The trap in Kusagakure

Kusagakure lay deep within the Land of Grass, surrounded by dense, primeval forest. Compared with the Five Great Shinobi Villages, its buildings were low and rundown, its streets narrow, and its people wore the numb expressions of those who had lived too long under oppression. It was a small shinobi village, short on resources and dependent on great nations for survival.

Lin Ye reached the outskirts at dusk. Rather than use the main gate openly, he disguised himself as a wandering merchant with the Transformation Technique and slipped into the stream of people entering the village. Beneath his bandages, his Mangekyō Sharingan quietly surveyed the chakra distribution throughout the entire village.

Twelve jonin-level chakra signatures, thirty-seven chunin, over a hundred genin... and at least three unusual presences, Lin Ye analyzed.

One of those unusual presences was in the administrative building at the village center. Its chakra was cold and viscous, carrying Root's distinctive dark aura-this was probably Danzo's "man" in Kusagakure. Another was in the slums on the western side. Its chakra was weak but pure, carrying the Uzumaki Clan's distinctive vitality and sealing fluctuations. That should be Karin. The third was at a temple on the eastern side. Its chakra was ancient and obscure, with faint traces of sealing formulas. It was likely where the Uzumaki Clan's scrolls were stored.

Find Karin first, Lin Ye decided. A survivor of the Uzumaki Clan mattered more than the scrolls, and she might have more accurate information.

He quietly slipped away from the crowd, turned into an alley, and crept toward the slums. The sky darkened, and a fine rain began to fall, providing cover for his movements.

The slums were even more dilapidated than he had imagined. Low shacks stretched in clusters, sewage ran everywhere, and the air reeked of decay. Lin Ye activated his Mangekyo and pinpointed that warm, red speck of light among countless weak chakra signatures.

It came from a shack built of planks and sheet metal, barely ten square meters in size. As Lin Ye approached, he heard voices inside.

"Karin, today's share." It was a man's rough, hoarse voice.

"I-I only gave you some yesterday..." A timid girl's voice trembled.

"Yesterday was yesterday. Today is today. Kusagakure feeds and clothes an orphaned little bastard like you and keeps you alive. You have to give something back, don't you?"

"But... if you take more blood, I'll die..."

"You won't die. Your Uzumaki Clan has strong vitality. What's a little blood? Hurry up and hold out your hand!"

"N-no... please..."

Smack! A slap rang out.

"You won't do it the easy way? Then we'll do it the hard way!"

Lin Ye's gaze turned cold. He lifted the cloth curtain and stepped inside.

Inside the shack, a brutish-looking Grass Ninja gripped a red-haired girl's wrist, about to slice it open with a kunai. She looked twelve or thirteen, with round glasses and disheveled long red hair. A clear handprint marked her cheek, and her eyes behind the lenses were filled with terror.

The Grass Ninja froze at Lin Ye's sudden entrance. "Who are you?"

"A passerby who can't stand scum who bully girls," Lin Ye said flatly.

"You're dead!" The Grass Ninja dropped Karin, drew his kunai, and charged.

Lin Ye did not even move. He merely raised his eyes and glanced at him. Three tomoe flashed in his eyes, and the Grass Ninja instantly froze, his gaze vacant, before collapsing limply-caught in a genjutsu that would leave him unconscious for at least three hours.

Karin watched in horror and curled up in a corner. "W-who are you... Stay away..."

"Don't be afraid. My name is Uchiha Ye. I'm from Konoha." Lin Ye kept his voice as gentle as possible. "I came to find survivors of the Uzumaki Clan and their sealing jutsu."

"Konoha..." A flicker of hope passed through Karin's eyes, only to be replaced by fear. "No, you're here to capture me, aren't you? Just like them. You want to take my blood and use my abilities..."

"If I wanted to hurt you, you'd already be on the ground," Lin Ye said. "I can treat your injuries and take you away from here. But first, you have to tell me where the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu scrolls are."

Karin bit her lip, seemingly weighing whether she could trust him. She looked into his eyes. There was no greed or malice in them, only profound sorrow and resolve.

"Y-you really can take me away?"

"I swear."

"Then... then I believe you." Karin summoned her courage. "The sealing jutsu scrolls are in the shrine in Kusagakure's forbidden grounds, under heavy guard. But before my mother died, she told me the true legacy wasn't in the scrolls. It was in our blood. We of the Uzumaki Clan are born with sealing jutsu. With enough chakra, we can awaken those memories."

