In the northern part of the Land of Fire, in a dense forest, Tatsuya's figure was constantly leaping and flashing.
Whoosh!
While running, Tatsuya's figure suddenly stopped, coming to a halt on a large tree.
"Come out!"
Standing on the branch, Tatsuya turned around and said calmly to the space behind him.
His voice fell, but there was no movement behind him.
"Do you really want me to force you out?"
A mocking sneer curled Tatsuya's lips, his gaze coldly fixed on a spot not far behind him.
Behind him, two ninja dressed in Konoha ANBU attire appeared beside a tree.
"Who told you to follow me?"
Looking at the two, Tatsuya said coldly.
When he left Konoha, Tatsuya had sensed someone tracking him.
At first, Tatsuya didn't think much of it.
The impression he deliberately left before he left was that he was leaving the village in a fit of anger. With Orochimaru's recent defection, it would be strange if the village completely ignored his departure.
But these two trackers had only followed him closely, all the way to the northern border of the Land of Fire.
And, judging by their posture, they seemed intent on continuing to follow him.
This touched Tatsuya's bottom line!
Having left the village, Tatsuya didn't want to put up with certain people anymore.
He had gone through the proper procedures to request leave from the village; he wasn't a suspect!
If the Third Hokage had really wanted to stop him, he wouldn't have just sent two ANBU to follow him.
This clearly didn't seem like the Third Hokage's style.
Tatsuya immediately thought of Danzo.
It seemed this guy hadn't given up on him yet.
"Tatsuya-Jonin, why did you not report your departure to the village?"
Seeing Tatsuya standing on the branch, looking down at them, both Root ninja's eyes narrowed. One of them, wearing a tiger-shaped mask, stepped forward and questioned him accusingly.
A look of disdain appeared on Tatsuya's lips. "Report? I am currently the deputy captain of the Third Squad of the Konoha Military Police Force's Combat Department. I requested leave from Captain Shisui before I left. Since when can Root interfere in the internal affairs of the Military Police Force?"
"Tatsuya-Jonin, these are special circumstances. Even if you have been transferred to the Military Police Force, you still need to report to the village when leaving. We were ordered to protect you," the tiger-masked Root ninja argued.
Killing intent gradually appeared in Tatsuya's eyes. He looked at the two coldly and said, "Ordered? Ordered by whom? By Danzo, or by the Third Hokage-sama? I don't recall the village having a rule restricting the freedom of its ninja! It seems you haven't learned your lesson from last time, have you?"
As he spoke, Tatsuya slowly drew a kunai from his waist.
"Tatsuya-Jonin, please don't misunderstand. We were just ordered to protect your safety. If you don't like it, we'll leave right now," seeing Tatsuya's readiness to attack, the two Root ninja immediately backed down. The tiger-masked Root ninja quickly said.
Without waiting for Tatsuya's reply, the two immediately retreated quickly using Body Flicker.
There was no other choice!
This guy was no pushover; if provoked, he really would attack.
Watching the two Root ninja quickly depart, Tatsuya slowly sheathed his kunai, the cold glint in his eyes still present.
If he weren't worried about unforeseen complications, he would have liked to have dealt with them right then and there.
Standing still for a moment, Tatsuya turned and continued on his way.
As he turned, Tatsuya's gaze inadvertently glanced in a certain direction.
Rustle-rustle
In the forest, the two Root ninja had fled a considerable distance before stopping.
The two stood at the base of an ancient tree. The Root ninja who hadn't spoken earlier said, "What do we do now? Are we really just going back like this?"
This Root ninja's words faintly betrayed a sense of fear.
Root's methods for dealing with ninja who failed missions were very cruel.
Sometimes, they would rather die than face some of those punishments.
High-pressure control and thorough brainwashing had always been important means for Danzo to maintain his firm grip on Root.
"I don't know! Let's wait and see for now! If it weren't for the Hokage restricting Root's actions, how could he be so arrogant?" The tiger-masked Root ninja said irritably.
Since the founding of Root, they had always been the ones intimidating and threatening others. When had they ever suffered such humiliation?
"Are you saying we wait for Akimichi Tatsuya to get a good distance away, and then we track him again?" The other Root ninja seemed to understand his companion's meaning.
"Yes! That's all we can do for now!" The tiger-masked Root ninja nodded.
As his voice fell, a faint rustling sound came from their left.
"Who's there?"
The two Root ninja immediately became alert, turning their heads to look in that direction.
The dense forest canopy blocked out the sky, with only sparse gaps where beams of sunlight shone through.
On a dimly lit forest path, a figure slowly emerged, appearing in the light.
The newcomer was quite tall, wearing a black face mask and a dark blue robe with the Uchiha clan crest.
Under the mask, only a pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan were visible.
Seeing the newcomer, the two Root ninja instantly realized that this was an Uchiha who had activated the three-tomoe Sharingan.
The two immediately went on high alert.
In the Uchiha clan, anyone who had activated the three-tomoe Sharingan generally possessed Jonin-level strength.
And they were among the strongest Jonin.
"Tsk tsk! You Root ninja are just like your leader, Danzo, like a bunch of maggots emitting a foul stench, disgusting wherever you go!" The black-faced Uchiha stared intently at the two, his voice filled with strong disdain and mockery.
"How dare you! You disrespect Danzo-sama! Aren't you Uchiha afraid of being exterminated?" Hearing this, the two Root ninja, who were already filled with pent-up anger, were instantly enraged.
The two flashed, charging directly to the left and right in a reckless manner.
They couldn't deal with the terrifyingly strong Akimichi Tatsuya, but surely they could handle a lone Uchiha!
However, the reality proved that they indeed could not!
The two were extremely fast, quickly reaching the black-faced Uchiha's left and right sides.
They raised their kunai, their eyes filled with a fierce glint, and thrust straight ahead.
The black-faced Uchiha, caught between the two, remained motionless.
Just as the two Root ninja's kunai were about to pierce their opponent, the black-faced Uchiha in their sight suddenly vanished into thin air.
Thud-thud
Two sounds of flesh being pierced rang out, and blood splattered in the air. The two Root ninja's kunai had directly stabbed into vital points.
However, they had stabbed each other.
Intense pain and suffocation made their vision gradually clear. They turned their heads to look in the distance.
A pair of crimson three-tomoe Sharingan entered their vision.
In an instant, a realization dawned on them.
They had fallen for the opponent's genjutsu long ago.
Thump!
The two Root ninja fell to the ground, dead.
Hmph!
Having dealt with the two Root ninja in one move using genjutsu, the black-faced Uchiha snorted disdainfully, his figure disappearing from the spot.
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