Chapter 227: A Desperate Retreat
Deep within the forests bordering Konoha's main battlefield, a desperate flight was underway.
The four members of Team Eagle moved with urgent, ragged breaths. Just moments ago, they had been victorious, with Sasuke striking down the notorious Danzo. Now, that triumph felt like a distant memory. Sasuke, his body wracked with a deep, systemic exhaustion, leaned heavily on Suigetsu for support. Each step was a struggle. The price for unleashing the full power of his Mangekyō Sharingan against Danzo was a crushing weakness that had settled into his bones, and a searing, persistent pain behind his eyes that threatened to split his skull.
"Sasuke! What the hell happened back there?" Suigetsu grunted, adjusting his grip on the Uchiha's arm. "You took down Danzo! Did that old snake pull some last-second trick?"
"No... It's the eye," Sasuke managed, his voice a strained whisper. "The cost of my power... We need to keep moving. We must regroup with my brother. Now." The unspoken fear hung in the air: in their current state, they were vulnerable.
That fear was realized a second later. Sasuke's head snapped up, his Sharingan—dulled with fatigue—nevertheless catching the subtle shifts in the chakra around them. His expression hardened into a mask of grim acceptance. "It seems trouble found us anyway."
To his side, Karin's eyes widened. She slammed her own eyes shut, her superior sensory abilities flaring out. "Damn it!" she cried out, panic seizing her voice. "We're surrounded! A full encirclement!"
"What?!" Suigetsu and Jūgo exclaimed in unison. They didn't doubt her. In the world of shinobi, Karin's senses were as good as fact.
"Is it the Root agents from before?" Suigetsu muttered, a bitter smile on his face. "They ran when Sasuke was strong, and now they've come back with reinforcements. Perfect timing. With Sasuke like this... our odds aren't looking good."
"Worse," Karin interjected, her voice trembling. "There are at least thirty of them. All high-level chakra signatures. They're not just Root; there are ANBU mixed in too." A flash of anger crossed Sasuke's face—a flicker of his usual pride, swiftly extinguished by a fresh wave of pain from his eyes.
"Thirty?!" Suigetsu paled. "We barely held off the last group! Thirty is a death sentence in our condition!"
"Hn. Shut up and prepare to fight," Sasuke snarled, pushing himself off Suigetsu. He stood on his own, swaying slightly, and forced his chakra to surge. The familiar, terrifying pattern of the Mangekyō bloomed in his eyes once more. The effect was immediate and violent. He cried out, a short, sharp gasp of agony, and clapped a hand over his face as if to claw the offending organs out. Blood, thin and crimson, began to trickle from between his fingers.
"Sasuke! You can't!" Karin pleaded, her heart aching at his suffering. "You've pushed yourself too far! Let Jūgo and Suigetsu buy us time. We need to retreat and find Ren! It's our only chance!"
"Yeah, Sasuke," Suigetsu added, his usual sarcasm replaced by genuine concern. "If you can't do it, don't force it. You'll just get yourself killed."
Jūgo, ever the silent pillar, was already transforming. The Cursed Seal spread across his body like a black tide, his skin hardening, his form bulking with raw, bestial power. His left eye turned a void, corpse-like black. "We will hold the line," he rumbled, his voice distorted. "Go. We will find you after."
Sasuke wanted to refuse, to unleash Susano'o and burn them all to ash. But the pain was a white-hot brand in his brain, robbing him of focus, of chakra control. He could only endure, teeth gritted, as the world swam in and out of focus. Finally, the worst of the spike subsided, leaving a throbbing, debilitating ache. He lowered his hand, revealing bloodshot eyes.
"Hn. When did I ever need you to protect me?" he forced out, the words laced with more bravado than he felt. "Underestimating an Uchiha is the last mistake any of them will make."
"They're here!" Karin yelled.
A rustle of leaves, and then they were there. Thirty figures, masked and anonymous, materialized from the shadows of the trees, forming a perfect, tightening ring around them. Their silence was more threatening than any battle cry.
Jūgo cracked his neck, a feral grin spreading across his transformed features. "If that's how it is... let's fight! Who's first?"
