Yagami sprinted through the rugged mountains and dense forests, pushing his stamina to its limit. He couldn't afford to stay away from the main camp for too long, or Yellow Dog and the headquarters would become suspicious.
He soon reached the coordinates twenty kilometers southeast of the Land of Whirlpools' capital. Finding the cavern entrance quickly, he performed hand signs: "Summoning Jutsu!"
With a puff of white smoke, the Stone Panda, Shiroji, appeared.
"Shiroji," Yagami commanded, "Reverse summon Yuka Uzumaki. I have urgent business with her."
Shiroji raised a thick, furry, stubby paw. His clumsy-looking fingers moved with unexpected dexterity, completing the signs in a blur. Following another burst of smoke, Yuka Uzumaki appeared.
Despite it being the middle of the night, Yuka was dressed in full combat gear. It seemed she lived in a state of constant readiness, prepared to lead the remnants of the Uzumaki clan into flight even in her sleep.
"Fox?"
Yuka pounced forward with excitement, wrapping her arms around Yagami's neck. Yagami pulled down his mask and kissed her neck softly before whispering:
"Yuka, I'm afraid I didn't bring you here for intimacy. I've obtained intelligence. Danzo Shimura captured the Uzumaki Guardians of the Land of Whirlpools' Daimyo. They are likely being held in this cave for sealing jutsu experiments. We are going to rescue them."
Yuka stared at the dark cavern in shock. "Guardians? The Daimyo's Guardians are here? My... my father was one of them. Is he still alive?"
Yagami paused, then said, "Let's go inside and find out."
He pulled two black cloth masks from his pouch, gesturing for Yuka to wear one. The Fox mask was too recognizable; when doing "dirty work," it was better to use something generic.
The two leaped toward the cave entrance. Yuka swept her gaze over it and immediately stated, "It's a fake. A sealing barrier has been placed here; it's a phantom entrance."
She slammed her palms onto the ground. The space before them distorted, the visual illusion shattering to reveal a solid wall plastered with explosive tags. Had they rushed in, they would have been blown to pieces. The real entrance lay behind the trapped wall.
"It's an Uzumaki Secret Sealing Technique called 'The Barrier of Not-Here.' When I cracked it, I layered another fake barrier over it. The people inside shouldn't realize the seal has been swapped."
Yagami nodded; Yuka's sealing skills were growing formidable. She formed another set of signs and used a summoning jutsu. White smoke cleared to reveal nothing at all. It wasn't until a long tongue flicked out that Yagami realized she had summoned a Camouflage Lizard. The two climbed into the lizard's mouth and slipped into the cavern.
The tunnel was pitch black at first, but after a bend, two ninja appeared guarding the passage. They saw nothing—until a massive lizard mouth opened directly in front of them. The Self-Curse Binding Seal crawled up their bodies from the ground, silencing them before they could even gasp. Dragged into the lizard's maw, the guards were dead within seconds.
Passing through several more defensive lines, they finally reached a central hall.
The hall contained twelve glass cultivation vats, six on each side, corresponding to the twelve Guardians. In the first six vats, there were only "disassembled" people. These Guardians had been vivisected—limbs suspended in fluid, torsos missing, replaced by exposed organs bobbing in the nutrient solution. Some still had heads; others did not.
The next two vats held two twisted, floating brains.
The two vats following those contained whole people. They were still alive, their shallow breathing creating rows of bubbles that floated toward the surface. On a surgical table in the center, two more bodies were currently being dissected.
Yagami grabbed Yuka's hand. Her body was shaking violently. Between the vats and the tables, more than a dozen researchers were busy at work. Behind the vats stood high shelves lined with scrolls—the research data Root had compiled.
Yagami sent out several shadow clones from the lizard's mouth. They landed in various corners of the hall, instantly releasing the Self-Curse Binding Seal. Over twenty people in the laboratory were frozen in place. He had to use the least destructive method to save any surviving Uzumaki. Sealing jutsu was the perfect tool.
Yagami gripped his kunai, hurling them with precision at the researchers. The metallic rattle of Adamantine Sealing Chains rang out as Yuka also moved for the kill, her chains piercing the researchers' chests. In a short span of time, Yagami and Yuka killed everyone in the room.
Yagami stepped to Yuka's side. "Yuka, guard the door in case there are other sentries in the base. I'll handle the hall. When I'm finished, you can turn around, okay?"
"O-okay..."
The more Yuka hoped her father was alive, the less she could handle these horrific images. She stood with her back to the hall, staring at the entrance. Soon, she began to sob quietly.
Yagami checked the vats. The two whole people were alive, merely unconscious; they were the "spares" for the experiments and were in no immediate danger.
Of the two on the tables, one was dead. The other still had a flickering spark of life. This man was missing his liver, gallbladder, and stomach, kept alive only by the nutrient tubes. A secret technique was a "secret" because the chakra pathways were unique; thus, they had dissected his muscles and organs to map the flow.
"Daughter... daughter..."
Yagami froze. The worst-case scenario had manifested.
The middle-aged man on the table, barely clinging to life, turned his head. His eyes were filled with terror and hope as he looked toward Yuka's back. Terror that this was a pre-death hallucination. Hope that he might see her one last time.
Yagami quickly covered the man's mangled body with a white cloth, leaving only his head visible. He flickered to Yuka's side and gently carried the trembling girl to the table.
The moment Yuka saw the man's face, she broke into a wail.
"My dear Daughter... you're alive... thank god..."
"Father! Father!"
Yuka glanced at her father's body, and seeing the horrific sunken hollowness of his chest beneath the cloth, she understood instantly.
"Don't be afraid, Yuka. To see you before I go... I have no regrets." Her father experienced a final surge of clarity, his speech becoming rapid. "The Four Symbols Seal, the Adamantine Chains, the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal... they didn't get the most important ones. Come closer, I will tell you everything."
Yuka had already possessed a portion of the Uzumaki secrets from a scroll she took when escaping the village. After listening to her father's final, hurried instructions, she stayed with him until he slowly closed his eyes forever.
Yagami knelt and pulled Yuka into his arms.
This girl of misfortune. This clan of misfortune.
Yuka's shoulders were small and frail, and the hand clutching her father's cold fingers wouldn't stop shaking. Yagami's eyes burned. He thought to himself, 'I'm not going to cry over this, am I?'
He wasn't some soft-hearted saint. How could he cry?
When he opened his eyes again, they had transformed into the two-tomoe Sharingan.
Yagami had always planned to use the system to upgrade his Sharingan through an Uchiha's eyes. He never expected that he, too, would experience a day where his spirit was so violently provoked.
***
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