The electronic screen flickered.
The third match's names lit up:
Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee
Rock Lee leaped down from the stands and warmed up in the arena.
But Uchiha Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Gekko Hayate called his name several times, but no one answered.
"What's going on? Where's Sasuke?" Naruto looked around anxiously.
Yo frowned, too.
His little brother had still been there before Yo went down to fight Naruto. How had he disappeared in the blink of an eye?
Did he go to the bathroom?
"Yo, just now... while you and Naruto were fighting!"
Sakura hurriedly said, "I saw a cat-faced ANBU ninja say something to Sasuke!"
"Then Sasuke left in a hurry and never came back."
"ANBU?"
Yo's brows knitted tighter. The ANBU answered directly to the Hokage. Why would they take Sasuke away like this, at a time like this?
Something was wrong!
Very wrong!
The Third Hokage was at the arena himself. He couldn't have called Sasuke away!
Could it have been Danzo?
"That old dog. I didn't go looking for trouble with him, and he still dares to stick his neck out. He's asking to die!"
Yo let out a cold snort.
Just then,
Countless pure white feathers began drifting down from the sky.
They floated lightly, dreamlike, like snowflakes in winter, carrying an eerie sense of peace.
The spectators saw the feathers and immediately began yawning, their eyelids drooping. Soon, they had all fallen asleep.
It wasn't just the ordinary spectators.
Many Genin and even Chunin couldn't resist the wave of drowsiness sweeping through the arena. One after another, they fell asleep.
In the competitors' seating area,
"Ah... I'm so sleepy..."
"What's going on...?"
"Feathers..."
Naruto let out a huge yawn, swayed twice, then slid down against the railing and began snoring.
Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Ino, Karin, Tenten, Shino, and the others nearby were affected as well.
Even the referee, Gekko Hayate, and Rock Lee, who was waiting for his match, had unfocused eyes and fell asleep.
The arena, which had been bustling with voices moments ago, sank into an eerie silence.
The stands were full of sleeping spectators, and the feathers continued to drift down.
In the distance...
Faintly, explosions and the thunder of jutsu clashing rang out!
Yo felt a powerful drowsiness wash over him, trying to invade his consciousness. His eyelids grew heavy.
"Yakushi Kabuto has made his move!"
Yo's heart skipped a beat.
There was no doubt about it. The Konoha Crush Plan had begun after all!
"I thought that after I showed enough power to suppress Shukaku, Orochimaru would think twice!"
"Would he delay the Konoha Crush Plan, or even cancel it?"
"Looks like I was naive! Maybe seeing me display perfect Wood Release made him even crazier!"
"But that's fine, too!"
Yo immediately disrupted the flow of chakra inside his body and dispelled the Illusion Technique.
The oppressive drowsiness quickly faded. His eyes cleared.
This large-scale Illusion Technique had an enormous range, but its power was ordinary.
Anyone with even slightly strong mental strength could resist it.
Sakura, for example, had also broken free of the Illusion Technique and regained consciousness.
"Yo, what's going on?" Sakura asked, alarmed.
Whoosh!
Kakashi appeared in a flash and shouted, "We're under a sudden enemy attack! The situation is unclear, but this is definitely a major crisis!"
"Yo! Sakura!"
"Wake Naruto and the others immediately. Protect the noncombatants and prioritize getting them to a safe shelter!"
"I'm going to support the other areas! Remember, move quickly!"
With that, Kakashi flashed away and vanished.
Yo watched Kakashi's retreating figure, then exchanged a look with Sakura.
"Let's wake them up first!"
"Right!"
"Wake up... Naruto! Stop sleeping! Something's happened!"
With Yo and Sakura's help, Naruto and the others soon woke up.
"What happened?"
"Why did we all fall asleep?"
"Those explosions..."
As they looked around in confusion, a figure suddenly appeared.
He wore a Fox Pattern mask and an ANBU uniform. His presence was cold.
Ignoring Naruto and the others, he walked up to Yo and said in an unquestionable tone:
"Uchiha Yao, your younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke, is suspected of breaking into a classified location in the village—Root Base!"
"Come with me to Root immediately and assist with the matter!"
"What?!"
"Sasuke broke into Root Base? What even is Root Base?"
"Root?"
"What kind of place is that?"
Naruto, Sakura, and the others looked at one another, baffled.
Root?
Was there a place like that in the village? Why had they never heard of it?
"Enough! Quiet down!"
Yo raised a hand to stop his companions' questions, then turned to the ANBU in the fox mask.
"First you lured Sasuke to Root, then used him as bait... and now you're 'asking' me to come along!"
A cold smile tugged at Yo's lips. His voice was icy.
"What a crude trick. It certainly suits that man's style!"
"But you got what you wanted!"
"Just..."
"I hope you—and especially the man behind you—are ready to face my wrath!"
First Sasuke had been lured away. Now they were using him to lure Yo in.
There was no doubt about it. This was Root's way of dealing with him!
Yo had already been wondering whether he should use the Konoha Crush Plan as an opportunity to storm Root Base and kill Danzo.
And then,
Steal the Mangekyō Sharingan that belonged to Shisui from Danzo's eye.
Well, well!
He hadn't even made a move yet, and Danzo had lost his patience first.
What was there left to say?
Flip the table!
Yo looked at Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and the others, speaking faster.
"Listen!"
"The village is under attack by an unknown enemy. Naruto, Shikamaru, the rest of you—move out immediately!"
"Don't rush toward the fiercest fighting. You can't handle that right now! Focus on rescuing people and protecting yourselves first! Understood?!"
"But Yo, you and Sasuke..." Sakura was nearly in tears.
"Don't get involved in this. It's beyond you. I'll handle it myself!"
Yo waved her off, then coldly said to the ANBU in the fox mask:
"Lead the way!"
Root Base... was hidden deep beneath Konoha. Its entrance was concealed, and its winding passageways descended underground.
Yo followed the ANBU through several heavy doors. The space opened up before them, and at last they reached Root Base.
A broad stone bridge stretched across the center of the enormous underground chamber.
Darkness swallowed the depths below. At the other end of the bridge stood a platform resembling a lookout post.
At that moment, the platform and bridge were crowded with shinobi.
They wore various animal masks and ANBU uniforms.
They stood motionless in the shadows like statues, without a sound.
At the front of the bridge stood Shimura Danzo, half his body wrapped in bandages, leaning on a cane.
His single visible eye was sharp and cold as a hawk's.
Not far from Danzo, Uchiha Sasuke knelt on the ground, his body stiff and unable to move.
Strange black, band-like markings covered his neck, cheeks, arms, and the rest of his body.
It was Root's curse-mark restraint technique—the Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal!
The markings writhed faintly like living things, completely locking away Sasuke's chakra and ability to move.
Only the Sharingan in his eyes still burned with anger, humiliation, and a trace of anxiety as he stared at Yo approaching.
"You've come."
Danzo's voice was hoarse and flat, betraying no emotion.
"You foolish little brother. Let me guess why you fell for it."
Yo ignored Danzo and looked at Sasuke. "It must have something to do with Uchiha Itachi, right?"
Before you continue