Sasuke ignored him, focusing every shred of his will. He opened his eyes wide. "Susano'o!" A flicker of pale blue chakra, the ghost of a ribcage, started to form around him. It was a pathetic echo of the colossal warrior he had summoned against Danzo. The strain was too much. Another, sharper agony lanced through his optic nerves, and he screamed, the nascent Susano'o shattering into nothingness. He collapsed to one knee, utterly spent.
"Sasuke!" Jūgo roared. There was no more time for debate. In one swift motion, the hulking man scooped up the nearly unconscious Sasuke, slinging him over a shoulder. "Retreat! Now!" he ordered, and without a backward glance, he launched himself into the forest, his powerful legs carrying them away.
The Root and ANBU squad needed no command. Hands flashed through seals in unison.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A cataclysmic wave of ninjutsu, a storm of elemental annihilation, slammed into the spot where Team Eagle had stood moments before. The forest erupted. Trees were vaporized, the earth was scorched and torn, and the concussive blast wave rattled the very bones of the land.
As the smoke and dust began to clear, the lead ANBU captain held up a fist. "Don't let your guard down. A target who killed Lord Danzo won't die this easily."
"Suigetsu, let's go!" Karin yelled, tugging at the water-ninja's sleeve. She had already sensed Jūgo's chakra moving away at speed.
"But—!" Suigetsu started, staring at the crater.
"Now!" Karin insisted, already turning to run. Understanding dawned on Suigetsu's face. He gave a grim, determined smile, hefted his massive Kubikiribōchō, and sprinted after her.
The Konoha hunters saw their prey fleeing. "There! In the trees!" The thirty shadows dissolved, giving chase like a pack of wolves.
The moon, cold and bright, cast a pale light on a deadly chase through the woods. The usual nocturnal sounds were absent, replaced by the whisper-quiet rustle of thirty pursuers and the frantic footsteps of the pursued.
"Jūgo, we can't keep this up!" Suigetsu called out, glancing back at the relentless pursuers. "If they corner us again, we're finished!"
"The only plan is to reach Lord Ren," Jūgo grunted, his breath coming in labored gusts. The fleshy wings on his back, torn and tattered from the initial blast, were unusable. "Against these numbers, in our state, victory is impossible."
"Jūgo! How dare you knock out Sasuke!" Karin scolded, though she knew it was the only way.
Before the argument could continue, a THWIP-THWIP-THWIP sound cut through the air. Kunai and shuriken embedded themselves in the trees around them, forcing them to weave erratically.
"Harass them! Slow them down!" the enemy commander's voice echoed. "We have the numbers! Wear them out!"
"Jūgo! That way!" Karin shouted, pointing with certainty. "I can feel it—Ren's chakra! It's faint, but it's there!"
A renewed sense of hope fueled them. Jūgo gritted his teeth, the Cursed Seal flaring brighter as he pushed his body beyond its limits for more speed.
Suigetsu, however, fell behind, turning to face the oncoming horde with his massive sword held ready. "Come on then, you bastards! I'll show you what—"
"Fūton: Vacuum Jade!" A Root ninja broke from the pack, unleashing three spheres of compressed air that screamed towards Suigetsu.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Suigetsu brought his sword up just in time, but the impact was tremendous. The vibrations numbed his arms, and the Kubikiribōchō was nearly wrenched from his grasp. "Tch! So weak... I can't even hold my sword steady?" he muttered, shocked at his own depletion.
The lead ANBU watched dispassionately. "He's at his limit. Eliminate him. Our primary target is Uchiha Sasuke. The others are expendable."
A dozen ninjas converged on Suigetsu, their blades glinting in the moonlight. Suigetsu offered a resigned, wry smile. His hydrification technique could save him from a fatal blow, but the sheer force would knock him unconscious, leaving him a prisoner.
"Well," he sighed, "I guess this is how I go out, covering those guys..."
But as the first kunai was about to find its mark, a figure materialized in front of him with such speed it was as if he had torn through the fabric of space itself. The air stilled. The very night seemed to hold its breath.
Suigetsu's eyes widened, despair replaced by pure, unadulterated relief. A wide grin split his face.
"Boss!"
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