A Bloodline Alliance, Hiashi's Fury

"Close the gates. Protect the records."

Before Sasuke's words had faded, Fugaku had already led two Uchiha to block the corridor entrance.

Hiashi stepped forward, veins bulging around his Byakugan. "Branch Family, protect the children. Main Family, guard the inner courtyard. Neji, stand back."

Neji picked up a porcelain shard from the ground, cutting his palm until it bled. "I won't."

Hiashi glanced at him and did not repeat himself.

A giant snake smashed through half the courtyard wall. Earth and stone crashed into the pond, churning black mud to the surface.

A hulking Sound Ninja landed in the front courtyard and formed hand seals. "Doro, Sakon, Kidomaru, barrier!"

The four scattered.

Purple curtains of light rose from the four corners, enclosing the Hyuga main residence.

Fugaku's expression darkened. "The Four Violet Flames Formation?"

Kakashi dropped from the rooftop and lifted his forehead protector, his Sharingan spinning. "An incomplete version. Not strong enough, but it can still trap people."

Sasuke looked up toward the shadows outside the courtyard. "Orochimaru, hiding out there watching the show is no fun."

A low chuckle came from among the white snakes.

Orochimaru stood on the broken wall, his tongue sweeping across his lips. "Sasuke-kun, you're more perceptive than the reports suggested. To come this far in an eight-year-old's body... it really makes me want to take you apart and have a look."

Hiashi's face darkened. "Orochimaru, you dare invade the Hyuga Clan Compound?"

"Clan Head Hiashi, I only want a little something." Orochimaru's gaze passed over the Byakugan before returning to Sasuke. "The Byakugan can wait. Tonight, a vessel for the Sharingan is more tempting."

Sasuke pushed against his sword guard with his thumb. "What was the price of your deal with Danzo?"

Orochimaru's laughter stretched out. "He wants you dead. I want you alive. We each get what we need."

More than a dozen Root operatives sworn to die sprang from behind the wall, old Root insignia carved into their masks. Without shouting a word, they hurled kunai at the main residence, sealing papers tied to their ends.

The Hyuga ninja moved to intercept them, but Sasuke shouted, "Don't touch them! They carry Root's self-destruct seals."

Hiashi spread his palms. "Rotation!"

Chakra spun, deflecting every kunai. The sealing papers burned away in midair.

Sasuke looked toward the rooftop. "Every Hyuga, activate your Byakugan and record all Root ninjutsu. Don't just fight. Get a clear look at their hand seals, chakra pathways, and mask numbers."

Hiashi understood immediately. "Main Family, third squad, activate long-range vision and record!"

Several Hyuga ninja pulled out sealing scrolls at once, locking their Byakugan onto the battlefield and inscribing the images into the scrolls.

When the Root operatives noticed, their captain raised a hand. "Kill the recorders!"

Three operatives charged toward the rooftop.

Fugaku drew his sword, pinning one man's movements with his Sharingan before smashing his kneecap with the back of the blade. Takaya cut in from the side, Lightning Release running along his blade as he severed the second man's arm. The third slipped past their defenses and shot black Chakra Threads from his fingertips.

Sasuke watched the thread. "A trigger line for the Tongue Eradication Seal. Danzo's handiwork."

Instead of dodging, he took half a step forward.

Kakashi's expression changed. "Sasuke!"

Just as the black thread neared Sasuke's collar, Neji rushed in from the side and struck the operative's wrist with Gentle Fist.

The Chakra Threads snapped.

The backlash drove Neji two steps backward. Hiashi caught his shoulder with one palm. "Who told you to come up here?"

Neji stared at the operative. "He was using a Root seal. I saw it."

Sasuke glanced at Neji. "Remember this feeling. Your enemies won't wait for you to grow up."

The Sound Four's barrier began to contract, its purple flames scorching the edges of the courtyard.

Kidomaru spat spider silk from behind Sasuke. "Don't get distracted, brat."

A web descended on Sasuke.

Sasuke raised his hands and formed seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Flames burned through the web, and Chidori followed immediately, thrusting toward the barrier's lower-left corner.

Doro sneered. "It's useless. All four corners supply chakra to the barrier. Attacking one point will only make it rebound..."

Before he could finish, Sasuke shifted his Chidori half an inch, striking the fault where the four streams of chakra converged.

The purple curtain tore open. Kakashi charged through the gap, his short blade severing the chakra pathways at Kidomaru's shoulder.

Fugaku followed, holding Sakon under genjutsu for half a heartbeat while Takaya's Lightning Release pierced his leg.

Orochimaru clapped from atop the wall. "Beautiful. You saw through the incomplete formation's chakra network."

Sasuke looked up. "You deliberately had them use an incomplete formation to test me."

"I like clever children."

"Then you should like clever evidence even more." Sasuke pointed toward the rooftop. "You and Root attacked the Hyuga Clan Compound together, and the Hyuga's Byakugan recorded everything. Orochimaru, the Third Hokage's prized student, joining forces with Danzo's remnants to seize bloodline limits. I'll deliver this gift to the Hokage Building for you."

