Another Assassination-Curse Mark, Activate!

Ino's voice caught in her throat.

She saw blood.

A kunai had torn through the clothes on Zuo Hao's back. The fabric around the wound quickly darkened, glistening wetly in the moonlight.

The smell of blood hit her, and she froze as if struck by lightning.

"Z-Zuo Hao... you... you're bleeding..."

Her voice shook. She raised a hand but had no idea where to put it. She wanted to touch him, but she was afraid she would hurt him. Her fingers hovered in midair like those of a puppet with its strings cut.

Zuo Hao didn't answer.

He kept his head down and held Ino tightly against him, his back slightly hunched.

A dull, burning pain spread from the wound along his spine. Every breath tugged at it, but he didn't even furrow his brow.

His eyes stayed fixed on the darkness where the kunai had come from.

The scarlet glow of his Sharingan stood out sharply in the night. Its Three Tomoe turned slowly, bringing everything within dozens of meters into clear view.

Deep in the trees, five figures in black cloaks emerged without a sound. They spread into a fan and advanced slowly.

White animal masks.

Root.

They had come again.

Unlike the four he had killed at the Training Ground, these five carried a colder, heavier presence. They felt like veterans steeped in blood.

Zuo Hao's mouth curved into a cold smile.

"Heh."

That old dog Danzo really thinks highly of me.

Four had died during the day, so he had sent five stronger ones tonight.

"Zuo Hao! Let go of me!" Ino finally recovered from her shock and began struggling desperately, her voice thick with tears. "You're hurt! Let go! I'll hold them off!"

"Quiet."

Zuo Hao spoke softly, but his tone left no room for argument.

Ino went still.

It wasn't because he sounded harsh. As he spoke, his arms tightened around her, shielding her even more completely.

As though... he really might die here.

As though the only thing he could do before dying was put his body between her and them.

"Zuo Hao..." Ino's tears finally fell, hot drops striking his wrist. "Don't scare me... please let go... I'm begging you..."

"I said, quiet."

His voice was still soft, but Ino heard what he was struggling to hold back.

It wasn't fear.

It was hatred.

Hatred endured and buried for so long that every new cut finally broke through its seal.

Three more figures dropped from the treetops.

They weren't from Root.

They were ANBU.

The Konoha swirl was engraved on their masks. They answered directly to the Third Hokage.

The lead ANBU landed on a thick branch of an old tree and raised a scarlet token in his right hand. His voice rang through the night. "Hokage's Decree! No ninja may attack Sahiro Uchiha! Anyone who defies this order will be treated as a traitor to the village!"

The five Root operatives stopped.

But only for a moment.

Their leader, whose mask bore a snake, turned his head. His voice was hoarse and cold. "ANBU, these are Lord Danzo's orders. Sahiro Uchiha must die tonight. Please don't make this difficult for us."

"These are Lord Hokage's orders." The ANBU leader held the token high without wavering. "Do you intend to defy them?"

The snake-masked Root operative fell silent for a moment.

The night wind swept between the five of them, snapping their cloaks.

Then he slowly raised his hand.

"Lord Danzo's orders take precedence over everything."

The ANBU leader's pupils contracted sharply.

The next instant, the snake-masked operative moved.

He didn't charge at Zuo Hao.

He charged at the ANBU leader.

At the same moment, the four behind him closed in on Zuo Hao and Ino from four directions.

Root's plan was simple this time.

One operative would tie up the ANBU while the other four killed the target together.

Zuo Hao still held Ino, the kunai lodged in his back, but he released her shoulder.

He turned, putting Ino behind him, and faced the four incoming attacks himself.

He formed Hand Seals with his left hand alone.

Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.

Flames erupted with a roar, spreading even wider than before.

Indra's Chakra and the Uzumaki Clan's vitality surged through him. The wound stopped bleeding as it burned, while he forced an even greater flow of chakra through his aching channels.

The wall of fire drove the two Root operatives in front of him back three steps.

But the attacks from both sides arrived at once.

Wind Release: Wind Blade.

Earth Release: Earth Spear.

Intangibility.

The wind blade passed through his body, and the earth spear pierced his chest.

The Root operative on his left stared. "What is this?! Space-Time Ninjutsu?!"

Before the man could withdraw his attack, Zuo Hao gripped his kunai backward and slashed at his throat.

The man reacted instantly, leaning back to avoid the killing blow. But the kunai still opened a gash across his chest deep enough to expose bone. Blood spurted out.

"Number Three!"

The Root operative on the right roared and formed Hand Seals.

Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet.

But Zuo Hao had already vanished.

Body Flicker Technique.

He appeared behind the snake-masked Root operative.

The operative, still fighting the ANBU leader, sensed the chakra behind him. He spun around and formed Hand Seals so fast his hands nearly blurred.

"Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique!"

Enormous weight pressed down on Zuo Hao, interrupting his Body Flicker Technique. His feet punched two deep craters into the ground.

His movement slowed for a fraction of a second.

That fraction was enough.

Behind him, a Root operative had finished the Hand Seals for a powerful jutsu.

Wind Release: Pressure Damage.

Zuo Hao shoved Ino away, turned, and spread his arms.

He didn't attack.

He blocked it with his body.

He could have used Intangibility to evade it, but Ino couldn't.

So he didn't dodge.

The storm of wind blades shredded his shirt and carved more than a dozen wounds across his chest and arms. Blood instantly stained half his body red.

Zuo Hao swayed, nearly falling.

He raised his blood-smeared face and looked at the four Root ninja before him, then at the snake-masked one still locked in combat with the ANBU.

"That old dog Danzo... sent five pieces of trash to kill me... and this is all you've got?"

Zuo Hao wiped the blood from his face, leaving his hand streaked crimson.

The ANBU leader landed beside him. He had put away the token and now held a kunai.

"Zuo Hao, there are too many of them. Take the girl and go. We'll handle this."

"Go?"

Zuo Hao turned his head toward him and smiled, covered in blood.

"If I leave, they'll come again tomorrow. And the day after that."

Zuo Hao stepped forward, taking the front position.

"So... here and now, tonight, we settle the score."

The moment Zuo Hao finished speaking, the Cursed Seal of Heaven on the back of his neck erupted.

Black markings spread from his neck across his entire body, crawling over his throat, cheeks, and arms like living things. Under the moonlight, they gleamed with an almost metallic black sheen.

Zuo Hao had fully activated Curse Mark Stage Two. Twin wings had grown from his back, giving him the power of flight.

Behind his snake mask, the Root operative's pupils contracted sharply. "Brat! What the hell are you?!"

Before he could finish, Zuo Hao moved.