You don't know how long it's been before you finally wake up.
Beside you lies the shriveled corpse of an Iwa-nin, and above, a dim green fla still burns slowly. You know you've won.
But your right arm is severely deford, completely numb, cold, and stiff—blackened and purple. You can't feel a thing.
You're very aware that with an arm in this condition, there's no way you'll survive the endless desert.
The dry desert climate at least reduces the risk of infection, and you can cauterize the wound with Fire Release. Losing an arm will definitely weaken you, but it's your only option.
You scavenge food and water from the Sunagakure caravan. After a full al, you raise a shinobi blade to your arm.
You don't hesitate.
The sharp blade cos down as you bite hard on the cloth in your mouth.
As your severed right arm drops to the ground, you quickly prepare to use Fire Release to seal the wound—but to your shock, not a single drop of blood escapes the stump.
???
As confusion sets in, you realize your Sharingan has activated on its own—three black tomoe spinning slowly in blood-red eyes.
You wonder if you've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. But after so testing, you confirm you've only reached the three-tomoe stage.
Yet the mont you try to deactivate your Sharingan, blood spurts wildly from the severed arm.
Startled, you quickly reactivate the Sharingan—and the bleeding stops imdiately.
You don't understand. You haven't awakened the Mangekyō, so why do you have this bizarre ocular ability?
And this dojutsu feels almost worthless—its only function is to stop your bleeding.
Other than this passive hemostasis, it doesn't seem to have any active ability at all!
Damn this mission. Sure, you unlocked the three-tomoe Sharingan, and even got so passive ocular power that doesn't even deserve a na.
But you lost an arm. No matter how you look at it, it feels like a loss.
Still, with your injuries not yet healed, you know the priority is getting out of this desolate wasteland.
After fiddling with your sealing scrolls for a while, you finally manage to draw a crude sealing array to contain the Fla of the Infested.
You also scavenged a fair amount of food and water from the Sunagakure caravan, along with sothing far more valuable—a map. After collecting so basic ninja tools, you lean on your longsword and limp off toward the nearest town marked on the map.
As you approach, you spot nurous Sunagakure shinobi patrolling the outskirts. They seem to be guarding soone important.
Could it be the Wind Country official you were originally tasked to assassinate?
Back when you looted the caravan, you noticed that the so-called official wasn't among the corpses. Instead, you found a finely crafted humanoid puppet in the most luxurious carriage—clearly a decoy planted ahead of the puppet master.
...
Now your food and water are nearly depleted.
According to Root's rules, anyone who fails a mission will be hunted to the ends of the earth. And with your injuries still this severe, there's no way you could survive that kind of pursuit.
Your only choice now is to return to Konoha, recover, and plan from there.
Using your three-tomoe Sharingan's heightened perception, you silently slip past the patrols and quickly locate the grandest tent.
But before that, there's soone you need to visit—the one responsible for your current state.
A traitor.
A Root agent who infiltrated Sunagakure and then betrayed you.
This man, after defecting, is now indulging in every imaginable luxury, living like a king. If not for the curse mark under his tongue that you instantly recognized, you might've actually mistaken him for a real Wind Country official.
You're in no shape to fight, but with the powerful Genjutsu of the three-tomoe Sharingan, you instantly put every guard and attendant around him to sleep.
Then, using your Sharingan, you interrogate the traitor right on the spot. His will is weak—he breaks almost imdiately.
Turns out a few months ago, the Root operative in charge of Wind Country intel, Yakushi Nono, was recalled. This traitor was sent as her replacent.
But his cover was quickly blown. To save his own skin, he collaborated with Sunagakure to set up this entire sche—one designed to eliminate Root's elite fighters.
After forcing him to write a full confession, you use Mind Body Switch Technique to make him slam his head into a wall and die.
But just then, sothing strange overtakes you—you step forward instinctively, place your left hand over the blood pooling on the floor...
And watch as that blood slowly gets absorbed into your body.
So of your internal injuries even begin to heal.
"Even though I don't know its na... blood control and absorption must be the core of this ocular power..."
Realizing that your eye technique has so potential after all brings a bit of comfort.
But just like when Obito was crushed under those boulders, you seem to only be able to absorb released blood, not draw it from inside the body.
Still, with so healing done, you prepare to move. Soone's bound to notice the disturbance.
You flee quickly and hide in a corner of the main tent where the Wind Country official is staying.
From a distance, using your Sharingan, you observe the man—still working deep into the night, carefully reviewing reports from all over the country.
So diligent... it puts Hiruzen Sarutobi to sha.
Sunagakure must know this too. That's why they've deployed so many shinobi and puppet masters to guard him. So must be hoping to nd ties with Wind Country and restore their economy.
And that's exactly why Danzo wants him dead—to strike three birds with one stone.
You form a one-handed seal and quietly pull out a shuriken.
You spin it lightly on your fingertip and infuse it with Wind Release—Wind Release: Shuriken.
Then, using your fingertip to superheat it, you let the tal soften and crack. Sustained by Wind Release, it reforms into a razor-sharp ring.
This is the hybrid ninjutsu you improvised in your battle against Baki—Wind-Fire Shuriken.
Now, with the clarity of the three-tomoe Sharingan, you understand its full structure.
Wind, fire, and tal—the trio combine to disintegrate the shuriken into a plasma-like blade. The wind and fire then bind it into a ring-shaped cutting edge nearly unstoppable by anything.
You hurl it with force—the translucent red wind blade whizzes toward your target.
The tent behind the Wind Country official is silently split open.
You limp forward, remove his head, and store it in a scroll along with the heads of Baki and the Iwa-nin Jonin.
Then you press a hand to the body and drain every last drop of blood.
You slip away amidst the chaos, brushing a hand against the scroll at your waist.
At long last, the mission is complete...
Using your restored chakra, you fling three more Wind-Fire Shuriken in a wide arc. Who knows how many "lucky winners" they'll hit?
For now, you'll hide beneath the desert sands and wait for the storm in the village to pass before returning to clean up.
[Sixth Month]
A month passes. You do not return to Root.
Instead, you beco like a ghost, haunting the borderlands between Wind and Earth Countries.
Nearly ten villages have beco nourishnt for your recovery. Nurous shinobi sent by Sunagakure and Iwagakure have beco your training dummies.
In that month, not a single person who saw your face lived to tell the tale. Each one ended up a dried corpse, left behind forever in the endless desert and barren wastes.
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Pls Drop so Power Stones
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