After Minato's proclamation, we fell into silence, while I stared at Minato with an expression of disbelief on my face. Minato continued to regard me seriously, however.

"You're serious?" I questioned him in a doubtful tone, before looking away. "Namikaze-sama, I don't know what you've heard, but I'm pretty much a nobody. I mean, sure, I'm good at Ninjutsu, but I wouldn't say I'm that significant."

"I'm being completely serious, Uchiha-san," Minato replied, eyes regarding me thoughtfully, before he looked down.

I stared at him while he looked down, deep in thought. For some reason, Minato thought I was significant enough for Iwa to want to capture me. It was weird to be held in such regard by such a Legendary Ninja, and part of me wondered if he was right. After all, Iwa had ranked me as S rank.

But then I reminded myself that such thoughts could lead to hubris, and hubris could get me killed if I let it get the better of me. I had vowed to never underestimate my enemies, and even if told otherwise, I would never regard myself as truly significant. Minato might have some wise words to say, but I would certainly take them with a huge grain of salt.

"Tell me, Uchiha-san," Minato spoke up suddenly, regarding me seriously again. "Do you know why you're called 'The Escape Artist'?"

"Yes," I nodded, narrowing my eyes. "They call me that because I've escaped a great many sticky situations in my career, situations that would have killed other ninja. And because I've been sent on two so-called suicide missions and survived to make it back to the village."

"But that's not the whole reason, is it?" Minato asked pointedly. "You may have survived missions that more average ninja would have, but there's more to it than that."

"Well I certainly didn't entitle myself 'the Escape Artist," I replied dryly. "I'd like to believe I'm not that arrogant. Is there some point you're trying to make?"

Minato gave me a wry smile. "I'll get to the point in a moment. You are known for escaping a great many sticky situations and a few suicide missions, but that would have never happened if you had never developed your famous escape techniques. Truthfully, however, what you're really known for, in Konoha at least, is your willingness to share those techniques you've created with others, which is a rare trait in a ninja, I might add."

"I suppose," I replied with a frown. "I… chose to make it a habit to teach my escape techniques to anyone that asks, on the condition that they teach them to others as well. I chose to do this for private reasons that I'm not willing to discuss right now. But what has that got to do with anything?"

"Well, what it seems you haven't taken into account, Uchiha-san, is what the cumulative effect your escape techniques have had on the Leaf Ninja survival rate," Minato turned serious again. "In the past year alone, more Leaf ninja have survived failed missions and suicide missions than in the previous five years combined. Due to your techniques spreading far and wide among the Leaf, the ninja survival rate in Konoha has more than doubled."

"I was not aware that knowledge of my techniques had spread so far and wide," I admitted, before frowning. "But what had that got to do with Iwa targeting me?"

"It's because of the increased survival rate of the Leaf," Minato explained in a calm tone. "While the survival rate in the Leaf has increased, the same is not true for the other villages. This has… unfortunate political implications, in that Konoha now has a larger pool of ninja to draw from for missions than the other villages do. Additionally, that pool is expected to grow even larger as time passes, due to the surviving ninja marrying and having children. For these reasons, the other villages are now desperate get their hands on these new escape techniques you've developed, for fear of being out competed and outpaced by Konoha in the long term."

"But… wouldn't they have been able to re-construct the techniques by now?" I questioned, my mind reeling from what Minato had just told me. I had never expected my techniques to be considered that important. "I mean, the principles behind most of them are fairly simple, from stuff you learn in the academy."

"No," Minato shook his head. "From your perspective, the principles that govern how your techniques work seem simple and obvious, but from the perspective of ninja who had never considered such things, your techniques seem frightening and esoteric. I mean, who would guess that your teleport string ability is based on the Transformation technique of all things? Not even I could figure that out until someone explained it to me."

"Well, it's… not that hard," I blinked. "I was just applying the principles that underline old techniques to create new ones."

