I grabbed Miyako's arm before she could argue. "Go. Now."
She hesitated for half a second. Her Sharingan met mine. Then she nodded. Her chakra flared and she used Body Flicker toward the western tree line. She dragged Toshiro and Sayuri with her. They disappeared into the smoke.
"Stop them!" Shimura Kaze's voice cut through the chaos.
Three Shimura shinobi broke from the circle with chakra gathering around their feet.
I spun and threw three shuriken at them.
One Shimura deflected them with a swipe of his kunai.
Amanai stepped forward. His good hand formed seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A massive sphere of flame erupted and rolled into the pursuers' path. It was fifteen feet wide and scorched the air itself.
Two split apart and went left and right around the fireball. The third dropped low and slid beneath it.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" Kenozo slammed his hands on the ground.
A wall of earth shot up to cut them off.
One Shimura changed direction mid-stride and leaped over the wall. The other two hit it running. "Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Two spinning spheres of compressed air punched clean through Kenozo's barrier. The wall crumbled. They passed through without losing speed.
"Damn it!" I sprinted after them, but a kunai whistled past my ear. I jerked back. A Sarutobi jonin was in my face with his tanto drawn.
I barely got my kunai up in time. Steel clashed against steel.
"Forget about them," the Sarutobi said. "You've got your own problems."
He was right.
The remaining enemies—Kaze, Sasuke, and twelve shinobi—turned their full attention to us.
"Kill them," Kaze said.
They came at us like a wave.
The Sarutobi thrust his tanto at my throat. I twisted sideways. The blade scraped across my shoulder guard. Before I could counter, a kick slammed into my side from a second attacker.
The impact lifted me off my feet. I hit the ground hard and rolled. I came up in a crouch.
Two more were already on me.
I threw a kunai at the closest one. He deflected it. I charged forward and closed distance before they could coordinate.
The first swung at my head. I ducked under his arm and drove my palm into his elbow. The joint hyperextended with a crack. He screamed. I grabbed his collar and spun. I threw him into the second attacker.
They both stumbled.
A third came from my blind side. I sensed the displacement of air and dropped flat. A sword whistled over my head. I swept my leg out and caught his ankle. He fell.
I lunged onto him with my kunai raised.
An explosion threw me sideways. The shockwave sent me tumbling through ash and debris.
My ears rang. My vision swam, then cleared instantly.
I stood slowly. My wounds had healed, but they were hidden beneath clothing, dirt, and enemy blood.
Across the clearing, Amanai was surrounded by four enemies. His dislocated shoulder hung at a wrong angle. He could only use one arm, but he fought like a cornered wolf.
A Shimura swung a wind-enhanced blade. Amanai ducked under it and drove his kunai into the man's kidney. The Shimura gasped and fell.
Another came from behind. A sword slash caught Amanai across the back. The cut was deep. Blood sprayed. Amanai's legs buckled.
"Amanai!" Kenozo's voice cracked.
The old Uchiha was fighting five at once. He moved like a wild beast, but his body was too slow and too wounded to keep up.
A kunai punched into his side. Kenozo grabbed the attacker's wrist and headbutted him. The man's nose shattered. Kenozo's kunai found the gap under the jaw and punched up into the brain.
But he was bleeding from a dozen wounds. Each breath sounded wet and labored.
"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
A dragon-shaped fireball erupted from Kenozo's mouth at point-blank range and consumed two more enemies. They fell screaming with their armor melting to skin.
The effort cost him everything. Kenozo collapsed to one knee and clutched his side. Blood poured between his fingers.
The two remaining enemies around him moved in for the kill.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Stone spikes erupted beneath them and impaled them through legs and torso. They died gurgling.
Kenozo stood motionless. His chest rose and fell irregularly with his eyes losing their light. A tanto pierced through his back.
I tried to rush toward him.
A Sarutobi blocked my path with his tanto already swinging.
I deflected with my kunai. It shattered.
He pressed his attack. Thrust. Slash. Thrust. I blocked and dodged. I gave ground.
He overextended on a thrust. I caught his wrist and twisted. Bone cracked. While he screamed, I drove his tanto into his throat. Blood sprayed hot across my face.
Two more were already there. A fist came at me. I tilted my head.
A kick came to my stomach. I twisted and the kick passed by. A knee came up toward my face. I stopped it with my palm.
I squeezed the knee and slowly revealed my strength. The kneecap shattered into pieces.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
I formed seals and exhaled a stream of fire. The one with the broken knee was hit directly. It forced the other two attackers to scatter.
Across the clearing, Amanai was still fighting. He'd propped himself against a broken tree and used it for support. His back was slashed open. His right arm hung useless. He held a kunai in his trembling left hand.
Three enemies closed in on him.
Sarutobi Sasuke walked toward him slowly with his staff resting on his shoulder.
Panic washed over me.
I tried to run toward them. A Sarutobi blocked my path. I threw a punch. He tried to catch it, but even without using all my strength, the punch broke through and smashed his face with a sickening crunch. He dropped dead.
Through the chaos, I saw it happen.
Two jonin reached Amanai first. One kicked the kunai from his weak grip. The other grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.
Amanai's Sharingan met my eyes across the battlefield.
He smiled slightly. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. He mouthed two words.
"Thank you."
Sasuke arrived. He raised his staff above his head with both hands gripping it.
I moved.
The world slowed. My body blurred across the distance—faster than I'd moved all battle. I moved faster than any shinobi should move.
My hand shot up and caught the staff mid-swing.
The impact echoed across the clearing. The staff stopped dead. Sasuke's eyes went wide.
Complete silence fell.
Everyone stared.
I stood between Sasuke and Amanai with the massive staff caught in my palm. My arm didn't shake. It didn't bend.
Sasuke pulled. The staff didn't budge.
"What—" Sasuke's voice caught.
Amanai's eyes were wide behind me. "Muzan... how..."
I looked back at him. Blood poured from a dozen wounds. His breathing was shallow and wet. He was dying.
"Amanai, don't die yet," I said quietly. "What I'm about to do—it's my way of repaying you for your teachings."
A Sarutobi jumped at me from the side.
My hand shot out—faster than I'd moved before. I grabbed his throat. His eyes went wide. He tried to block and tried to pull away.
I squeezed. His windpipe collapsed. He clawed at my hand and choked with his eyes bulging.
I threw him. He crashed into another Sarutobi. Both went down in a tangle of limbs.
A Shimura came at me with a wind-enhanced blade. I didn't dodge. I stepped into the strike and took the cut across my ribs. The blade sliced deep.
Before blood could pour out, the wound sealed. Flesh knitted together in an instant.
Everyone saw it.
Shock rippled through the clearing.
I grabbed the Shimura's head with both hands. I twisted hard.
His neck snapped.
I released Sasuke's staff and stepped forward. The bodies of my enemies lay scattered around me. Blood covered the ground.
Sasuke's expression had changed completely. The casual confidence was gone. He gripped his staff tighter with his knuckles white. "What are you?"
I didn't answer.
Kaze raised his voice. "Kill him. Now."