The Chase

"The barrier is broken?! How is this possible!!"

The Senju and Sarutobi ninjas stared in horror, their ranks thrown into disarray by the violent gravitational storm.

"Ignore it, keep forming the array! We move in to stall them!"

A burly Senju commander with a face full of scars was the first to snap out of his shock. He let out a roar and slammed both hands onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"

With a thunderous rumble, the ground beneath Yue Uchiha instantly turned into a surging mudslide, attempting to forcibly drag both of them into its depths.

Simultaneously, five or six fully armed Senju elite jonin drew their blades, their bodies erupting with immense chakra. Like half a dozen tigers descending from the mountains, they sprinted across the mudslide toward Yue and Hikari.

As the most formidable clan in the Warring States period for taijutsu and ninjutsu, the destructive power these Senju elites would unleash once they closed the distance was guaranteed to be fatal.

Behind them, the group of Sarutobi ninjas, after a brief moment of chaos, quickly bit their fingers and began carving dense, intricate runes into the ground once more.

"Do not give them a chance to breathe! The Four Violet Flames Sealing Array must not fail!"

The Sarutobi captain bellowed, his hands weaving signs so fast they left afterimages.

The Four Violet Flames Sealing Array was a top-secret formation developed specifically to stifle the "eye power" of the Uchiha Clan.

It required not only four jonin with massive chakra reserves to guard the four corners but also the generation of violet flames within the barrier capable of incinerating spiritual energy.

Once the formation was complete, any Uchiha trapped inside would have the chakra connection between their optic nerves and brain completely severed, rendering them unable to release even a shred of ocular jutsu, no matter how powerful their Mangekyo might be.

This was, in essence, the perfect cage designed specifically to neutralize Hikari's inescapable Yachihoko.

However, what awaited Yue Uchiha and Hikari was even more desperate.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Two Senju sealing masters and the Sarutobi captain slammed their hands onto the ground in unison.

"BOOM--!!!"

Accompanied by a thick cloud of white smoke and a ground-shaking roar, a terrifying beast the size of a small mountain, composed entirely of yellow sand and covered in strange blue and violet curse marks, descended into Falling Cherry Valley!

"Gah-ha-ha-ha! This Great One is finally out to get some fresh air!"

The sharp, grating laughter echoed through the canyon.

The One-Tail, Shukaku!

In this Warring States era, where Tailed Beasts still rampaged across the land, the Senju Clan had clearly used some powerful sealing technique to strike a temporary contract with this violent, ferocious beast.

This was a contingency measure for the sake of security, and now, it was being put to use.

"One-Tail, use your Cursed Sand in tandem with the array to completely seal the movements of these two Uchihas! Afterward, the Senju Clan will allow you extended time to roam free each day," the Senju commander shouted.

"Fine!"

Shukaku roared, its massive claw sweeping forward, "Desert Layered Imperial Funeral Seal!"

The sky filled with yellow sand mixed with highly toxic curse-mark runes, sweeping toward Yue and Hikari like a tsunami.

With the aid of sand that possessed inherent sealing properties, the violet light of the Four Violet Flames Sealing Array flared once more, its oppressive force many times greater than before!

Seeing this desperate situation, Yue Uchiha's expression turned grim.

The taijutsu suppression of the Senju elites, the top-tier sealing array of the Sarutobi, and the assistance of the One-Tail Shukaku, who possessed the strongest sealing capabilities!

These bastards had brought out an overly extravagant lineup just to seal one Hikari Uchiha.

And on their side, there were only two Uchihas.

Yue clutched his bleeding left eye, his vision in his right eye beginning to double due to the continuous overexertion of his ocular power.

Although his Amenominakanushi could repel attacks, facing this omnidirectional, inescapable, and relentless war of attrition meant that if he kept fighting, he wouldn't just gain nothing—he would end up destroying both of his eyes, which had only just recovered.

Of the thirty-six stratagems, fleeing is the best!

As for the Uchiha's supplies, to hell with them.

