Escaping the Mist Ninja starts with backstabbing your teacher.

On the second-floor balcony of the inn, Izumi was drinking alone, leaning against the railing. As he heard the sound of something cutting through the air, he casually raised his hand, covered in bones, and caught the kunai that had been shot at him.

He leisurely swirled his wine glass, downed it in one gulp, and said with some dissatisfaction, "The local spies are really too impolite. Aren't they afraid of hurting the real guests?"

Swish~

Just as he was complaining, figures landed one after another, and the nearby rooftops were already filled with Konoha ninjas.

Root ninjas, Uchiha clan members, and Hyuga clan members all arrived, and the three parties converged.

After several hours of searching and investigating all the visitors of the past few days, they finally found their way here.

The one who shot the kunai was a Root ninja. Izumi tossed the kunai up gently and weighed it in his hand.

The Root ninja's gaze fell on him, scrutinizing him from head to toe, and he said in a deep voice.

"You have absolutely no resemblance in physique, appearance, or movements, but the scent of chakra remains unchanged."

"Your mistake was leaving those finger bones behind, allowing us to sense your presence from them."

"Although you left your aura all over Konoha, misleading us in our search, you have underestimated the power of Konoha."

Parasitic insects rose from the other person's body, clearly indicating that this Root ninja was a member of the Aburame clan.

Furthermore, the other two clans also brought in help from other ninja clans, such as the Inuzuka clan, whose ninja dogs were all waiting nearby.

"The Aburame clan! I remember back at the border of the Land of Rain, it was a ninja with parasitic insects like that who intercepted me."

Facing three groups who seemed to have him cornered, Izumi remained unperturbed. He put down his wine glass, looked at the three groups, and continued, "So, what's the plan now? Whom should I go with?"

Gently removing her contact lenses, revealing the white eye of her right eye, she looked at Hiashi and the others, and said softly, "Should we go back with the Hyuga clan? Or..."

Looking at the Uchiha clan again, he continued, "The Uchiha clan I attacked, or perhaps..."

Finally, glancing at the Root ninja, he teased, "Always eyeing my Danzo Root?"

He spread his hands and sighed, "This is the trouble of being too popular. Too many people want me."

Faced with Izumi's fearlessness and blatant provocation, all three parties frowned and exchanged glances.

Hiashi spoke first, saying in a deep voice, "Everyone, my Hyuga clan is only interested in reclaiming the Byakugan; we have no interest in him personally."

Fugaku Uchiha frowned and said, "The other party is spying on the Sharingan and wants to harm my son Itachi. I need to find out why they know Itachi's whereabouts."

"Who leaked this information? And how did they manage to enter Konoha so easily?"

Upon hearing this, Hizashi, who was standing next to Hiashi, darkened slightly, because he was the one who had leaked this information to Izumi.

Now, the head of the branch family looked at Izumi, who was surrounded by people, and was very puzzled as to why the other party was so fearless.

Seeing the attitudes of both sides, the Aburame clan ninja from the Root said in a deep voice, "In that case, interrogation is what we do best. Hand the person over to us, and we will definitely get everything out of them."

Both Hiashi Hyuga and Fugaku Uchiha showed some displeasure at this, not wanting Izumigawa to fall into the hands of Root, as it would not be a good thing for their two clans.

Fugaku Uchiha spoke up, "Regarding this matter, I think it's best to let the Fourth Hokage make the decision and have him imprisoned in the hands of the Anbu."

Hiashi nodded slightly in support, saying, "I agree with Clan Chief Fugaku's method, after all, it concerns the safety of Konoha."

The Root ninja's face darkened. He remembered Lord Danzo's instructions: he had to bring the person back to Root.

So he spoke again, "Why go through all this trouble? Our Root also belongs to the Dark Division, so it's the same here."

The three parties were locked in a stalemate, while Izumi slowly stretched his limbs and watched as the corners of his mouth gradually turned up.

"Gentlemen, when did I ever say I would obediently surrender? If you want me to go with you, you'll have to take me down first."

【Corpse Bone Pulse. Bone-Winged Demon!】

His shirt slipped down to his waist, and spikes burst from Izumi's shoulder blades, transforming into a pair of wings.

With a tearing sound, the coccyx pierced through the pants and extended out, like a bone whip swaying.

His arms and legs were covered in bone armor, and his upper body was also covered in skeletal armor. He then leaped into the air.

This prompted all three parties to take action, with several of them immediately forming hand seals, as they had already taken precautions.

A huge, square light curtain enveloped everyone, restricting Izumi's possibility of escaping.

"A barrier?"

"Let me test its power!"

Izumi reached for the back of his neck, grabbed the already protruding spine, and pulled it out, transforming it into a spinal sword.

As chakra was injected, each vertebra came alive, and the materialized chakra enveloped it, transforming into a blue lightsaber.

Aiming at the light screen above, Izumi swung the spine light sword in his hand, and the leaping slash was comparable to a powerful wind release, striking the screen.

A cracking sound rang out during the stalemate, and cracks appeared with each strike. As the sound of shattering echoed, the strikes were exhausted.

A thin crack, like an unsightly scar, appeared above. Below, several ninjas who were casting a barrier groaned and continued to inject chakra.

"Barrier Team, hold on!"

With the infusion of chakra, the huge wound on it was healing steadily; the tiny cracks were not enough for the opponent to escape.

Seeing that the barrier could be broken by the other party, the three parties stopped and started to take action.

The Hyuga clan's Eight Trigrams Palm, the Uchiha clan's Great Fireball Technique, and the Root clan's techniques are a mixture of various escaping techniques.

"That was really scary!"

Izumi waved the spine in his hand, and each vertebra made a crisp sound as it disintegrated into a chain sword and coiled around to form a shield.

In just a moment, the spinal bone sword could no longer support itself, and cracks began to appear on its surface. At the same time, a black mist formed by parasitic insects was approaching from the side.

Unfortunately, under the Byakugan's keen observation, this sneak attack was pointless. Izumi abandoned the spinal bone sword and formed hand seals.

[Lightning Release: Lightning Net!]

A net of lightning descended upon the black mist formed by the parasitic insects, accompanied by a series of crackling explosions.

The attack seemed terrifying, but in reality, each person had their own agenda and was only going through the motions, clearly afraid of being targeted and attacked.

Sure enough, when they're together they're a pile of shit, but when they're scattered they're like stars in the sky. Since the spoils aren't divided equally, they'll just drag it out for now and wait for someone who can actually get things done.

Unfortunately, they couldn't wait any longer, because a massive surge of chakra appeared in the distance, and the Nine-Tails was freed.