The Izanami

"Phew... I finally have him under control... Using Kotoamatsukami to control a Uchiha with the Mangekyō isn't a bad trade."

"It's just a shame that the Kotoamatsukami in Uchiha Shisui's eye doesn't last very long... If I'd gotten his other eye back then, things might have worked out even better."

Danzo slowly came to a stop, his expression relaxing. The Kotoamatsukami in Uchiha Shisui's eye had a cooldown of only six months, and its control over others lasted just about a month.

And Uchiha Itachi also had the Mangekyō, so the duration would probably be cut in half. But regardless, Itachi definitely wouldn't be able to break free of Kotoamatsukami for at least a week or two.

"Hmph... Now that you've awakened the Mangekyō, I'll have you deal with the Uchiha Clan!"

The Uchiha Clan's strength lay almost entirely in their Sharingan. Against a higher level of Sharingan, they stood virtually no chance.

In the original story, Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Itachi alone had nearly wiped out the entire Uchiha Clan. This was largely because the Mangekyō Sharingan held such power over ordinary Sharingan.

Otherwise, if those Uchiha had been replaced with other shinobi of equal strength, even Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Itachi working together could at most have dealt them a severe blow. They never could have killed them all.

This was why Shimura Danzō, both in the original story and now, wanted to use Uchiha Itachi to deal with the Uchiha Clan. To ordinary Uchiha, a Uchiha with the Mangekyō was a textbook case of crushing them across an entire dimension.

But just as Shimura Danzō was congratulating himself, Uchiha Itachi, who had been standing there blankly and seemed to be under his control, suddenly raised his head and reached out without warning.

"Gah!"

With a scream, Danzō stumbled backward, clutching his right eye, his face twisted in pain. The Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō that had been in his eye socket now lay in Uchiha Itachi's hand.

At the same time, one of Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan slowly dimmed, turning a pale white.

"Izanagi?! You used that secret technique right from the beginning?!"

Danzō asked in disbelief. As mentioned earlier, Izanagi had to be activated in advance. If used incorrectly, it would simply waste a Sharingan—and Uchiha Itachi had used a Mangekyō, no less.

Using Izanagi with a Mangekyō was already a waste, and he'd used it before even falling behind in the fight. If the Uchiha were that cautious, they could have eyes all over their bodies and still run out at this rate!

"This isn't Izanagi—it's Izanami!"

Uchiha Itachi said coldly to Danzō:

"I was going to use Shisui's Mangekyō to cast Izanami on you after I got my hands on it, so you could truly understand your own heart. But I never expected to end up using Izanami on myself!"

"Heh... As expected of the evil Uchiha. You even have a ninjutsu like this."

Clutching his eye, Danzō spoke coldly. The next moment, he leaped back and fled without a thought for his dignity.

Izanami was a genjutsu created by a genius of the Uchiha Clan long ago, specifically to counter Izanagi.

Izanagi was simply too useful as a means of coming back to life. In the past, the Uchiha Clan had even fought a major battle over this technique, all to seize each other's Sharingan and turn them into extra chances at survival.

That battle had left the entire Uchiha Clan severely weakened. In the end, the turmoil was only brought to a close when Izanami emerged—a genjutsu designed to counter Izanagi.

An opponent caught in Izanami would be imprisoned within their own memories and trapped in an endless cycle. To break free, they had to accept their original fate and sincerely repent. In a sense, this genjutsu could also be said to counter Kotoamatsukami.

No matter how powerful the Thought Imprint laid down by Kotoamatsukami, it could be worn away bit by bit in an endless loop of genjutsu. And Danzō's Kotoamatsukami was a weakened version with a short duration, to begin with.

But Uchiha Itachi wasn't in very good shape either. He'd originally planned to take Shisui's Mangekyō and use it to cast Izanami on Shimura Danzō. Before this, he hadn't known the true ability of Shisui's Mangekyō, and had seriously misjudged the situation.

As a result, he'd used his own Mangekyō to cast Izanami. Although he'd escaped the fate of being brainwashed by Kotoamatsukami, losing a Mangekyō would have a major impact on his combat strength.

For one thing, he'd only just awakened the Mangekyō, and he'd already lost an eye. The power of Uchiha Itachi's Susanoo would inevitably be greatly diminished. He might even find it difficult to use.

Susanoo was a ninjutsu that could only be acquired when an Uchiha awakened the Mangekyō in both eyes. But once acquired, it left its mark in the bloodline, allowing the user to call upon it even after losing one eye—or even going blind in both.

However, Susanoo used with one eye and Susanoo used with both eyes intact would inevitably differ greatly in power. As for using Susanoo while blind in both eyes, that was theoretically possible, but an Uchiha who wasn't strong enough certainly wouldn't be able to manage it.

Uchiha Itachi was incredibly talented, but he was only thirteen or fourteen. Neither his Chakra reserves nor his body's ability to withstand strain was particularly great. In his current state, whether he could use Susanoo was a huge question mark.

On top of that, Kotoamatsukami followed by Izanami—two of the most powerful genjutsu in succession had left Uchiha Itachi's mind nearly mush. He truly had nothing left in reserve.

That was exactly why, when Danzō turned and fled, Uchiha Itachi hesitated for a moment and ultimately didn't pursue him.

On the one hand, he wasn't in very good shape himself, and he'd already gotten Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō. He'd more or less achieved his goal.

On the other hand, Shimura Danzō was the leader of Root, no matter what. If he killed him, conflict and fighting between Konoha and the Uchiha would truly become unavoidable.

As for using Izanami to completely change Danzō's way of thinking, Uchiha Itachi had already changed his mind after getting his hands on the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan.

Although he felt somewhat guilty toward Uchiha Shisui, the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan was simply too valuable. It could even help ease relations between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha in the future. Uchiha Itachi truly couldn't bring himself to sacrifice that eye.

"Rather than use your eye to avenge you, it'd be better to use Kotoamatsukami's power to help Konoha and the Uchiha live together in harmony!"

"Shisui, if you were still alive, you'd agree with me, wouldn't you?"

Uchiha Itachi's expression shifted repeatedly. At last, he made up his mind and put the Kotoamatsukami eye away.