Ignoring his companion, Uka Senju had already heard the rush of wind behind him as the Bird-Beak Mask charged.
His right hand flicked, and he half-turned, drawing his horizontal blade and slashing upward.
"Clang!"
The weapons collided with a shrill ring!
Feeling the force that came through his hand, the Bird-Beak Mask, knocked backward, no longer dared to underestimate him.
He had never fought the Senju before. This was his first time experiencing their strength firsthand.
A brat who wasn't even ten could actually overpower an adult in strength!
When the Bird-Beak Mask retreated, Uka Senju instead hurried forward to press the attack.
His horizontal blade clashed repeatedly with the Bird-Beak Mask's Kunai.
In the blink of an eye, a series of shrill metallic clashes rang out through the alley.
"Bang-!"
A piece of Substitution Wood was cut in two and fell to the ground.
The Bird-Beak Mask had used the Substitution Technique to dodge Uka Senju's rapid assault.
Looking at his slightly trembling hand, he couldn't help cursing the freakish Senju in his heart.
A few more strikes and he might not even be able to hold on to his Kunai!
"Ah-!"
A scream rang out, stopping Uka just as he was about to charge forward.
He glanced back out of the corner of his eye and saw that Harumi, who had just planned to use Ninjutsu to alert those outside, had been kicked hard to the ground by Baku.
Her Ninjutsu had failed, and she had taken a heavy blow to the stomach. Senju Harumi lay on the ground, blood bubbling at the corners of her mouth.
"Harumi, Harumi!"
He called to the person on the ground twice, but there was no response.
Uka immediately backed up against the wall, guarding against the three closing in from both sides.
With his Ninjutsu plan foiled, he could only try to think of something to say.
As the three gradually approached, Uka Senju smiled as if unconcerned and asked with curiosity, "Have you really thought through the consequences of attacking me? Or is your whole family already dead?"
A hidden threat came from the young boy's lips.
The two people approaching from the right couldn't help but hesitate.
They knew the white-haired boy's background.
And they knew his family had the power to do something like that.
Noticing his companions' reaction, Baku hurriedly said, "Don't overthink it. We have an adult with us!"
"Take him. Lord Danzo is waiting!"
Hearing their captain's words, the two on the right hesitated no longer and continued closing in.
Uka Senju sighed helplessly in his heart.
He really wasn't suited to talking people down. He had even threatened to kill their whole families, and it still hadn't stopped them.
It seemed he'd have to fight for real.
Having made up his mind, he angled the horizontal blade slightly to the left, drawing everyone's attention.
Meanwhile, he secretly channeled the Chakra in his body toward the wooden belt around his waist.
Before his armor had covered him, Uka Senju charged at the two on the right, horizontal blade in hand.
There were more of them on the right, but the two were only Chunin, and they were both using Taijutsu to capture him!
That meant the gap between them wasn't all that big!
After charging forward for two steps, he reached the Bird-Beak Mask he had fought earlier.
His horizontal blade swept upward.
"Clang!"
The blade collided with the Kunai, sending the Bird-Beak Mask's right hand flying high.
Seeing this, Uka Senju pushed off with his foot, suddenly lowering his body and curling up as he crashed into the man's arms.
The Bird-Beak Mask's vision blurred, and he realized someone was suddenly in his arms.
He hurriedly reached out with his left hand to grab him.
His teammates on either side also quickly lowered their weapons and reached for Uka.
Danzo wanted him taken alive, not a corpse!
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
A succession of sharp whooshes rang out!
The Bird-Beak Mask hadn't understood why Uka had burrowed into his arms and thrown himself into danger.
Before he could react, pain shot through his body, and his vision blurred!
After a moment, he managed to make out what had happened. Countless green Wooden Spikes had sprouted, some even bearing tender buds!
The scene made him instinctively think of something from legend. The two holes in his mask filled with terror!
"Wo... Wood... Release!" Like air escaping a bellows, the Bird-Beak Mask forced out the last words he would ever speak.
Ignoring the complicated emotions of the man on his back, Uka straightened up.
The Wooden Spikes on the armor covering his back slowly retracted, and a corpse pierced with countless holes fell to the ground!
"Bang-!"
Apart from the sound of the corpse hitting the ground,
no one in the alley spoke for a moment!
The sudden attack of the Wooden Spikes had just now forced Baku and the other man to use Substitution to dodge.
It had happened too suddenly. Neither of them had expected such a turn of events!
Now, after taking in the scene before them,
Baku swallowed twice and shouted to the person beside him, "Come with me! Kill him, or our whole families will die!"
At his words, the other man in the cat mask didn't hesitate. He charged straight at Uka Senju.
He thought the captain was right. If they killed this boy, their families might still receive protection from the adults.
If they stopped now, their families would definitely be finished!
Seeing their reaction, Uka Senju almost laughed aloud.
He made the armor on his body ripple, then charged at the Chunin with all his might.
If both men attacked at once, he'd have no choice but to run for his life.
Wood Release combined with Senju Nintaijutsu only let him take on one Chunin at a time.
He had only managed to kill one just now because of the surprise attack.
He wasn't saying anything because he didn't know what to say.
He hadn't expected that after a moment of silence, these two Root members would choose to fight and flee!
And the one who fled was a Jonin!
A cat-faced Chunin, huh!
Sorry, but a simple-minded child really didn't deserve to live.
Their weapons clashed, and Uka deliberately reminded him, "Idiot, your teammate ran away!"
The cat-masked man glanced to the side.
No one!
Taking advantage of his distraction, Uka swung his horizontal blade again and again in a fierce assault.
Under the unrelenting flashes of his blade, the cat-faced Chunin's guard was forced wide open.
At that moment, a Wooden Spike that had been waiting on the armor for some time
suddenly shot out and plunged into the cat-faced Chunin's chest, then rapidly expanded!
"Ah-Pfft!"
Amid the scream, the expanding Wooden Spike tore the cat-faced Chunin apart, and his body scattered across the ground!
[Energy: +158]
[Energy: +150]
Two notifications sounded. Uka Senju panted as he slowly came down from his adrenaline-fueled state.
Looking at the scene before him, and catching the foul smell at the tip of his nose,
he saw the steaming, smoking internal organs staining the ground in garish colors.
Fuck... Was it really that brutal?
"Ugh... ugh... ugh...!"
His stomach turned, and he threw up a few mouthfuls of bile.
Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Uka Senju forced himself to endure the double discomfort in his body and mind.
He took the Shared Life Insect from the Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist and crushed it.
Then he ran over to Senju Harumi to check on her.
He laid Harumi down on her side, called to her a few times, and gently shook her body. "Harumi, Harumi!"
He saw Harumi's eyes slowly open and close, over and over.
But she showed no response to his calls.
Uka's heart sank. This was...