Orochimaru's smile faded slightly.

At the word "recorded," the Root captain immediately shouted, "Retreat! Destroy the scrolls!"

He formed hand seals, and wooden spikes sprouted from his back.

Kakashi's pupils constricted. "An incomplete Wood Release technique?"

Sasuke said coldly, "Don't kill him. Let him finish."

Thinking Sasuke was being arrogant, the Root captain sent the wooden spikes straight at the recording ninja on the rooftop.

Hiashi flashed forward, his palms striking in rapid succession. "Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

Chakra knocked the wooden spikes off course. Palm strikes landed across the Root captain's chest, shoulders, and wrists, sending him crashing to the ground.

Sasuke walked over and planted a foot on the back of his hand.

The mask cracked, revealing a bloodless face.

Sasuke bent down and took an iron tag engraved with the character for "wind" from the man's sleeve. He held it up for the Hyuga ninja on the rooftop. "Get a clear shot."

The Hyuga ninja answered, "Got it."

The Root captain clenched his teeth, trying to swallow poison, but Fugaku dislocated his jaw.

Sasuke pulled back the man's bracer. Beneath it lay a half-finished command seal belonging to Danzo. "And this."

Murderous fury surged through Hiashi as he looked at it. "Danzo's operatives entered my Hyuga Clan Compound and helped Orochimaru abduct someone. How does the Hokage intend to explain this?"

Orochimaru withdrew beyond the broken wall, and the snakes began burrowing underground.

Sasuke did not pursue him. He merely pointed the Kusanagi Sword at him. "Are you staying, or crawling back into your hole?"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Sasuke-kun, I'll come again. Sooner or later, those eyes of yours will realize Konoha doesn't deserve you."

"Save that for the Third Hokage." Sasuke raised a hand, and the scrolls on the rooftop aimed at Orochimaru. "Before you leave, tell us whose roots have rotted."

Orochimaru watched him for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "Teacher Hiruzen, your roots are rotten to the core."

The white snakes coiled around his body and sank into the earth.

The three remaining members of the Sound Four tried to escape with him, but Hyuga Gentle Fist sealed their chakra points, and Uchiha genjutsu suppressed them. All were pinned down.

Hiashi walked over to Sasuke. "You deliberately let him speak just now."

"One sentence from him does more good than ten insults from me aimed at the Third Hokage." Sasuke sheathed his sword. "Where are the scrolls?"

A Hyuga ninja handed over three recording scrolls.

Sasuke took one and gave it to Kakashi. "Take this to the Hokage Building. Let the ANBU see it first."

Kakashi held the scroll, his fingers pausing on its seal. "Are you sure you want me to take it?"

Sasuke looked at him. "You're the Third Hokage's man. If you bring it back, he can't claim I forged it."

Kakashi gave a bitter smile. "You certainly know how to use people."

"Only useful people have choices worth anything."

Neji stood nearby, blood staining his sleeve, his gaze resting on the command seal on the Root captain. "Clan Head Sasuke, will these men be interrogated?"

"Yes." Sasuke looked at him. "And afterward, the findings will be made public. The debt owed to your father can't be settled in a dark room."

Hiashi addressed the clan members behind him. "Organize the records and carry the wounded. Everyone who recorded the attack will come with me to the Hokage Building."

A Main Family elder hesitated. "Clan head, we've just been attacked. The compound is vulnerable."

Hiashi turned. "That's precisely why we must go now. Once they've wiped the blood away, what will you have left to make your case?"

Sasuke tossed the iron tag marked "wind" from the ground to Fugaku. "Take the operatives into custody. Bring the bodies, the survivors, and the Sound Ninja."

Fugaku nodded. "The Uchiha will escort them."

Kakashi unfurled a message for his ninja hounds. He had barely finished writing the first line when ANBU arrived from the direction of the Hokage Building.

The lead ANBU faltered at the sight of snake corpses and Root masks strewn across the ground. "Clan Head Hiashi, Lord Hokage ordered us to investigate an invasion by outside enemies."

Sasuke hurled the recording scroll straight at his chest.

The ANBU caught it. Looking down at the Hyuga clan insignia on the seal, his expression changed.

Sasuke walked up to him. "Go back and tell Hiruzen Sarutobi to stop calling them outside enemies. The footage shows Danzo's operatives, Root's incomplete Wood Release technique, and a message from Orochimaru himself."

The ANBU's hand trembled. "A message?"

Hiashi's voice bore down on him from behind. "Tell the Hokage to get his ass out here and explain."

The ANBU opened one corner of the scroll, projecting half an inch of the image.

Orochimaru's face flickered in the light, his lips forming that very sentence.

"Teacher Hiruzen, your roots are rotten to the core."

All color drained from the ANBU's face. In the corner of the image, at the instant the Root captain raised his hands to form seals, half of a Hokage Building access insignia showed beneath his cuff.