Root Used Underhanded Tricks Too

Having already sensed that something was wrong, Yunyan seemingly casually glanced at the rooftop opposite him.

Kakashi... did he choose this time to interrupt me specifically to warn me?

Though he had said nothing, his actions were already a warning in themselves.

Realizing this, Yunyan smiled faintly.

This guy was still on his side, after all. He had once been his friend.

With that thought in mind, Yunyan discreetly tucked his hands into his sleeves. Calmly, the hands hidden within formed several seals, making the necessary preparations.

After finishing his preparations, Yunyan made no further moves. He continued sitting quietly beneath the eaves, reading his scroll in the glow of the setting sun.

Izumi clattered away in the kitchen as she cooked, while Yunyan waited quietly outside. Everything seemed perfectly normal, no different from any other day.

About half an hour passed, and the sun gradually dipped below the horizon. Izumi's voice called from the dining room:

"Yunyan, dinner's ready! Come in and eat!"

Hearing her voice, Yunyan decisively put away the scroll, rose to his feet, and headed into his dining room.

The moment he entered, he saw that Izumi had filled the entire table with dinner. The dishes were varied and lavish, steaming hot and mouthwatering at a glance.

Naturally, the dish made from that premium beef had also been placed on the table, right in the center of all the food.

Tonight, that beef dish was the star of the meal.

In a fine mood, Yunyan took the seat at the head of the table.

This was unquestionably the seat reserved for the head of the household. Since Yunyan was currently the only man in his home, of course he sat there.

Izumi emerged from the kitchen carrying two bowls of rice that she had already served. Smiling brightly, she jogged into the dining room, placed a bowl before Yunyan, then casually sat down beside him.

Izumi's seat was right beside Yunyan.

It was a place normally occupied by the mistress of the household, the wife of the family head. Her current position could be seen from that seat alone.

After sitting down, neither of them hurried to eat. Instead, Izumi pressed her hands together and offered a brief prayer before saying:

"Let's eat."

Yes, those very words: Let's eat.

It seemed that people here all had this little ritual before meals, much like how someone would say they were home after returning—even if no one else was in the house.

Seeing Izumi like this, Yunyan could only follow her example, pressing his hands together and murmuring, "Let's eat."

He was not especially opposed to such things... He could simply consider it adapting to local customs and make a habit of it.

Much like the loose kimono robe Yunyan was wearing now, he personally had no particular fondness for such clothes. But since they were so comfortable and roomy, he simply treated them as loungewear.

After the brief pre-meal ritual ended, Yunyan and Izumi began their dinner together.

Izumi had always been an excellent cook, and today's ingredients were especially fresh. On top of that, she had been in an especially good mood while cooking as usual. With all three factors combined, tonight's dinner seemed even more delicious than normal.

The reason it tasted so good was not solely the meal itself. A considerable part of it was... having someone beside him.

Eating dinner alone, no matter how delicious the food was, probably would not put anyone in much of a good mood.

Of course, those who enjoyed solitude were an exception.

When someone ate dinner with a person who made them feel at ease and liked them, simply having that person's company could elevate even an ordinary meal into something special.

That was how Yunyan and Izumi felt at that moment.

The two of them continued their warm dinner in the dining room. They did not follow any rule about remaining silent while eating, chatting casually from time to time as a simple, tender affection filled the space between them.

Unfortunately, abnormalities and accidents always seemed to happen at moments like this!

After they had eaten about half a bowl of rice, just as everything remained warm and normal, suddenly, Izumi felt a tremendous discomfort!

The intense pain surging from within her body made her eyes snap wide open. The bowl and chopsticks in her hands fell onto the table!

Seemingly caught off guard, Yunyan looked at Izumi beside him in surprise and even a little fear, hurriedly asking with concern:

"Izumi, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Izumi seemed unable to speak by then. She clutched her throat in agony, her body beginning to convulse.

Seeing Izumi like that, Yunyan was both shocked and furious. He shot to his feet and hurriedly reached out to support her.

But it was too late.

