The Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, enveloped by the violent gale, surged forward with even greater speed and intensity. The cliff walls on either side of the canyon acted like the interior of a furnace.
The strike reached its target first despite being launched later.
The White Ghost's wind-fire combination smashed into the water-wind combination of D and E. Far away, Uzumaki Gencho watched through binoculars as the river lit up like a glowing ribbon of fire.
"Fox's Fire Style is incredible!" he marveled. "Even among the Uchiha and Sarutobi clans, there are few with this level of mastery."
Uzumaki Kaicho added, "It's not just Fire Style. The light stretches so far and moves so fast—it has to be a combined Wind and Fire technique."
Uzumaki Yuka was silently thrilled; it seemed Fox had grown even stronger.
...
D was still maintaining his Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, his vision completely obscured by the steam and spray of their Hurricane Water Vortex. He and E had been partners for years; their coordination had claimed the lives of countless enemies of Root. However, the sheer caliber of the incoming attack made him tremble.
As he exhaled the hurricane, he suddenly felt a chill at his back. He glanced sideways just in time to see the figure in the White Ghost mask manifest directly behind him!
Yagami had used a Water Body Flicker to flash behind the pair. He formed a single seal and instantly unleashed another Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet. Between the high-speed flicker and the single-seal casting, he had achieved a pincer attack by himself.
At this moment, the sheer prestige of Hanzo of the Salamander—whose techniques Yagami had adapted—was only proven further. For the young Sannin to have survived Hanzo was truly an achievement.
With the sea of fire still raging in front of him, D's back was blasted by the fire dragon.
"No!"
D was an elite of the Shimura clan. He was supposed to lead Root to suppress the ANBU, defeat the "Lynx" faction, and compete for the position of Clan Head! How could he die here?
But the flames were too fast. They consumed him instantly, and his future collapsed into ash before this mysterious assassin.
The water was boiled into steam, the chaotic winds died down, and the fire eventually flickered out. Yagami frowned, looking at the surface where only one charred corpse remained.
"D talked a big game but died so easily. E, on the other hand... that Water Style was impressive. As expected of a Root ninja."
Yagami's figure vanished into the water. Over a hundred meters away, E—half his body scorched—was desperately swimming beneath the surface. His mind was filled with terror. 'Who is this Fire Style master?'
The next second, a sharp pain pierced the back of his head. Someone had appeared beside him in the water, driving a kunai deep into his skull.
'How did he swim so fast?'
E's eyes slowly closed as he sank to the riverbed.
...
Having dealt with the enemies, Yagami waved to Yuka and the others from a distance. After bidding them farewell, he was Reverse-Summoned by the Stone Panda Shiro-seiji back to the basement of the Tavern.
It was a beautiful day; his mood was light, and his thyroid felt perfectly smooth.
A few days later, downstream from the battlefield...
"Found them! Lord Danzo!" shouted the Root ninja C.
The second body was hauled up and placed beside the first. Four Root ninjas had spent days scouring the area to find them. C watched Danzo stare at the corpses, his heart pounding with unease.
Root members weren't like the ANBU "cannon fodder." There were only ten of them—the ten most loyal to Danzo... well, nine. Shin didn't count; he was a special case, a collaborator of Orochimaru's rather than a loyal subordinate.
Of those nine, B had died in the Land of Whirlpools, and now D and E were dead here. These three were the highest-ranking members. For Root, this was a devastating loss that would be nearly impossible to replace.
Danzo remained silent for a long time before asking, "F, can you read anything from their brains?"
"Apologies, Lord Danzo," F replied. "One brain was burned through, and the other has a kunai embedded in it. There is nothing left to retrieve."
Both had died miserable deaths. Like Shimura Tan and Sarutobi Yui, they had fallen to a Fire Style master. E was a Water Style Jonin, yet he had been overwhelmed. Danzo looked down, his eyes dark, and said nothing.
...
Behind the Leaf's Cenotaph, two more gravestones were quietly added. One bore the name Shimura Oka (D). Not far away was another Shimura stone: Shimura Tan.
A grey-haired woman knelt before Oka's grave, weeping for hours. She cried until she fainted, woke up, and cried again. Her eyes eventually became clouded and dim, as if she had gone blind.
She stood up shakily, stumbling over chairs and stones, fumbling her way back to the Shimura clan compound. Her vision was a blur; she could only see the brightest light in the compound—the estate of the Clan Head, Shimura Danzo.
Danzo saw his sister-in-law walking with a strange gait and immediately realized something was wrong with her eyes. Her shins were bruised from her journey home.
"Brother Danzo!" she cried. Her eyes were red and dry—the symptom of someone who wants to weep but has no tears left.
"Brother Danzo! Your younger brother, my husband, died in the ANBU. My younger son, Shimura Tan, died in the Land of Grass. Now my eldest, Shimura Oka, has died in Root. How many more must die? How many Shimura lives are enough?"
"Why can't we be like other clans? Why can't we enjoy a bit of peace during peacetime? You are the Commander of the ANBU, a high-ranking official... how much higher do you need to go? Do you really want to be the Hokage that badly?"
"Shut up!" Danzo barked. His pupils constricted as he glared at the woman.
But a moment later, Danzo faltered. It was a rare loss of composure for him. How could he persuade her? What else did she have left to lose?
His tone softened significantly. "Do not speak nonsense. The sacrifices of the Shimura clan are all for the sake of the Hidden Leaf."
"Hahaha! All for the Leaf..."
F appeared at the right moment and supported the woman. He pressed his fingers against the back of her head and looked at Danzo. Seeing Danzo nod, F applied pressure.
After that night, the Shimura clan had one more "foolish" woman—a woman who had become catatonic and mute after the successive deaths of her sons.
That entire night, Danzo was restless while reading his scrolls. He raised a hand, and F appeared again.
"F, tell Orochimaru: from now on, he is never to use Shimura ninjas for experiments. Even if it's for compatibility with me, he is never to do it again."
Half an hour later, F returned. "Lord Danzo, Shin (Orochumaru) says he understands, but he needs more test subjects. The prisoners captured during the war have been used up."
Danzo replied, "If there aren't enough, grab more. The Land of Fire is full of civilians."
"I told him that," F said, "but Shin said civilians without chakra are worlds apart from ninjas. Without ninjas for experimentation, he cannot make a breakthrough."
Danzo thought for a moment. "Go to the Land of Rain or the Land of Waterfalls. Capture ninjas from small nations. If all else fails, take wandering ronin."
After F left, Danzo sat in thought for a long while before standing up and walking toward the Hokage Building.