The cold tip of a kunai had already pierced the clothing on Ling's back, sending a needle-sharp sting through his skin!
The shadow of death seemed almost tangible as it engulfed Ling completely. The three Root jonin worked together flawlessly, their killing intent weaving a net that sealed off every avenue of escape. Inuzuka Gaku roared and tried to come to his rescue, but the Root operative targeting him intercepted him with even fiercer attacks, leaving him struggling to protect himself.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
At that moment, Ling pushed his Jōgan to its limit. Everything in his vision became slowly flowing lines of energy and countless shattered fragments of possibility!
[Projected possibility one: Forcibly seize the scroll. Back pierced by kunai. Severely wounded and captured. Survival rate: 0%.] [Projected possibility two: Abandon the scroll and use the Substitution Technique. Substitution log instantly pulverized. Real body subjected to a combined attack upon reappearing. Survival rate: 2%.] [Projected possibility three: ...] [Projected possibility...]
Countless paths to death flashed through his mind. Not one offered a survival rate above 5%! This time, Root was determined to erase him completely!
Despair washed over him like ice water.
Yet under that overwhelming pressure of death, the glassy light in Ling's eyes suddenly blazed! It was as though some dormant shackle had been forcibly broken! At the center of his vision, the bloodstained scroll flew through the air, radiating ominous energy. Its incredibly complex internal energy structure, along with the several "damaged points" eating away at and distorting its seal, had never appeared so clearly in his Jōgan's sight!
At the same time, a bolder, crazier option with almost no chance of success suddenly emerged amid the countless projections of death, like a glimmer flashing through the darkness!
[Projected possibility Ω (generated through overloaded analysis of the target scroll's damaged points): Actively channel own chakra (imbued with Jōgan properties) and inject it precisely into the scroll's third and seventh damaged points. Extremely high probability (89%) of causing total seal collapse, releasing an unknown internal energy blast (estimated intensity: A-S-rank indiscriminate area attack). Use the shock wave to create confusion and escape amid the chaos. Survival rate: 15% (note: requires enduring the energy blast and seal backlash; probability of severe injury: 99%). Subsequent effects: Unknown (high risk).]
15%! It was the only way out of this desperate situation-and an incredibly dangerous one!
There was no time to hesitate!
"You want it?! Then take it!" A mad resolve flashed through Ling's eyes! Rather than retreat, he mustered every ounce of strength and thrust the hand reaching for the scroll forward! He did not seize it. Instead, with surgical precision, he drove his own chakra, carrying faint traces of the Jōgan's properties, hard into the two critical damaged points his Jōgan had locked onto!
The move caught every Root operative completely off guard! They had anticipated all kinds of resistance from Ling, but never imagined he would actually "help" destroy this clearly priceless ancient scroll!
"You fool! What have you done?!" The Root operative reaching for the scroll was both shocked and furious.
But it was already too late!
Humm-!!! The bloodstained scroll abruptly froze in midair. The damaged sealing runes on its surface suddenly blazed with blood-red light so intense it seemed to tear at their eyes! An indescribable torrent of terrifying energy, filled with endless negative emotions-resentment, fear, greed, despair-erupted from the scroll like a primeval beast bursting through a breached dam!
"Aaagh-!" The first to bear the brunt was the Root operative reaching to seize it! Before he could mount any defense, the pitch-black torrent swallowed him whole! His mask shattered instantly, revealing a face contorted with extreme pain and terror. Black blood seeped from his eyes, nostrils, and ears as his body rapidly dissolved as though corroded by strong acid. With only one brief, utterly agonized scream, he turned entirely to ash!
The terrifying shock wave spread wildly outward in a ring!
The other two Root operatives' expressions changed drastically. Abandoning their attacks on Ling and Inuzuka Gaku, they frantically retreated while unleashing their strongest defensive ninjutsu!
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" "Yin Release: Dark Protective Wall!"
The instant Ling detonated the scroll, he used that slight recoil to fling himself desperately toward the ground. At the same time, he threw every usable explosive tag he had behind him, trying to counter some of the energy torrent with their explosive shock waves!
Boom!!! A tremendous roar swept through the entire underground cavern! Rock was crushed and vaporized like tofu! A storm of blood-red and pitch-black energy rampaged and howled! The entire ground shook violently, as though a magnitude-ten earthquake had struck!
Ling spat out a violent mouthful of blood! Despite his preparations, and despite not being the energy blast's main target, it still felt as though a massive hammer had struck his back. His body flew like a kite with its string cut and slammed hard into the cavern wall. His vision went black, and he nearly lost consciousness. He felt as though several bones had broken and his organs had shifted. His chakra network burned with excruciating pain, as though scorched by fire-the backlash from forcibly channeling energy far beyond what he could bear!
Inuzuka Gaku fared no better. The shock wave struck both him and Kuromaru, sending them crashing through a large section of rock wall and burying them beneath the rubble, their fates unknown.
