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"Time is limited. Everyone, let's wrap this up quickly," Yuikei's voice rang out just as Sasuke finished dispersing Naruto's shadow clone army.
Sasuke's previously casual expression turned serious, and in an instant, he moved.
Sai barely registered a blur in front of him before Sasuke appeared directly in front of him.
"So fast!"
Thanks to his rigorous training in Root, Sai managed to draw his short blade just in time.
Clang clang clang!
A series of metallic clashes echoed, and then—
Slash!
Blood splattered as Sasuke's blade, charged with lightning chakra, pierced through Sai's left shoulder.
"Sai!" Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Clenching her fist, she rushed forward to stop Sasuke from attacking further.
With his blade still crackling with lightning, Sasuke turned slightly, his three-tomoe Sharingan spinning. Sakura's every move appeared to him as if in slow motion.
"Your movements are still a bit crude."
With a calm remark, Sasuke, fully predicting Sakura's actions, stepped forward, disrupting her rhythm. Before she could adjust, he grabbed her wrist with his left hand, pressed down on her shoulder with his right hand, and threw her across the room.
Boom!
Sakura crashed into the wall of the underground base, creating a large crater, with dust and debris scattering everywhere.
"Sakura!" Naruto, having just recovered from the effects of Sasuke's lightning attack, saw this and, enraged, charged at Sasuke with his fist raised.
Smack!
Sasuke extended his left hand, catching Naruto's punch effortlessly. "Naruto, go back and play your ninja games."
"Damn it!" Naruto gritted his teeth and refused to give up, throwing another punch.
At that moment, something unexpected occurred.
Upon hearing Yuikei's command, Jin hadn't responded right away. Dodging Yamato's attacks, he turned and asked in surprise, "If we're going to end this quickly, does that mean we're going all out? Captain, are you sure about this?"
Without looking back as he fought Akatsuchi, Yuikei replied, "We've been given orders from above. There's no need to hide anymore."
"Oh, is that so!" Jin grinned widely, laughing.
Yamato didn't understand why his opponent was laughing, but he had a bad feeling.
Before he could act, Jin spoke again, "In that case…"
He glanced toward Izumi, who was in the middle of her fight with Kurotsuchi.
Izumi smiled brightly. "Let's do it."
With those words, both Izumi and Jin closed their eyes.
When they opened them again, the Sharingan, with three-tomoe, glowed in their eye sockets.
"Sharingan!"
Both Kurotsuchi and Yamato's expressions changed instantly.
Yamato, who had experience with Sharingan due to his time in the ANBU under Kakashi, immediately averted his gaze from Jin, knowing full well what the blood-red eyes could do.
Kurotsuchi, however, was slower to react, not having faced the Uchiha before. Out of habit, she met Izumi's gaze directly. The moment she locked eyes with the red, spinning tomoe, her body froze, and she was sent flying backward, completely immobilized.
Yamato quickly formed a wood clone to catch Kurotsuchi, while he slammed his hands into the ground.
"Mokuton: Jukai Heki!"
A long row of wooden vines erupted from the ground, forming a barrier-like wall between him, Kurotsuchi, and the two Uchiha.
Boom!
Soon enough, the wooden wall was shattered, revealing Jin and Izumi, their Sharingan still active.
Panting slightly, Yamato couldn't help but ask, "Sharingan?! Who are you, really? Why do you have the Sharingan?"
"Sharingan?" Naruto, who was still fighting Sasuke, overheard Yamato's loud question and glanced at Sasuke, thinking, Isn't the Sharingan right here with Sasuke?
Seeing that Sasuke had paused, his expression uncharacteristically shifting toward surprise as he looked in Yamato's direction, Naruto followed his gaze.
And then, Naruto saw the two familiar red eyes.
"They have the same eyes as Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei! Those are the Sharingan!"
"But… didn't the Uchiha clan get wiped out? How do these people also have the Sharingan?"
Naruto, who cared deeply about Sasuke, knew a fair bit about the Uchiha massacre. It was because of this knowledge that he voiced the same question as Yamato.
Meanwhile, as Sakura finished treating Sai's wounds, she noticed Sasuke's expression change for the first time, his usual calm demeanor faltering. Her intuition as a girl immediately told her something—this was likely the reason Sasuke didn't want to return to the village.
The once chaotic battlefield suddenly quieted at the mention of the "Sharingan."
Facing Yamato's confused and surprised inquiry, Jin laughed. "Why do we have the Sharingan? That's the funniest thing I've heard today."
"If outsiders can have the Sharingan, why can't true Uchiha possess the Sharingan?"
Yamato, of course, knew that members of the Uchiha clan could awaken the Sharingan. But the Uchiha clan had been wiped out. Other than Sasuke, how could any other Uchiha have survived?
Wait a minute… There had been one more.
The man who had accompanied Sasuke during the battle at Mount Katsuragi and the Fire Temple.
Thinking back, Yamato studied the two Uchiha before him more carefully. They seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place them.
He couldn't help but ask again, "Are you members of the Uchiha Clan from Konoha?"
"Konoha…" Jin chuckled. After receiving a nod of confirmation from Yuikei, he smirked and introduced himself, "Uchiha Jin."
Izumi followed calmly, "Uchiha Izumi."
Yamato's expression shifted slightly upon hearing their names.
He had no memory of Uchiha Jin. However, Izumi rang a bell, as he had crossed paths with her during his time in ANBU when Itachi was also a member. He vaguely remembered seeing Itachi and a young Uchiha girl together outside of missions. If his memory was correct, her name was indeed Uchiha Izumi.
Could the woman in front of him really be that same girl?
"So, this is a civil war within Konoha now?" Kurotsuchi, who had regained consciousness, couldn't help but sarcastically remark.
She didn't know the full story behind the Uchiha massacre, but now it seemed that every opponent they faced was an Uchiha.
Everyone knew that the Uchiha Clan was once part of Konoha.
Kurotsuchi was beginning to wonder what kind of conflict they were really involved in today.
As Yamato pondered the sudden influx of information, sensing a deeper conspiracy, he took a deep breath. Though his hopes were slim, he decided to try anyway and said, "I don't know what happened in the past, but the Uchiha were once a part of Konoha. If you're willing, you could return to Konoha."
(End of Chapter)