The moment Lin Ye rushed out through the forbidden area's stone door, he found Danzo and twelve Root members blocking the underground passage of the Naka Shrine.
"Uchiha Ye—no, perhaps I should call you... a wild card." Danzo fixed his lone eye on Lin Ye, his gaze cold and sinister.
"You heard?" Lin Ye's heart sank.
"I placed a surveillance technique in the forbidden area," Danzo said. "I've known since you obtained the first key. I've been waiting for you to open it and take what was inside."
"What do you want?"
"The Uchiha legacy, the secret of the Rinne Sharingan, and... the way to break the curse," Danzo said. "Those powers should be in my hands. Konoha needs absolute power to maintain peace. And the Uchiha curse is the perfect shackle to keep that power under control."
Lin Ye understood. "You want to use the curse to control Indra's Reincarnate?"
"Clever." Danzo nodded. "Madara Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke Uchiha... and you. Every Indra's Reincarnate is an unstable bomb. But if I master the curse, I can control the detonator."
"You're insane," Lin Ye said. "The curse makes the reincarnations lose the people they love most and drives them mad. Do you want to turn Konoha's ninja into monsters?"
"A necessary sacrifice." Danzo remained expressionless. "For Konoha's peace, the suffering of a few is worthwhile. Now hand over what you found in the forbidden area, and I'll let you live within Root."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you die." Danzo waved a hand. "Seize him alive. His eyes and brain must remain intact."
The twelve Root members moved at once.
Three Jonin attacked from the front, six Chunin cut off his escape routes on either side, and three Special Jōnin circled behind him. Their seamless coordination made it clear they had practiced this encirclement countless times.
Lin Ye assessed the situation in an instant: a head-on fight meant certain death. His only option was to break through.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
He formed hand seals and breathed out a towering wave of fire, aiming not at his enemies but at the passage ceiling. The flames struck the rock and triggered a cave-in. Falling rubble blocked the passage ahead and behind.
"Trying to escape?" Danzo formed hand seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Dozens of wind blades sliced through the falling rocks, but Lin Ye was already gone.
"Above us!" a Jonin shouted.
Lin Ye clung to the ceiling with chakra, three shuriken in each hand. With his Sharingan fully active, he calculated their trajectories precisely.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
The six shuriken became thirty-six, flying at the Root members from every angle. They could not inflict fatal wounds, but they were enough to sow confusion.
Seizing the opening, Lin Ye activated the Body Flicker Technique and charged toward the passage exit.
"Stop him!" Danzo barked coldly.
Two Special Jōnin blocked the exit and formed hand seals simultaneously. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" "Lightning Release: Earth Flow!"
An earthen wall rose as lightning raced across the ground. Lin Ye made no attempt to dodge. He pressed both hands against the wall. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Fire collided with earth and exploded. Lin Ye burst through the wall amid the smoke, but lightning struck his legs, numbing them.
"Got you." A Jonin appeared behind him and pressed a kunai to his throat.
But Lin Ye smiled.
"Who do you think you've caught?"
Poof! The captured "Lin Ye" turned into a log.
Substitution Technique!
The real Lin Ye had already appeared at the exit. He formed hand seals. "Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
His three tomoe spun rapidly. The three Chunin who met his gaze fell into the genjutsu at once, standing frozen in place.
"Useless!" Danzo stepped in himself, using his right hand to unwind the bandages-that arm, implanted with Sharingan and hashirama cells, was covered in scarlet eyes.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Countless trees surged out of the ground, growing wildly and filling the entire passage in an instant. Lin Ye hurriedly retreated, but the branches twisted toward him like living creatures.
"So this is the First Hokage's power..." Lin Ye gritted his teeth and formed hand seals. "Fire Release: Dragon Flame Release Song!"
Three fire dragons roared forth, burning the trees. But Wood Release contained the power of Yang Release. The flames could only slow the growth, not stop it entirely.
"It's useless," Danzo said. "With hashirama cells and the Sharingan working together, my Wood Release may fall short of the First's, but it's more than enough for you."
Branches wrapped around Lin Ye's ankles and crept upward. He tried to burst them apart with chakra, but they were extraordinarily tough.
Just then-
"Lightning Blade!"
A streak of lightning descended from above, tearing through the trees and severing the branches binding Lin Ye. Kakashi landed in front of him, lightning blazing in his hand.
"Kakashi..." Danzo's gaze turned cold.
"Lord Danzo, using Wood Release on a child is going too far, don't you think?" Kakashi said.
"He's stealing Konoha's secrets," Danzo said. "The Uchiha Forbidden Grounds hold things that threaten Konoha. I must recover them."
"Then that decision should belong to Lord Hokage," Kakashi said. "Lord Third has issued an order: Uchiha Ye is a ninja of Konoha under the Hokage's direct protection. No one may arrest him without authorization."
"Sarutobi has gone soft again." Danzo snorted. "Kakashi, stand aside. Otherwise, I'll deal with you too."
"Go ahead and try." Kakashi's Sharingan spun-Obito's eye now bore three tomoe as well.
The tension threatened to erupt into violence.
Suddenly, another voice rang out. "Well, well. Quite a gathering here."
Yamato dropped down from above and landed beside Kakashi. "Lord Danzo, Lord Hokage requests that you go to the Hokage Building immediately. There's an emergency meeting."
"What meeting?" Danzo frowned.
"Regarding the aftermath in the Land of Tea, and... a report on Root's unauthorized operations there," Yamato said. "Lord Hokage is very displeased."
Danzo's expression shifted. His placement of a mole in the Land of Tea had been discovered.
"Kakashi, take Uchiha Ye back," Yamato said. "Lord Danzo, this way, please."
Danzo stared at Lin Ye for several seconds before finally waving his hand. "Withdraw."
The Root members quickly pulled out.
Kakashi let out a breath of relief and turned to Lin Ye. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Lin Ye said.
"How did you get on Danzo's bad side?" Kakashi asked.
"I opened the Uchiha Forbidden Grounds." Lin Ye hid nothing. "There are things inside that Danzo wants."
Kakashi fell silent for a moment. "What things?"
"The truth about the Uchiha, and... a way to break the curse."
"The curse?"
"The Uchiha's fate is cursed." Lin Ye briefly explained Indra's reincarnations. "I want to change it."
Kakashi looked at Lin Ye. This eight-year-old child had the eyes of a ninja who had weathered decades of hardship.
"Do you know how difficult that path will be?"
"I do."
"You could die."
"I still have to do it," Lin Ye said. "I can't watch Sasuke and the future of the Uchiha suffer the same tragedy all over again."
Kakashi remembered Obito, Rin, and Minato-sensei. He patted Lin Ye's shoulder. "I'll help you."
"Kakashi-sensei..."
"But not yet," Kakashi said. "You're too weak right now. Danzo won't give up, and the Akatsuki might set their sights on you too. You need to get stronger-at least strong enough to be a Jonin-before you can protect yourself and the people you want to protect."
"I will."
"Let's head back first. Don't wander around over the next few days. Danzo might make a move in secret."
The two left the Naka Shrine. Neither noticed the pair of ripple-patterned eyes watching them silently from the shrine's shadows.
Obito Uchiha.
"The Rinne Sharingan... breaking the curse..." Obito murmured. "Madara's plan never accounted for this wild card. I need to tell Nagato. The plan may have to change."
He slipped into the Kamui Dimension and vanished.
Before you continue