Turning their scheme against them, luring the snake out

"Break the formation!" Kimimaro did not look back. Bones pierced the skin of his palm and shot straight for Sasuke's throat.

The flames of the Four Violet Flames Formation sank lower. Jirobo pressed both palms to the ground, raising an earthen wall behind Sasuke. Sakon and Ukon split apart, attacking from both sides. Tayuya had barely begun playing her flute when Kidomaru shot webs toward the treetops, trying to destroy the Image Scrolls first.

Sasuke shifted his footing. The Kusanagi Sword slid past the bone spike, lightning surging from its blade and forcing Kimimaro half a step aside.

"Trying to destroy the evidence?" Sasuke flicked three kunai behind him. Sealing Tags tied to their ends lit up the moment they struck the tree trunks. "Too late."

Kidomaru's web touched a Sealing Tag. Sparks flared, burning through the entire strand. His face darkened. "These scrolls have countermeasures!"

Tayuya's flute grew more urgent, waves of genjutsu-laced sound bearing down on Sasuke. His Sharingan spun. The sword hilt shuddered in his palm, and Lightning Release spread across the ground, disrupting the rhythm of her chakra outright.

"Save that stuff for scaring genin." Sasuke looked at her. "Didn't Orochimaru teach you that the Uchiha fear your messy little genjutsu least of all?"

Tayuya cursed and raised her hands to change the tune.

Kimimaro closed in again, firing bone bullets from all ten fingers. Sasuke did not meet them head-on. He slipped along the edge of the earthen wall, and every bullet struck it instead. Jirobo was about to bring his palms together to crush the earthen prison when Sasuke appeared beside him and kicked the back of his knee.

Bone cracked.

Jirobo slammed down on one knee and roared, "You brat!"

Sasuke pressed a hand to the back of his neck and met his eyes with the Sharingan.

"Who gave you the Defense Line Map?"

Jirobo struggled. "I don't know!"

Sasuke tightened his grip, driving genjutsu into the cracks in his opponent's mind. "Talk."

Jirobo's eyes lost focus, and broken phrases spilled from his mouth. "Danzo... gave Konoha's Defense Line Map... to Lord Orochimaru..."

Outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, the Image Scroll captured every word clearly.

Yamada Naoto stood behind Qingmu Shen, the back of his blade pressing down on his shoulder. "Hear that? Your master sold out our defenses."

Qingmu Shen's teeth chattered as a Yamanaka Ninja used Chakra Threads to draw a black needle from his sleeve bit by bit. When its tip left his flesh, pain made his back arch.

Sweat beaded on the Yamanaka Ninja's forehead. "The seal is on the end of the needle. Break it, and it destroys his brain."

"Extract it intact." Yamada Naoto held the evidence bag closer. "The clan head wants him alive."

Qingmu Shen suddenly raised his head. His lips moved as he tried to bite his tongue. Might Guy planted a foot beside him and clamped a hand around his jaw.

"Youth will not let you escape judgment!"

Qingmu Shen's jaw was dislocated, and the black needle dropped into the evidence bag. Yamada Naoto sealed and stamped it. "Aoda evidence secured!"

Inside the formation, Sakon and Ukon took advantage of Sasuke's interrogation of Jirobo, splitting apart and lunging at him from behind.

"Got you!"

Their hands had barely touched Sasuke's shoulders when a blue chakra skeleton rose behind him. Its ribs closed, trapping Sakon and Ukon's arms between them.

Sakon's expression changed. "What is this?"

Sasuke looked back, the tomoe in his Sharingan spinning faster. "Don't touch me while I'm collecting evidence."

Lightning shone through the gaps in the Susanoo skeleton. Sakon and Ukon were blasted away and slammed into the violet flame barrier, their flesh smoking from the burns.

Kimimaro watched that skeleton, caution finally entering his eyes. "Lord Orochimaru was right. Your body is far from ordinary."

