The mustached man turned into smoke and slipped into Kiyosuke’s body.
Inside, all he could see was endless fire. Flas surrounded him on all sides. Though they didn’t hurt him, there was nowhere to escape.
Hearing what Kiyosuke said, his expression instantly changed. He had thought the kid was bluffing—turns out it was true.
This person had a body type similar to their own clan’s.
At that mont, he heard Kiyosuke continue.
"Kakashi, use Wind Release on . I won’t die from the wind, but this guy will. Go ahead."
"Got it. Now then..."
Startled, the mustached man quickly jumped out and reford his body into human shape, no longer daring to stay in smoke form. But just then, a punch to his gut sent him sprawling.
"Seriously, a grown man crawling into my body? That’s just disgusting."
Kiyosuke followed up with a flurry of punches and kicks—completely unrefined, more like a street brawl than any formal taijutsu.
The mustached man hastily fought back. To his surprise, he was pretty skilled at taijutsu. After recovering from the initial flurry, he started trading blows evenly with Kiyosuke.
Soone tossed him a longsword. He caught it and charged at Kiyosuke with a slash.
Clang!
Kiyosuke drew his blade, and the two clashed violently. Sharp arcs of light danced through the dim underground cavern, with a steady rhythm of blades colliding echoing all around.
Seeing an opening, the mustached man struck Kiyosuke. The instant the blade made contact, a burst of fla exploded, forcing him to retreat.
"As expected, it’s a similar body type..."
Seeing the fire erupting from Kiyosuke’s body, his heart sank.
Their clan possessed the ability to turn into smoke—a convenient skill, but with a fatal flaw. If they were hit by wind while in smoke form, they would die. Many of their people had died from not being able to control the ability properly. If not for Orochimaru’s intervention, their numbers might have dwindled to nearly nothing by now.
He understood how troubleso it was to have a body immune to physical attacks. Kiyosuke had the sa trait as them. But while their clan could only beco smoke and use taijutsu, Kiyosuke clearly had more to offer. They had no way of countering him.
"Oh my, seems like you’re out of options. Now then, tell —where is my teacher?"
"You keep calling Orochimaru-sama your teacher, but you sure don’t act like his disciple. You ca here to kill him!"
"Heh, orders from the Hokage. As a loyal shinobi of Konoha, I have to follow orders... even if it ans hunting down my own teacher. Very heartbreaking, you know?"
Liar. You’re clearly about to laugh!
"In any case, even if we have to give our lives, we absolutely won’t let you hunt down Orochimaru-sama!"
To the Iburi clan, Orochimaru was their savior—the one who stabilized their condition and prevented them from dying due to their uncontrollable ability.
He was the only hope for their people. They could not allow these outsiders to get anywhere near him.
"I see. Then I guess I’ll have to capture you. Kakashi, get ready."
Tension flared instantly.
Just then, large wooden branches sprouted up around Kiyosuke and Kakashi, trapping them in an instant.
"Hm? Wood?"
A boy wearing a Root mask leapt into view.
"I’ve restrained them."
"Nicely done."
The mustached man nodded in approval—but the next mont, flas burst through the gaps between the wood and reford into Kiyosuke’s body.
"This ability is pretty convenient, huh? You’re the Root mber Kakashi ntioned—the one with the Wood Release kekkei genkai, right? Tch. That kind of power should belong to the village, not to Danzō. What’s your na?"
"Kinoe."
"I didn’t ask for your codena. What’s your real na?"
"Root mbers don’t have nas," Kinoe said plainly.
"Tenzo!"
A small girl with freckles shouted.
"His na is Tenzo!"
"I see. So, can you stop ?"
Kiyosuke shattered the wooden restraints with a punch and freed Kakashi. Seeing Kinoe, Kakashi was montarily stunned.
"So it’s you. I didn’t expect to see you here."
Kinoe took a step back. Against these two, he didn’t stand a chance.
"Forget it. I’ll just reclaim the Wood Release now—it’s too valuable to leave in Root’s hands."
Kiyosuke moved forward. Kinoe quickly backed away, forming hand signs.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Ergence!"
With a wave of his arm, thick wooden branches erupted from his limbs, surging toward Kiyosuke.
Kiyosuke countered with a sweep of his own arm. A mass of snakes burst from his sleeves, writhing through the air. They tangled with the wooden branches and lunged at A with their jaws wide open.
Kinoe staggered back.
Kiyosuke grabbed his longsword and flickered forward, appearing right in front of Kinoe, and brought his blade down.
Clang!
The strike was blocked. Kinoe held firm, resisting the pressure, only to hear Kiyosuke speak.
"You’re still too weak, kid. What did Danzō give you that makes you so willing to die for him? To him, you’re just a tool."
"You’ve had problems with Danzō-sama for a long ti. He said... if the chance arises, we must kill you!"
"Oh? Is that so? Looks like I’m in danger, then."
He pressed harder, and Kinoe struggled to hold on.
The mustached man slashed again, but his blade had no effect on Kiyosuke.
"Kakashi, be careful. Don’t let them slip into your body. Be ready to use Wind Release at any ti."
"Got it."
"Don’t hurt Tenzo!"
The girl nad Yukimi turned into a swirl of pink smoke, wrapped around Kinoe, and spirited him away.
"They got away... Fine, we’ll deal with this later. Kakashi, let’s go!"
"Right!"
Kakashi and Kiyosuke took off in pursuit, and the mustached man followed behind them.
As they crawled rapidly through the narrow passageway, Kiyosuke muttered in frustration.
"Damn it. Why is this place so cramped?"
"Kinoe’s scent is just up ahead," Kakashi said after sniffing the air.
His sense of sll was sharp—on par with the Inuzuka clan.
"Got it. Keep crawling."
The two sped up.
The mustached man had caught up behind them but kept a cautious distance, afraid they might use Wind Release.
The path grew steeper until they erged outside. Kakashi sniffed again.
"They’ve gone far. Should we keep chasing?"
"Of course. The Wood Release is too important. Even with the Uchiha’s Sharingan, Konoha still needs it. We can’t let it fall into Danzō’s hands."
That kid would leave Root sooner or later anyway. Sooner’s better than later.
"What about Orochimaru?"
"No idea where he is, but he’s probably nearby. We’ll just wait for him to show up. No rush."
"Whatever you say."
Kiyosuke understood Orochimaru better. Better to follow his lead—it might make it easier to find him.
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