The Last Trace of Fortune

Hinata Yota felt a chill in his heart.

A ninja's intuition was never without basis.

Especially for a taijutsu ninja like Might Guy, who had tempered his body to the limit—his sense of danger far surpassed that of ordinary people.

If even he felt such an intense sense of crisis before the battle had begun, the pressure Uchiha Lieyang brought was easy to imagine.

Kakashi lifted his forehead protector, revealing his tightly shut left eye.

"The only people who can keep up with Lie Yang's speed are Guy and me."

"My Sharingan will track his movements, and Guy will intercept him head-on."

"No one else is to attempt close combat."

Torifu Akimichi said, "What if the control attempt fails?"

"Retreat immediately."

Kakashi did not hesitate.

"Don't delay him at the cost of your lives."

"Lie Yang excels at high-speed assaults. Once the formation collapses, any rescue attempt will only expose more openings."

Kurenai Yuhi asked, "What if he targets Yota first?"

"I'll block the first strike."

"And the second?"

"Guy will take over."

Might Guy nodded heavily.

"As long as Kakashi lets me see his first move, leave the rest to me."

Nara Shikaku pondered for a moment.

"The Ino–Shika–Chō Team won't approach the front line."

"I need enough distance to observe Lie Yang's movement patterns."

"Inoichi will maintain the mental link, while Torifu protects us."

"Once Kakashi and Guy force him into the designated range, I'll use the Shadow Imitation Technique."

After reading the final page of intelligence, Kakashi returned the scroll to the Root ninja.

"What about the remaining Root personnel?"

"They've already dispersed toward the target area."

"Tell them not to engage Lie Yang."

The Root ninja looked up.

"They're responsible for reconnaissance."

"The reconnaissance squad from earlier is already dead."

Kakashi stared into the eyes behind the mask.

"Sending more people closer will only increase the casualties."

"Hinata Yota will conduct long-range reconnaissance."

After a brief silence, the Root ninja nodded.

"Understood."

Kakashi turned to face the group.

"One last reminder."

"Our target is not an ordinary rogue ninja."

"He has already wiped out several squads led by jonin, yet his true body has never truly revealed its full strength."

"Do not mistake what is recorded in the intelligence for his limit."

"Any underestimation will get you killed."

No one objected.

Kakashi raised his right hand.

"Move."

Everyone simultaneously used the Body Flicker Technique and rushed toward the area provided by Root.

The tenth day after Uchiha Lieyang's defection.

Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy, casting broad patches of mottled light across the ground.

Lie Yang walked alone through the mountains and forest.

He was not moving quickly.

He even seemed leisurely.

He did not use Lightning Body Flicker, nor did he summon any Shadow Clones. He simply followed an untraveled woodland path at an unhurried pace.

After several consecutive days of battle, his chakra, physical strength, and mental power had all undergone another round of transformation.

The enhancements brought by the first stage of the Gene Lock had begun to stabilize.

Lie Yang closed his eyes.

Deep within his consciousness, a vague scale gradually appeared.

One side represented the fortune he had spent opening the Gene Lock and awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan.

The other represented the fortune that had gathered anew after he slaughtered Konoha's pursuers and completed his transformation of life over the past few days.

The scale, which had initially been severely tilted, was now slowly returning to balance.

Only the final trace of disparity remained between the two sides.

Soon.

Lie Yang opened his eyes again.

He had not truly seen fortune.

It was more like a higher-dimensional perception that had emerged after the soul that had crossed over was tempered by the Gene Lock and merged with the source of his own life.

It could not be measured by chakra.

Nor could it be observed with the Sharingan.

Yet it allowed him to vaguely sense his own condition.

Once that final trace of fortune flowed back, the instability caused by opening the lock for the first time would be completely balanced.

At that point, the first stage of the Gene Lock would truly become his foundation.

Lie Yang continued onward.

After a few more steps, he suddenly stopped.

There were no footsteps.

No chakra.

There was not even any clear killing intent in the surroundings.

Yet the instincts lingering deep within his genes had already caught an extremely faint sensation of being watched.

They were not the Root ninjas from before.

There were more of them.

They were farther away.

And they were more cautious.

Lie Yang gathered chakra.

His eyes swiftly turned crimson.

Three black tomoe slowly revolved around his pupils.

He did not search for their location, nor did he alter his direction.

He simply waited in silence.

Dozens of miles away, Kakashi led the joint pursuit force steadily forward.

Their speed was half of what it had been when they left Konoha.

Hinata Yota remained at the center of the formation, veins bulging around his temples.

"Byakugan!"

His black-and-white vision rapidly expanded outward.

Beneath the ground.

Between the treetops.

Behind the rocks.

Every chakra signature entered his field of view.

The three teams spread out in a fan formation.

Kakashi's group of four stood in the center.

