At this moment, White Zetsu chuckled maliciously, his voice carrying a strange playfulness as if he were mocking the situation itself.
"Madara, you can't act impulsively now. You don't want the Eye of the Moon Plan to fail, do you?"
Obito's Sharingan glowed faintly in the darkness. His expression was hidden beneath the mask, but his voice was cold and dismissive.
"Hmph. No need to state the obvious. I know what I must do."
With a twist of his right eye, a spiraling distortion appeared. In the blink of an eye, his body sank into the vortex and vanished without a trace.
White Zetsu tilted his head, smirking. "After all these years, Obito is still a brat. He hasn't matured at all."
Black Zetsu's voice was like oil dripping on firewood—low, sinister, and calculating. "A brat is easier to control."
White Zetsu grinned. "That's true. Well then, we've wasted enough time here. The Patrol Ninjas will be here soon. We should clean up the scene before they arrive."
The two Zetsu worked quickly, their strange abilities consuming the traces of battle, swallowing evidence into the earth. Within moments, the destroyed ground was masked with only faint scars, though the overwhelming stench of blood could not be fully hidden.
When they were done, they melted back into the earth, disappearing without a sound.
---
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a series of swift movements, four patrol ninjas appeared at the messy training ground. Their masked faces turned toward the scene, bodies tensed, hands instinctively near their weapons.
The leading Special Jōnin narrowed his eyes as he saw the large pool of blood staining the soil. His heart sank.
Judging from the sheer volume, it was enough to drain the life from an adult man.
His jaw tightened. "The situation is bad." He turned to the squad. "I'll report to Tsuchida-sama immediately. C, I'll leave the rest to you."
With that, he performed the Body Flicker Technique and vanished into the night, leaving his subordinates behind.
---
Meow!
Elsewhere in the village, after leaving Kana's house, Neji Hyūga was about to head home when a sharp meow echoed from the eaves above.
He looked up. A small ninja cat with sharp eyes was bounding toward him. Its sleek fur gleamed under the moonlight, and a scroll was tied around its neck.
Recognizing it instantly, Neji stopped.
It was Yugito's contracted ninja cat.
The cat landed gracefully before him, tail flicking. "Meow! Hyūga Neji, Yugito-sama needs you right away. It's urgent!"
Neji's brows furrowed. Urgent? His mind immediately jumped to the possibility. Did Root get exposed already?
Without hesitation, he scooped up the cat and sprinted in the direction it indicated, his white robes fluttering in the night wind.
---
Before long, Neji arrived at the training ground.
The area was already heavily guarded. A circle of masked shinobi surrounded the field, their stances sharp and their chakra flaring with restrained intensity. These were not ordinary forces—they were the Raikage's personal Anbu, the most trusted and deadly operatives in the Hidden Cloud.
Neji pushed his way forward and quickly spotted Yugito. She stood tall in her battle attire, golden eyes gleaming with tension.
"Captain," Neji called out, his tone urgent, "what happened?"
Yugito's expression was grim. She reached out, resting a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Just moments ago, Yotsuki Ringo was attacked by a mysterious enemy. He's now missing… and I fear he may be in grave danger."
Neji's brows tightened. Yotsuki Ringo?
He had assumed the Anbu were closing in on the Root operatives hiding within the Cloud. But to hear that a rising genius of the Yotsuki clan had vanished in such a manner—it was unexpected, and far worse.
"Where is Raikage-sama now?" Neji asked, his voice steady despite the storm in his mind.
Yugito exhaled sharply. "Furious. He has taken the Yotsuki clan members and ordered a full-scale search, house by house. Tsuchida-senpai instructed us to secure the scene and find clues before anything else is disturbed."
Neji pressed two fingers against his temple, forcing himself to think clearly. Yotsuki Ringo was not a minor figure. Though young, he was a formidable swordsman and a bearer of great potential within his clan. For him to be attacked within the village was nothing less than a humiliation to the Cloud itself.
More importantly, it threatened the stability Neji had worked so hard to maintain.
And suspicion naturally pointed toward the hidden Root.
Neji drew a long breath, his Byakugan flashing faintly. "Captain… let's begin."
Yugito nodded firmly, then gestured to a young man approaching from the shadows.
