Konoha's New S-Rank Rogue Ninja

Uchiha Tamio looked terrified, his brows tightly furrowed. His childish face was incomparably solemn as he panted heavily and darted about, dodging the vines' attacks.

On the night they had assassinated Danzo, the old bastard had transformed into a great tree, leaving an indelible impression on him.

The other Uchiha had intended to intervene.

But seeing that Ingetsu had not moved, and finding the vine-controlling technique oddly familiar, they chose to watch from the sidelines.

The Uchiha stared at Ingetsu's handsome profile, recalling the scene of him using Wood Release last night. Shock filled their eyes.

It was not only Obito who was astonished by Ingetsu's many trump cards.

Even the Uchiha who followed Ingetsu had no idea how many hidden cards their former Police Force captain now possessed.

Before long.

The vines split into five, shrinking in size and becoming even more nimble and unpredictable.

One of them caught Tamio off guard, lurking at his next foothold before easily tripping him.

The other four vines swarmed him in an instant, hoisting Tamio up onto a tree.

Tamio clenched his teeth, fear of the plants written across his face. He twisted and struggled, but it was useless.

The Uchiha cried out in alarm.

Only then did Tamio's two Subordinates step forward, trying to rescue their captain.

After all that fuss.

Ingetsu clearly felt that simultaneously converting Chakra into earth-nature Chakra and water-nature Chakra, injecting them into the ground, and controlling the plants drained his Chakra far too quickly.

It consumed even more than maintaining Dark Moon's "enchantment."

Ingetsu promptly dispelled the vines.

Splat—

The vines suddenly went limp, losing all vitality.

"That scared me to death... scared me to death!"

Tamio fell to the ground and looked up at the green vines hanging from the tree, sweat beading on his forehead as lingering fear filled his heart.

Ingetsu remained calm. Shaking his head, he judged inwardly that this Wood Release was still somewhat weak.

Hopefully, it would continue growing stronger.

Otherwise, it could only serve as crowd control. Against highly agile shinobi, it would be easily evaded.

Tamio himself was wounded and had not activated his Three Tomoe, which was why he had fallen into the vines' ambush.

If it happened again.

Tamio definitely would not fall for it.

"Let's go. Keep moving!"

Carrying Kurenai Yuhi on his back, Ingetsu turned and calmly addressed the halted group.

The party resumed its journey.

"Big Brother, did you see that just now? Those vines became sentient! I suspect this was Danzo's doing!"

Tamio flickered to Big Brother's side and chattered endlessly.

Kurenai Yuhi forcefully held back her laughter.

"..." Ingetsu.

Danzo could not possibly shoulder that blame.

"It was me."

Ingetsu answered concisely.

Tamio's pupils gradually widened as he cried out, "Big Brother, you can use Wood Release now?!"

Last night, he had been seriously injured and tortured by Sanskrit sounds until he fainted. He had no idea that Ingetsu had controlled vines to deal with White Zetsu.

Amid Tamio's startled cries, the party headed deeper into the forest, startling countless birds and beasts awake.

Kikyo City's streets bustled with people, wooden houses standing row upon row. The atmosphere was peaceful.

"Something huge happened in the Land of Fire! Konoha has another rogue ninja!"

"Rogue ninja appear in shinobi villages all the time. The Five Great Shinobi Villages produce rogue ninja every year. What's so strange about that?"

"This time is different. This rogue ninja is a new S-rank. No one knows exactly what they did yet."

"S-rank?!?"

"Really?"

"It's true. My cousin who sells straw sandals in Konoha came back yesterday and told me. He said Konoha hasn't been peaceful lately!"

The chatter among the customers at the roadside teahouse quickly drew a large crowd of onlookers, each of them turning pale at the mention of danger.

Whenever S-Rank Rogue Ninja were mentioned, they instinctively thought of Orochimaru, one of the Three Ninja.

Orochimaru had secretly conducted biological experiments on humans in Konoha. After his atrocities were exposed, his formidable overall strength, coupled with his cruelty and ruthless methods, earned him the rare designation of an S-Rank Rogue Ninja by Konoha.

But what heinous crime had this newly risen S-Rank Rogue Ninja committed?

That was what the passersby cared about most.

"Konoha Express! Extra! Extra! A villain has committed murder, assassinating Konoha's higher-ups and slaughtering civilians! His methods were incomparably cruel! Konoha has produced another S-Rank Rogue Ninja!!!"

"Konoha Express! Extra! Extra..."

A newspaper-selling ninja dressed in a gray uniform, wearing a peaked cap and windproof goggles, looking much like a postal ninja, stood at the intersection with a stack of newspapers and shouted loudly.

"So he really is an S-Rank Rogue Ninja! I'll buy one!"

"One over here, please!"

"Please, I absolutely need a copy!"

"..."

In less than three minutes, the newspapers in the seller's hands had been swept clean by passersby.

This was the earliest he had finished work in years, ever since Orochimaru defected from Konoha!

In the corner of an alley.

Having changed into a new outfit and put on pants, the haggard Doctor Nak held a copy of the Konoha Express as well, wearily scanning the front-page contents.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and his breathing quickened.

Nak reacted swiftly, covering the photo in the wanted section with one hand.

The news printed on the front page alone was like a thousand Explosive Tags detonating in his mind all at once.

The article was brief.

It simply described some details of how the nine-man Uchiha squad led by the S-Rank Rogue Ninja "Uchiha Ingetsu" had assassinated Konoha's higher-ups and slaughtered Konoha civilians, but it omitted much crucial information.

For instance, which Konoha higher-up had been assassinated, whether they were dead or alive, how many civilians had been slaughtered, which clan they belonged to, and the extent of the casualties.

Everything was unknown.

As someone seasoned in the ways of the world, Nak knew that when it came to news, the fewer the words, the bigger the incident!

Ingetsu...

That name really sounded familiar!

Nak swallowed, then slowly moved his hand away. Squinting anxiously, he looked at the first photo in the wanted section.

It was unmistakably Uchiha Ingetsu—short black hair, refined features, a handsome face, and fair skin!

Below the wanted notice.

Wanted Status: Permanently Valid.

Bounty: 50,000,000 ryo!

Fifty million ryo in Land of Fire currency!

Nak's heart pounded as thoughts flooded his mind, recalling the time he had spent with those rogue ninja last night.

Aside from being proud and aloof, this newly risen S-Rank Rogue Ninja of Konoha, "Uchiha Ingetsu," had not been the vicious monster described in the newspaper.

Otherwise, Nak would have died last night.

That group had actually been quite easy to get along with.

They had not looked down on a wandering hunter like him.

Although the people who captured Nak had beaten him up, they had not struck to kill. That was only because he had acted improperly.

And that patient's mouth had indeed been rather sharp, but everything he said had been true.

Nak had even taught an adorably tsundere little girl how to use bandages to dress wounds.

In the end, without those rogue ninja, he likely would have died at the hands of a Konoha Jonin last night.

Could a group like that really slaughter civilians?

For some reason, he found it hard to believe.

Nak frowned deeply, looking as though he had aged more than a decade. He knew there had to be an enormous secret hidden behind all this.

It simply had nothing to do with a civilian like him.

Thinking this.

Nak let out a long sigh, crumpled the Konoha Express into a ball, and tossed it into the trash.

Better not to read this kind of thing at all!

As Nak walked down the street.

He heard a woman sighing in the distance:

"No, someone that handsome actually did something as evil as slaughtering civilians... He shouldn't be capable of that."

On the street, passersby hurried along, afraid they might run into the dangerous rogue ninja featured in the newspaper on the road!