Dealing with Two Root Ninja

A change in circumstances often happened in an instant.

Just moments ago, the two Root ninja had thought the mission was complete. The target had been killed, and they could even claim a pair of Sharingan as spoils.

Yet before two minutes had passed, everything had turned upside down. Everything just now had been fake! They were now in grave danger!

From that genjutsu alone, from the fact that the two Root ninja had been fooled from beginning to end, it was clear just how accomplished their opponent was in genjutsu. It was also clear that these two Root ninja were no match for him at all.

The two Root ninja involved realized this as well. They understood that the mission had obviously failed, and their lives were now in danger.

There was nothing left to think about. They needed to run!

Moreover, the two Root ninja reacted rather quickly. Instinctively, they dashed off in two different directions, giving themselves a few more chances of escaping successfully.

But how could Yun Yan possibly let them go?

Within the dark forest, around the two Root ninja, Yun Yan's leisurely voice, like a soft sigh, rang out once more:

"Eight-Part Wind Wheel."

As mentioned before, when ninja used ninjutsu and called out the name of their technique, there were generally two reasons. Either they were bolstering their own morale, or they possessed absolute confidence in their strength.

Yun Yan's reason for naming his technique was clearly the latter.

Without giving the two Root ninja much time to react, a wind wheel gleaming with cold light and infused with azure Wind Release chakra spun rapidly through the air. It sliced smoothly through the air as it flew from somewhere within the shadowy woods toward the two Root ninja!

There was only one Eight-Part Wind Wheel, but two targets, and the two Root ninja were fleeing in different directions. What was to be done?

Simple. Split the wheel.

After the azure Eight-Part Wind Wheel had flown some distance, it suddenly divided into two, becoming two Eight-Part Wind Wheels of equal mass and equal power.

With a sharp swish, the two Eight-Part Wind Wheels carved two arcs of azure cold light through the area. Before the two Root ninja themselves could even react, their heads were effortlessly severed!

Yes, it had been that effortless. That casual.

Earlier, within the genjutsu, the two Root ninja had needed to expend tremendous effort to take down Yun Yan.

But in reality, Yun Yan had not even shown himself. With only this Eight-Part Wind Wheel technique, he had taken the lives of the two Root ninja in merely one or two seconds.

That showed just how powerful Yun Yan truly was. It also showed that these two Root ninja were nothing more than insignificant clowns.

After killing the two Root ninja, the two Eight-Part Wind Wheels flew smoothly once more. They merged into one, and the reassembled Eight-Part Wind Wheel flew back into Yun Yan's hand.

Yes, Yun Yan finally appeared.

He had actually been standing nearby the entire time. It was simply that the two Root ninja lacked the ability to detect him.

The rapidly spinning, incomparably sharp Eight-Part Wind Wheel returned to Yun Yan's hand, where he gripped it.

With a slight squeeze of his right hand, Yun Yan turned the Eight-Part Wind Wheel back into pure Wind Release chakra and absorbed it into his body once again.

Well, he had even recovered the chakra used for the technique. From beginning to end, Yun Yan had not exerted much effort at all in killing these two Root ninja.

Speaking of which, the Eight-Part Wind Wheel was clearly not a native Wind Release ninjutsu of this world.

That was right. It was a technique Yun Yan had created over the past few years. Although it had never been officially ranked, Yun Yan was confident that it could definitely qualify as a solid A-rank Wind Release ninjutsu.

And from the name Eight-Part Wind Wheel alone, it was obvious where its inspiration had come from.

The Eight-Part Light Wheel, of course!

It was simply that light energy had been converted into wind-element chakra, and its power naturally could not compare to the original Eight-Part Light Wheel.

Why care about that? When in Rome, do as the Romans do. As long as it was useful and powerful enough, that was all that mattered.

At the very least, Yun Yan found the Eight-Part Wind Wheel quite useful. He used this technique often, and he often used it to take his enemies' heads.

Just like now.

Yun Yan, having reappeared, looked rather bored as he gazed ahead at the two headless Root ninja corpses.