"This is C," she introduced. "A sensor ninja from the Patrol Team. He was the first to arrive here after the disturbance."
Neji studied him. Seventeen, maybe eighteen. Blond hair, cut short. Handsome features, his bearing youthful yet steady. He wasn't yet the renowned member of Raikage's personal guard he would one day become, but the sharpness of his chakra suggested promise.
Yugito's tone hardened. "C, tell us what you found."
"Yes, ma'am!" C straightened and reported briskly. "We rushed here immediately after detecting a surge of Lightning Release chakra. From start to arrival, less than a minute passed. But when we reached the scene… the battle was already over. Yotsuki Ringo was gone. There were no enemies, no signs of movement—only faint traces of his own Lightning Release chakra lingering in the air."
He pulled out a sealed pouch and handed it over. "Near the training ground, I discovered this forehead protector destroyed by Lightning Release."
Neji accepted it, eyes narrowing. The metal plate was cracked and scarred, half-melted by a bolt of lightning. At first glance, the design was indistinct, but with the penetrating gaze of the Byakugan, he discerned it—the faint curve of a leaf symbol.
Yugito dismissed C with a wave. Her gaze sharpened as she turned back to Neji. "Well? Did you find anything?"
Neji's fingers brushed the ruined symbol, his voice quiet but heavy. "This is from Konoha. A Leaf forehead protector."
Yugito's eyes widened. "So it's true… a Root ninja."
Her fists clenched as though the answer was obvious.
But Neji didn't share her certainty. His mind ran deeper. He had personally fought Yotsuki Ringo before. Though Neji had defeated him with ease, he knew the young swordsman was no weakling. Ordinary jōnin couldn't touch him. To take him down so quickly, the attacker's strength had to be overwhelming—beyond even the second-in-command of Root, Yume Ryūma.
And then there was the matter of the disappearance. To slay Ringo and remove the body without leaving traces, all in less than a minute… very few in the world could manage that.
Neji activated his Byakugan, his pale eyes glowing as veins bulged at the sides. He scanned the training ground with meticulous care.
Then—something caught his eye.
Without a word, he strode toward the forest at the edge of the field. The Anbu turned instinctively, watching his movements with suspicion, but Yugito followed without hesitation.
There, embedded deep in a tree trunk, was the hilt of a blade.
Neji's eyes darkened. He reached forward, recognizing it instantly. This was Yotsuki Ringo's treasured chakra blade.
His chest tightened. He whispered, almost involuntarily, "So that's it… so that's it…"
Yugito tilted her head. "What did you find?"
Neji exhaled slowly, hand resting against the hilt. "I've fought him before. His swordsmanship was sharp enough to cut through trees as if they were paper. Yet here… he struck, and the tree still stands. Do you know why?"
Yugito frowned. "Why?"
"Because this was his final strike before death," Neji said, voice low, almost reverent.
Yugito's eyes narrowed. "His last strike failed to harm the enemy… which means he couldn't even wound them."
But Neji shook his head firmly. "No. This wasn't an attack. It was… preservation. He sealed his blade here, not for himself, but for me."
Yugito's eyes widened in disbelief. "For you? Why would he…?"
Neji's hand tightened on the hilt. "Because he had a dying message to pass on."
The words stunned her. "You mean… he left a message in his final moments?"
Neji nodded once. Slowly, he drew the sword from the wood. The steel gleamed under the moonlight, faint traces of chakra still pulsing within.
"But how can you know?" Yugito pressed. "He was already gone when you arrived."
"The dead can still speak," Neji answered solemnly.
Yugito examined the blade but saw nothing unusual. "If that's true, why can't I hear his message?"
"Because only I can," Neji said firmly, activating his Byakugan once more. "Only I in this entire village possess the eyes that can see chakra like this."
He guided his own chakra into the blade. His veins stood out, energy surging through his arm. Slowly, faint black lightning patterns emerged across the sword's surface, glowing ominously.
The pattern twisted, forming a strange shape: an oval, with a small dot inside near the right side.
Neji's breath caught. His eyes widened, a flash of recognition cutting through him.
He understood.
He gripped the blade tighter, his gaze burning with renewed hatred.
"Obito," he whispered, voice sharp as steel. "I now have another reason to kill you."
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