Ch.222 Crossing Blades

Staring at the conspicuous three-tomoe Sharingan in Sasuke's eyes, Night Owl and his men were caught off-guard.

They had long heard about the Uchiha clan's downfall and knew that the only two Uchihas left in the Hidden Leaf were Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Shinji.

This time, their target was precisely Uchiha Shinji.

As for how to tell the two apart, it was simple: the genius who awakened the Sharingan was Uchiha Sasuke, so the other one who hadn't awakened it yet had to be Uchiha Shinji.

Thus, the moment they saw Sasuke's Sharingan, they immediately knew who he was.

"A seven-year-old who's already unlocked a three-tomoe Sharingan… an Uchiha genius, huh…"

Under the mask, Night Owl's face was full of conflict.

Their mission was to capture Uchiha Shinji, yet they had run straight into the famous Uchiha Sasuke, leaving Night Owl in a very awkward position.

His subordinates all looked toward Night Owl, waiting for his command.

Up on the tree branch:

Sakura said, "Sasuke, are we really going to fight? They're all chunin!"

A slight smirk tugged at Sasuke's lips. Both hands drifted into the ninja tool pouches around his waist. "Don't worry, this'll be over quickly!"

"That brat…"

Sasuke's attitude annoyed Night Owl. He glanced beyond Sasuke, looking into the woods behind him.

Just now, Kimimaro had taken out an interception squad there, triggering their distress flare. Through his Hogan vision, Night Owl could see a Hidden Leaf squad rapidly approaching.

"Let's go!"

In a heartbeat, Night Owl gave a quick order, and he and his subordinates turned to retreat.

"Huh?!"

Naruto and Sakura were stunned. They hadn't expected the interception team to leave without a fight.

Sasuke, however, grinned, looking quite pleased with himself.

But he had no intention of letting them off. After all, Kimimaro had just singlehandedly knocked out an interception team. How could Sasuke be content to lag behind? Without a word to Naruto or Sakura, his figure flickered as he pursued.

Seeing Sasuke chasing alone, one of Night Owl's subordinates said, "Boss, why are we running? It's just one brat, even if he's a genius so what!"

Night Owl chuckled. "Don't rush. Let's find a proper place to handle him. He's an Uchiha, so the Akatsuki folks will probably be satisfied with that!"

Clearly,

A dojutsu-bloodline shinobi of Night Owl's reputation was only wary of Sasuke's future potential, not so much an eight-year-old in the present.

What's more, he had three capable subordinates. One academy brat was nothing to fear; even an elite jonin might not scare them off.

In this chase, one fleeing and one pursuing, both sides quickly left the area where Kimimaro had battled the interception team, heading deeper into the Forest of Death.

Using his Hogan, Night Owl confirmed there were no Hidden Leaf shinobi nearby, then stopped and slowly turned around.

Swish!

Sasuke swooped in on a gust of wind, landing right after him. "Hmph, done running?"

Night Owl was puzzled. "Kid, you're quite arrogant."

"Once you're lying on the ground, you'll understand why I'm so arrogant!"

With that, Sasuke reached for several kunai from the pouches on his waist and hurled them at Night Owl.

Then, while forming hand seals, he leaped high, landing on a tall tree branch to look down. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Boom!

In an instant, a massive fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth, surging forward with a scorching gale, menacingly engulfing Night Owl and his men.

Yet Sasuke didn't stop. Next, he grabbed something with both hands and forcefully yanked backward!

Zizi…

Immediately, the forest rang with the sound of taut metal wires!

It turned out that behind every kunai Sasuke had initially thrown, there were special steel wires, extremely hard to detect in the dim lighting.

His follow-up Fire Release attack was merely a cover for that first wave of kunai.

Typically, a shinobi's first strike is a test, but he did the opposite. His initial strike was the killing blow, while the subsequent attack was but a feint to mask the real threat.

As the smoke stirred up by the Great Fireball Technique slowly dispersed, what came into Sasuke's view were Night Owl's men, all tightly bound to tree trunks by his wires.

Seeing that he'd succeeded, Sasuke slowly lowered his hands. Satisfaction began to spread across his face.

Bang, bang, bang…

Suddenly, the Night Owl group tied up by wires transformed into chunks of thick wooden logs amid puffs of white smoke.

"A… Substitution Jutsu?!"

Sasuke was taken aback.

Swish!

At that moment, a whistling sound came from behind him!

Realizing what was happening, his eyes froze. He swiftly drew a kunai, turning to strike back, the entire motion smooth and without hesitation.

Yet his counterattack was still a split-second too slow. His swinging kunai was blocked, and his chest was struck by a vicious punch, sending him plummeting from the tree.

"Damn it!"

Falling through the air, Sasuke's three-tomoe Sharingan darted left and right. Just from his peripheral vision, he could see several figures below, ready to strike the moment he landed. If he hit the ground, he'd be pummeled in a coordinated assault.

So, while midair, he quickly formed seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Poof.

A burst of white smoke produced a single shadow clone.

Sasuke used that opportunity to plant a foot on his own clone, using the momentum to leap into a nearby cluster of bushes.

As for his shadow clone, once it hit the ground, it was promptly attacked by multiple figures. Within seconds, with a faint sound, it dissolved back into white smoke.

From behind a tall tree in the brush, Sasuke, now taking cover, was inwardly shocked and uncertain. This interception team's skill clearly exceeded his expectations.

While he pondered what tactic to use next, there was a swish—a blade glinting with cold light pierced the tree trunk and jabbed into his shoulder!

"How is that possible?!"

Alarmed, Sasuke clutched his wound and flickered aside to dodge.

Night Owl withdrew his long blade from the trunk, then stepped out from behind the tree.

Meanwhile, his three subordinates also emerged, surrounding Sasuke at the center.

Sasuke's face darkened; he couldn't fathom how they'd located him.

Night Owl flicked the blood from his blade. "Listening to your bragging, I thought you were stronger. But this is all you've got?"

"Yeah, I was half-expecting another Uchiha Shisui-level monster. My hands were shaking a bit just now!"

"We'd better be careful. If we accidentally kill him, that'd be hard to explain!"

Night Owl's subordinates jeered in turn.

"You…you bastards!"

Sasuke clenched his teeth. Despite vaguely sensing something off about this interception team, his overpowering pride wouldn't let him make excuses for failing. After all, Kimimaro had just neatly disposed of an interception team, hadn't he?