The light in Izumi's eyes suddenly went out. Her face still bore that pained, disbelieving expression as she toppled forward with a crash, collapsing onto the dining table! Falling into tonight's dinner!

The table became a complete mess, and the once-warm scene turned horrific in an instant!

Yunyan's expression twisted at the sight of this sudden scene!

Who could tell him what was going on? How could this happen so suddenly!?

Before Yunyan could rage or make any further move, he too began to feel unwell.

The discomfort came from within his body, fierce and sudden. Pain swept through his entire body in an instant!

Like Izumi moments ago, Yunyan seized his own throat from the pain, his eyes bulging slightly!

Enduring the tremendous agony, Yunyan staggered back two steps and leaned against the wall, struggling to keep himself from falling.

There was nothing else he could do now. All he could do was mobilize every bit of chakra in his body to fight this discomfort, to resist the source of this pain.

Only then did Yunyan understand the source of this sudden incident!

Poison! Someone had poisoned them! He and Izumi had been poisoned!

As Yunyan painfully considered who had done this, two shinobi dressed as ANBU slowly emerged through the door of the adjoining room and entered the dining room.

Yunyan's eyes flew wide open when he saw the two ANBU.

Root! Root agents dressed in ANBU gear!

Damn it! They had poisoned them! These despicable bastards!

Staring fixedly at the two Root shinobi who had suddenly appeared, Yunyan realized in despair that both of them seemed to be elite jōnin.

So... they had learned their lesson from last time. Knowing one elite jōnin was not enough, they had simply sent two.

And instead of attacking directly, these two elite jōnin had resorted to a vicious method like poisoning!

Damn it! It was over! This was bad!

Enduring the massive pain wracking his body, Yunyan's heart sank deeper and deeper. He knew there was almost no hope left in the current situation.

Izumi was already done for, and he himself had been deeply poisoned. The poison had struck fiercely, ravaging and destroying his body. Even though he was desperately mobilizing chakra to resist it, he was only barely clinging to life.

Without the wall behind him supporting him, he would have collapsed to the floor long ago.

How could he even talk about resisting in this state!?

The two Root shinobi looked over the scene before them. One target was already dead, and the other was about to die. They nodded in satisfaction.

One of the Root shinobi saw the extreme unwillingness and resentment in Yunyan's eyes and spoke coldly:

"Accept your fate. Once you've been poisoned with this, there's no saving you."

Clutching his throat, Yunyan struggled to force out his final words:

"Since when... did Root start using... such despicable methods?"

The Root shinobi remained calm.

"It doesn't matter whether it's despicable or not. As long as it works.

Like you right now—didn't you fall for it too?

Lord Danzō personally ordered us to take both your lives. No matter what you do, you cannot escape."

Yunyan still seemed unwilling to accept it. His body slowly slid downward until, with a thud, he sank to the floor against the corner of the wall.

"You want... both of our lives?

No matter what, Izumi has nothing to do with this. If you have a problem, come at me alone! Why drag Izumi into this too!?"

As if answering Yunyan's unwillingness, the same Root shinobi spoke again:

"How naive.

Once you are on Root's list, once Lord Danzō has taken an interest in you, there is only one outcome for you: death.

Not only will you die, everyone around you will as well."

At this point, the Root shinobi looked toward Izumi, who was sprawled across the dining table.

"Uchiha Yunyan, you should have been prepared for this. The moment your little girlfriend returned to your side, her fate was sealed along with yours!

If you want to blame someone, blame yourself. You are the one who got the person you cared about killed."

With that, the Root shinobi looked to the other Root shinobi and gave an order:

"Go dig out her eyes before the poison reaches them.

They are still a pair of Sharingan. Lord Danzō will surely have use for them."

The other Root shinobi nodded. He walked over to Izumi's lifeless body, turned her over, and without hesitation reached his fingers toward her eye sockets to gouge out her eyes!

Seeing the Root shinobi's actions, Yunyan, who was on the verge of death but not yet completely dead, roared out his final cry:

"No..."