"Hikari, the situation is dire, we're pulling out!"

Yue turned around, grabbed Hikari Uchiha's arm, and prepared to activate the Body Flicker Jutsu to escape.

However, he pulled with all his might, but she didn't budge.

Hikari remained rooted to the spot, her hollow black eyes fixed intently on the charging Senju ninjas and the sea of yellow sand.

The Mangekyo in her eyes spun frantically, and two trails of blood-tears flowed down her pale, small face.

"Hikari? What are you doing?!" Yue roared.

"The mission... is not yet complete."

Hikari's voice was cold, hoarse, and permeated with a heartbreaking, deathly stillness.

She gripped her heavy short blade in a reverse hold, her body trembling slightly from the exhaustion of her chakra.

"A weapon cannot retreat before the mission is complete. As long as I kill them all... the barrier will break. I will use Yachihoko to control that tanuki beast and kill them all..."

She was still clinging to that "tool" ideology instilled by the higher-ups, intending to burn through her remaining life force to forcibly control the One-Tail and these elite jonin, fighting to the death in this hopeless trap!

"Are you insane?! If you try to control the One-Tail with that little chakra, your brain will explode on the spot!"

Looking at the resolute expression on Hikari's face as she prepared to meet her death, Yue felt an unnamed rage surge straight to his crown.

He abruptly let go of her and raised his right hand high into the air.

"Are you truly incapable of understanding human speech?"

Feeling the sound of air being torn apart above her head and hearing Yue's angry shout, Uchiha Hikari's body, which had been set on dying, suddenly stiffened.

She instinctively shrank her neck, and a flash of extremely rare panic and fear flickered within her previously hollow eyes.

Logically speaking, as a weapon stripped of pain and emotion, she wouldn't even have frowned if she were being sliced into a thousand pieces. Yet, the moment she saw that large hand raised high, poised to rap her on the head...

Was she afraid of being struck by this fellow creature before her?

Or was she... afraid that once she was struck, that "noise" and warmth which left her so bewildered would vanish into thin air?

Seeing Hikari stunned, Yue reacted instantly.

His right eye, Amenominakanushi, erupted with a concentrated repulsive force, slamming violently into the ground beneath his feet.

His left eye, Yagokoro Omoikane, once again calculated the probability of escape.

Leveraging this massive reaction force, Yue carried Hikari and shot into the sky like a cannonball, narrowly grazing the edge of the sealing sand of Shukaku and leaping out of the encirclement.

"The intelligence was wrong. The enemy's tool actually has the intent to flee?"

"Trying to run?! Not that easy! Pursue!"

Seeing the prey break through, the Senju commander's eyes widened in fury, and he immediately signaled the tactical pursuit.

"Roar—! Don't even think about escaping from this Great One's desert!"

Shukaku bellowed, and countless sandstorms transformed into sharp sand spears, blanketing the sky as they blasted toward the direction the pair was fleeing.

Dozens of elite ninjas from the Senju and Sarutobi clans, like maggots on rotting bones, launched a frantic chase through the jungle.

Gale winds whistled in his ears.

Yue Uchiha gritted his teeth tightly, weaving at high speed through the dense Warring States jungle.

His black combat suit had been torn in multiple places by branches and the aftermath of ninjutsu along the way, and the blood dripping from his left eye drew a shocking red line through the air.

He had one more chance to activate his left eye's ability; once used, his left eye would go blind again.

He did not intend to use it now.

And tucked under his arm, Hikari Uchiha was held tightly under his protection.

She did not struggle, nor did she mention the mission again.

She merely lifted her head in silence, staring blankly at the line of Yue's jaw, which was covered in cold sweat and bloodstains.

In this cold, cruel Warring States era.

This was the first time in her life that she had failed to complete a death order issued by the clan.

It was also the first time that someone on the battlefield had been willing to abandon a mission and endure a sky-filling pursuit just to forcibly keep her, a "tool," alive.

A living... human... being?