Yakumi’s gaze swept the area for only a second before locking onto the incubator deep within the freezer.
Suspended in the pale green nutrient fluid was a cluster of cellular tissue radiating vigorous vitality—the core objective of their mission, a living sample of Hashirama’s cells.
He carefully retrieved the container and sealed it into a specially prepared sealing scroll.
Through his fingertips, he could clearly feel the almost berserk life chakra pulsing from within.
With their primary objective secured, he immediately nodded to Yakugo.
Yakugo moved so fast he was nothing but a blur.
His fingers flew as he shoved all the locked research files on Hashirama’s cell cultivation and years of experimental data from the lab tables into his sealing scroll.
Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor, followed by the sharp shout of a Root ninja.
“Where are the entrance guards?!
Report the situation immediately!” “Go!” Uchiha Yashiro made a prompt decision.
Without a shred of hesitation, he slapped several explosive tags onto the laboratory’s load-bearing pillars.
The moment they turned and sprinted out of the lab, the explosive tags detonated with a deafening roar.
Rubble instantly collapsed, completely sealing the corridor behind them and cutting off the shouts of their pursuers behind the debris.
No one lingered to fight, and no one got greedy.
Following the retreat route Kain had planned in advance, the group slid down the Root base’s abandoned ventilation shafts into the underground sewer system.
Using the continuous explosions above ground to mask their footsteps, they navigated the labyrinthine underground pipe network like fish darting through water.
Along the way, they encountered two waves of Root ninja rushing back to reinforce the base, but they bypassed them silently using the darkness and Sharingan genjutsu, leaving not a single trace behind.
In less than fifteen minutes, the group emerged from the underground network.
Under the cover of the blazing sky and the panicked crowds, they successfully reached the designated rendezvous point.
Uchiha Kei, Taohuo, and their team were already waiting there.
Seeing everyone return safely with the sealed scrolls intact, their hanging hearts finally settled.
“Mission accomplished?” Kei asked, lowering his voice.
Yakumi patted the sealing scroll in his jacket, a cold smile flashing in his eyes.
“Core objective secured, and all the data was brought out too.
Clean and simple.” “Good.” Kei nodded.
He looked up at the Uchiha compound, which was heavily surrounded by barriers and blockades, and waved his hand.
“Let’s go!
Back to the compound!
It’s time to go home!” Without a moment’s pause, the dozen or so figures melted back into the darkness, sprinting toward the compound.
Behind them, Konoha was still engulfed in a sea of fire and chaos.
No one knew that their highly treasured Hashirama cells and the core forbidden jutsu from the Scroll of Seals had all fallen into the hands of the Uchiha.
Under the cover of the billowing smoke and dust, Taohuo and his team advanced rapidly along the ruined walls.
The Scroll of Seals was held securely against his chest as their footsteps fell in rhythm with the aftershocks of the explosions, moving so fast they left only afterimages.
They were only two streets away from the Uchiha compound.
As long as they turned the corner of the alley ahead, they would meet up with their reinforcements.
But the moment Taohuo led his men into the alley, a chilling chakra suddenly locked onto them.
“Halt.” From the shadows of the alley, Gekko Hayate slowly stepped forward.
An Anbu cat mask covered most of his face, revealing only the pale corners of his eyes.
The katana in his hand was already drawn, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground.
Behind him stood four elite Anbu, blocking the alleyway in an encircling formation, their chakra pulled taut.
He had been leading his squad to inspect the explosion damage, but unexpectedly sensed this fierce chakra bearing the unique signature of the Uchiha, along with the distinct sealing fluctuations of the Scroll of Seals.
“Uchiha?” Gekko Hayate suppressed his voice, unable to hold back a few low coughs, yet his grip on his sword remained perfectly steady.
“Did you steal the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage building?” The three tomoe in Taohuo’s eyes instantly began to spin.
Without a single word of nonsense, he simply made a hand signal to the two men beside him.
The next second, all three figures moved at once.
There was no probing, no idle chatter—their first strike was a killing blow.
Taohuo’s figure instantly split into three afterimages, utilizing the Uchiha Style Body Flicker Technique to lunge straight for Gekko Hayate’s face.
The Sharingan saw the trajectory of the opponent’s katana with crystal clarity.
Gekko Hayate had barely executed half a stance of his Dance of the Crescent Moon before Taohuo accurately predicted its landing point.
With a sharp whistle through the air, a kunai thrust straight toward his sword-wielding wrist.
The alley instantly erupted with the fierce sound of clashing chakra.
The crisp ring of colliding metal mixed with the roar of distant explosions, their movements too fast for the naked eye to follow.
But before the absolute dynamic vision of the fully matured Sharingan, the Anbu’s movements were as sluggish as a slow-motion film.
In just thirty short seconds, four muffled groans rang out in succession.
The four elite Anbu were accurately pierced through their vitals before they could even unleash a complete technique, collapsing into pools of blood.
Gekko Hayate’s katana was knocked away, and a bone-deep gash was sliced across his chest by a kunai.
He staggered back half a step, but just as he was about to form hand seals to sound the alarm, Taohuo closed the distance, his crimson Sharingan locking onto his pupils.
Genjutsu instantly washed over him.
Gekko Hayate’s body stiffened violently, and in the next second, a kunai pierced his throat.
Warm blood splattered against the cold wall.
He collapsed with his eyes wide open, unable to let out a single complete warning cry before his death.
Just as Taohuo flicked the blood off his kunai and prepared to lead his men away, a cry of disbelief suddenly echoed from the mouth of the alley.
“Hayate?!” Kurenai Yuhi stood at the alley entrance.
Seeing Gekko Hayate lying in a pool of blood alongside the scattered corpses of the Anbu, the blood in her veins instantly ran cold.
She had been evacuating civilians nearby and rushed over after sensing the intense chakra fluctuations, never expecting to witness such a scene.
Her pupils shrank sharply, and her hands instantly formed seals, genjutsu chakra already surging at her fingertips.
However, the three Uchiha elites opposite her didn’t hesitate for a second upon seeing her; they attacked simultaneously.
Three figures lunged at her at once, their crimson Sharingan locking onto her in unison as both genjutsu and physical attacks struck simultaneously.
Kurenai Yuhi was a master of genjutsu, but before three pairs of top-tier Sharingan, her illusions were completely swallowed up, failing to stir even the slightest ripple.
In a single clash, she was forced into a rapid retreat by Taohuo’s genjutsu.
Her back slammed hard against the wall, and a kunai was already pressed against her throat, the chilling grip of death instantly enveloping her entire body.
In the nick of time, a dark shadow suddenly crashed in from the side.
Choza Akimichi’s Partial Multi-Size Technique activated instantly, his massive arm smashing fiercely toward Taohuo, forcing him to withdraw his kunai and dodge.