Black Zetsu * Unharmed

On the way, Izuna had already come up with a plan.

Control the possessed Senju Hideki and explain to the others that enemy Ninjas or evil forces have manipulated the Senju clan in an attempt to create trouble and undermine Konoha's unity and peaceful image.

Then quickly bring Hideki back and have someone skilled in Sealing Jutsu handle the situation. This way, the crisis can be temporarily resolved without alerting the enemy.

This plan is clear, easy to execute, and can protect Konoha's reputation while ripping off another country—it's practically perfect.

However, just as he witnessed Black Zetsu controlling the body belonging to Senju Hideki in mid-air, his face twisted with a mixture of madness and resentment, about to kill Uchiha Shinya.

All reason was completely consumed by that inexplicable rage!

"Die!!"

Izuna let out a low, hoarse roar.

A pure azure energy longsword, radiating a chilling aura, appeared out of thin air as if it had always been in his hand.

The blade swirled with ominous yet beautiful Chakra flames, and the surrounding air seemed to be slightly distorted by the energy it emitted.

Izuna gripped the blue Light Blade tightly and slashed horizontally at Hideki's body!

Shinya's eyes widened in horror. He thought that Lord Izuna had been blinded by rage and was going to kill Senju Hideki with his own hands.

However, the anticipated scene of carnage and bloodshed did not materialize.

The blue light blade, like a phantom without substance, silently passed through Senju Hideki's body without causing him any physical harm.

But in the Setsuna the light blade swept across...

"Ughhh--!"

A bloodcurdling scream, piercing to the extreme, suddenly erupted from Hideki's body!

A mass of amorphous matter, resembling viscous petroleum, was forcibly peeled from Hideki's body by the blue Light Blade.

Then it was cut in two.

The black substance that had been cut in half actually had yellow eyes and a mouth in part!

He struggled to reassemble himself in mid-air, but the blue Chakra remaining at the wound was like a leech that could not be eliminated.

"Uchiha... Izuna!!" He let out a venomous scream.

One half of it "whooshed" into the ground, while the other half seemed to melt into the shadows of the adjacent wall, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye.

From the moment Izuna appeared, drew his sword, and struck, to Black Zetsu being severely injured and fleeing, the entire process took less than a second.

The surrounding Biwa Hōshi were already terrified, collapsing to the ground or huddled in corners trembling, completely unable to comprehend the supernatural scene before them.

After Black Zetsu left, Senju Hideki swayed, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

Uchiha Shinya clutched his shoulder wound, staring blankly at everything, his mind almost blank.

Lord Izuna... those eyes... that sword... and the patterns on his face... that attack just now...

What exactly happened? And what is that black monster that was cut out of Hideki's body...?

However, Izuna had no time to explain.

His Mangekyō Sharingan fixed on the spot where Black Zetsu had last disappeared. The enhanced natural perception brought by Sage Mode allowed him to clearly see the traces of those two evil Chakras.

Without saying a word, he chased after her.

The peculiar blade repeatedly slashed at the ground, but Black Zetsu's escape speed was astonishing, Izuna couldn't keep up at all.

But an inexplicable anger surged through Izuna's veins like magma, scorching his reason.

At that moment, he had only one thought.

We must not let him get away with this! That persistent ghost, hiding behind the scenes and causing chaos!

"Don't even think about escaping!"

Izuna roared, his body rapidly turning, the blue light blade in his hand condensing once more, slashing at the ground, walls, and any suspicious fluctuations in the shadows with a piercing shriek as it tore through the air!

"Boom!" "Sizzle!" "Crack!"

The streets of Kyoto were devastated.

The hard bluestone pavement was easily cut into deep trenches, the roadside walls were hacked open with huge gaps, and the shop signs and lanterns were shredded to pieces by the escaping blade energy.

The place it passed through was a scene of utter devastation, as if it had been plowed by an invisible behemoth.

Strangely, apart from the buildings and streets, no living thing suffered any real harm.

