Orochimaru!!

Just as Danzo sneered and prepared to order a massacre,

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

dozens of Flying Thunder God Kunai shot through the air,

easily severing the Wood Release branches restraining Kakashi and the others.

"Danzo!"

Minato's voice wasn't loud, but it rang through the base like a thunderclap.

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, was standing on a beam above them. No one knew when he had arrived.

Behind him stood a dense mass of Anbu members.

"Am I too late?"

Kakashi looked at Minato Namikaze, who had used the Body Flicker Technique to appear in front of him.

"No. You're right on time, Lord Hokage."

Minato Namikaze's gaze swept over the Wood Release ninja.

At last, it settled on Danzo's sinister face.

"Looks like I've been too merciful as Hokage."

Danzo looked at the Anbu behind Minato. "Minato Namikaze..."

"You've brought people to raid my Root Base in the middle of the night. What are you trying to do?

"And you, Kakashi. As Anbu Captain, you trespassed into a restricted area of Root. What punishment do you think you deserve?"

"No."

Minato raised his head, his blue eyes utterly cold.

"Kakashi and the others were acting on my orders to investigate Root."

He turned slightly, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"As for me, I'm the Fourth Hokage of this village. I don't need to explain my actions to you."

Looking at the evidence Kakashi had gathered,

Minato said in a low voice, "Effective immediately, Danzo is relieved of all his duties and will be investigated by the Anbu!"

Then he raised a hand and pointed at Danzo.

"Anbu, listen up."

"Yes, sir."

Figures leaped out of the shadows.

Anbu ninja swarmed around the entire hall, leaving no way out.

"I want Danzo. If any other Root members dare to resist, they'll all be treated as traitors to the village."

Danzo's expression finally changed as he watched.

He hadn't expected Minato to be so resolute this time, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Hmph!"

Danzo's eyes shifted as his left hand swiftly formed an extremely subtle sign.

It was Root's unique tactical hand signal,

meaning they were to leave the village for the time being.

Yamato and the other Root members received the order.

Though unwilling, they obeyed without hesitation.

In an instant, they turned into streaks of shadow and retreated like ghosts,

intending to escape through the complex underground passages.

In the blink of an eye, the vast hall

was left with only Danzo standing there alone.

The night was deep on the outskirts of the village.

Uchiha Yatsuhashi and his companion had just finished arranging accommodations for the Iburi Clan and were preparing to return.

Suddenly, they spotted dozens of figures on the rooftops, fleeing at high speed toward the village outskirts.

"This is bad!"

Yatsuhashi's heart tightened. Something must have happened inside the village.

He just didn't know whether it had anything to do with their mission that day.

Instinctively, he shielded Yukimi beside him.

Just then, a figure stumbled off a rooftop and crashed heavily to the ground in front of them.

It was a ninja wearing a Root uniform.

His breathing was faint, and blood continued to seep from a wound in his abdomen, which had been pierced by an unknown technique.

"Careful!"

Yatsuhashi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated at once, locking onto the fallen Yamato.

Yamato's breathing was ragged. He coughed violently a couple of times.

Clearly, he'd been badly injured fighting Kakashi and the other Anbu members alone.

Yamato tried to struggle to his feet, but the wound in his abdomen, pierced by Chidori, left him unable to move.

He could only watch Yatsuhashi warily in return.

As the two faced off,

Yukimi peeked out from behind Yatsuhashi.

"Brother Yatsuhashi," she said, looking at Yamato's pale face. "He doesn't look like he'll make it..."

Yatsuhashi frowned, remaining on guard.

"Don't go near him."

He warned her in a low voice, but Yamato's breathing was indeed growing weaker.

In the moment Yatsuhashi hesitated, Yukimi suddenly blurred and turned into mist, slipping into Yamato's body.

"Yukimi!" Yatsuhashi cried in alarm.

Unlike Tenzō, Yukimi hadn't been implanted with Hashirama Cells.

