Never Die, Never Rest!

"Asuma is dead... Ingetsu again!"

Itachi's pupils widened as he glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who lay on the floor with an ashen face, his fate unknown.

The office atmosphere was grave.

Cries of alarm mingled with the sounds of emergency treatment.

Standing beside the desk, Itachi instead grew calmer and sank into thought, as though isolated from the world around him.

His expression solemn, he briefly reviewed the intelligence in the scroll and immediately guessed why Konoha's higher-ups had urgently summoned him.

At the northwestern border of the Land of Fire, Sarutobi Asuma had led a team without authorization to hunt down the Uchiha squad.

As a result, the temporary team formed by five Jonin had suffered three deaths and one capture.

Asuma and Jiriku had gone missing.

There was almost no chance that they had survived.

Among the Temple of Fire reinforcements, aside from Jiriku, every monk had died by some strange method.

For Konoha, this was a major loss. For the Hokage, he had lost his last remaining son.

Gloom lingered on Itachi's face. He knew that his ally had likely taken part in that battle as well.

Under those circumstances...

Could Uchiha Ingetsu really have led nine Uchiha members away safely?

Suddenly, a hoarse voice broke the oppressive silence in the Hokage's office.

"Itachi... come here..."

The voice was weak and powerless, devoid of its usual authority.

Itachi's eyes trembled slightly. Snapping back to his senses, he followed the voice and saw that some color had returned to Sarutobi Hiruzen's aged face.

Itachi walked up to the old man and crouched down.

"I didn't send you after them before... because the ninja village needed internal restructuring, and the Root Organization, which existed in name only, also needed you to clean it up."

Sarutobi Hiruzen fixed his cloudy old eyes on Itachi and asked tremulously, "After adapting for this past week, how has the work... been progressing?"

Itachi calmly responded, "Lord Hokage, the Root Organization has been reorganized. Within at most a year, Root can once again nourish Konoha, this great tree."

"Good. Faster than I expected."

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked despondent. He reached out and took Itachi's hand, his callused, wrinkled palm patting the back of Itachi's hand as he earnestly said:

"Then go. Rescue your mother, eliminate Uchiha Ingetsu for Konoha, and if possible... bring him back alive!!"

"Yes—"

Itachi's expression shifted slightly, but he did not ask further questions. He simply nodded.

Sarutobi Hiruzen continued lightly patting the back of Itachi's hand as he rasped:

"Sasuke is a smart child with exceptional talent. Now that the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha no longer exists, the past has been turned over.

"Therefore, the three of us have decided that once Sasuke graduates from the Konoha Ninja Academy, Kakashi will serve as his Jonin instructor.

"You know that Kakashi is Minato's disciple. He is reliable and puts people at ease.

"I also hope that, in Konoha's future...

"An Uchiha Hokage can emerge!

"We will do everything in our power to nurture Sasuke.

"If he is suited for it!"

After saying that, Sarutobi Hiruzen released Itachi's hands and said nothing more.

"Yes—"

Itachi's gaze sharpened. He slowly rose, took his leave, and departed the Hokage Building with the Root Organization subordinates waiting in the corridor.

Setting those promises aside.

Itachi had already suspected that his mother's defection might be connected to Ingetsu.

After hearing the Third Hokage's words today, the doubts in Itachi's heart were resolved.

This proved that the Third Hokage's informants were also tracking the Uchiha Rogue Squad!

Now, Itachi himself had to make a trip to the northwestern border of the Land of Fire. He only hoped it was not too late.

Even before Konoha's higher-ups had permitted him to act on his own, he had already made his move in advance.

In the Hokage's office.

"Ah..."

After a long while, Sarutobi Hiruzen, supported back into his chair by Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, let out a long sigh.

"Are you truly thinking that way about Sasuke, Hiruzen?" Utatane Koharu narrowed her eyes slightly and asked seriously.

Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. Leaning back in his chair, he gazed out at the Konoha scenery beyond the window, his fists clenched tightly, veins bulging across the backs of his aged hands.

There was none of the frailty or aged weakness brought on by grief in his bearing.

Ingetsu had attacked Asuma!

