Ambush

After searching around for a while, Uchiha Akira stopped.

He had broken open several chunks of charcoal nearly ten meters across, but hadn't found the Demonic Statue's body inside any of them.

They had all been turned into lightning-struck wood by Lightning Style.

"How many years old would this lightning-struck wood be?" Looking at the charcoal scattered across the ground, Uchiha Akira found himself wondering.

At that moment, Uchiha Akira's expression shifted. He discreetly glanced in a certain direction, then quickly let his face go pale.

He looked as though he had suffered a devastating injury.

Before long, hurried footsteps drew near, and two figures approached quickly from a distance.

They were Hyuga Kaoru and Aburame Shigang.

As soon as Hyuga Kaoru arrived, she looked at Uchiha Akira and asked, "Captain, are you all right?"

Uchiha Akira's Lightning Style attack had covered such a vast area that it had exceeded the range of the Byakugan's vision. She had no idea how the battle had gone.

"I'm fine. I'm a little injured." Uchiha Akira shook his head, then looked at them and asked, "Where's Yamanaka Shigeyoshi?"

"Shigeyoshi sacrificed himself." Hyuga Kaoru lowered her head slightly and replied in a subdued voice.

"Mm." Uchiha Akira nodded, showing a trace of regret.

"Captain, have we dealt with the enemy?" Aburame Shigang warily scanned their surroundings.

"We only drove him off for now. We can't let our guard down yet." Uchiha Akira shook his head.

"The enemy survived an attack of that scale?" Aburame Shigang's eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses, and he found it hard to believe.

Hyuga Kaoru's gentle features were also filled with surprise. She couldn't imagine what kind of jutsu could withstand the Lightning Style attack they had just seen.

In her eyes, even Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, known as the strongest Hokage, would have been reduced to ashes by it.

"What kind of enemy are we dealing with...?" Hyuga Kaoru murmured. Looking at Uchiha Akira, she asked in confusion, "Captain, is the person with the Rinnegan really that powerful?"

At her words, Aburame Shigang also turned his gaze toward Uchiha Akira.

"The person with the Rinnegan is indeed extremely powerful." Uchiha Akira nodded and said gravely,

"I could tell he hasn't mastered the Rinnegan's power yet. He's still inexperienced with it. That means his strength will grow enormously in the future."

"He can get even stronger?" Aburame Shigang's usually expressionless face twitched.

Uchiha Akira glanced at him and nodded. "Of course. That person looked only fifteen or sixteen. He clearly has plenty of room to grow."

"You don't need to worry too much. My Lightning Style injured him badly. He won't recover for ten days to half a month," Uchiha Akira said calmly.

Then he ordered, "You two, clear the battlefield."

"Yes, Captain." Aburame Shigang and Hyuga Kaoru replied solemnly.

As the two cleared the battlefield, Uchiha Akira walked over to a pile of rubble. Green light glowed in his hands as he pretended to use Medical Ninjutsu to treat himself.

He suspected that there was definitely a spy working for Danzo in his squad.

That spy had to be either Aburame Shigang or Yamanaka Shigeyoshi.

Uchiha Akira had no intention of letting the spy return alive.

He was putting on this act to lure the spy into making the first move, giving him a legitimate reason to take the spy out.

If no one made a move, he planned to find an opportunity to use genjutsu and get to the bottom of things.

Meanwhile,

Aburame Shigang appeared to be diligently cleaning up the battlefield, but he was actually keeping an eye on Uchiha Akira.

"He doesn't look like he's only suffered a minor injury, as he claimed..." A cold glint flashed in Aburame Shigang's eyes behind his sunglasses.

As a member of Danzo's Root, he had received orders from Root's supreme leader, Hokage Assistant Danzo, before setting out.

If an opportunity arose during this mission, he was to kill Uchiha Akira.

That was his real mission!

"He really is badly injured. My chance should come soon." Aburame Shigang's thoughts stirred as the corner of his eye caught Uchiha Akira quietly coughing up a speck of blood. "The Rinnegan's power is truly terrifying. Once I return to Konoha, I must remind Lord Danzo to be wary of the Rinnegan!"

A rustling sound came from the insects on Aburame Shigang's body as they devoured the Demonic Statue's charred remains.

Suddenly, his gaze froze. He stared fixedly at a chunk of charcoal half his height. The insects there were sending him a wave of fear and submission.

"What did the Lightning Style hit back then? Why are my insects afraid?"

Aburame Shigang peeled away the charcoal and saw a piece of withered wood several dozen centimeters long.

"A branch?" He stared at what lay inside the charcoal, utterly astonished to find a piece of wood.

"Maybe this is my chance!"

Looking at the exposed wood, Aburame Shigang discreetly glanced at Uchiha Akira and saw that he was still focused on treating his injuries.

"Captain, I found something over here!" Aburame Shigang waved and shouted to Uchiha Akira.

As a member of Root, he never hesitated when it was time to act.

Uchiha Akira, who had been pretending to treat himself, opened his eyes and looked toward the voice. "What did you find?"

"I found a piece of withered wood inside the charcoal. Come take a look, Captain!" Aburame Shigang shouted.

"I'm coming." Uchiha Akira's voice carried from a distance.

Hearing them, Hyuga Kaoru, who was standing guard, turned to look toward Aburame Shigang.

She had already noticed that her Byakugan couldn't fully see through several chunks of charcoal at the scene.

It bothered her, but she had no intention of bringing it up. It concerned the Byakugan's abilities, after all.

If she said something and it was used against her later, that would be troublesome. She was, after all, only a member of the Branch Family.

She didn't want to experience the Caged Bird Seal being activated again.

As Uchiha Akira approached, Aburame Shigang showed no sign that anything was amiss.

He stood quietly to one side, waiting.

"Captain, this is what I found inside the charcoal." Aburame Shigang pointed to the grayish-yellow withered wood, most of it still wrapped in charcoal.

Watching the grayish-yellow wood grow wet in the rain, he asked in confusion, "Captain, what is this? Could the enemy use Wood Release?"

"It isn't Wood Release. The enemy summoned it, but I don't know what it is." Uchiha Akira walked a few steps closer, crouched down, and examined it carefully.

Aburame Shigang saw Uchiha Akira studying the withered wood. Behind his dark sunglasses, his eyes glinted with a sinister light.

He quietly moved to Uchiha Akira's side, pretending to inspect it closely, and asked, "Could it be some kind of unusual Summoning Beast?"

"I don't know either." Uchiha Akira shook his head, studying the withered wood.

"Captain, back then..." As he spoke, Aburame Shigang produced a gleaming kunai and plunged it into Uchiha Akira's abdomen with a sharp thrust.

"I got him!" Feeling the kunai make contact, Aburame Shigang's lips curled into a smug smile.

But in the next instant, his smile froze.

With a crackle, Uchiha Akira's body, pierced by the kunai, turned into a blinding mass of lightning that engulfed Aburame Shigang.