"Uchiha Yao, how much do you actually know...?"
Danzo glared at the black-haired boy, his killing intent almost tangible.
The boy knew about Shisui's Mangekyo, knew about Kotoamatsukami, and now he even knew about the ten Sharingan on Danzo's arm.
He was only a twelve-year-old boy. How could he know so much? Who had told him?
"I told you already. A lot. So much that it's beyond your imagination!"
Yao sounded relaxed.
"I know about those ten Sharingan. Each one can activate Izanagi once!"
"Each Izanagi lasts about one minute!"
"For that minute—"
"You can fight without restraint, turning every reality that would harm you into an illusion!"
"I also know..."
Yao drew out his words, his tone almost cruel.
"Because you're not a member of the Uchiha Clan, you have to form hand seals in advance to force Izanagi to activate!"
"Rabbit, Boar, and Ram. Those are the three seals, right, Lord Danzo?"
The Sharingan was a Kekkei Genkai unique to the Uchiha Clan.
If a Uchiha with the Sharingan activated Izanagi, they didn't need to form hand seals in advance.
They just had to open their eyes!
But unfortunately,
Danzo wasn't a member of the Uchiha Clan. He had to form the seals in advance.
So,
if Yao cut off Danzo's arm before he could form the seals, Danzo wouldn't be able to activate Izanagi!
And without Izanagi, if his right arm was severed, Danzo would lose the Sharingan in it for good.
That was the limitation of Izanagi—or rather, Danzo's limitation!
"You even know that?"
Danzo trembled slightly.
"I told you. I know more than you can imagine!"
Yao's tone was flat.
Danzo's strength was nothing special. The trouble lay in Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo and the ten Sharingan.
Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo possessed Kotoamatsukami, the most powerful Illusion Technique.
And the ten Sharingan were like ten extra lives.
So the key to defeating Danzo was figuring out how to counter Kotoamatsukami and the ten Sharingan.
Once you knew those secrets, dealing with Danzo was simple.
Send a Wood Clone to draw out Kotoamatsukami in advance.
Then cut off his right arm before he could activate Izanagi.
And that was it!
You could say that Yao had planned for every possibility and had Danzo completely figured out!
From Kotoamatsukami—
to Izanagi!
From Shisui's right Mangekyo—
to those ten ordinary Sharingan!
Danzo's trump cards held no secrets from Yao!
Danzo fell silent, an icy chill rising in his heart.
Every plan! Every trump card! Every last thing he relied on... Yao had seen through it all, inside and out!
"Everything about me... You actually... knew it all... I don't regret it... I don't regret losing..."
Danzo couldn't understand.
For years, he had kept a low profile and acted with extreme secrecy.
All the research and transplants involving the Sharingan and First Hokage Cells had been carried out in the deepest underground chamber of Root Base.
Where had Uchiha Yao, the brat who had grown up under his surveillance, learned all this?
The most ironic part was that Danzo had been the one watching Yao, while Yao was the one being watched.
And yet...
Danzo knew nothing about Yao, while Yao knew him inside out!
It was so ironic!
"Can't figure it out?"
Yao shook his head with a smile. "It doesn't matter. Take that question with you to hell and think about it there!"
He would never let Danzo go. Whatever else was at stake, Danzo had to die for that Mangekyo of Shisui's!
For now, Yao didn't want anyone else to know the secret of how he'd obtained Uchiha Shisui's right Mangekyo.
"Brat... Since you know so much... then I'm sure you recognize this jutsu too!!"
Danzo suddenly tore open his shirt, revealing an old chest covered in strange black markings.
The markings seemed alive, radiating an ominous chakra.
"You wicked brat... Today, I'll rid Konoha of you myself! Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique!!!"
The markings on Danzo's chest unleashed a darkness that devoured everything.
Black lines surged across his body like a tide, covering him from head to toe.
Everything they touched—
matter, flesh, clothing, air, chakra...
was twisted and dragged toward the center, collapsing like a black hole!