"Well… sometimes, that's all it takes," Minato replied with a smile, before looking serious again. "Unfortunately, it seems that Iwa has figured out that a properly set up barrier will cancel out most of your escape techniques, and it seems likely that the creation of barriers will become routine in future confrontations between Leaf shinobi and the other villages. Unless… you have another escape technique that you've been holding in reserve, one that can get pass barriers?"

He was giving me a considering look, so I glared at him, annoyed that he had figured me out. "You're right, I do. Unfortunately, it's dependent on my bloodline, so it wouldn't work for the average ninja."

"I see," Minato wore his serious look again. "Well… you have my condolences for the loss of your teammates, and my appreciation for taking the time to try and rescue them. Most ninja wouldn't have dared."

"Thank you," I nodded, before looking away.

He nodded back, then stood up to walk back up the ravine and speak with his teammates, leaving me to stew in my thoughts.

If Minato was right, it meant that I was basically responsible for the death of my team, and I wasn't sure how to deal with that. I had barely known any of them; we'd largely only teamed up for the courier mission, and they had been two people I had slowly been getting to know over the past two weeks.

And now both of them were dead and Toyokuni was crippled, possibly for life. They had been people with their own social lives, hopes, dreams, and ambitions, people who were alive… and now they were dead, or crippled. And at most all I could feel about it was ashamed that I didn't feel the least bit sad. Maybe it was a symptom of having already lost so many people I cared about in this war, but I couldn't bring myself to feel even a twinge of grief.

Of course, it wasn't my fault that Iwa had decided to send that ambush team, and it wasn't my fault that the team leader had told me to get out and carry on with the mission. But with the revelation that I was the one the ambush team had most likely been looking to capture, I couldn't help but feel at least partly responsible.

But I was starting to feel something else now, now that I thought about it. I was starting to feel angry.

Who the hell were they, killing and torturing teammates under my care? Why the hell would they bother, if they were targeting me? Part of me regretted having killed them so quickly. I would have loved the chance to make them pay

With a sigh, I stood up and walked up the ravine myself, coming to a standstill besides Minato. It seemed that Tsuga was still in the process of healing Toyokuni. Ueda was still standing guard over them.

"Tsuga has informed me that your teammate will require an extensive healing session before she's completely sure it's safe to move him," Minato spoke up from beside me. "She has estimated it will take at least half an hour."

"As far as I can tell, Namikaze-sama, you're a higher rank than me," I replied while looking at Toyokuni as Tsuga healed him. "I defer to you as team leader. As I've said before, my teammate and I are in your care."

"Thank you," Minato nodded, before turning to look at Ueda. "Ueda, I want you and Nagata to say here with Tsuga while she heals Uchiha-san's teammate. I'm going to take Uchiha-san and check out the hidden bunker. We shouldn't be gone more than two hours at the most, but if morning comes and we haven't come back, I want the four of you to leave us behind and retreat to the boarder. Do you understand?"

"Yes, senpai," Ueda nodded seriously.

"Follow me, Uchiha-san," Minato said to me.

I nodded, and we both body-flickered out of the ravine.

Moving at ninja speed, it didn't take us long to get to the hidden bunker. As we grew nearer, I directed Minato to a secluded spot that was at a fairly high elevation, where we could observe the entrance to the hidden bunker, hopefully without detection.

When we got there, Minato took out a pair of small binoculars from one of his belt bags, and used it to observe the entrance.

"Hmm, there's something that's definitely off about those guards," Minato commented after a few minutes. "I'm not sure what exactly, it's more of a feeling I'm getting."

"Yes," I nodded. "I noticed a few particular details seemed… off. Their build, their walk, the way they smelled-"

"You can smell them from up here?" Minato asked me in surprise.

"No, I used a long range reconnaissance technique called the sensory string," I corrected. "Olfactory sense is included in it."

"Sounds interesting," Minato commented, before raising the binoculars to get another look. "Can this sensory string technique of yours be used to recon the inside of the base?"