The Ino–Shika–Chō Team circled in from the left.

The Root team advanced from the right.

They were not far apart, allowing them to move covertly while still being able to support one another in time.

"There's nothing unusual ahead."

Hinata Yota lowered his voice.

"No chakra signatures have been detected within five hundred meters."

Kakashi raised a hand.

"Continue."

The group moved forward again.

Might Guy landed beside Kakashi, his movements growing quieter and quieter.

He no longer spoke of the sense of danger in his heart.

Because that feeling no longer needed to be voiced.

With every mile they drew closer to the target, the warnings from his body intensified.

"Kakashi."

"I feel it too."

Kakashi lowered his forehead protector. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan was already active.

Hinata Yota's field of vision soon extended to nine hundred meters.

The next instant, his body abruptly stiffened.

"Target found!"

Everyone stopped at once.

"Direction."

"Straight ahead, slightly east."

"Distance?"

"Nine hundred meters."

Hinata Yota pushed his Byakugan to its limit.

Layer upon layer of trees ceased to be obstacles in his vision.

Nine hundred meters away, a figure was slowly walking through the mountains and forest.

Black hair.

Uchiha clan attire.

A sword at his waist.

A chakra reserve far beyond what the intelligence had recorded.

"Confirmed. It's Uchiha Lieyang."

The moment Hinata Yota finished speaking, Lie Yang in the distance suddenly stopped.

Then he slowly turned his head.

Those crimson Sharingan eyes looked through the layers of forest toward the joint pursuit force.

Hinata Yota's breathing caught.

A chill instantly crawled across his back.

He was clearly standing nine hundred meters away, with countless trunks, branches, and leaves between them.

Lie Yang had not activated the Byakugan either, so he could not possibly have truly seen him.

Yet the instant the Byakugan's gaze fell upon him, Lie Yang had turned around!

"He noticed me."

Hinata Yota's voice tightened.

Kakashi's expression darkened.

"Are you sure?"

"He hasn't pinpointed my location."

Hinata Yota forced himself to maintain the Byakugan.

"But he sensed the observation."

"From nine hundred meters away, through so many obstacles, he reacted based solely on the feeling of being watched..."

He swallowed.

"That is beyond what an ordinary sensory ninja can accomplish."

Kurenai Yuhi looked ahead.

"No wonder Root's reconnaissance squad couldn't even send back intelligence."

Kakashi immediately raised his hand and gave a new signal.

"Stop advancing in a straight line."

"Kurenai, contact Shikaku."

"Tell Ino–Shika–Chō that the target has detected something unusual. Have them keep their movements down and approach slowly from the left flank."

"Understood."

"I'll notify Root."

Kakashi looked at Hinata Yota again.

"Don't keep watching his eyes."

"Only observe the chakra around him and his direction of movement."

"Yes."

The three teams readjusted.

Everyone slowed down even further.

Lie Yang did not flee.

He simply continued walking forward, occasionally stopping to glance in different directions through the forest.

Every time he turned his head, Hinata Yota's heart clenched violently.

Eight hundred meters.

Six hundred meters.

Three hundred meters.

The joint pursuit force steadily closed in.

Lie Yang's pace never quickened.

"Why isn't he leaving?"

Kurenai Yuhi lowered her voice.

"Since he's already noticed someone tracking him, there's no way he wouldn't realize Konoha sent a stronger team."

Nara Shikaku's voice came through Yamanaka Inoichi's telepathic link.

"He's waiting for us."

"One of the previous survivors brought back a message."

"Uchiha Lieyang remained in the Land of Fire to wait for someone worthy of making him act personally."

Hearing this, Might Guy slowly clenched his fists.

The sense of danger had grown so intense that it stung his skin.

But he did not retreat.

Instead, he adjusted his breathing to its steadiest rhythm.

One hundred and fifty meters.

One hundred meters.

Cold sweat covered Hinata Yota's forehead.

Every sweep of Lie Yang's gaze felt as though it brushed across his Byakugan.

They had not made direct eye contact, yet the invisible pressure grew heavier and heavier.

"It's at the limit."

"If I keep observing with the Byakugan, he'll definitely pinpoint us."

Kakashi nodded.

"Confirm the target's position."

"Straight ahead, one hundred meters away."

"No Shadow Clones."

"No chakra signatures underground either."

Kakashi raised a hand and lifted his forehead protector.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his left eye was fully exposed.

Might Guy met his gaze, and they understood each other's intent at once.

The two moved forward first.

Kurenai Yuhi and Hinata Yota followed close behind.

Ino–Shika–Chō on the left flank closed in simultaneously.

Root on the right flank also moved into its designated position.

One hundred meters.

Eighty meters.

Sixty meters.

Everyone suppressed their breathing to the lowest possible level as chakra rushed through their meridians.

Fifty meters.