Breaking the Barrier

"Come on, tell me about this barrier first!"

The demonic whispers echoed in the blood-red space, penetrating deep into White Zetsu's heart, gently and slowly seeping in.

Learning from the previous failure of brute-force reading, Itachi used Inductive Genjutsu this time, attempting to obtain more information.

"A barrier... a barrier is..."

White Zetsu opened his mouth like a puppet on strings, revealing all the secrets of the barrier.

What seemed like an eternity in the Genjutsu space was only half a minute in reality. The speed of information exchange between consciousnesses is very fast, especially for a Genjutsu master like Itachi. Efficiently and accurately extracting the necessary information is an essential skill.

Having obtained information about the barrier, Itachi did not pursue the matter further, even though he was eager to know.

There are more important tasks at hand.

"Take them back to the dungeon. Tell the Sealing Team to be extra careful and make sure their Chakra is completely sealed. Send three times the manpower to keep a close watch on them. I don't want any unexpected situations to happen before my next interrogation."

The two White Zetsu trapped by the Genjutsu were handed over to his subordinates, and Itachi gestured for everyone to slowly approach the barrier.

The closer one gets to the barrier, the clearer one can perceive the occasional earthquakes.

"Unsealing Technique"

With lightning speed, he completed as many as fifty hand seals, Chakra flowed out.

The pale blue barrier in front of them suddenly made a cracking sound, like glass shattering. The spiderweb-like cracks were visible to the naked eye, and the barrier broke in just two breaths.

"Whoosh!!"

As the barrier vanished, a scorching, turbid gale rushed out, filling mouths and noses with grayish-white dust and carrying a burnt smell. It made people twitch their noses uncomfortably and instinctively reach out to rub them, only to encounter a cold, hard mask instead.

"This is... this is truly incredible!!"

Raising their hands to brush away the swirling dust, even the elites at the Root couldn't help but groan at the horrific scene before them.

Fifteen years of peace was enough for a new generation to grow up. Most of those gathered under Itachi's command were from this generation, born just before the Third Shinobi World War, but the war ended before they could even grow up.

Therefore, they had never witnessed the Great Shinobi World War, and given the responsibilities of Root, they were more familiar with small-scale battles and assassinations.

Such a horrific scene is a rare occurrence in their lives.

The scorched earth, billowing black smoke, and the vast quicksand surged like a tsunami, threatening to destroy cities and fortresses. Hundreds of red-haired youths roared as they met the attack head-on. Lightning, flames, water dragons, wind blades, and rock pillars— Eight Gates of attacks collided with the quicksand, causing the earth to tremble once more.

"This... wasn't it supposed to be about rescuing students from the Ninja Academy? It feels more like we're going to war!"

"Students? If all the students at the Ninja Academy were this strong, I'd resign as soon as I got back."

Itachi's eyes widened in astonishment; the scene before him was equally unexpected.

As his subordinates said, if the students at the Ninja Academy had such skills, they could indeed retire.

Just then...

The raging quicksand wave gained the upper hand, and all the Ninjutsu collapsed under the powerful impact of the quicksand. Hundreds of red-haired boys, who were the ones being rescued, turned into Chakra smoke and disappeared in the quicksand. In the blink of an eye, the white smoke and rolling yellow sand intertwined, forming a strange landscape.

"Deputy Chief, there are four people behind that mound. Judging from their size, they should all be students from the Ninja Academy."

Suddenly, one of the subordinates shouted, pointing forward. Through the eye holes in the mask, pure white eyes could be seen.

"Behind the mound?"

As if an electric current surged through his spine, Itachi straightened his back and looked in the direction his subordinates were pointing. Where the quicksand waves were advancing, a low mound stood.

A crimson light shone in his eyes. Although the Sharingan's perception wasn't as powerful as the Byakugan, it was still enough to see through this distance, vaguely discerning the possible students behind the mound...

"Sasuke?"

A bucket of snow water was poured onto Itachi's head, the chill penetrating to the bone and making Itachi feel as if his consciousness was about to freeze.

Why?

Why is Sasuke here?

The quicksand had already climbed up the hill. It was such a long distance that even if he tried his best, he couldn't catch up. And even if he could reach it, he wouldn't be able to stop the terrifying attack from the fierce quicksand waves.

"Boom!!!"

Just as Itachi was about to fall into the abyss of despair.

Without warning or preparation, the unpredictable power that permeated the heavens and the earth suddenly erupted.

A thunderous roar, like the cry of a dragon, reverberated across the burning land.

The rolling yellow sand was pounded into the sky, and the mounds were crushed into flat ground by the terrifying force. In the blink of an eye, the situation was dramatically reversed, and the tsunami-like offensive was thus thwarted.

"Hey, what's going on? Am I dreaming?"

"... Is this a miracle?"

The Root elites exclaimed in a song-like chorus, completely disregarding the cold demeanor required of Root ninjas, freely expressing their inner feelings.

No one understood what happened in that instant.

An unobservable force erupted, shattering the tsunami-like quicksand. The resulting storm, carrying hard sand and gravel, pounded against their masks as if they were being pecked by birds.

"What are you all standing there for? One team, go protect the students. The other team, come with me and capture Sasori of the Red Sands."

Itachi's roar made everyone gasp in astonishment, their mouths agape beneath their masks. One unbelievable thing after another had happened today, leaving them almost numb.

They had never seen the Deputy Chief speak in such a forceful and rude tone before; to put it bluntly, it completely overturned their impression of him.

"Yes, Deputy Chief."

No matter how confused he was, he dared not disobey the Deputy Chief's orders.

Their rigorous daily training and extensive combat experience made them instinctively respond to the Deputy Chief's orders.

Some of the group split off and headed towards the students, while others followed Itachi's footsteps and rushed towards Sasori's location.

The Root ninjas weren't the only ones startled by the sudden, eerie power; Sasori felt an even stronger impact than they did.

The attack launched by the Human Puppet was thwarted in a way he couldn't comprehend. Yellow sand rained down, and Scorpion was completely bewildered. What the hell was going on?

Looking at the Konoha Ninja charging towards him, judging from their attire they were undoubtedly from Root, Sasori composed himself. The outcome was already decided, and there was no point in thinking about it anymore. The important thing now was to retreat.

The barrier has been broken, and it's easy to imagine that Konoha's experts will gather here. He's not arrogant enough to think he can withstand the siege of Konoha's experts by himself.

There's only one natural disaster in Konoha! (To be continued)