The air in the woods seemed to freeze. Sasuke Uchiha stood with his back against an ancient tree, the Kusanagi Sword held across his body, his Sharingan fixed coldly on the direction of the sound. Heavy, uneven footsteps drew closer, carrying undisguised malice.
Soon, seven or eight figures emerged from the shadows of the trees and spread out in a fan around him. Their leader, Black Shovel, carried a massive saw-edged sword that gleamed an eerie blue over his shoulder. A cruel, greedy smile spread across his face as his gaze swept over Sasuke like a hunter sizing up prey.
"Well, well. What have we found here? A lost little kitten?" Black Shovel licked his lips, sensing the chakra in Sasuke's body, erratic but still remarkably pure, along with the faint, icy aura that both unsettled him and stirred his greed. "Boy, hand over the 'good stuff' you're carrying, and maybe I'll give you a quick death."
The missing-nin behind him burst into laughter, their eyes filled with mockery and murderous intent.
Sasuke said nothing. He only tightened his grip on the hilt. The chakra in his body flowed faster under the strain of tension and hostility, and that thread of icy energy stirred with it, as though drawn to the malice around him. Exhaustion and weakness still plagued him, but stronger still were the anger and defiance of someone driven into a corner. Why... did someone always have to come and take from him, force him?
"Not talking? Then don't blame us for playing rough!" Black Shovel lost patience and swept his hand forward. "Get him! Alive! He's definitely hiding something!"
Several missing-nin immediately charged with howls, kunai and shuriken whistling through the air toward Sasuke.
Sasuke's pupils narrowed slightly as his Sharingan precisely tracked every attack. He shifted,