I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 17 Heart Turns Around

A chilling atmosphere permeated the surrounding air.

Uchiha Hikaru frowned slightly, his expression turning serious: "Anbu? Or Root?"

She had already sensed that after shaking off the first group of followers, another group had caught up with her. Moreover, this group's tracking skills were a level above those of Uzuki Yugao and the others. Even though she tried to create several diversions along the way, she couldn't shake them off; instead, it slowed her progress, allowing them to keep up firmly…

and so……

Konoha is finally going to make a move against her?

Judging from the opponent's composition, it's more likely to be a member of Root—Hiruzen Sarutobi personally experienced one of her Tsukuyomi attacks, so if it were an Anbu member, then the Third Hokage would have come in person.

A brief standoff lasting only a few seconds.

The leading Root ninja drew his sword and hissed, "The master has ordered...kill her! Bring back the Sharingan!"

This statement is clearly a signal.

The next moment, all the Root members attacked simultaneously, and countless shuriken and kunai shot out from all directions, raining down on Uchiha Hikaru like a storm!

"Earth Release: Heart-Slaying Decapitation Technique!"

As the torrential rain poured down, the ground beneath Uchiha Hikaru's feet exploded, and a hand wearing a black glove reached out and grabbed her ankle, trying to pull her into the ground!

At the critical moment, Uchiha Hikaru leaped into the air, first throwing several kunai, forcing the ninja below to bend his arm to block. Then, crimson three-tomoe appeared in his eyes, spinning into the shape of a three-bladed windmill the instant they took shape.

"Susanoo!!"

In an instant.

Dark red flames appeared in the air around her, then quickly coalesced into the shape of bones!

From the moment the Root organization attacked to Uchiha Hikaru activating his Susanoo, everything happened in the blink of an eye. The next second, a rain of shuriken struck Uchiha Hikaru, colliding head-on with his newly formed Susanoo. A series of sparks flew through the air, followed by an explosion that echoed throughout the forest!

BOOM BOOM BOOM...!!

The roar was deafening!

Many of these shuriken and kunai had explosive tags attached to them. When they were detonated simultaneously, the intense flames instantly engulfed Uchiha Hikaru and the Susanoo beside her. The huge cloud of smoke from the explosion rose like a mushroom cloud, temporarily obscuring the vision of both sides.

"...Did it succeed?"

"No...she's still alive!"

Amidst the scattered smoke and dust.

A dark red Susanoo arm suddenly shot out, its giant hand, several meters wide, opening in mid-air to grab the nearest Root member. As this action occurred, the smoke from the explosion dissipated slightly, revealing Uchiha Hikaru, who was protected by Susanoo.

Compared to before, her appearance was almost unchanged, except that her eyes had turned as red as fire, and a fierce killing intent was brewing in the pair of three-bladed windmills, ready to be unleashed.

"call……"

Uchiha Hikaru let out a long breath, activated his eye power, and when he scanned his surroundings, the dynamic visual ability of the Sharingan was brought to its limit, taking in every movement around him.

"Earth Release·Earth Style Wall!"

"Earth Release: Clay Descends from Heaven!"

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Several Root ninjas simultaneously completed hand seals, and within a radius of tens of meters, the hard soil suddenly cracked open, rolling like liquid. A huge hole also opened in the sky above, and a large amount of clay fell down in the direction of Uchiha Hikaru!

Faced with the overwhelming killing intent, Uchiha Hikaru leaped and darted among the rising mounds, dodging all the flying shuriken and senbon needles. As he raised his hands, the hand seals he formed were so fast that they left afterimages:

"Fire Release: Great Fire Wall Technique!"

Bang——! !

A wall of blazing flames shot into the sky, soaring more than ten meters into the air, where it collided violently with the falling clay, unleashing a heat wave of over a thousand degrees.

The clay high in the air was swept by the heat wave, and began to harden and deform. Then, it was carried away by the scorching wind and blown in all directions, like a mudslide rain.

Trees and shrubs began to burn, and the raging fire spread, filling the air with dust and making the space hazy!

The obstruction of vision caused a brief interruption to the assassination rhythm of the Root ninjas around them.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Hikaru activated his Susanoo and charged directly at the Root ninja in front of him, moving as fast as an arrow released from a bow!

boom!!

Another loud bang echoed as one of the Root members' Dragon Fire Techniques struck Susanoo, then swiftly split to either side. A burst of crimson flames quickly ignited the surrounding trees, turning them into a sea of ​​fire.

Faced with these escaping attacks, Uchiha Hikaru didn't even bother to dodge, directly shattering them with a head-on collision while simultaneously forming hand seals:

"The Technique of Seeing Naraku!"

"Fire Release...Extinguishing Flames!"

As Uchiha Hikari opened her mouth, a line of fire shot out, turning into a raging sea of ​​fire that enveloped the space dozens of meters in front of her!

The few Root members guarding this spot were first startled by the terrifying illusion created by the Sharingan's genjutsu. Before they could react further, they were engulfed by the oncoming flames.

On the other side, a Root ninja wielding a long sword charged forward, engaging in fierce close combat. Not far away, another person raised his arms, releasing a dense swarm of insects that rapidly spread out in mid-air. In an instant, it transformed into a massive swarm of insects, like a black storm, swooping down!

"...A member of the Aburame clan?!"

Uchiha Hikaru kicked the Root ninja away in mid-air, then exhaled a burst of flame, scattering the swarm of insects in mid-air. His eyes began searching in several other directions—

With the protection of Susanoo, the ninjutsu of ordinary ninjas was almost meaningless to her; even a dense explosion of explosive tags would only cause minor superficial injuries at most. However, it was a different story with clan ninjas who had mastered the Yin-Yang Release technique. Even being controlled for a fraction of a second could have extremely serious consequences. Although she was fairly confident in her mental strength, Uchiha Hikaru did not want to take the risk.

Now that the Aburame clan has arrived, then...

What about the mountain tribe?

suddenly!

Uchiha Hikaru seemed to sense something, abruptly turning her head to look at what was diagonally behind her. There, dozens of meters away, a Root ninja with orange-yellow hair stood with his thumbs and forefingers pressed together in a heart shape, facing her from behind.

"Secret Technique: Mind Transfer!"

(End of this chapter)