"You should be worrying about your own body right now." Sasuke swung his sword, cutting through a bone spike. "Orochimaru ordered you to capture me alive for my eyes. Danzo ordered you to kill me to silence me. Your two masters' orders contradict each other. That must be exhausting."

Tayuya gritted her teeth. "Don't listen to him sowing discord!"

Sasuke looked at her. "Do you know how many gaps Danzo deliberately left on the map he gave you? He didn't just sell out Konoha. He sold you out, too. Getting in doesn't mean you'll get out."

Kidomaru looked at Kimimaro. "Captain, there's more and more chakra gathering outside."

Bone armor covered half of Kimimaro's body. "Complete the mission."

"Still think you can?" Sasuke raised his hands and formed hand seals. The Sealing Tags buried in advance lit up one after another, and another ring of sealing lines rose outside the violet flame formation. "Your formation is my cage now."

Outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, Kakashi leaped out of a covered drainage channel with the ANBU. Hyuga ninja emerged from the treetops, their Byakugan locking onto every Sound Ninja's joints. The Nara Clan's shadows spread across the ground to the formation's edge, ready to ensnare them the moment it broke.

Fugaku stood at the outermost edge, his blade pointing toward the grass shed where the Root remnants were hiding. "Are you coming out yourselves, or should I burn the shed?"

Two Root remnants ran out of the shed. The instant they cleared the door, the Uchiha elites pinned them down.

One of them shouted, "We were only on patrol!"

Fugaku sliced through his mask straps. "On patrol with Root tongue-sealing tags? Take them away."

Inside the formation, Kimimaro saw the forces surrounding them. A bone tail emerged from his spine, and his entire presence turned dangerous.

Sasuke watched him. "A Cursed Seal? Orochimaru certainly spared no expense."

Kimimaro's voice turned cold. "For Lord Orochimaru, I could die here."

"Then don't die too quickly." Sasuke held the Kusanagi Sword across his body. "The memories of that deal in your head are worth more than your life."

Kimimaro pushed off the ground and charged, sweeping his bone tail sideways. Sasuke dodged, his blade striking the bone armor in a shower of sparks. Bone blades thrust repeatedly from Kimimaro's arms, faster than before, forcing Sasuke back three steps.

Watching from outside, Fugaku knitted his brows. "Open the formation. I'm going in."

Kakashi stopped him. "Wait a little longer. Sasuke is extracting a confession."

"There's something wrong with that boy's bones."

"Sasuke knows."

Inside the formation, a bone spike slashed Sasuke's shoulder, splattering blood onto his clothes. Kimimaro pressed closer. "You're too confident."

Sasuke glanced at the wound. "Danzo said that, too. Guess why he only has one hand left now?"

Kimimaro's assault did not stop.

Sasuke suddenly drove his sword into the ground and formed hand seals with both hands. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Flames bore down on Tayuya, forcing her to stop playing. Kidomaru tried to help, but just as his webs shot out, the Nara Clan's shadows slipped in from outside through gaps between the Sealing Tags and caught one of his feet.

Shikaku stood outside, sweat beading on his forehead. "The gap's big enough, Kakashi!"

Kakashi thrust his Lightning Blade at a node of the Four Violet Flames Formation. Two Hyuga jonin struck with their palms together, driving chakra into a thin section of the barrier. The violet flame formation shook. The four Sound Ninja could no longer sustain it, and an opening broke through one node.

Fugaku did not enter the formation. His blade flashed in first, cutting off Sakon and Ukon's retreat at their feet.

Yamada Naoto rushed to the perimeter with the Konoha Military Police Force recruits and roared, "Everyone, take a good look! These are the assassins Danzo invited! This is the Root that Konoha's old rules nurtured!"

The recruits turned pale, but none of them backed away.

Might Guy held Qingmu Shen by the jaw and dragged him in front of the Record Scroll. "Aoda is here, too!"

While Kimimaro was distracted, Sasuke's Sharingan caught his gaze, and genjutsu slipped in through the gaps in his Cursed Seal.

"Where was the deal made?"