He had destroyed the Temple of Fire!

How dared he?

Asuma was Sarutobi Hiruzen's only remaining son!

"Those Uchiha truly are evil by nature!!

First Danzo.

And now Asuma and the Temple of Fire.

Koharu. Homura.

From this day onward.

Dead or alive, at any cost, drag this Uchiha Rogue Squad out from the ninja world!!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen was beside himself with rage. As soon as he finished speaking, he slammed a fist onto the desk, leaving a deep dent in its surface.

Bang—

With a deafening crash, the desk fell apart, wood chips scattering everywhere. The Shadow Guards had not appeared earlier, but sensing the Hokage's fury, they all used the Body Flicker Technique to appear and respectfully dropped to one knee before his chair.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes blazed with fury, his aged face gradually twisting. The calm composure he had cultivated over more than a decade in high office vanished in an instant.

At that moment.

He only wanted to kill Uchiha Ingetsu with his own hands.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura lowered their heads without a word. When Orochimaru had defected from Konoha, their Hokage had merely fallen silent for a few days.

But Ingetsu had killed Sarutobi Hiruzen's only remaining son!

The hatred of a murdered son.

Could never exist under the same sky!

The two Hokage Advisors knew that the Uchiha Rogue Squad would next have to endure the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's fury, as well as the wrath of all Konoha.

Until one side was dead!

Night fell. At the foot of Mount Katsuragi, amid towering mountain ranges, a bright red campfire burned across the plain.

All manner of game roasted over the fire, its glow illuminating the weary faces of the Uchiha members.

After fleeing for so long.

They had not encountered another pursuing squad.

The Uchiha's tightly wound nerves finally relaxed. As Tamao recovered most of his strength, the atmosphere within the group also began to liven up.

"Captain, what were those white monsters?" Izumi took out her water flask, pulled out the stopper, and held it out to Ingetsu with both hands.

Izumi opened her beautiful dark eyes wide, brimming with curiosity. The tear mole on her oval face made her look both adorable and lovely.

At that question.

The Uchiha all turned to Ingetsu.

From the day they escaped Konoha.

This Uchiha squad had established Ingetsu as its central leader.

Now, the team had only one captain.

They too were very curious about what those monsters that had emerged from the monks that night actually were.

But during their flight, they had had no time to think about anything else—not even time to grieve for the Uchiha clan's destruction.

Now that they had escaped the Land of Fire, put Konoha far behind them, evaded the first pursuit, and entered the deep mountains, they could finally catch their breath and gain the slightest sense of safety.

Everyone fell into thought.

The monsters were neither human nor not human.

Their bodies resembled wood.

They moved strangely, were difficult to deal with, and possessed vigorous life force. If not for Ingetsu's Black Flames that night, it would likely have been difficult to wipe them out completely.

"Those were White Zetsu."

Ingetsu accepted the water flask and tipped back his head for a drink. His gaze remained fixed on the dancing flames, firelight reflected in his clear eyes.

Sweetness touched his tongue and lips.

He lowered his head and looked at the water flask.

Pink, with a girlish style.

Izumi sat beside him with her hands braced on her knees and her chin resting in her palms. Seeing that Ingetsu did not mind her canteen and shared the same spout with her, Izumi's thoughts immediately drifted away from the question. Her heart pounded wildly, her cheeks flushed, and she secretly rejoiced.

Kurenai Yuhi, sitting nearby, noticed Izumi's little thoughts. The corners of her red lips curled up slightly. Right in front of Izumi, she asked Ingetsu for the canteen, narrowing her eyes with a smile.

"Sorry, I'm a little thirsty too."

Her voice was filled with the magnetic charm of a mature woman, seductive and captivating.

Ingetsu showed no reaction.

Izumi's eyes widened as she stared fixedly at the ill-intentioned Kurenai Yuhi.

Kurenai Yuhi raised the canteen and tipped her head back to drink, her posture bold and uninhibited, her red lips slightly parted.

Deliberately, she let the water spill from the corner of her mouth, sliding over her delicate cheek, down her jade-like neck, and disappearing beneath the fair skin concealed under the chainmail below her collarbones.