The Blood-Soaked Defector

Yukina stared toward the rear outpost.

"Lord Danzō said long ago that the Uchiha cannot be trusted."

Takeno Sota glanced at her. "This isn't Root."

"The mission's failure is already inevitable. What matters now is preventing a three-tomoe Uchiha who possesses Konoha intelligence from breaking free of control."

Yukina drew a kunai.

"Capturing Uchiha Lieyang takes priority over the original mission."

Takeno Sota clenched his fist.

Several seconds later, he gave the order in a low voice. "Change the mission objective."

"Abandon the infiltration. Capture Uchiha Lieyang."

Yukina had already charged toward the rear outpost.

"Dead or alive, if necessary."

The two quickly arrived at the battle site.

The Shadow Clone had just dodged a slash from a rogue ninja when the ground beneath its feet suddenly swelled.

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

A hand burst from the earth and seized its ankle.

The Shadow Clone raised its blade to strike, but a dense swarm of black insects had already swooped down from behind the treetops.

Parasitic Destruction Bugs covered its arm, continuously devouring its chakra.

"Found you."

Yukina emerged from behind the swarm.

Takeno Sota followed close behind, driving his blade through the Shadow Clone's chest.

Bang!

White smoke exploded.

Both of them stopped moving at once.

"A Shadow Clone?"

Takeno Sota's expression changed drastically.

Yukina crouched down and pressed her fingers against the ground. The Parasitic Destruction Bugs scattered around the area flew back into her sleeves, bringing back lingering traces of information.

"The original body never entered the mission area."

She rose and looked southwest.

"He had been preparing to flee from the very beginning."

Takeno Sota immediately turned around.

"Chase him!"

Several miles away, Lieyang's body paused ever so slightly as he ran.

The memories and pain from the Shadow Clone's disappearance flooded into his mind all at once.

His pace did not slow in the slightest.

He had expected the Shadow Clone to last only so long against Takeno Sota and Ayakawa Yukina working together.

That clone had never intended to fight to the death.

It had only one purpose.

To make his defection indisputable!

To make Takeno Sota abandon the original mission and let Ayakawa Yukina hunt him down without restraint.

An unusual sound soon came from the forest behind him.

They're here.

Lieyang spun around sharply and drew a kunai.

Clang!

Two kunai collided, scattering sparks.

Takeno Sota rushed out from the shadows of the trees, twisting his wrist and forcing Lieyang to slide backward several meters.

"Why?"

He stared at Lieyang.

"How has the village wronged you?"

Lieyang exerted force through his arm and knocked the kunai aside.

"I don't want to die in the village. Is that reason enough?"

"Defection will only make you die faster!"

Takeno Sota formed seals with one hand, his chest swelling high.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Lieyang formed seals in sync.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Two enormous fireballs crashed together with a roar.

Flames surged outward, and the leaves instantly turned to ash.

Takeno Sota charged through the curtain of fire, only for the scene before his eyes to suddenly change.

The forest vanished.

His feet were nailed to the ground by iron spikes, while Lieyang stood before him with a short blade pressed to his throat.

"Genjutsu?"

Takeno Sota bit through his tongue.

The pain restored clarity to his mind.

The image before him shattered. He twisted aside to avoid the kunai stabbing toward his neck, then kicked at Lieyang's chest.

Lieyang blocked with his forearm and used the force to retreat.

The instant he landed, a swarm of tiny Parasitic Destruction Bugs burrowed out from the dead leaves beneath his feet and crawled up his pant legs.

Dense stinging pain spread through his flesh.

His chakra was being devoured rapidly!

"You thought only the captain had caught up?"

Ayakawa Yukina stepped out from behind a tree.

Lieyang swung his blade at her.

The blade passed through her body, but she exploded into countless black insects.

An Insect Clone!

The real Yukina appeared at his rear flank, her kunai stabbing straight toward Lieyang's ribs.

Lieyang forcibly twisted his body.

The kunai grazed his waist, drawing a spray of blood.

Takeno Sota gave him no chance to catch his breath, pressing both hands to the ground.

"Earth Style: Split Earth Palm!"

The ground split apart with a thunderous crack.

Lieyang kicked off the ground and leaped up. Several kunai shot toward him from the front. He swung his blade in rapid succession to block them, the clanging impacts blending into one continuous sound.

But more and more Parasitic Destruction Bugs gathered.

They crawled into his collar and pressed against his skin, their sharp mouthparts constantly gnawing at his flesh.

Pain flooded every part of his body.

Even his chakra circulation began to slow.

"Give up resisting."

Yukina stood behind the swarm, her voice utterly devoid of emotion.

"You can't escape."

Lieyang sliced away a large mass of insects from his arm, leaving his flesh a mangled, bloody mess.

"Then let's find out."

Chakra erupted beneath his feet.

Body Flicker Technique!

His figure instantly passed Takeno Sota and lunged straight at Yukina.

Yukina did not retreat.

Just as Lieyang's blade was about to fall, her body exploded into another swarm of insects.

Another Insect Clone!

"This is bad."

Lieyang had barely turned around when Takeno Sota finished forming seals.

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

Thick earthen walls rose from both sides, sealing off his retreat.

Lieyang could only use the Body Flicker Technique again, forcibly rushing through the gap before it closed.

But the instant his high-speed movement ended, his body stiffened briefly.

For an ordinary ninja, that pause was so short it was almost impossible to catch.

But Takeno Sota was an elite Anbu.

And Ayakawa Yukina had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

The swarm suddenly descended, frantically devouring what little chakra remained in Lieyang's body.

Takeno Sota slammed both palms heavily against the ground.

"Earth Style: Rock-Piercing Rod!"

The ground shook.

Five sharp stone spikes burst from the earth, each locking onto Lieyang's head, heart, throat, spine, and abdomen!

Too fast.

Lieyang wanted to dodge, but the stiffness from the Body Flicker Technique had not yet faded.

He wanted to form seals, but Parasitic Destruction Bugs had already covered his arms, and his muscles would not obey him at all.

The Sharingan saw everything clearly.

The stone spikes tore through the air.

Rubble flew everywhere.

Takeno Sota's face was taut, showing no mercy whatsoever.

Ayakawa Yukina controlled the swarm, sealing off the last space where he could evade.

I'll die!

This time, it was not a Shadow Clone.

There was no substitute, no way out, and no one coming to save him.

The five stone spikes drew closer and closer.

Ten feet.

Five feet.

Three feet!

Never had death felt so clear.

Lieyang's heart pounded wildly. Blood hammered against his eardrums, and every sound in the world seemed to stretch endlessly.

The sensation of Parasitic Destruction Bugs biting through his flesh, the emptiness of chakra being drained away, every stiff muscle after the Body Flicker Technique, the dust swept up by the tips of the stone spikes—all of it became incomparably clear in this instant.

Fear gripped his heart like an invisible hand.

His body screamed.

Every cell urged him to run.

But he could not escape!

Three years of suppressed resentment, anxiety over the future massacre of his clan, his thirst for power, and his fear of death all erupted completely in this moment.

Lieyang's consciousness crashed against the invisible shackles binding the instincts of life.

Live!

I have to live!

At the instant the five stone spikes were about to pierce his body, the potential slumbering deep within Uchiha Lieyang's genes was completely awakened by the ultimate terror of death!