A bloodline legacy? Lin Ye's thoughts stirred. No wonder Chiyo had said the complete sealing jutsu might be in Kusagakure-she had meant the Uzumaki Clan's survivors, not the scrolls.

"Have your bloodline memories awakened?"

"Only a little," Karin said quietly. "My mother died before she could teach me everything. But I can feel a lot of knowledge inside my body. It's just locked away, and I need a key to open it."

"What's the key?"

"An enormous amount of chakra, or... guidance from another clan member," Karin said. "Mother told me that if enough Uzumaki Clan members gathered together, their bloodline memories would resonate and awaken on their own. But I'm the only one left in the Land of Grass."

Lin Ye pondered this. He could accumulate enormous amounts of chakra through the Wish System. As for guidance from another clan member, he could not find any other Uzumaki Clan members right now, but perhaps there was an alternative.

"If I infused you with enough chakra, how much could you awaken?"

"I don't know... I've never tried." Karin hesitated. "But it's dangerous. If it isn't controlled properly, my body won't withstand it. I'll die."

"I have a way to control it," Lin Ye said. With the Mangekyo's precise chakra control and the medical knowledge he had learned from Tsunade, he should have a good chance.

Just then, a clamor of footsteps came from outside.

"Over there!"

"Someone's broken into the slums!"

"Get him!"

Lin Ye's gaze sharpened. Had he been discovered? No, the timing was wrong. The Grass Ninja's genjutsu would last at least three hours, and only ten minutes had passed. Unless...

"It's a trap," Lin Ye realized instantly. "That Grass Ninja has an alarm formula on him. It triggers when he loses consciousness. Danzo's men have been waiting for me."

"Danzo?" Karin looked bewildered.

"There's no time to explain." Lin Ye took her hand. "Come with me. We need to get out of here first."

"But outside..."

"Trust me."

Lin Ye lifted the cloth curtain. More than twenty Grass Ninja had already surrounded the shack. Their leader was a one-eyed jonin with a scar on his face-the Root operative Lin Ye had sensed earlier.

"Uchiha Ye, we've been waiting a long time." The one-eyed jonin sneered. "Lord Danzo has ordered us to invite you to Root. As for this Uzumaki girl, she stays."

"What if I say no?"

"Then don't blame us for getting rough." The one-eyed jonin waved a hand. "Form the array!"

More than twenty Grass Ninja formed hand seals at once. Intricate sealing formulas lit up on the ground, creating an enormous barrier that enveloped the entire slum. Black runes flowed across it, radiating chakra-suppressing fluctuations.

"The Evil Sealing Method..." Lin Ye recognized the jutsu. "A barrier designed specifically to suppress the Sharingan. Danzo came well prepared."

"Of course. How could we face the Uchiha Orphan, a Mangekyo wielder, without preparing a few gifts?" the one-eyed jonin said. "This barrier suppresses all ocular jutsu. Your Sharingan should be useless now, shouldn't it?"

Lin Ye tried to draw on his ocular power. Sure enough, his Mangekyo had become sluggish, and his chakra flow was obstructed. But he did not panic.

"Who told you the Sharingan was all I had?"

The next instant, Lin Ye moved. He used no Body Flicker Technique, only a burst of pure taijutsu. Before the Grass Ninja could react, he was already in front of the three chunin nearest him. His hands struck like blades, hitting the pressure points on their necks with precision.

The three chunin collapsed limply.

"Your taijutsu isn't bad either, but it's useless." The one-eyed jonin formed hand seals. "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Three fire dragons attacked from three directions, sealing off Lin Ye's escape routes. But he neither ducked nor dodged. He formed hand seals with one hand. "Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Boom! Fire and water collided, filling the air with steam. Under its cover, Lin Ye pulled Karin toward the left flank. The five Grass Ninja there were about to intercept them when they suddenly found themselves unable to move-hair-thin chakra threads had spread beneath their feet without their noticing, binding them firmly.

"Chakra threads? When did you..."

"While you were forming the array." Lin Ye's voice came from behind them. While studying the barrier's structure, he had secretly laid a trap of chakra threads. His ocular jutsu might be suppressed, but the combat instincts and tactical thinking he had developed during his three-tomoe stage remained.