Even some civilians who were paralyzed with fear and caught in the trajectory of the light blade were not injured at all; instead, they trembled as the blade swept across them.

The paleness on his face from the shock quickly faded, his eyes regained their Seimei, as if some invisible pressure had been suddenly lifted from his body, and even his breathing became much easier.

They touched their perfectly intact bodies in bewilderment, completely unaware of what had happened.

But Izuna was completely unaware of all of this.

His eyes were fixed on the fleeing, utterly loathsome darkness.

Black Zetsu was also utterly horrified at this moment.

It had never encountered anything like this before! How could Uchiha Izuna know of its existence?

How could it possess such a bizarre power that could directly harm its own body?

The energy on that blue Light Blade possessed a purifying and destructive quality that made its very soul tremble. The wound that had been cut could not heal as quickly as usual, and the residual energy continued to erode it!

Escape! We must escape Kyoto immediately! Get as far away from this Uchiha who has suddenly turned into a monster as possible!

At any cost, it fled at top speed in two completely different directions, attempting to distract Izuna's attention.

Some seeped underground and fled frantically towards the forest outside the city, while others clung to the shadows of buildings, trying to blend into the vast crowds and shadows of Kyoto's night and hide temporarily.

Izuna's pursuit was violent and chaotic, completely driven by rage.

He slashed at the ground at times, and lunged at the shadows of buildings at others. Although he repeatedly forced Black Zetsu into a sorry state, and even grazed part of it with his blade, causing another painful screech, he was never able to completely subdue it.

The opponent's ability to escape was truly exceptional, and he seemed to know the terrain of Kyoto better than Izuna himself. Izuna was repeatedly thwarted, but even so, he relentlessly pursued him.

This pursuit and attack caused the Land of Fire to roar endlessly, and countless buildings along the way suffered damage.

Just as Izuna approached the edge of the Capital, with sparse buildings and roads leading out of the city ahead.

"Izuna! Stop!"

A dark blue figure cut in from the side, anxiously blocking Izuna's pursuit!

It's Madara Uchiha.

He was in the middle of a meeting with the Daimyo, and although he appeared calm on the surface, he was worried about his younger brother who had suddenly left the meeting.

Madara sensed it the moment Izuna's Chakra erupted in a corner of Kyoto.

That was Izuna's Chakra, but his Chakra seemed to have suddenly reached its boiling point, dissipating uncontrollably in all directions.

He immediately abandoned the meeting and rushed over as quickly as possible.

The signs of destruction he saw along the way horrified him, and when he finally caught up with Izuna, seeing his brother's extremely angry expression, his blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan that seemed to drip blood, the strange purple markings on his face, and the blue Light Blade in his hand that exuded destructive energy, Madara knew that he had lost control and needed to calm him down quickly!

"Izuna! Look at me!" Madara shouted again. At the same time, his own Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly activated, and powerful ocular energy formed a skeleton. He put his hand in front of Izuna, trying to stop Izuna's out-of-control pursuit.

Izuna's forward momentum abruptly halted.

Madara's shout and familiar Chakra were like a bucket of ice water, briefly extinguishing the raging fire burning in his heart.

The Mangekyō Sharingan pattern in his pupils spun rapidly a few times, and he looked at Madara with a somewhat unfocused gaze.

"Brother... Brother?" His voice was a little hoarse, with a hint of uncertainty and confusion.

The blue Light Blade in his hand flickered intermittently.

In that Setsuna of distraction, the two remaining parts of Black Zetsu, like startled venomous snakes, desperately concealed all their aura and completely merged into the deepest shadows at the foot of the city wall and the boundless darkness of the forest outside the city, disappearing without a trace.

The target they were pursuing... has been completely lost.

Upon realizing this, the light in Izuna's eyes quickly dimmed, and his Mangekyō Sharingan and the Senjutsu markings on his face disappeared as if the tide were receding.