"Perhaps," I replied thoughtfully, raising a hand to grasp my chin. "But the string would have to go a good distance, and there would be a good risk of detection if there are chakra sensors in there. I'm not sure it would be wise."

Minato lowered the binoculars and regarded the entrance thoughtfully for a few minutes. "Hmm… we need to find out if there are any survivors in there, and recover any intelligence that hasn't already been removed, which would require a direct confrontation.

"However, I am disinclined to do such a thing in such special circumstances as the ones we are in now. It may be wiser to return to Konoha using the Flying Thunder God technique and assemble a larger team, then return using the same technique, and take out the hidden bunker then."

"Could you not use your Flying Thunder God technique and take them all out now?" I asked curiously.

"Probably not. I could very easily take out the ninja guarding the entrance, but trying to use it in the bunker itself, with no recon, minimal lighting, and potential traps set up in advance… it wouldn't be smart," Minato corrected me, still regarding the entrance. "I can be fast, but I still have to throw the Kunai."

"There may be another option," I said after considering his words for a moment. "I have a technique that can instantly reconnoiter the whole area. If I use it, I can then use my Art of the Dancing Arc technique to eliminate the opposing force. After that, we should be able to complete the rest of the mission with ease."

"Oh? How does this technique work?" Minato asked curiously.

"Er, It's… kind of a secret," I replied awkwardly. "It's related to my bloodline. Fugaku Uchiha, my clan head, wouldn't want me to tell you."

"Oh, so it's a secret Uchiha technique?" Minato asked in surprise. "I haven't heard of a technique like that before, and I've worked with many Uchiha."

"I'd be surprised if you had," I nodded. "I'm the only one who can use it. It's unique to me."

Minato shot me a puzzled expression and I sighed. "It's a quirk of my bloodline. I'd tell you all about it, but I'm not supposed to."

Minato looked down, frowning in thought, before looking back at me. "Are you certain this will work? This isn't some untested new technique you've been developing?"

"Absolutely," I nodded, before frowning. "Unfortunately I can't use it too often, cause if I do, I'll go blind. It's an unfortunate side effect, so I usually hold this technique in reserve."

Minato frowned. "But if that's the case, why suggest this alternate plan if you want to avoid going blind? We can still go back to Konoha and get a bigger team to deal with this."

"We could," I acknowledged. "But if we do it my way, no one else has to risk their lives. Compared to that, I can live with a little impaired vision for a while. Besides, I'd like nothing more than to give those rock-fuckers a piece of my mind. My dead teammates deserve that much."

"I think I know what you mean," Minato nodded consideringly."Alright, if you want to try and take out the bunker, I won't get in your way. You have one shot at this. I don't know much about your Art of the Dancing Arc technique, but if it works as you claim, we shouldn't have much to worry about. If things turn out for the worse, we'll retreat and use the Flying Thunder God to return to Konoha. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "I'll reconnoiter the area and inform you as to how many targets there are, and if there are any friendlies left in the bunker. Then I'm going to have to ask you to retreat at least ten meters away so I don't run the risk of accidentally electrocuting you. I'll know when the technique is over if all targets have been eliminated, and will inform you if that is the case. Also, I suggest you do something to protect your eardrums. Being so close to the source of a thunder-clap can burst them from the sound if you're not careful."

Minato nodded seriously. "Very well."

I gave him a grim smile, then turned to observe the entrance of the hidden bunker. Activating my Mangekyo Sharingan, I closed both of my eyes while I molded the chakra for my Ugayafukiaezu technique. Ugayafukiaezu was a lot like the Byakugan, in that it gave me a kind of X-ray vision, allowing me to see through everything. However, it was much more limited then the Byakugan, as it didn't give me 360 vision, and I couldn't see the chakra pathway system, only the presence of chakra.

