The underground safehouse reeked of herbs mixed with blood.
The oil lamp's glow flickered across the walls, illuminating four faces with different expressions. Samui leaned against the corner, her Hidden Cloud Elite Ninja uniform in tatters. A bleeding bandage wrapped around her exposed shoulder blade, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Clone Shisui—or rather, "Number Seven"—was curled up on the other side. The transplanted Sharingan in his eyes occasionally glimmered dark red in the gloom, his gaze filled with confusion and lingering terror.
Kurenai Yuhi sat beside Xiao, absently rubbing the handle of her kunai. Her eyes never left his face.
"Danzo won't let this go."
Xiao's voice was calm, almost cold. He spread out a Leaf Village map he had taken from the Root Base and tapped several marked points with his finger. "Root has twelve hidden sentry posts around the outskirts of Leaf Village, along with three mobile squads in the inner city. The wanted notices have already been sent to every border outpost. With wounded people, our movement speed will drop to thirty percent."
Hong pressed her lips together. "You want us to split up."
"It's not that I want to. We have to." Xiao's fingertip traced the winding routes on the map. "Samui needs treatment from a professional medical ninja, or an infected wound will kill her within three days. The clone's Sharingan is unstable and could go berserk at any time. And you—"
He raised his eyes to Hong. "You overused your chakra in the Land of Demons. Right now, you can only wield half your strength at most."
Hong's fingers tightened. "What about you?"
"I'll infiltrate the Hyuga Clan Grounds." Xiao's fingertip landed heavily on the location of the Hyuga Ancestral Shrine. "The third underground level of the shrine, that 'living specimen,' the