Although the two Root operatives barely managed to block the lethal energy torrent through their extensive experience and formidable strength, they were left in a terrible state. Their defensive ninjutsu shattered, they suffered considerable internal injuries, and their faces beneath their masks were as pale as paper. They stared in utter horror at the still-raging energy storm and the spot where their companion had been annihilated, their eyes filled with disbelief and lingering fear.
What the hell was this thing?! How could a damaged scroll unleash such terrifying power?! How had that Uchiha brat dared?! And how had he managed to detonate it with such precision?!
The energy storm lasted more than ten seconds before gradually subsiding.
The underground cavern had more than doubled in size. Molten rock and remnants of the rampaging energy were everywhere, and the air reeked of pungent sulfur and blood.
Dead silence.
Cough, cough... Ling struggled out of the rubble and coughed up several more mouthfuls of clotted blood. His entire body ached, his chakra was nearly depleted, and his vision blurred. Willpower alone kept him going.
The two Root operatives also staggered to their feet. Their gazes instantly locked onto Ling. Rather than diminishing, their killing intent had grown even fiercer and more frenzied after their companion's horrific death and the major setback to their mission!
This Uchiha remnant had to die! Those strange eyes had to be retrieved!
"Kill him!" one of them growled hoarsely, forming hand seals again.
Ling's heart sank. A 15% survival rate-he had won the most dangerous part of the gamble, yet still failed to escape his desperate plight! He could barely stand now. How could he face two Root jonin determined to kill him?
Was he really going to die here?
No! His intense desire to survive spurred his mind. His Jōgan strained into action once more, scanning the devastated battlefield and the two steadily approaching enemies.
[Chakra reserves: 3%. Physical condition: Severely injured. Available resources: Damaged ninja tools, explosive tags exhausted. Environment: Unstable cavern, interference from high-energy residue... Projecting...]
At that moment of despair, his Jōgan suddenly caught something-at the center of the energy storm's eruption, where the scroll had been, a faint glimmer of purer, deeper Yin Release light seemed to flash past, different from that violent negative energy!
Was it the scroll's incompletely destroyed core? Or... something else?
At the same time, one Root operative struck without hesitation. "Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!" Several high-pressure wind spheres tore through the air toward him!
The other worked in perfect coordination, blocking Ling's possible escape routes.
There was nowhere to dodge!
The approaching light of death from the wind blades reflected in Ling's pupils.
At that critical instant-
"Summoning Technique!" A hoarse but resolute voice rang out!
Poof! White smoke flashed, and an enormous ninja dog covered in wounds-Inuzuka Gaku's partner, Kuromaru-suddenly burst from beneath a pile of rubble and shielded Ling!
Splat! Splat! The Vacuum Great Sphere struck Kuromaru hard, spraying blood through the air! Kuromaru let out an agonized whine, but stood firm over Ling without retreating a single step!
"Kuromaru!" Ling cried out.
Not far away, half of Inuzuka Gaku's body lay buried beneath the rocks. His face was covered in blood, and one hand struggled to maintain a hand seal. Clearly, summoning Kuromaru to protect Ling was already the limit of what he could do. "Kid... hurry... go..."
The sight made the two Root operatives pause ever so slightly.
As Ling looked at Kuromaru bleeding profusely in front of him, and at Inuzuka Gaku risking his life to give him a chance to survive, an indescribable surge of fury and resolve suddenly swept away his pain and fear!
Go? Where could he go? Leave the people who had saved his life here to die?
Never!
His gaze snapped toward the faint light at the center of the energy eruption. His Jōgan frantically warned him that the thing was extremely dangerous, but it also contained an unimaginable amount of pure Yin Release energy!
Take the gamble! Stake everything on it!
A second before the two Root operatives attacked again, Ling made a move none of them expected! Instead of fleeing, he gathered the last of his strength and hurled himself toward the center of the energy storm like a moth into a flame! Straight toward that dangerous glimmer!
"You're asking to die!" a Root operative sneered, his attack following close behind!
An instant before the attacks landed, Ling's hand snapped shut around that glimmer-it was a tiny fragment roughly the size of a thumbnail, black as ink yet smooth and warm as jade! It seemed to be the last remaining core of that ancient scroll!
The instant his fingers touched the fragment, a bone-chilling yet boundlessly vast surge of pure Yin Release energy flooded wildly into his body through his arm, like water bursting through a breached dam!
"Aaaaaagh-!" Ling let out a roar mingling pain and madness! A tearing agony ripped through his eyes! His vision instantly turned blood-red!
Not because of blood, but because a pair of peculiar scarlet patterns, shaped not like tomoe but like a combination of a pinwheel and a three-bladed shuriken, suddenly appeared in his eyes and spun madly!
His Sharingan had awakened! And these were by no means ordinary Sharingan! Deep within their scarlet hue, a faint trace of the Jōgan's glassy sheen actually flowed!
At the same time, the two Root operatives' attacks were already upon him!
But this time, Ling-or rather, the "Ling" whose eyes had just awakened-abruptly raised his head!
Those strange, powerful new eyes locked coldly onto his enemies.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment.
Before you continue