Premonition

Hiss—

The frightened horses neighed, but the terrified caravan members held tightly onto their reins.

For a moment, panic spread through the caravan.

The tall Root Organization member drew his katana and held it to Sōsen's throat, saying in a low voice:

"Whether there are rogue ninja in the convoy isn't something you can explain away with a few words. You have three minutes to bring everyone over there."

He pointed to an open area ahead and to the right.

That was the area most densely covered by Root Organization's thrown-ninja-tool traps.

As he spoke, the Root Organization member sheathed his katana, grabbed Sōsen off the ground, and tossed him toward the rear of the convoy.

Sōsen staggered forward, inwardly cursing his bad luck. First he had been driven around by rogue ninja, and now he was being ordered around by Konoha Anbu.

People without strength like them were no better than beasts of burden in the Shinobi World, born to be driven by others.

As he passed the second carriage, Sōsen looked at Ingetsu. He had wanted to vent his frustration on purpose, but remembering that the other man was an S-Rank Rogue Ninja, he immediately deflated and merely put on an act.

"Get down, get down! Gather outside and do as the ninja lord says!"

Ingetsu jumped down from the carriage, leaving Sōsen momentarily stunned. He had not expected him to cooperate so readily.

Then the other Uchiha, Nonō, and Kurenai Yuhi got down as well.

They were rather satisfied with Sōsen's performance. He knew their captain's identity, yet he had no intention of selling them out.

The caravan members in the following carriages reluctantly climbed down.

At that moment, three members of the escort force stared fixedly at Ingetsu's group.

Nervousness filled their eyes. Their palms were sweaty, and their hearts trembled as though they were making some difficult decision.

They wanted to report the dozen or so people who had mixed into the caravan. They guessed that these people were most likely the rogue ninja group the Konoha Anbu before them were searching for.

Not everyone was as good at thinking as Sōsen. These people were convinced that this suspicious bunch could not possibly be a match for Konoha Anbu!

Swish—

One of the three escorts raised his right hand. Sōsen's eyes widened, and in the next instant, he ignored the pain and leaped up, forcing the man's raised hand down.

Sōsen looked terrified as he inwardly cursed. Damn it, these idiots are going to get me killed!

"Sōsen?" The escort looked at Sōsen in surprise as he clutched his right hand.

Sōsen lowered his voice viciously.

"Are you trying to get everyone killed?"

The three escorts looked confused. If they just reported those suspicious people to the Konoha Anbu, wouldn't the caravan be saved?

Naturally, the Uchiha noticed the disturbance behind the caravan. They instinctively turned around, wanting to see how Ingetsu would handle it.

The Uchiha were stunned to discover...

Their Captain Ingetsu was gone!!

The three escorts were intimidated by Sōsen's vicious glare and fell silent out of guilt.

At the front of the caravan, the departing Root Organization ninja suddenly turned around and looked toward the middle of the convoy, where the commotion had arisen. He asked in a deep voice, "What's going on?"

Sōsen continued to laugh it off. "Nothing, ninja lord. I'm organizing everyone to head to the area you designated!"

The escort Sōsen had glared at saw that the Konoha Anbu was paying attention to this side. His heart sank, and he raised his right hand again, shouting:

"My lord, I rai—"

Before he could finish—

Splat—

A pitch-black blade pierced through the escort's back and heart. His heart sank completely, and he lost all life forever.

"Ah?"

The other two escorts blankly looked behind them, only to discover in horror...

That the young man in the black hood had somehow appeared behind their dead companion.

Then two streaks of black light flashed. Terror filled the two escorts' faces as they clutched their throats and collapsed sideways onto the ground.

Until their deaths, they never saw what had happened. With their desire to report the others still in their hearts, they sank into eternal sleep.

Warm blood splashed across Sōsen's face, jolting him out of his shock.

Those three people had been killed by that black blade in almost a single breath.

Ingetsu removed his hood, revealing his true face. He passed the stunned Sōsen and walked toward the Root Organization members at the front of the caravan.

Sōsen abruptly turned around and was shocked to find that everyone who had originally been standing near the second carriage had disappeared.

The moment Ingetsu dealt with the traitors, it was equivalent to issuing the order to fight.

