Outside Shangtian Town, deep within a dense forest, over a hundred masked individuals stood silently.
Each of them exuded a sharp, disciplined aura—standing still like machines awaiting orders.
At the center of this formation was an elderly man with a cane, his right hand and right eye wrapped in bandages.
This man was none other than Shimura Danzō, who had mysteriously vanished from the Root base.
Two days earlier, he had quietly left Konoha with a group of elite Root operatives and arrived here.
"Boar, check if the trap worked,"
he ordered coldly, glancing at a man wearing a boar-faced mask.
The trap-laden house inside the town, rigged with Explosive Tags, had been set by him.
The shinobi left behind in the town were merely bait intended to draw Uchiha Fugaku's attention. From the start, Danzō had no intention of ensuring their survival.
"Yes,"
the masked man responded, then performed the Mind Body Switch Technique on a bird within the forest.
His consciousness instantly entered the bird's body, guiding it toward the nearby town.
Whoosh—
Just as the bird entered the town airspace, a kunai shot across dozens of meters, flying straight at it.
The man's heart skipped a beat.
Startled, the bird's feathers bristled violently. He quickly canceled the jutsu.
In the very next instant, the bird was pierced by the kunai and dropped from the sky.
"Ah…"
Regaining control of his body, cold sweat beaded across the boar-masked man's forehead.
While inside the bird's body, his life was directly linked to it had he not canceled the technique in time, he would have died along with it.
"Well?"
Shimura Danzō looked at him calmly.
"Lord Danzō, Uchiha Fugaku is still alive. He detected my jutsu—I nearly died at his hands,"
the man replied, taking a deep breath.
"Still alive?"
Danzō frowned slightly.
His plan had been to kill Uchiha Fugaku using that trap, but it had clearly failed. Whether Fugaku had noticed the trap early or simply avoided it, the result was the same.
"What now, Lord Danzō?"
a masked man with an insect-like face asked.
"Since the trap failed, we'll go with direct elimination."
Danzō's voice was cold and sharp.
Ideally, the trap would have done the job. But if it couldn't, then direct combat was the only option.
He had brought more than a hundred elite Root operatives more than enough to handle Fugaku and the other Uchiha.
Back in Shangtian Town, chaos reigned after the earlier battle and explosions.
Shops were shutting in panic, and civilians were fleeing in fear.
Suddenly, Uchiha Fugaku pulled out a kunai and struck down a bird that had flown into town.
"Clan Head, what's wrong?"
Uchiha Wenzi asked upon seeing this.
"We're being watched,"
Fugaku replied, frowning.
"The ones we killed earlier were too weak—not the type who'd rob a merchant caravan. Whoever did that, it wasn't them."
"Now, with this surveillance and the earlier trap... Clan Head, I think this was all a setup to target you,"
Uchiha Arashi said, analyzing without emotion.
"Mm, there's little doubt left—this is indeed a trap aimed at me,"
Fugaku nodded.
What was once just a suspicion of Danzō's involvement now seemed all but confirmed.
"Clan Head, what now? Should we search for whoever's hiding nearby?"
Wenzi asked.
"No need. Now that we've rescued Taihe Youshi, we return immediately."
"We don't need to find them. They'll come to us."
Fugaku shook his head.
"But what about him? If we're going into battle, we won't be able to protect him,"
Wenzi asked, frowning as he looked at the unconscious Taihe Youshi.
"We'll disguise a Shadow Clone to look like him and travel with us. The real one will stay in Shangtian Town, protected by two people,"
Fugaku responded after a moment of thought.
Taihe Youshi was just a civilian. There was no way they could keep him safe in the fight ahead.
Besides, Fugaku didn't want Youshi to learn about his Mangekyō Sharingan awakening. That's why he had knocked him unconscious during the rescue.
After arranging Youshi's safety, Fugaku's group set off toward the Land of Fire.
There were 14 of them in total, including two disguised clones one impersonating Youshi.
"Stop."
About half an hour into the journey, Uchiha Arashi who led the group raised his hand, signaling everyone to halt.
The others stopped instantly, becoming alert.
"There are traps ahead,"
Arashi stated coldly, his expression unchanged.
He activated his Sharingan. With their enhanced vision, the group soon spotted almost invisible threads stretched across the path.
Not just ahead—on both flanks as well—nearly invisible wires crisscrossed the area.
They had almost walked into a deadly web.
"Everyone, destroy the traps!"
Fugaku ordered.
At his command, kunai flew out, striking the threads.
The moment they were touched, all kinds of traps activated projectiles, explosive tags, and more.
Shrill whistles and explosions erupted everywhere.
Startled birds took flight from the forest, escaping in all directions.
"Hmm…?"
Fugaku's expression shifted slightly.
Using his sensory perception, he detected over a hundred strong chakra signatures rapidly surrounding them.
"Be alert enemies are closing in!"
he warned
Immediately, the Uchiha fell into a defensive formationback-to-back, eyes scanning the surroundings.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Figures began appearing from every direction, encircling them.
Each one wore a mask, radiated killing intent, and donned attire of either Konoha's Anbu or Root.
Among them stood the elderly, bandaged figure with only his left eye visible Shimura Danzō.
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