On the outskirts of the village, at the Root Base.
The air reeked of blood, mingled with the pungent stench of scorched earth and burning corpses.
Broken kunai were buried deep in the ground. Shuriken lay scattered in pools of blood, their blades bent and warped.
Blackened Fire Style marks marred the walls. Several Root shinobi lay sprawled along both sides of the corridor, their masks shattered and their eyes hollow, as if they had died without ever understanding how they could have been so utterly defeated.
Uchiha An stepped over the sticky blood, moving slowly forward. His Sharingan glowed crimson in the dim corridor, the Mangekyō turning slowly as he coolly surveyed his surroundings.
The Human Path walked beside him, expressionless, turning a blind eye to the bodies strewn across the floor.
"Root's rats still love hiding in the shadows," Uchiha An muttered, his voice laced with scorn.
Before the words had faded, a shadow suddenly plunged from the ceiling, a kunai thrusting straight for his back!
Uchiha An didn't even look back. He merely shifted to the side, his right hand catching the attacker's wrist with pinpoint precision. He gave it a light twist, and the crisp sound of breaking bones rang out.
The Root shinobi grunted. Before he even hit the ground, the kunai in Uchiha An's left hand flashed out like lightning, piercing his throat.
"Ugh..."
As the kunai was pulled free, blood gushed from the wound in his neck, splattering the wall. His body crumpled to the floor.
"Boring tricks."
Uchiha An flicked the blood from his hand and continued forward.
The Root Base was too cramped to use Susanoo, but the Sharingan enhanced every aspect of an Uchiha. Dealing with assassins of this caliber would only take a little time.
Root shinobi were skilled