But while her body was being stabilized in the laboratory, she'd picked up a fair amount of medical knowledge.

She wasn't a professional medical ninja,

but with the Iburi Clan's unique ability to turn into mist,

green light began to glow from Yamato's body, and the terrible wound in his abdomen started healing at a visible rate.

Then Yukimi's misty body gathered again in front of Yamato.

Yamato grunted. He looked at the unfamiliar girl before him,

a flicker of surprise in his eyes. Then, blushing, he took a step back.

"Hey, I'm with Anbu Team 6, directly under the Hokage. You're from Root, right?"

Uchiha Yatsuhashi stepped forward, the pressure from his Three-Tomoe Sharingan

keeping Yamato from making any rash moves.

"I'm Yukimi,"

Yukimi replied shyly from beside him.

Yamato could clearly sense the genuine kindness in her.

He glanced at Yukimi, lowered his head, and said, "Thank you, Yukimi..."

Then he vanished in a few leaps, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Yatsuhashi slowly deactivated his Sharingan and watched the direction Yamato had gone, deep in thought.

"Let's go, Yukimi. It's not safe here anymore."

After returning from the Land of Water, Uchiha Yatsuhashi had rented a quiet room for himself.

He didn't want the secrets he couldn't tell anyone to cause his parents unnecessary trouble.

Night had fallen. After settling Yukimi in the room that had once been his,

he returned alone to the place he'd rented.

The moment he opened the door, Yatsuhashi's back stiffened.

"Who's there?!"

He barked, quickly stepping back,

his Sharingan faintly visible in the darkness.

In an instant, he locked onto the figure lurking there.

"Click."

The lamp was lit.

In the dim, yellow glow, the figure standing in his room came into view.

It wasn't an Anbu colleague or a Root assassin,

but a familiar figure dressed in purple.

"Anko?"

Yatsuhashi froze, the tension in his body easing slightly.

Mitaraishi Anko rubbed her hands awkwardly, her cheeks flushed.

Her eyes darted around, unable to meet Yatsuhashi's gaze.

"I... I heard from your aunt that you'd moved out, so... so I came to see you."

Her voice grew softer and softer, as though she were making excuses.

"And your aunt said you brought a girl home today..."

Anko couldn't explain the sour feeling inside her.

On impulse, she'd asked Uchiha Uruchi for Yatsuhashi's address.

Then she'd hurried all the way over,

only to find him gone and end up waiting foolishly in the dark room for ages.

The room fell deathly silent.

Yatsuhashi looked at Anko.

She was no longer the decisive, ruthless ninja she was on missions.

At that moment, she was just an ordinary girl—slightly headstrong, and a little concerned.

Yatsuhashi cleared his throat. "That girl's name is Yukimi. She's from the Iburi Clan..."

"I put her up in my old room. I'm planning to bring the rest of her clan over tomorrow."

The worry on Anko's face faded at once,

replaced by relief.

Then she realized how flustered she was and hurriedly said,

"I-I wasn't thinking anything!"

"Since you have important things to do, I'll get going. I won't bother you!"

She headed for the door without even daring to raise her head.

When she passed Yatsuhashi,

she didn't even dare look at him.

Just then, "Heh."

A teasing, chilling laugh drifted in from outside the window.

"How disappointing, Yatsuhashi-kun."

A tall figure was leaning against a tree branch outside the window. No one knew when he'd appeared.

Orochimaru watched the two people inside the room with amusement.

"You know, tenderness doesn't last long."

At the sound of Orochimaru's familiar, hoarse voice, every hair on Yatsuhashi's body stood on end.

He stepped in front of Anko, chakra surging wildly through him.

If Orochimaru made even the slightest move,

he'd activate his Mangekyō Sharingan at once.

"Orochimaru?!"

Confronted with her former teacher, now a rogue ninja,

Anko was shocked for only a moment before shifting into a combat stance.

With a flash of cold light, several Senbon appeared in her hand.

Inside the cramped rental room, the atmosphere plunged into an icy chill.