Can You Still Dance?

This was a long-planned joint ambush.

In the cramped space, the wind fueled the flames. The already massive Great Flame Bullet swelled in the blink of an eye until it filled the entire corridor! And accompanying the towering blaze were countless high-pressure wind spheres, like rocket shells!

—That "Vacuum Great Sphere" was Shimura Danzō's signature technique!

Facing the surging flames.

Uchiha Hikari immediately turned around and made a downward slashing motion with her sword!

No...

More precisely, while smashing through those final two walls, she had already anticipated the situation she might face and begun turning to swing her sword. It was only after entering this corridor that she completed the motion, facing Shimura Danzō and the others head-on from dozens of meters away!

At that moment.

Within Uchiha Hikari's pupils, the great pinwheel formed by the Three Tomoe spun madly, driving Susanoo to grow layer after layer of imposing, dense Crow Tengu Armor. At the same time, its enormous hands, just like Hikari herself, tightly gripped a dark red greatsword so deep in color it seemed to be flowing with blood, and slashed forward!!

"Hundred Eight Segments... Heavy Cannon Slash!!"

This slash shook heaven and earth!

The blade was still in midair when the howling wind erupted like a barrage of heavy cannons!

Boom—!!!

An explosion even louder than the one at the base entrance rang out!

In an instant, it nearly destroyed the hearing of everyone present!

Then...

Two powerful Chakra energies collided head-on in the long corridor! The air was torn apart in an instant, crimson flames and milky-white shockwaves surging to either side. Countless compressed wind shells slammed into Susanoo and the surrounding walls, causing even this most fortified area deep within the Root Base to show signs of collapse!

Smoke rose.

In the original timeline, Shimura Danzō had once used this Vacuum Great Sphere to instantly blow Sasuke's Susanoo away.

And now, he was ten years younger than he had been then, making his Wind Release even more powerful. Coupled with the baptism of raging flames that spread temperatures of several thousand degrees throughout every corner of the corridor, even with Susanoo's protection, she should not have been able to recover her fighting ability in such a short time.

—That was how it should have been.

However...

Before the heat had even cooled, a huge dark red figure had already passed through the sea of flames and charged at the three behind it, swinging its sword once more!

This time, it was a horizontal slash!

And the greatsword was now a deep blackish red, because black flames were burning fiercely across its originally dark red blade!

—Amaterasu: Kagutsuchi!

"Hundred Eight Segments Crimson Flame Slash!!"

"?!"

"...Protect Lord Danzō!!"

In that split second, a simple, sharp, yet incomparably powerful horizontal slash swept forth!

With the force of crushing dry weeds and rotten wood!

Like the giant scythe wielded by the Death God!

The Root ninja who had unleashed the Great Flame Bullet spread his arms, trying to block the slash, only to be cut in half at the waist on the spot.

Before his body even fell from the air, Amaterasu's black flames burned it to ash.

Then, the more than ten-meter-long greatsword traced a massive black arc through the air. Overwhelming sword energy swept across the entire space, black flames flowing as they tore everything in the blade's path—and everything farther beyond—in half! Then incinerated it all in an instant!!

For a moment, even the air itself seemed to be shattering!!

"No, impossible!"

The sword energy and black flames expanded!

Two figures frantically flew backward like cannonballs, but were still swept by the black flames. Like two torn sacks, they were flung through the end of the corridor and into a broad underground platform, where they slammed heavily into the hard stone wall. When they fell, they kicked up a cloud of dust stained with intense blood!

Huge chunks of rock fell from above, and the entire space shook once more.

The Root Jonin who had used Thousand Faces Wind was already dead.

But the bandaged man, despite being covered in blood, still struggled to lift his head and stared ahead with his eyes nearly splitting apart.

"Impossible... Even Susanoo wielded by the Mangekyō Sharingan could not possibly take my Vacuum Great Sphere unharmed..."

Elsewhere.

Having just completed the horizontal slash, Uchiha Hikari let out a soft breath and casually twirled her sword.

With that motion, half of both her sleeves shattered away, exposing her smooth, pale arms. The several wounds streaming with blood across them healed completely in an instant.

Then.

The gaps in Susanoo that had been forcibly shattered by the compressed wind shells were also restored under the infusion of her ocular power, returning to their original state.

Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere was indeed a formidable Wind Release ninjutsu.

But...

Before Susanoo's Fourth Form, it was nothing special!

That was right.

From the moment she received her Shadow Clone's memories, Uchiha Hikari had been frantically driving her ocular power, suppressing it within her eye sockets. Then, the instant she broke through the wall, she unleashed it all, activating Susanoo at the peak Fourth Form. In that form, she forcibly took Danzō's Vacuum Great Sphere, then cleaved through the flames and charged out through the smoke!

When she made that decision, Uchiha Hikari had already prepared herself to be injured.

To avoid any unexpected situations, she had even placed a Senzu Bean in her mouth beforehand, intending to swallow it immediately if necessary.

—After obtaining the Senzu Beans, she had already tested them. Whether it was the restorative ability she had received from Shenron or the Senzu Beans, both could regenerate severed limbs. Furthermore, a Senzu Bean could instantly restore Chakra and "ki." With these two safeguards in effect, as long as she was not decapitated in a single strike or blasted into fragments, she would survive without issue.

But now, it seemed...

She had overestimated Danzō.

Well... Danzō did not yet have that arm full of Sharingan, and he had not summoned his Baku either. On top of that, he had never expected her to come in the first place. With several factors stacked together, defeat had naturally been unavoidable.

But she still could not let her guard down.

After all, Danzō of this period should have already transplanted Hashirama Cells, and... his right eye, which had always been hidden beneath bandages, bothered Uchiha Hikari somewhat.

Could it be a Sharingan...?

"Phew..."

Uchiha Hikari took a deep breath and descended from midair. When her feet touched the ground, she paused briefly to calm her fear of heights before stepping forward beneath the protection of Susanoo's Third Form skeleton.

Crunch—

The sound of her short boots stepping over rubble blended with the repeated crashes of massive stones collapsing around her.

Yet Uchiha Hikari's cool voice rang out clearly amid the noise:

"Can you still dance, Danzo, you little brat?"

"..."