"
Torifu and Kagami raised their hands to wipe away the wetness at the corners of their eyes. Choking back emotion, they left behind one sentence of concern before immediately heading toward another direction.
Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi deeply bent their waists toward Izuna's back, giving an extremely respectful bow. Their voices carried uncontrollable emotion.
"Teacher, please take care!"
Once the words fell, the two no longer hesitated. They turned and stepped into the dense forest, running toward the distance.
Uchiha Izuna's eyes looked distant, his expression bitter.
"Big Brother... Tobirama, am I really not going to see you again before I die?"
Uchiha Izuna tightly gripped the steel blade in his hand. Reflected on the blade was his somewhat aged face.
"I just hope these old tricks of mine still work...", Uchiha Izuna muttered to himself.
At that moment, two rays of light flashed past.
Kumogakure's two lights... Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
The two held the Sage of Six Paths' treasured tools in their hands, grinning lewdly.
"Uchiha Izuna, after running into us, the Silver-Gold Brothers, you won't escape today even if you grow wings.", Kinkaku and Ginkaku spoke in unison.
Uchiha Izuna let out a few cold laughs, "Heh heh heh..."
Ginkaku snorted coldly, "You can't use your eyes anymore, can you? If you surrender now, it's still not too late."
The two did not want to kill Izuna. They wanted to use him to threaten Konoha.
"Enough nonsense. Let me show you the pride of the Uchiha!"
The pride of the Uchiha.
Uchiha Izuna held his steel blade and pointed it at Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
But just as Kinkaku and Ginkaku were about to make a move, a black crow suddenly landed on Kinkaku's shoulder.
The moment the two saw the black crow, their expressions changed.
"Damn it, should've said so earlier.", Ginkaku couldn't help saying.
"Since it's an order from that lord...", Kinkaku nodded.
Seeing this, Uchiha Izuna couldn't help slightly frowning. 'Why aren't these two attacking?'
"Uchiha Izuna, you're lucky."
Kinkaku and Ginkaku glanced at Izuna, then immediately flashed away and left.
Uchiha Izuna frowned tightly and kept his battle stance the entire time, afraid this was some trick from the two of them.
But as time passed second by second, his perception confirmed that Kinkaku and Ginkaku had indeed gone far away.
"What's going on?"
Only then did Uchiha Izuna finally relax. He collapsed onto the ground and then lost consciousness.
At that moment, two people in black robes appeared beside Izuna.
"Why did those two run away? Did they notice us?", One of the black-robed figures asked.
The other shook his head. "Doesn't seem like it. Looks like those two answer to an even higher existence."
"And that crow just now seemed to be used for delivering messages..."
"Forget it. Let's take Izuna away first."
The two black-robed figures immediately moved, taking Uchiha Izuna away from the forest, and from then on his whereabouts became unknown.
Not long after the group left, a White Zetsu slowly emerged from the ground...