In a few seconds, I memorized the entire layout of the bunker, and noticed that the entrance had been trapped with bombs made of explosive clay, hidden the ceiling and walls. It was probably there to collapse the entrance on command.

With the sharingan's normal abilities I memorized the number and position of Iwa nin, being careful to note exactly where they were in the bunker so that it would be easier to target them with Art of the Dancing Arc. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it) it seemed that there were no friendlies in the bunker.

I turned to Minato to report what I had found. "18 hostiles, no remaining friendlies."

He gave me a short nod, then body-flickered out of the area, and I turned and started making preparations for my Art of the Dancing Arc technique:

First, I decided to enclose the area in an anti-detection barrier, as the technique would emit a lot of light when I was charging it up.

Second, I quickly made the mental calculations on how much charge would be needed to complete the technique, and how much chakra would be needed to properly perform the technique.

Third, I molded the chakra necessary for the technique that would properly guide the Dancing Arc once it was released: The technique in question was similar to the shadow clone, in that it would create a chakra based mind that would control the technique from within. This was an unfortunate necessity, as the lightning bolt moved too fast to try and guide it from outside of it. The chakra based mind would perceive the outside world in slow motion, and would be able to guide the technique into hitting the intended targets, instead of something useless, like a wall or a friendly ninja. Once it was done, I stored the finished technique in my core, ready to be injected into the charge at the right time.

Finally: I molded the chakra for the protective techniques that would prevent me from getting electrocuted or flash-fried from the heat, and prevent my ear drums from bursting.

Preparations complete, I molded the chakra for the technique proper, turning the molded chakra into lightning nature chakra, splitting it, and sending it to the tips of my index fingers. Technique ready for charging, I began to carefully move my index fingers around my body in concentric patterns, and where the tips of my index fingers moved through the air, lightning seemed to appear, dragging in the air.

What the technique was doing was separating charged particles of different polarities in the air, concentrating them around the fingertips and generating a hopefully stable electric charge in the finger tips of both hands. However, for the end stage of the technique to work properly, one finger-tip had to be positively charged, while the other had to be negatively charged. For this reason, I had to be extremely careful not to bring them too close together until I was ready, as the magnetic force could being them crashing into each other, causing my hands to smash into an explosion of gore.

Finally, I felt I had built up enough charge to begin the next stage of the technique: bringing the tips of my fingers together and concentrating the electric charge into a single point, all without it discharging prematurely.

I infused my arms with as much chakra as I could spare, and then slowly began to bring the tips of my index fingers together. I had to move slowly, as moving too quickly could cause me to miss the mark and let my hands crash into each other. With painstaking, agonizing slowness, I brought the tips of my index fingers together, and started concentrating the charge.

It was a struggle to keep my index fingers one inch apart, my muscles protesting loudly at the effort, and I closed my eyes to avoid being blinded by the brilliant light.

Carefully, I wrapped the two concentrated polarities of electric charge in a blanket of chakra to keep it from emitting too much light and heat, then injected the pre-prepaired guidance technique, along with whatever extra chakra I had to spare, into the blanket of chakra. It took a few moments, but eventually the guidance technique took full control over the concentrated charge, keeping them separate, and I was able to release my own control over it, and I no longer had to struggle to hold my hands apart.

Finally, it was ready. Now all that was left to do was release it.

Opening my eyes, I held up the ball of concentrated electricity to observe it. It resembled two miniature suns that orbited each other, with magnetic fields and everything, and was too bright to look at for long.

Activating my Sharingan and looking down towards the entrance to the hidden bunker, I spied the primary target I had planned to perform the technique upon. Then I aimed the miniature suns at them, and sent a small pulse of chakra into the guidance technique to let it know it was time.

What fallowed was a tremendous thunder-clap and a brilliant flash of light. Then it was all over.

A moment later I received the memories from the guidance technique.

"Well?" asked Minato from besides me. It seemed he had come back after he realized I had completed the technique.

I grinned grimly at him. "All targets… eliminated."