The one-eyed jonin's expression darkened. "Looks like I still underestimated you. But it doesn't matter. The barrier will keep draining your chakra. You won't last long. Everyone, attack together!"

The dozen or so remaining Grass Ninja lunged at once. Lin Ye shielded Karin behind him and formed hand seals. "Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"

Lightning spread across the ground, driving back the first wave of enemies. But the second wave followed immediately. Kunai, shuriken, and ninjutsu came at him from every angle. Lin Ye twisted and darted through the narrow street, evading attacks with minimal movements while striking back. Every time he attacked, another Grass Ninja fell.

But his chakra was indeed depleting rapidly. The barrier kept absorbing his strength, and there were too many enemies. If this dragged on, defeat was inevitable.

I have to break the barrier. Lin Ye looked toward its core-a black stone tablet ten meters behind the one-eyed jonin, with five kunai embedded in it. That was the array's focal point.

But the one-eyed jonin clearly understood its importance. He guarded the tablet himself, with another four jonin protecting it around him.

"Karin, can you see how the barrier's chakra flows?" Lin Ye asked.

"Y-yes, I can," Karin said quietly. "Red chakra flows from the tablet into the sky, forming a dome. But there's a pattern. Every three seconds, there's a faint fluctuation at the tablet's lower-left corner."

A fluctuation every three seconds? Lin Ye understood at once. It was a gap in the chakra cycle as the barrier maintained itself. If he could strike the focal point during that gap, he might be able to break it.

"I'll create an opening. Run to the tablet's lower-left corner and use your blood to draw a sealing formula on it-the simplest Evil Sealing Method will do. Draw it in reverse to disrupt the barrier."

"I-I don't know how to draw it..."

"Follow your instincts. Your bloodline memories will guide you."

With that, Lin Ye stopped holding back. He poured most of his remaining chakra into his legs and activated the Body Flicker Technique. But instead of rushing toward the tablet, he charged straight at the one-eyed jonin.

"You're asking to die!" The one-eyed jonin sneered and formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

A stone wall rose, but Lin Ye did not dodge. He planted a foot on it and used it to launch himself high into the air, bringing his hands together before his chest.

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

This fire jutsu far surpassed his previous one in scale. Although his chakra was suppressed, Lin Ye poured all his focus and skill into it. Rather than scatter the flames, he compressed them into a single line that shot toward the one-eyed jonin like a laser.

The one-eyed jonin hurriedly dodged. The line of fire grazed his shoulder and exploded behind him. The shock wave blasted away the four jonin protecting the tablet, leaving its lower-left corner exposed.

"Now!" Lin Ye shouted.

Karin gritted her teeth and dashed out. Her slight body darted through the smoke and dust, miraculously avoiding every flying stone and stray projectile as she reached the tablet. She bit her finger and swiftly traced the pattern that had suddenly surfaced in her mind onto its lower-left corner.

"Stop!" The one-eyed jonin reacted and hurled a kunai at Karin.

But Lin Ye was already standing in front of her, deflecting the attack with his own kunai. His chakra was all but exhausted, yet his gaze remained resolute.

"It's not over yet," Lin Ye said quietly, forming hand seals again-this time for Water Release, but for defense rather than attack. A Water Formation Wall rose, temporarily blocking the one-eyed jonin and the four jonin charging back toward them.

"Karin, are you done?!"

"J-just one more stroke!"

"Hurry!"

Karin's finger trembled as she drew the final rune. The instant she finished, the entire barrier shook violently, and countless cracks spread across the black dome.

"It worked!" Karin cried in delight.

"No, it's not over." Lin Ye looked toward the one-eyed jonin, whose face bore a strange smile.

"Indeed, it isn't," the one-eyed jonin said. "Did you think Lord Danzo prepared only one layer to this trap?"

He tore open his shirt, revealing a chest covered in black cursed seals. At its center was a crimson Sharingan.

"A Sharingan?!" Lin Ye was shocked.

"Power granted to me by Lord Danzo." The one-eyed jonin grinned viciously. "There's only one, and I can only use it once, but it's enough to deal with you as you are now."

He formed hand seals. The Sharingan on his chest snapped open, releasing terrifying ocular power.

"Izanagi!"