Veins bulged at Kimimaro's temples as he fought to resist.

Sasuke stepped closer, pressing the Kusanagi Sword against his shoulder. "What did Danzo say when Orochimaru took the Defense Line Map?"

Kimimaro clenched his teeth and drove a bone spike through his own palm, using the pain to resist.

Sasuke sneered. "Impressive loyalty. Too bad Orochimaru won't come save you."

Driven into a corner of the formation by the Fire Release, Tayuya shouted in desperation, "Danzo said he'd trade the Defense Line Map for your life! Is that enough?"

Every sound stopped for half a beat.

Sasuke turned to her. "Go on."

Tayuya's expression changed as she realized she had opened her mouth.

Kidomaru cursed, "Idiot!"

Yamada Naoto excitedly raised the Record Scroll high. "We got it! Tayuya confessed herself! Danzo traded Konoha's Defense Line Map for Sasuke's life!"

Killing intent surged in Kimimaro's eyes. "Retreat!"

"You can't." Kakashi rushed through the opening and met Sakon and Ukon's eyes with his Sharingan, subduing them with genjutsu in an instant. Fugaku and the Uchiha elites followed, breaking joints with the backs of their blades. Hyuga Gentle Fist sealed Jirobo's chakra points. Nara shadows pinned all six of Kidomaru's hands.

Kimimaro tried to rush Sasuke, but Neji intercepted him from the side. Neji, who should have been outside the village on patrol, appeared inside the formation and struck beneath his ribs with Gentle Fist.

Kimimaro dodged two palm strikes. "Didn't you leave the village?"

Neji's face was cold. "We made that route public for you to see."

Sasuke walked past him and set the Kusanagi Sword against Kimimaro's neck. "Keep him alive."

Kimimaro thrust a bone blade toward his own heart, trying to destroy his body.

Kakashi reacted instantly, following up with Sharingan Genjutsu. Fugaku slammed his sword hilt into Kimimaro's wrist, and Neji sealed the chakra points in his chest. Kimimaro sank to one knee, the markings of his Cursed Seal receding several inches.

Yamada Naoto kicked the last Root remnant to the ground. "Clan head, we've got them all!"

Sasuke looked at Qingmu Shen. "Where's the black needle?"

The Yamanaka Ninja raised the evidence bag. "Sealed intact."

With his jaw dislocated, Qingmu Shen could not speak. He could only stare at Sasuke.

Sasuke walked up to him and crouched. "Danzo taught you to die, but he didn't teach you how to keep secrets from the Yamanaka Clan, did he?"

Tears mingled with sweat as they ran down Qingmu Shen's face.

Sasuke stood. "Take them all back to the Konoha Military Police Force's dungeon. Hold the Sound Five separately, and interrogate the Root remnants on their own. Until Inoichi Yamanaka arrives, no one asks any pointless questions."

Kakashi asked, "The Hokage Building will demand custody."

"Let them come." Sasuke sheathed the Kusanagi Sword. "The assassins entered through Konoha's defenses, their target was me, and their support came from Root's old network. Under the new law, the Konoha Military Police Force has the right to interrogate them first."

Fugaku looked at the Sealing Tags covering the ground. "Should we notify the Third Hokage now?"

Sasuke handed the Record Scroll to Yamada Naoto. "Yes. Tell him Danzo sold out Konoha's defenses, and I have both the witnesses and the physical evidence."

In the distance, toward the Hokage Building, an ANBU stood on a rooftop. After hearing the message, his expression changed drastically, and he turned and ran.

Kakashi looked that way. "The Third Hokage won't be able to sit still."

Sasuke looked toward the sealed old drainage outlet at the edge of the training ground. "He'd better not."

Just then, Neji suddenly activated his Byakugan. His gaze pierced the ground and settled deep within the old pipes beneath the training ground.

"Wait. There's something else down there."

Sasuke turned. "What?"

Neji's expression changed. "A Sealing Line running from the old drainage outlet to the Hokage Building Underground is lighting up!"