"What the heck? I'm an Uchiha too! Why aren't they taking me?!"
Shinji was furious.
He had already begun mentally planning how he would steal all of the Sharingan from Danzo's vault once he was taken into Danzo's base.
But to his shock, the two Root ninjas completely ignored him!
This was unacceptable!
At that moment, Sasuke, who was being carried under the arm of one of the Root ninjas, slowly regained consciousness. "Who are you people?!"
"Hm?"
The two Root ninjas were somewhat surprised.
Apparently, even though Sasuke had been caught off guard by their ambush, thanks to his double-tomoe Sharingan, he had slightly adjusted his body just before impact, avoiding being hit in the most vulnerable spot.
Additionally, the orders for the Root were to capture Sasuke, so they hadn't used full force during the attack. This allowed Sasuke to recover more quickly.
Seeing this, Shinji quickly pretended to wake up as well. He stood up, shouting, "Stop! I won't let you take Sasuke!"
The two Root ninjas frowned and exchanged glances.
One of them nodded, and in an instant, he was in front of Shinji, delivering a quick chop to his neck.
Thud.
Shinji collapsed to the ground.
"Handled. Let's go!"
The Root ninja turned to leave.
But just as he took his first step, he felt something grab his ankle. Looking down, he saw Shinji once again pulling himself off the ground. "Let Sasuke go!"
"You little brat!"
The Root ninja's face darkened.
Seeing this, Sasuke, who was still being carried, also shouted, "Shinji!"
Thud.
Another chop, and Shinji was down again.
This time, the Root ninja didn't immediately turn to leave. He looked down at Shinji for a moment before finally turning to his comrade. "Uchiha kids sure are persistent."
Sasuke struggled harder. "Damn it! What did you do to Shinji? Let me go!"
The Root ninja carrying Sasuke wasn't in the mood to deal with his antics. He delivered two more hard punches.
After taking the punches, Sasuke felt like he was about to vomit up his stomach contents and could no longer put up a fight.
But just as the two Root ninjas were about to leave, that familiar, annoying voice echoed again. "Put Sasuke down! Otherwise, I won't let this go!"
Both ninjas turned around to see Shinji, once again, standing up. Their frowns deepened. "This kid again?!"
Sasuke, tears streaming down his face, was touched. "Shinji, just leave me. Don't worry about me…"
At this point, after getting knocked down multiple times, Shinji couldn't help but feel frustrated.
These two idiots better take me too, or this is just rude!
"You won't let this go, huh?"
The Root ninja smirked coldly. "Fine. We'll take you along too."
With that, he grabbed Shinji and the group finally left.
Swish, swish, swish.
Not long after the Root ninjas had taken Shinji and Sasuke, an ANBU team arrived at the scene, following the tracks. They quickly found Neji unconscious on the ground.
After reviving Neji, one of the ANBU, wearing a dog mask, asked, "Who attacked you? Do you know where Uchiha Sasuke is?"
Neji shook his head to clear the fog. "I didn't see who attacked us."
"Us?"
The ANBU with the dog mask narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who was with you at the time?"
Neji, realizing that neither Shinji nor Sasuke were beside him, quickly understood the situation and said, "Shinji and Sasuke were with me."
He then briefly explained how the three of them had been chased by a mysterious figure.
Swish.
Another ANBU landed next to the one with the dog mask. "We found the other kids."
"Good. Then the only ones missing are the two Uchiha."
The ANBU sighed slightly. "We should report this to the Hokage."
...
Inside the Root Base.
As Shinji was carried down the familiar spiraling staircase deep underground, he silently memorized every detail of his surroundings.
Compared to the last time he had been here, the interior structure of the base had undergone significant changes. Many areas showed signs of reinforcement, and several new corridors had been added that he didn't remember from before.
"This place has been renovated…"
Shinji mentally noted.
Before long, both he and Sasuke were thrown into adjacent cells at the very bottom of the base.
The two Root ninjas searched them, confiscating all their ninja tools, then shackled their hands and feet with chains forged from steel.
"Don't even think about escaping. Stay put."
After issuing this warning, the two Root ninjas left.
Once they were gone, Sasuke spoke through the wall separating their cells. "Shinji, I'm sorry. I've dragged you into this."
Shinji, too busy planning his next move, casually replied, "We're the last of the Uchiha. Don't say things like that."
Sasuke fell silent.
Shinji's words reminded him of the night of the Uchiha massacre, and of the person he must kill with his own hands!
After carefully inspecting his cell, Shinji noticed there were no surveillance devices. This seemed to be a temporary holding area rather than a long-term prison for serious criminals.
He also tugged at the chains on his hands, realizing that no matter how hard he pulled, they wouldn't budge.
It seemed the Root ninjas had accounted for everything. With the physical strength of seven- or eight-year-olds and no ninja tools, there was no way they could break free from these chains.
Sitting back down, Shinji began calculating the time.
It had been over an hour since they were attacked.
The Forest of Death was right next to the village, so even if the village's response was slow, they should have already noticed the disturbance in the forest and begun investigating.
Since Sasuke was a key figure under village surveillance, his disappearance would undoubtedly bring Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, into the matter.
"If the Hokage hasn't been delayed by other matters, he should already be negotiating with Danzo. I have no more than half an hour before things come to a head. My time is limited!"
Having made up his mind, Shinji immediately formed hand seals and performed the Shadow Clone Technique, creating a clone.
Then, he bit his finger and summoned Coalball.
"What's going on here?!"
Seeing Shinji chained up, the newly summoned Coalball was startled and instinctively tried to run away.
Shinji's clone grabbed him by the scruff.
Shinji scolded him, "Master of the Night? Shadow Elf? Ruler of Darkness? Famous across the shinobi world? Really?"
Coalball shrank back. "I was just about to go get backup!"
Short on time, Shinji skipped the argument and quickly explained the plan to Coalball, giving him a stern warning: "Remember, this time you need to steal all of the Sharingan. Every last one!"
Coalball looked troubled. "There are so many of them. How am I supposed to carry them all?"
Shinji asked, "Don't you have a sealing scroll or something?"
Coalball replied, "Of course I do, but it's full of valuable ninja tools!"
Shinji waved dismissively. "I'll pay for whatever ninja tools you lose. Just make sure you take all the Sharingan with you!"
Hearing this, Coalball immediately perked up and smiled. Following Shinji's instructions, he melded into the shadows, unlocked the cell door from the outside, and, together with Shinji's clone, set off.
Once his clone and Coalball had left, Shinji summoned his second ninja cat.
Relying solely on Coalball wasn't enough. He needed to create some chaos to cover their actions.