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Chapter 50
'Damn… it really hurts. Why isn't Little Sakyo coming over yet?'
'Ugh, the Mangekyō awakening is way too slow! I regret this!'
All around, a large number of Root ninjas had already gathered.
Naruto couldn't even estimate the rough count anymore.
The Root captain and vice-captain were arguing fiercely. The additional captains who had rushed over were also quarreling.
They had just received a message through the communication ninja: Uchiha Itachi was on his way here.
If they moved too slowly, the plan would fail.
But the whole point of this so-called plan was to push Sakyo into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. Now that they could achieve the final goal directly, why weren't they willing to wait just a little longer?
Time dragged on. In the distance, a massive eagle-like summoning beast flew toward them at unimaginable speed.
On the beast's back, Tenraku Kumo gazed down with ice-cold eyes.
The competition site, which took the academy students dozens of hours to reach, she had arrived in less than one hour.
Ten or so minutes later, Tenraku Kumo landed from the giant eagle.
After seeing the scene, she frowned: "What's going on here?"
Beside her, a Root captain explained: "Uchiha Sakyo is about to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. They're arguing over it."
"Hmph…" Tenraku Kumo looked at the scene coldly.
Truthfully, she didn't care at all about Root's goals, or about the so-called Uchiha Sakyo and Uzumaki Naruto.
All she wanted was for her parents to come home.
Nothing else mattered to Tenraku Kumo.
That's right—she didn't originally have the surname Tenraku…
In the beginning, her family was just a very ordinary household in Konoha—not particularly outstanding, not particularly down-and-out either.
The three of them lived happily together. But after Root discovered her, they took her parents hostage, forced her to use the Tenraku surname, forced her through brutal training, and made her enter the academy to impersonate a member of the Tenraku family.
The only reason she endured all of it was her parents.
For these past few years, all communication between Tenraku Kumo and her parents had been through letters.
She also regularly sent them photos of herself.
But who knew whether Root had swapped those photos?
Thinking of Kabuto Yakushi and Uchiha Sakyo's experiences, a sarcastic smile curled at the corner of Tenraku Kumo's mouth.
Root's methods really were eerily consistent…
…
In the middle of the field, the Root members finally couldn't wait any longer.
Sakyo had her head lowered, doing who-knows-what. Ten or so minutes had passed with no movement at all.
It looked like she was stalling!
Under these circumstances, Root wasn't willing to wait anymore. They decided to go with the more conservative original plan…
Replace Uchiha Sakyo's eyes with ordinary ones. Danzō had even specially selected a pair of eyes whose pupils weren't black.
That way, Uchiha Itachi could instantly tell whether the girl in front of him was the real Uchiha Sakyo… or Tenraku Kumo.
Several medical ninjas rushed forward quickly. From a distance, someone formed seals on the spot: "Shadow Imitation Technique!"
A black shadow shot toward Sakyo. Under the moonlight, the Shadow Imitation Technique was even harder to notice.
Naruto, still lying face-down on the ground, let out a small sigh in his heart: Fine, no more waiting.
If they waited any longer, his Little Sakyo would be in real danger.
Sure enough… it really was too forced.
Forcing Sakyo—only eleven years old—to awaken the Mangekyō was honestly too cruel.