They were enemies he had just killed. Though they were uninteresting and had brought him no pleasure, they were still Root members. He might as well go over and see whether they differed from ordinary people.

With that thought, Yun Yan slowly walked over and arrived beside the two corpses.

Yes, they were indeed two headless corpses.

The heads of the two Root ninja had fallen some distance away. Their faces still held expressions of terror and disbelief, their eyes still wide open. They had clearly died with lingering grievances.

Yun Yan glanced at the headless corpses of the two Root ninja...

Well, there was nothing to see. They were just corpses, and Yun Yan had no habit of looting bodies. He had no interest in the possessions or equipment of these two Root ninja either.

Then he glanced at the two heads...

Well, Yun Yan was somewhat interested in their heads.

He casually crouched down, grabbed the elite Root jonin by the hair, and lifted his head as though he were carrying a watermelon.

After lifting it, Yun Yan ignored the man's twisted death expression. He directly took out a kunai he carried with him and impolitely stabbed it into the man's mouth.

Do not misunderstand. Yun Yan did not have some vile hobby of desecrating corpses. The reason he did this was because...

Feeling his kunai successfully pierce through the man's tongue, Yun Yan gave a sharp tug and ripped the man's bloody tongue out of his mouth.

What he was observing was the base of the tongue he had pulled out.

Fortunately, Yun Yan's kunai had pierced the middle of the tongue and had not damaged the special pattern at its root. The special pattern was now successfully exposed before Yun Yan's eyes.

What special pattern? At the root of the elite Root jonin's tongue!?

Naturally, it was the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, the method Danzo used to control Root ninja.

Yun Yan tugged with the kunai in his hand while examining the special curse mark coiled around the base of the man's tongue. His expression remained calm as he silently pondered.

This Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was quite interesting. Root ninja branded with this curse mark not only could never reveal Danzo's secrets and would remain permanently silent, but it seemed that their lives were also controlled by Danzo through this curse mark.

It truly was the perfect method for making others keep secrets.

Using such crooked and sinister methods to control his subordinates and establish Root, that old bastard Danzo truly deserved to be one of the people Yun Yan hated most.

After confirming the existence of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, Yun Yan made no further move and did not put the man's tongue back. Instead, he maintained that position and activated his Sharingan.

Scarlet Sharingan appeared in his eyes. That color, representing power and mystery, added an eerie aura to the usually placid Yun Yan.

The three tomoe slowly rotated as Yun Yan stared intently at the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, attempting to analyze the curse mark.

Unfortunately, after watching for a while, Yun Yan frowned slightly:

"This curse mark... yes, it's a rather troublesome sealing technique. It really won't be easy to analyze. Three tomoe are a little insufficient.

In that case..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the three tomoe in Yun Yan's eyes began spinning faster. During their rapid rotation, the three tomoe suddenly merged, forming a mysterious and peculiar triangular pattern within Yun Yan's pupils.

What did that represent? There was no need to say any more, was there?

That was right. What Yun Yan had activated was the Mangekyō Sharingan!

The Mangekyō Sharingan, the standard equipment of an Uchiha Clan transmigrator in the Naruto world—Yun Yan clearly possessed it as well!

After activating the Mangekyō Sharingan, analyzing the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal became much easier.

With his scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan open, the mysterious and eerie triangular patterns in his eyes slowly rotating, Yun Yan calmly looked at the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal at the base of the man's tongue and analyzed it unhurriedly.

After observing and analyzing it for roughly four or five minutes, Yun Yan suddenly understood:

"So that's how it is. This is how this sealing technique, this curse mark, operates.

"Heh, such an intricate curse mark definitely wasn't Danzo's work. He doesn't have the ability to create this kind of sealing technique.

"Either Orochimaru helped Danzo develop it when he was in Root, or this curse mark was a legacy of the Second Hokage that Danzo appropriated.

"No matter how I think about it, only those two had that kind of ability. Danzo isn't qualified."

With that, Yun Yan withdrew the kunai in his hand, allowing the man's tongue, stretched long from being pulled, to snap back into his mouth.