Yakumi needed only a glance before his gaze fixed on the temperature-controlled container at the very back of the refrigerated cabinet. Suspended in its pale green nutrient solution was a mass of tissue brimming with vitality-their primary objective, a living sample of Hashirama cells.
He carefully removed the container and sealed it inside a specially prepared sealing scroll. Through his fingertips, he could distinctly feel the almost violent life chakra radiating from within.
With their first priority secured, he immediately nodded to Yaoyu.
Yaoyu moved so fast that he left only afterimages. His fingers flew as he stuffed all the locked-up research on cultivating Hashirama cells and years of experimental data from the laboratory bench into a sealing scroll.
Just then, hurried footsteps came from the far end of the passage, followed by a Root ninja's sharp demand: "Where are the entrance guards?! Report immediately!"
"Move!"
Uchiha Yashiro acted without a moment's hesitation, raising his hand to slap several explosive tags onto the laboratory's load-bearing pillars.
The instant they turned and rushed out of the laboratory, the explosive tags detonated with a deafening roar. Rubble collapsed behind them, sealing the passage completely and cutting off their pursuers' battle cries.
No one lingered to fight. No one got greedy. Following the escape route Natsu had planned in advance, they slipped through the Root Base's abandoned ventilation ducts into the underground drains. With the relentless explosions above masking their footsteps, they darted like fish through the tangled network of underground pipes.
Along the way, they encountered two groups of Root ninja rushing back to reinforce the base, but used the darkness and Sharingan genjutsu to slip past unnoticed, leaving not a trace.
Within fifteen minutes, they had emerged from the underground network. Under cover of the flames filling the sky and the panicked crowds, they safely reached the designated rendezvous point.
Uchiha Kei, Taoho, and the others were already waiting there. Seeing everyone return safely with the sealed scrolls intact, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mission complete?" Kei asked in a low voice.
Yakumi patted the sealing scroll tucked against his chest, a cold smile flickering in his eyes. "Primary objective secured. We brought out all the research, too. Clean and quick."
"Good." Kei nodded and looked up at the Uchiha Clan District, hemmed in by barriers and cordons. He waved a hand. "Move! Back to the clan district! Time to go home!"
Without pausing, more than a dozen figures melted back into the darkness and raced toward the clan district.
Behind them, Konoha remained engulfed in fire and chaos. No one knew that the Hashirama cells they treasured, along with the core forbidden techniques from the Book of Seals, had all fallen into Uchiha hands.
Under cover of the smoke and dust filling the sky, Taoho and his group raced along ruined walls, keeping the Book of Seals firmly protected against their chests. Their footsteps fell amid the lingering tremors of the explosions, their speed leaving only afterimages.
They were only two streets from the Uchiha Clan District. Once they rounded the alley ahead, they could meet up with those waiting to receive them.
But the instant Taoho led his men around the corner into the alley, a cold surge of chakra abruptly locked onto them.
"Stop."
Gekko Hayate stepped slowly out of the alley's shadows. An Anbu cat mask covered most of his face, leaving only the sickly bluish corners of his eyes exposed. His tachi was already drawn, its tip angled toward the ground. Four elite Anbu followed him, blocking the alley entrance in an encircling formation, their chakra taut and ready.
He had been leading his squad on a patrol to assess the damage from the explosions when he unexpectedly sensed that sharp chakra bearing the Uchiha's distinctive signature, along with the unique sealing fluctuations of the Book of Seals.
"Uchiha?" Gekko Hayate spoke in a low voice, unable to suppress two quiet coughs, though his sword hand remained perfectly steady. "Were you the ones who stole the Book of Seals from the Hokage Building?"
The three tomoe in Taoho's eyes began spinning instantly. Without wasting a word, he signaled the two men beside him.
In the next second, all three moved at once.
There was no probing, no wasted talk. They opened with killing blows. Taoho's figure instantly split into three afterimages as he used the Uchiha Style Body Flicker Technique, charging straight at Gekko Hayate's face.
The Sharingan saw the path of his opponent's tachi with perfect clarity. Gekko Hayate had barely begun his Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance when Taoho precisely predicted where the blade would fall. His kunai cut through the air with a sharp whistle, thrusting straight at Hayate's sword wrist.
The alley erupted with the fierce clash of chakra. The ringing of metal mingled with the roar of explosions, the exchanges too fast to follow.
But before the unmatched motion-tracking vision of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the Anbu's movements seemed to play out in slow motion.
In barely thirty seconds, four muffled cries sounded in succession. Before the four elite Anbu could complete even a single technique, their vital points were pierced with precision, and they collapsed into pools of blood.
Gekko Hayate's tachi was knocked away, and a kunai opened a gash across his chest deep enough to expose bone. He staggered half a step back and was about to form hand seals to raise the alarm when Taoho appeared right in front of him, his crimson Sharingan locking onto Hayate's eyes.
The genjutsu took hold instantly. Gekko Hayate's body went rigid, and a moment later, a kunai pierced his throat.
Warm blood splashed onto the cold wall. He fell with his eyes still open, never managing to sound a complete alarm before he died.
Just as Taoho flicked the blood from his kunai and prepared to lead his men away, an incredulous cry suddenly came from the alley entrance.
"Hayate?!"
Yuhi Kurenai stood at the mouth of the alley. At the sight of Gekko Hayate lying in a pool of blood and the Anbu corpses scattered across the ground, her blood ran cold.
She had been evacuating civilians nearby and rushed over after sensing the violent chakra fluctuations here. She had never expected to find a scene like this.
Her pupils contracted sharply, and her hands instantly formed seals, genjutsu chakra already surging through her fingertips. But the three Uchiha elites facing her attacked together without the slightest hesitation the moment they saw her.
Three figures lunged at once, their crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan all fixing on her as genjutsu and physical attacks struck simultaneously.
Genjutsu was Yuhi Kurenai's greatest strength, but against three pairs of top-tier Sharingan, her illusions vanished like stones sinking into the sea, unable to stir even a ripple.
In a single exchange, Taoho's genjutsu forced her back until her back slammed hard against the wall. A kunai was already at her throat, and the chill of death enveloped her entire body.
At that critical instant, a dark figure suddenly hurtled in from the side. Akimichi Choza activated his Partial Multi-Size Technique, swinging a massive arm viciously at Taoho and forcing him to withdraw his kunai and dodge.
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