At the intersection, the two Root Organization members were also startled by this sudden development.

When they saw Ingetsu, they quickly came to their senses and were immediately overjoyed.

The Root Organization members atop the cliffs went from shock to delight, before their expressions turned solemn.

Their captains, Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune, had indeed made the right choice in setting an ambush here and attacking the caravan!

Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune exchanged a glance, then rose from the edge of the cliff. The former waved his hand.

A Root Organization member cut the steel wire beside him that was used to trigger the trap.

Bang—

With a soft sound, the intricate trap mechanism hidden in the cliff walls began to operate quietly, and the seals on the mechanism were released bit by bit.

The next instant—

Whoosh—

A sharp whistling sound tore through the air. Countless cold gleams emerged from the walls of both cliffs, aiming at Ingetsu. Then a dense rain of pitch-black kunai and shuriken shot forth.

The thrown-ninja-tool traps covered an enormous area, attacking Ingetsu from nearly every direction.

Ingetsu activated Yachihoko, predicted the trajectories of the incoming kunai, shuriken, and senbon, gripped Black Blade Dark Moon, and used the Body Flicker Technique to leap forward, leaving his original position.

Thunk, thunk, thunk!

A mass of ninja tools struck where Ingetsu had stood, but the following projectiles adjusted their trajectories according to his movements and pursued him.

After several evasive maneuvers, Ingetsu found himself with his back against a cliff wall. He could only avoid the ninja tools coming from behind, with nowhere left to retreat.

"As long as what deals with you isn't human, what use can your control-type Dojutsu possibly have?"

Yamanaka Fu coldly observed the valley below.

Aburame Torune's expression was equally indifferent beneath his half-mask. Yet he spread his hands as though controlling something, thinking to himself:

Even if he can avoid the ninja tools, what about the nanoscale poisonous insects floating in the air?

The Aburame clan's Destruction Bugs generally spread throughout the body, and anyone who touched them would be poisoned to death.

Combined with the Secret Technique: Poison Dust Jutsu, Aburame Torune could exhale the poisonous insects from his mouth.

By controlling them and using the wind generated by the traps to blow them toward Ingetsu, he could poison him from afar.

Standing atop the towering cliff opposite Ingetsu, the two of them watched their opponent enter a dead end like a trapped beast. They already believed victory was assured.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Masses of kunai, shuriken, and senbon, mixed with nanoscale poisonous insects floating through the air, came rushing toward him.

With his back against the wall, Ingetsu's lips suddenly curled upward. Dark Moon in his tightly clenched right hand suddenly distorted, flowing with black mist and wind that vibrated at an extremely high frequency.

The Yachihoko Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets revolved.

Not far away, the Chakra of the Tsuchigumo clansmen and escort members, who had not been caught in the thrown-tool traps because Ingetsu had moved away, was instantly drained by Yachihoko.

As the overwhelming flood of kunai and other tools engulfed Ingetsu, he fiercely swung his blade forward.

Whoosh—

A gale howled as a wall of wind, like a cascading waterfall, rose from nowhere before Ingetsu and surged without end.

The wind wall blocked all the incoming kunai, senbon, shuriken, and nanoscale poisonous insects in the air.

Clang, clang, clang!!

Ninja tools fell all over the ground.

"Wind Release???"

Yamanaka Fu stared in astonishment at Aburame Torune beside him. The latter's pupils widened as he said in disbelief:

"My poisonous insects... can't get through that wall of wind!"

At the bottom of the valley, Ingetsu raised his head and stared at the two men atop the cliff. He converted the Chakra he had drained from the forty-seven caravan members into wind-nature Chakra, infused it into Dark Moon, and swung a second slash.

Suddenly—

A black wind arc emerged like a crescent moon, like a dark ring of stars, enveloping the waists of Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune atop the cliff.

It possessed the ultimate sharpness, as though it could sever everything in the world.

The two men lowered their heads in terror.

At the end of their lives, they saw their upper and lower bodies neatly misaligned.

Only then did Yamanaka Fu understand.

So...

That slash which had caused the strange changes in the clouds overhead had been Uchiha Ingetsu's doing!!

It had foretold their fate tonight.

When he killed them, he had not even needed to use the Mangekyō Sharingan.