Danzo turned himself into a sacrifice, trying to drag everything around him—including that hateful Uchiha Yao—
into an eternal darkness of sealing, taking them both down with him!
Faced with this sudden, devastating sealing technique, Yao's lips curved in a faint, almost pitying smile.
"So you finally used the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing Technique? What a shame..."
"Using that against a Flying Thunder God User is adorably stupid!"
Whoosh!
The Flying Thunder God Technique activated.
Yao vanished without a trace.
"No!!!"
Seeing this, Danzo let out a furious, despairing roar.
He had given everything to unleash a technique meant to take them both down, yet he hadn't even touched the boy's clothes.
He couldn't accept it!
He just couldn't!
The black sealing sphere rapidly expanded, swallowing Danzo whole.
Then it engulfed Yamanaka Fu and the other Root shinobi as well.
"No!!!"
"Ah!!!"
They only had time to cry out before the darkness consumed them.
Boom!
The black sphere shrank to its limit and disappeared completely.
All that remained was a spherical mark several meters across, deep and bottomless.
Danzo and his last few loyal subordinates had been devoured and sealed by the Forbidden Jutsu he'd unleashed.
A few seconds later, space rippled, and Yao quietly appeared.
"A dying struggle born of desperation. What a joke."
Yao glanced over the wreckage of Root Base.
The organization known as "Root," once feared by countless people in Konoha, had been thoroughly uprooted by his own hand.
"Time to head to the main arena! There's still a big show to watch!"
By the time Yao reached the Chunin Ninja Exams arena, chaos had already broken out.
The Four Violet Flames Formation formed a massive purple glass bowl turned upside down, sealing the central battlefield inside.
Hashirama Senju had conjured countless gnarled branches, relentlessly pursuing the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Senju Tobirama moved like a ghost, using the Flying Thunder God Technique to launch surprise attacks within the limited space.
The Third Hokage wielded the Adamantine Staff and struggled to fend off both opponents, but his steps faltered and he was completely on the defensive.
Outside the barrier,
the situation was just as dire!
Sunagakure and the Sound shinobi attacked the stands and arena in surging waves. Screams and explosions rang out without end.
Every so often, Orochimaru's roar echoed through the village.
Everything was in chaos!
Utter chaos!
Most of the Anbu and Jōnin were pinned down by their opponents.
The only Anbu near the barrier could do nothing but stand helplessly outside, cheering on the Third Hokage. "Lord Hokage... Hang in there!"
Kakashi fought Baki, a Sunagakure Jōnin, while issuing orders:
"Guy! Don't worry about the Third Hokage! Trust him! After all, he's the strongest Hokage in history!"
"Lee! The Sunagakure forces are pushing in too fast at the southeast corner. Stop them!"
"Naruto! Sasuke! That guy with the dark circles, Gaara, is the priority. Don't let him go completely out of control!"
"Sakura, Tenten! There are elderly people and children trapped in the stands. Hurry and get them out! Prioritize evacuating the villagers!"
"Hinata, go home at once and make sure the Hyuga Clan Head comes to help!"
"Genma, Aoba! Don't waste time trying to break the Four Violet Flames Formation! Go to Anbu headquarters and mobilize reinforcements!"
"Right!"
"Understood!"
Following Kakashi's orders, the Konoha shinobi moved out to intercept the enemy, evacuate civilians, and call for help...
The resistance, which had been disorganized, quickly became orderly.
Yao looked through the distorted purple barrier at the battered Third Hokage.
A mischievous idea suddenly came to him.
Since that old dog Danzo had dared to attack him from the shadows, Yao might as well stir this muddy water up until it was thoroughly churned.
Yao used the Transformation Jutsu.
Poof!
A cloud of smoke cleared.
Yao had transformed into Danzo, dressed in a dark robe, with bandages covering his right eye and arm and a sinister expression on his face.
The next moment,
"Danzo" vanished from the spot and appeared inside the Four Violet Flames Formation.
Before you continue