The Blade That Backfired

Beneath Konoha, Root headquarters.

Seven ninja stood in neat formation before Danzo.

Two squads.

Two Jōnin captains and five elite members.

All of them wore masks, with no markings that could reveal their identities.

Danzo handed a stack of intelligence reports to the Jōnin at the front.

"The target is Uchiha Lieyang."

"Bring back his corpse and his eyes."

"Yes."

All seven answered at once.

No one asked for a reason.

Root ninja did not need reasons. They only needed to carry out orders.

After leaving the headquarters, the two squads entered a secret room and began reviewing the target's intelligence.

"Uchiha Lieyang, Special Jōnin, Three-Tomoe Sharingan."

"Fire- and Wind-nature chakra."

"Skilled in Fire Release, Genjutsu, ninja tool throwing, and the Shadow Clone Technique."

"According to mission records, his greatest achievement was killing two Chunin alone."

One member flipped to the following page.

"Taijutsu evaluation: average."

The Jōnin captain asked, "Confirmed?"

"Confirmed. The target's promotion mainly relied on Fire Release, Genjutsu, and the Sharingan. During missions over the past three years, he rarely engaged enemies in prolonged taijutsu combat."

Another person analyzed the situation calmly.

"The Uchiha relies on his eyes. Obstruct his vision at close range, suppress him with ninja tools and ninjutsu from afar, and do not make eye contact."

"Use pairs to dispel Genjutsu from each other."

"Shadow clones must be identified first."

The Jōnin captain spread out a map of the Land of Fire.

"After leaving the mission area, the target did not pass through any border checkpoints."

"Lord Hokage has authorized us to obtain records from the towns along the route. Based on inn registrations and witness reports, he may still be in this area."

His finger landed in the middle of the map.

"Using this point as the center, divide the search into east, west, south, and north sectors."

"First Squad will search the east and north."

"Second Squad will search the west and south."

"Once the target is found, no one is to engage him alone."

One member asked, "What if we cannot regroup in time?"

"The primary attacker will hold the target down while the others seal off his escape routes."

The Jōnin captain looked at everyone.

"The target is only a Special Jōnin, but he possesses a Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Do not let your guard down in a direct fight."

"Use Earth Release to restrict his movements from underground, use ninja tools to limit his evasion space, then let those skilled in close combat finish the kill."

"Remember, do not give him a chance to use Fire Release or Genjutsu."

"Understood."

That night, the two Root squads left Konoha.

The next day, in the forests of the Land of Fire.

Lie Yang walked alone through the woods, his eyes covered by a strip of cotton cloth.

He was not moving quickly.

Yet he did not step on a single dry branch.

A low-hanging branch blocked his path ahead, but he tilted his head aside in advance. A pit concealed beneath fallen leaves lay to his right, and his steps naturally shifted away from it, as though he could see every obstacle.

Suddenly, Lie Yang stopped.

The wind was still blowing.

There were no footsteps in the woods, nor were there any unusual chakra fluctuations.

But he could already feel that he was being watched.

Two people to the southeast.

One to the west.

There was another presence underground, rapidly approaching. Lie Yang did not remove the cloth over his eyes and merely took one step forward.

The ground suddenly split apart.

A hand burst from the soil, its five fingers viciously reaching for his ankle.

"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"

The instant the hand caught its target, the Root ninja performing the technique immediately pulled downward.

The next moment, Lie Yang, whom he had dragged underground, exploded with a bang.

Bang!

White smoke engulfed the ground.

"Shadow Clone!"

The Root ninja underground quickly withdrew his hand.

But he was already too late.

Another hand shot out from even deeper underground and seized his wrist.

Lie Yang's shadow clone burst from the earth and dragged him out of the ground in reverse.

The Root ninja reacted swiftly. The instant his body left the ground, he raised a knee and slammed it into the shadow clone's chest.

Bang!

The shadow clone voluntarily dispersed.

Having lost his support, the Root ninja dropped toward the ground, rolled into a half-kneeling position, and immediately retreated.

The captain lying in ambush darkened his gaze.

The target had discovered the underground ambush in advance.

And at some point, he had already hidden a shadow clone underground.

"The intelligence was wrong."

A Root member lowered his voice.

"His sensory abilities are very strong."

The captain did not respond. He raised a hand and changed his signal.

The plan continued.

Since the close-range ambush had failed, they would use ninja tools to lock him down.

The Root ninja hidden around the area attacked at the same time.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Hundreds of kunai shot out from behind trees, bushes, and rocks.

Above, below, left, and right—every direction was covered.

The flight angle of every kunai had been calculated.

Some targeted vital points directly, some sealed off escape routes, and others collided with each other midair, altering their trajectories as they came at Lie Yang from his blind spots.

The dense shrieks of cutting air merged into one.

Lie Yang remained standing where he was.

The cotton cloth covered his eyes, and he was not even holding a weapon.

The Root captain watched every movement he made.

"The Sharingan is not activated."

"He has not detected all the attacks."

Another member gripped his kunai tightly, ready to deliver the final blow at any moment.

"At this density, he cannot dodge even if he activates the Sharingan."

"Watch for shadow clones."

"The original is in the middle."

The hundreds of kunai drew closer and closer.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

The Root captain had already begun judging which direction Lie Yang would force his way through.

The front and both sides were completely sealed off.

His only chance was upward.

But the moment Lie Yang jumped, the members lying in ambush among the treetops would launch their attack.

This encirclement and kill had only truly begun the moment the Double Suicide Decapitation Technique failed.

Just as the first wave of kunai was about to strike Lie Yang, the ground in front of him suddenly exploded.

Bang!

Another shadow clone leaped out from underground.

The Root captain's expression changed slightly.

"No, he hid another clone underground!"

The shadow clone held several kunai in each hand and violently flung both arms outward.

More than a dozen kunai flew straight into the dense barrage.

The difference in numbers was far too great.

One Root member said coldly, "Useless."

A dozen against hundreds.

Even if every one of them could knock away an attack, it would not change the outcome.

But the instant the kunai left his hands, the shadow clone completed a hand seal.

"Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

White smoke burst repeatedly through the air.

The dozen or so kunai split apart in an instant, their numbers multiplying wildly.

Dozens.

Over a hundred.

Hundreds!

A dense mass of kunai filled the sky before Lie Yang.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

The two torrents of black blades crashed together.

Sparks burst forth like a torrential downpour.

The hundreds of kunai fired by Root, whether launched head-on or redirected through collisions, were all intercepted with perfect precision.

Every collision came at exactly the right moment.

Some kunai were knocked away directly, some had their directions altered, while others broke away from their original paths amid repeated impacts.

The Root captain's pupils abruptly contracted.

"Impossible!"

The member beside him suddenly raised his head.

He had thought the target would be lucky to preserve his life. He had never expected him to use the same kind of ninja tools to shatter their blockade head-on.

That was an attack launched simultaneously by two elite squads!

Every angle had been calculated, every trajectory coordinated with the others.

Lie Yang was even blindfolded!

The Root ninja responsible for the underground ambush had only just regained his footing when he saw the kunai in the air completely overwhelm their own offensive.

His breath caught sharply.

"Captain, those kunai aren't falling!"

The Root captain noticed it too.

After knocking away every attack, the hundreds of kunai created by the shadow clone had not dispersed.

Their directions had changed amid the repeated collisions.

The blades turned.

Cold glints crossed.

Hundreds of kunai reversed their killing intent and shot violently toward the Root ninja hiding in the shadows!