His body swayed, and the blue Light Blade in his hand turned into specks of light and dissipated.

Immediately afterwards, she fell forward limply, like a puppet with its strings cut.

"Izuna!"

Ban's expression changed instantly, and he rushed forward, catching his unconscious younger brother in his arms.

Madara quickly checked Izuna and confirmed that he had no obvious external injuries, but his Mental Power and Chakra were greatly depleted.

His tense nerves eased slightly, but looking at his younger brother's pale and tired face in his arms, and the messy streets around him, his brows furrowed tightly.

He raised his head, his crimson Mangekyō Sharingan scanning the direction where Black Zetsu had last disappeared, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Just now... from the direction Izuna was chasing, he did indeed vaguely sense a very subtle and extremely unsettling evil aura.

Is that what caused Izuna to lose control like this?

And then there was Izuna's state just now... those unfamiliar Mangekyō Sharingan, the lines on his face, and that knife...

Madara held the unconscious Izuna tightly, his heart filled with questions and worries.

Hashirama was a step too slow, immediately stepped forward.

He set off a little later than Ban, and when he saw the shocking signs of destruction along the way, his heart tightened.

But Hashirama's senses and observational skills allowed him to notice even more details.

First and foremost, it's about people.

There was no smell of blood, no painful groans.

The streets were in a mess, with rubble and broken wood everywhere, and several houses were even cut open at an angle, their surfaces smooth as mirrors, teetering on the verge of collapse.

But most of the civilians who should have been in danger were just lying on the ground, their faces showing lingering fear, with no one showing any obvious wounds, let alone death.

Hashirama's senses spread like mercury across the ground, quickly confirming this.

He even noticed that some people closest to the center of the destruction, though trembling with fear, actually looked... more normal than when they had been flushed or pale with emotion in the theater earlier.

It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

This is highly unusual.

Hashirama himself was a top-tier Ninja, and he knew all too well how difficult it was to precisely control one's power and avoid harming innocent people during high-speed, intense battles, especially when emotions were out of control.

Even with his Sage Mode and keen perception of Natural Energy, he inevitably affects his surroundings when he is enraged or in danger, let alone ensuring that Ordinary People passing by are unharmed.

And Izuna's state just now...

Those unfamiliar Mangekyō Sharingan, brimming with a violent aura; the unfamiliar Sage Marks on her face; and that blue Light Blade that made one's skin sting just by looking at it...

All of this indicates that the power is in an extremely unstable period of explosive growth.

However, the result was... only the building suffered damage?

Hashirama walked to a section of blue flagstone path that had been cleaved by a blue light blade, squatted down, and gently touched the smooth edge of the cut with his finger.

It felt slightly cool to the touch, and retained a trace of extremely pure yet sharp Chakra aura, but it was quickly dissipating.

He looked up again at a mud wall next to him that had been cut open diagonally. The cut was also clean, and the texture of the bricks and stones on the cross-section was clearly visible, as if it had been cut by the most precise tools.

Its destructive power is undeniable. The ability to easily slice through rocks and rammed earth walls demonstrates the terrifying power of that blue Light Blade.

But how could such a powerful attack wreak havoc on a crowded street Kakuzu?

"How is he?" Hashirama collected his thoughts, walked to Madara's side, and asked in a deep voice, his gaze falling on Izuna's pale face with concern.

"Chakra and Mental Power exhausted, no external injuries." Madara said succinctly, tightening his grip on Izuna's arm, his tone filled with suppressed anger and worry, "Just now... there was something."

"Hmm, I also have a vague feeling about it. It's very sinister, very subtle, and it's moving too fast." He frowned. Could it be that Izuna was chasing the Black Zetsu he had mentioned?

He glanced at Senju Hideki and Uchiha Shinya, who were surrounded by the medical team in the distance, and then surveyed the still-shaken crowd.

"We can't stay here any longer, let's go back first. Things... are probably more complicated than we thought."

Ban had no objection.

The two left the place one after the other.