Min realized that Renji's battlefield had gone silent. His heart sank and his strikes grew sharper. The Root shinobi misread the change, believing help was on the way, and fought harder, trading wound for wound in a reckless struggle.
The silence from the other side only deepened the tension. Min feared his students were in danger. The Root shinobi worried his comrades had chosen to reinforce elsewhere, leaving him alone.
Min spoke coldly. "Your comrades are gone. My students have already joined each other. Together they can unleash a combined jutsu strong enough to crush squads. Do you know who killed the two Root teams you were investigating? It was them. I never had to intervene."
The Root shinobi faltered for a heartbeat. That was enough. Min's blade cut through the distraction, severing his arm. Even then the enemy refused to yield, fighting desperately with one hand.
Time does not wait. Min stepped in, his sword dancing. "Crescent Moon Dance." Steel flashed. The Root shinobi's head rolled to the earth.
On the other front, Yan and Retsu had built a rough rhythm. Shuriken, illusions, and small tricks gave them a little space to breathe, but the jōnin pressed without pause. He wielded Water, Earth, and Lightning in quick succession, his control too sharp, his chakra too deep.
Retsu muttered through heavy breaths. "I'm running out. How does he still have so much?"
Yan clenched his teeth. "His control is perfect. He wastes nothing. But Renji's side is silent. I'm worried."
"We can't think about him now. Look at this maniac. They say Uchiha are crazy, but he's the one fighting like he doesn't know exhaustion."
The jōnin sneered. "Whisper while you can. Soon you'll join your teammate."
Hand signs blurred. "Shadow Clone Jutsu. Water Release, Great Waterfall. Water Dragon Bullet. Lightning Release, Ground Walk."
The wave crashed down. Yan and Retsu countered with a combo, but the dragon tore through.
They raised walls of earth, but the torrent smashed them flat. Water swept them off their feet, and lightning coursed through. Their bodies convulsed and fell still.
The Root jōnin dispelled his clone, staggering from the effort. His chest heaved. Still, he stepped forward to finish them.
From below came a voice. "Earth Release, Headhunter Jutsu." The body crumbled into dirt. A clone.
Lightning flashed behind him. "Lightning Body Flicker. Uchiha-ryu Sword Style, Flash Cut."
Min's blade pierced his chest. Blood gushed. The Root shinobi tried to form seals one last time. "Fire Release"
Another voice whispered at his back. "Genjutsu, Hell Viewing." His jutsu collapsed. Flames consumed him.
Renji appeared, drenched in blood, grinning faintly. "Too tired. Took a nap."
Min reached his students at last. Yan and Retsu lay in a pit, battered but breathing. Renji swayed but remained conscious, his face pale and smeared with blood. Min felt guilt crush his chest.
"I've already sent word to the clan," he said. "I spread rumors through the valley. Any Uchiha nearby will come once they hear. If they arrive before Root reinforcements, we'll survive."
Renji forced a smile. "Teacher. What if we go back into the valley itself? If we hide among the people, Root will struggle to pin us down. If they find us out here, we'll be dead in minutes."
Min nodded. "I arranged for someone outside the traps. Go meet him."
An old man pushed a cart piled with bodies through the path. He wheeled them to the Myoshin Institute, a place for the dead. He unloaded the corpses and said quietly, "Put them in the back room. I'll fetch a doctor. For now I'll play this old man. Don't leave the house."
Renji glanced at the signboard. The building was a morgue. A faded couplet hung by the door:
The living cling to greed. The dead see truth.
He dragged his unconscious teammates inside. Pain stabbed through his head, blood dripping from his nose. Darkness swallowed him.
The doctor came soon after. "This one has internal injuries, mild concussion. He'll recover with fluids. The second has broken ribs and a shattered arm, needs bone-setting and rest. But the last one, severe concussion, bleeding in the skull, ruptured eardrum, chakra exhaustion. Surgery is the only chance."
Min's Sharingan glowed. "You'll have an assistant. Me. If they die, so does your family."
Days passed. Yan awoke first and yielded his bed for Renji, watching in silence from outside.
Retsu stirred later, found his arm broken again, and almost shouted. But he saw Renji unconscious and swallowed the words. He dragged himself to a table, hung his IV from a lamp, and lay down without complaint.
A masked doctor nudged him awake. "Young man, go back to bed."
Retsu waved him off. "Renji needs it more."
The doctor blinked. "That's not a bed. That's the surgery table."
.
.
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