Sasuke Trespasses Root Base!

The electronic screen scrolled.

The third match lineup lit up:

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee

Little Lee leaped down from the viewing platform, warming up his limbs on the field.

Yet 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 asked anxiously, craning his neck.

Yo frowned too.

Before he went down to fight Naruto, this younger brother had still been around—how had he vanished in the blink of an eye?

Gone to take a dump in the latrine?

"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 rushed off in a hurry and never came back."

"ANBU?"

Yo's brow tightened further. ANBU reported directly to the Hokage. To take Sasuke away like this, at a time like this?

Something was wrong.

Very wrong!

The Third Hokage was right here at the arena—he couldn't have called Sasuke away!

Could it be Danzo?

"This old dog. I didn't go looking for his trouble, and he dares to jump out on his own? He's asking for death!"

Yo gave a cold snort.

Just then.

From the sky, countless pure white feathers began to fall, no one knew when.

They were light, dreamlike, drifting down like winter snowflakes, carrying an eerie serenity.

The spectators in the stands saw the feathers and immediately started yawning, their eyes growing drowsy, and soon they fell asleep.

Not just ordinary spectators.

Many genin, even chūnin, couldn't resist the sleepiness that swept across the entire venue, one by one sinking into slumber.

Over in the contestant viewing area.

"Ah... so sleepy..."

"What's going on..."

"Feathers..."

Naruto let out a huge yawn, swayed twice, then slid down against the railing, snoring.

Beside him, Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Ino, Karin, Tenten, Shino, and the others all fell victim too.

Even the referee on the field, Gekko Hayate, and Little Lee, who was waiting for his match, had their eyes glaze over and sank into sleep.

The arena, which had been buzzing with noise moments ago, fell into an eerie silence.

The stands were filled with sleeping people, and the feathers kept falling.

In the distance...

Vague sounds of explosions and the roar of ninjutsu clashes echoed!

Yo also felt a powerful drowsiness assault him, trying to erode his consciousness, his eyelids growing heavy.

"Yakushi Kabuto made his move!"

Yo's heart jolted.

No doubt about it—the Konoha Crush Plan had indeed begun!

"I thought that after I showed enough power to suppress Shukaku, Orochimaru would be wary!"

"Would he delay, or even cancel the Konoha Crush Plan?"

"Looks like I was naive! Maybe seeing me display perfect Wood Release power only made him crazier!"

"But that's fine!"

Yo immediately disrupted the chakra flow in his body, dispelling the Illusion Technique.

The heavy drowsiness quickly faded. His eyes regained clarity.

This kind of large-scale Illusion Technique, though wide in range, was weak in effect.

If one's mental strength was even slightly stronger, the Illusion Technique would struggle to work.

Sakura, for example, had also shaken off the technique and regained her clarity.

"Yao, what's going on?" Sakura asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

Shun!

Kakashi appeared in a flash, shouting, "Sudden enemy attack! Situation unclear, but this is definitely a major crisis!"

"Yao! Sakura!"

"Wake Naruto and the others immediately, protect the non-combatants, and prioritize evacuation to safe shelters!"

"I'll support other areas! Remember—move fast!"

With that, Kakashi vanished in an instant.

Yao watched Kakashi's retreating back, then exchanged a glance with Sakura.

"Let's wake them up first!"

"Right! Okay!"

"Wake up... Naruto! Don't sleep! Something's happened!"

With Yao and Sakura's help, Naruto and the others quickly came to.

"What's going on?"

"Why were we all asleep?"

"Those explosions are..."

Just as they were caught in confusion, a figure suddenly appeared.

Wearing a Fox Pattern, clad in Anbu uniform, his aura was icy cold.

He ignored Naruto and the others, walked up to Yao, and said in a tone that brooked no argument:

"Uchiha Yao, your younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke, is suspected of illegally entering the village's confidential stronghold—the Root Base!"

"Please come with me to Root immediately to cooperate in handling this matter!"

"What?!"

"Sasuke broke into the Root Base? What the hell is the Root Base?"

"Root?"

"What kind of place is that?"

Naruto, Sakura, and the others looked at each other, baffled.

Root?

Did the village have such a place? Why didn't they know about it?

"Alright! Enough noise!"

Yao raised a hand to cut off his companions' shock and questions, then looked at the Anbu with the Fox Mask:

"Lure Sasuke to Root, then use him as bait... and then 'invite' me over!"

A cold smirk curled at the corner of Yao's mouth, his voice frigid:

"A crude tactic! It certainly fits that one's style!"

"But you've succeeded!"

"Only..."

"I hope you—especially the one behind you—are prepared to face my wrath!"

First Sasuke was lured away, now they were using Sasuke to lure him.

No doubt about it—this was Root's scheme to deal with him.

Yao had been considering whether to take advantage of the Konoha Crush Plan to storm the Root Base and kill Danzo.

Then.

Take Danzo's eye—the Mangekyo Sharingan that belonged to Shisui.

Well, well!

He hadn't even made his move yet, and Danzo couldn't wait any longer.

What more was there to say?

Time to flip the table!

Yao looked at Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and the others, his speech quickening:

"Listen up!"

"The village is under an unknown attack right now. Naruto, Shikamaru, you all—move out immediately!"

"Don't recklessly charge into the fiercest fighting—that's not something you can handle yet! Prioritize rescue and self-preservation! Got it?!"

"But Yao, what about you and Sasuke..." Sakura was on the verge of tears.

"Don't get involved in this. It's not something you can meddle in. I'll go handle it personally!"

Yo waved a hand, speaking coldly to the Anbu with the fox mask:

"Lead the way!"

The Root Base... hidden in the deepest underground of Konoha, its entrance secret, the passage twisting downward.

Yo followed that Anbu, passing through several heavy doors, and before them the space opened up, finally arriving at Root.

In the center of the vast underground chamber stretched a wide stone bridge.

Beneath the bridge was an abyss of unfathomable darkness, and at the other end of the bridge, it connected to a platform resembling a lookout tower.

At this moment, on the platform and the bridge, stood countless ninja.

They wore various animal masks and Anbu uniforms.

Like so many statues, they stood silently in the shadows.

And at the very front of the bridge, Shimura Danzō, half his body wrapped in bandages, stood leaning on a cane.

His exposed single eye was as sharp and cold as a hawk's.

Not far from Danzō's side, Uchiha Sasuke knelt on one knee, his body stiff, unable to move at all.

Strange black band-like patterns crawled across his neck, cheeks, arms, and entire body.

It was Root's curse seal binding technique—the Self-Exerting Curse Binding Seal!

These patterns writhed faintly like living things, completely sealing Sasuke's chakra and mobility.

Only his Sharingan burned with anger, humiliation, and a trace of urgency, staring fixedly at Yo as he approached.

"You've come!"

Danzō's voice was hoarse and flat, revealing no emotion.

"My foolish younger brother, let me guess why you fell for it?"

Yo didn't bother with Danzō; instead, he looked at Sasuke: "It has something to do with Uchiha Itachi, doesn't it?"