Sensing Anomaly, Splitting into Two Groups

Nawaki stopped after taking his third step out of the central tower's doors.

Kushina nearly ran into his back. "What—"

Nawaki closed his eyes.

The Sage Body's sensory range expanded from beneath his feet, like an invisible net passing through the Forest of Death's canopy, over Konoha Village's walls, and covering more than half the village.

Two seconds.

He opened his eyes.

"Seventeen unfamiliar chakra signatures near the Senju Clan Compound. Sis's chakra is fluctuating. She's in combat."

Mikoto's hand was already on her sword hilt.

Without looking at her, Nawaki continued, "One chakra signature near the Hatake Estate is fading. It's weak. It'll be gone in five minutes."

Kushina did not understand. "Hatake? Sakumo Hatake? How could he—"

"That old dog Danzō." Nawaki opened his eyes. There was no anger in them, only a crystalline coldness. "The exam kept me tied down, Root surrounded the Senju Clan Compound to restrain my sister, and at the same time drove White Fang to his death. One stone, three birds—he'll crush all three disobedient factions in Konoha in a single night."

He thought for a second.

Just one second.

"Mikoto."

"I'm here."

"Take Kushina and return to the compound along the northern route. Enter the village through the old gap in the wall, avoid the patrol routes, and meet up with my sister at the compound's west gate."

Mikoto nodded without another word.

Kushina panicked. "I'm not—"

"Listen." Nawaki turned around and looked at her.

His gaze was not cold. There was even a hint of warmth in it. Yet Kushina found herself unable to argue.

"My sister can't hold off seventeen people alone. She needs someone to support her from inside. Your sealing techniques can reinforce the Four Red Yang Formation's nodes from within, and Mikoto's Sharingan can make precise kills in a night battle. The two of you will be more useful there than I would."

Every word was a reason. Every word was logic.

But Kushina knew he was lying.

He was afraid she would slow him down if she went with him to the Hatake Estate.

"...You're going to the Hatake Estate?"

"Yeah."

"Alone?"

"Alone is enough."

Kushina bit her lip. She wanted to say something, but did not.

Mikoto walked over and took hold of her wrist. Her grip was not strong, but it was steady.

"Come on. Don't hold him back."

If anyone else had said that, Kushina would have exploded on the spot. But Mikoto had said it. And Mikoto was right.

Kushina took a deep breath and stuffed the bag of rice crackers in her hand into Nawaki's arms.

"Don't die."

Nawaki caught the crackers and tucked them into his pocket.

"Give me five minutes."

The two kunoichi vanished into the trees to the north.

Nawaki turned toward the southeast—the direction of the Hatake Estate.

He crouched and pressed both palms flat against the ground.

Chakra flooded into the earth.

Not the Continuous Pillar House Technique. He was in no mood to build roads this time.

A crack exploded through the forest floor beneath him. Fine roots sprang from it, wrapping around Nawaki's legs and waist, storing force like a slingshot.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Launch."

A wooden catapult.

The roots hurled Nawaki's body forward with terrifying acceleration, the sound of him tearing through the air like a thunderclap. Before he had even landed, a second cluster of roots burst from the ground ahead, caught his feet, and launched him again.

A third time. A fourth. A fifth.

Like skipping stones across water.

Less than half a second passed between each launch, his trajectory a straight line skimming the ground. Branches along the way were shredded by the airflow, and fallen leaves were swept into whirlwinds.

The Forest of Death's wall appeared in his sight.

Nawaki did not slow down.

A ten-meter wooden pillar thrust up beneath his feet, sending him soaring over the wall.

The instant he crossed it, he saw all of Konoha Village below.

In the direction of the Senju Clan Compound, the golden glow of the Four Red Yang Formation flickered intermittently through the night sky. Tsunade was still holding on.

In the direction of the Hatake Estate—every light was out, with only scattered torches held by the crowd outside the gate.

There was still time.

But he only had one chance.

Nawaki adjusted his posture in midair and brought his hands together.

"Wood Release."

The ground beneath him cracked open in answer. A Wood Dragon arched out of the soil on Konoha Village's outskirts, its head precisely catching Nawaki beneath his feet and carrying him hurtling toward the Hatake Estate.

The Wood Dragon skimmed over the rooftops, its body knocking the chimneys off three houses.

Too fast. There was no time to be careful.

Hatake Estate.

Sakumo's hand was steady.

The steadiness forged through twenty years of swordsmanship. These hands had killed three hundred and seventeen people on the battlefield, and not a single strike had missed by half an inch.

Now, the tip of the blade rested against his abdomen, piercing through his clothes and into his skin. One centimeter.

Blood ran down the blade and gathered into a drop on the wooden floor.

It was quiet.

The curses beyond the door seemed farther away instead, as though muffled by a layer of water.

On the roof.

Two dark figures crouched on the tiles. Their expressions could not be seen beneath their masks, but their breathing was calm.

"Almost," said the one on the left.

"Lord Danzō said to take the White Fang's short sword after he stops breathing." The one on the right took out a sealed scroll. "The White Fang's residual chakra will be useful for research."

"Konoha's White Fang." The one on the left gave a soft, mocking laugh. "A dog killed by public opinion."

His laugh caught in his throat.

Because the entire house was shaking.

Not an earthquake. An earthquake shook from the bottom up. This vibration came sideways from the southeast, like something underground was pushing a mountain straight toward them.

The two Root shinobi turned their heads at the same time.

In the southeastern night sky, a grayish-white Wood Dragon smashed through the rear wall of the Hatake Estate. Its head drove straight into the back garden, plowing a fifteen-meter trench.

Dirt sprayed everywhere, shattered stones flew, and bricks from the wall crashed into the crowd outside. The watching civilians screamed and scattered.

The dragon's head came to a stop less than eight meters from the Hatake Estate's main hall.

A person stood on the Wood Dragon's back.

Moonlight shone on the face of a twelve-year-old boy. Young. Clean.

But his eyes were not clean.

They held the intent to kill.

Nawaki lowered his head and looked at the masks of the two Root operatives on the roof.

"Danzō's dogs, have you enjoyed the show enough?"

The two men on the roof reached for the kunai at their waists at the same time.

The Wood Dragon beneath Nawaki opened its mouth.