The Uchiha clan, which was wiped out entirely, lacked vision.

Chapter 9 Operation Objective Changed: Kill the Jinchuriki

Yamanaka Kaze circled around to the front of Susanoo and gave Aburame Ryoma a wink. Aburame Ryoma immediately leaped forward, flicked his sleeves, and released all the parasitic insects at the same time, which pounced on Susanoo, completely blocking Itachi Uchiha's vision.

Meanwhile, another Root ninja was hiding in a blind spot, rapidly forming hand seals.

"Earth Release: Heart-Slaying Decapitation Technique!"

At the same time, Shan Zhongfeng quickly formed hand seals.

"Secret Technique: Mind Transfer!"

This time, however, his secret technique only worked for a moment. It only made Itachi Uchiha's head spin slightly before he was thrown out, coughing up blood, and was quickly retreated by his companions.

However, that was enough time. The earth-style ninja had already broken through the Susanoo's defenses from underground and emerged from the ground. The short sword in his hand gleamed coldly and had already cut into "Uchiha Itachi's" neck.

"We succeeded!"

Ignoring the blood gushing from his mouth, Yamanaka Fu stared intently at his Earth Release companion, waiting for him to sever Itachi's head with a single strike.

But to everyone's surprise, Itachi Uchiha merely glanced down at him casually, and his Earth Release companion froze in place, still in the motion of swinging his sword, completely still.

"Heh..." Uchiha An chuckled coldly, "No enemy dares to raise their head before the Uchiha!"

After saying that, he casually drew a short sword from his waist, and with a light swipe, beheaded the earth-style ninja.

Under the immense pressure of the carotid artery, the Earth Release ninja's head, propelled by blood from his neck, shot skyward, tumbling through the air as it burst out of Susanoo's abdominal cavity, heading straight for Aburame Ryoma.

Aburame Ryoma instinctively reached out and took his companion's head. With his eyes lowered, he met his companion's unseeing gaze, only to see a pair of blood-red Sharingan eyes.

"Oh no! It's a Sharingan genjutsu!"

Aburame Ryoma hurriedly activated the insects within his body to break the illusion, while simultaneously throwing his hands outwards to throw away the head of his comrade, who had become the medium of the enemy's illusion, but unfortunately it was too late.

It was only a moment's delay before Susanoo's attack arrived.

The colossal energy palm, overwhelming everything, pressed down with the force of thunder, encompassing human heads and insects alike, covering Aburame Ryoma's body.

With a muffled "thud," the oil maiden Longma was smashed into a bloody pulp, blood splattering everywhere and covering the ground within a radius of about ten feet.

"Ryoma!" Upon seeing Ryoma Aburame's tragic death, Yamanaka Fu cried out in shock.

Within Root, Yamanaka Fu and Aburame Torune were Danzo's most valued right-hand men. While Aburame Ryoma was not as strong as Aburame Torune, his loyalty had been tested over time, and he would inevitably become an elite ninja of Root sooner or later.

But now, the rising star he had the best hopes for had fallen here, which made Shan Zhongfeng feel extremely heartbroken.

"Haha..." Seeing Yamanaka Fu's pained and regretful expression, Uchiha An felt a surge of joy and couldn't help but cover his forehead with one hand and burst into laughter.

"You can all see the defensive gaps under Susanoo's feet, do you think I wouldn't know?"

"You damned fleas!"

"If it were a direct confrontation, killing you wouldn't be so easy for me."

"I don't have that much time to drag things out with you guys. The best way, of course, is to dig a hole and wait for you to jump in yourself!"

"Yama no Kaze, you devised this battle plan, didn't you?"

"When you were formulating the battle plan, didn't you ever consider that it might be a trap?"

"How does it feel to lose your companions?"

"what?"

"Ha ha……"

"Damn it!" Yamanaka Fu's eyes widened in fury, and in his anger, he coughed up several more mouthfuls of blood.

His only remaining companion behind him hurriedly whispered words of comfort:

"Lord Yamanaka, the Root ninjas will all face this day sooner or later. We have long been prepared for our demise, and we will never have any complaints about it."

"This is not Lord Yamanaka's fault. Please do not lose your composure."

"We still have a mission to complete. Please continue to devise new operational plans, even if it means using me as bait."

"Everything is for Lord Danzo!"

Yamanaka Kaze took a few deep breaths, scanned the battlefield with his eyes, and quickly realized that it was impossible for the two of them to complete the mission of retrieving the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki on their own.

Therefore, after only a brief moment of thought, Shan Zhongfeng simply changed the mission content.

"The mission to retrieve the Jinchuriki is already very difficult to complete. Perhaps we can change the mission to kill the Jinchuriki and release the Nine-Tails."

"Even if the Nine-Tails caused some damage to the Land of Fire, as long as it remains in the country, the sealing team will be able to reseal it once they arrive."

"In that case, the battle plan is to be changed."

"Feign an attack on Uchiha Itachi, look for an opportunity to kill the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and release the Tailed Beast!"

The root has always taken completing the task as its highest principle, and the huge price paid for it is never within their consideration.

So after hearing this, the Root ninja agreed without hesitation.

"I understand, I'll use Earth Release to break in again."

"Killing a comatose Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is easy; one strike is all it takes."

"Please, Lord Yamanaka, buy me some more time and don't let Itachi Uchiha interfere with me."

Yamanaka Kaze wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and nodded emphatically.

"You can focus on killing, even if I risk my life, I will never give Uchiha Itachi a chance to stop you."

The two of them started running around Susanoo again, one after the other.

This time, without Aburame Ryoma to distract them, they simply went ahead and took matters into their own hands.

The wind in the mountains turned to face Susanoo and initiated a Fire Release technique.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Although he is most skilled in Yin Escape, he can use other escape techniques as well, but he is not as proficient in them.

Under the cover of the raging flames, his companions circled behind Susanoo and began to use Earth Release to launch a surprise attack from underground.

"Ha, what a boring trick!"

After absorbing all of the Uchiha's memories and emotions, the Uchiha clan's arrogance was also incorporated into Uchiha An's soul.

Although he knew that the enemy's renewed attack must have some other scheme, he remained confident.

In a sense, ninja battles are battles of intelligence. With such thorough knowledge of the enemy, Uchiha An had no reason to lose.

He simply didn't believe that the two people on the other end had any right to hurt him!

However, the enemy's target was not him at all.

When Uchiha An saw the Earth Release ninja burst from the ground and charge towards Naruto Uzumaki lying on the ground, swinging his sword, he knew he had miscalculated.

"How dare you!" he shouted angrily, and was about to rush forward to help when he suddenly felt dizzy, and that annoying mountain wind came to bother him again.

Yamanaka Kaze, who was risking his life, had an unprecedentedly strong interference this time. Although he had quickly expelled the chakra from his body, it was too late. When he looked up again, he saw that the earth-style ninja's knife had already heavily slashed at Naruto's neck.