Think Whatever You Like

"Why? Why did you attack at a time like this?!"

Even Masashige Hagoromo, a Kage-level powerhouse, could not help losing his composure at this moment.

It made no sense. The Uchiha had suffered a devastating blow just this morning; no matter how he thought about it, they should not have been able to launch a counterattack that very night.

There had to be some reason behind all this that he did not know.

If he did not get to the bottom of it, he would never rest in peace, even in death.

"Why... you're asking why?"

Izuna shrugged and asked maliciously, "Then why do you think we showed up at a time like this?"

Perhaps driven into a corner, Masashige Hagoromo's thoughts became muddled. His expression suddenly changed as he shouted, "It was Kite! Kite told you, didn't he? That bastard pretended he wanted to cooperate with the Hagoromo Clan, but secretly sided with the Uchiha! Bastard, bastard!!"

By the end, Masashige Hagoromo was furious. He stomped viciously on the ground, and his Chakra-infused foot shattered the bluestone slabs in the courtyard.

Izuna blinked, not expecting Masashige Hagoromo's imagination to run so wild.

But after giving it some thought from Masashige Hagoromo's perspective, that possibility was not entirely impossible.

Forget it. Think whatever you like.

Izuna's Sharingan slowly spun in his eyes. Kunai were held between his fingers as he prepared to strike.

"Wait, Izuna Uchiha!"

Seeing Izuna about to attack, Masashige Hagoromo hurriedly shouted, "Kite is fickle and untrustworthy. He first claimed he wanted to ally with the Hagoromo Clan, yet secretly colluded with you Uchiha. Don't you find that suspicious?"

"How about this? Our two clans join forces, swallow up the Four Clans in the northwest first, then settle accounts with that bastard Kite."

Hearing this, Izuna nearly laughed out loud. He did not answer, merely throwing his kunai at Masashige Hagoromo.

Seeing that negotiations had failed, Masashige Hagoromo had no choice but to fight.

After flashing aside from the two kunai, Masashige Hagoromo noticed the faint gleam behind the rings at their bases.

Wire?

The Uchiha Clan's Manipulating Shuriken Technique!

Masashige Hagoromo formed a one-handed seal. "Secret Technique: Yang Release: Golden Crow!"

A brilliant glow spread outward, corroding the wires attached to the kunai.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

With just a single one-handed seal, Izuna unleashed the Uchiha Clan's most basic yet most practical Great Fireball at Masashige Hagoromo.

"Water Style: Water Wall!"

A wall of water rose in a full circle around Masashige Hagoromo, shielding him at its center. Scalding mist immediately billowed between the two.

"Heh!"

Izuna gave a light laugh and formed hand seals. Two Shadow Clones appeared to his left and right, and all three charged forward.

"They're all solid! A new Clone Technique?"

Masashige Hagoromo was startled. He quickly used the Hagoromo Clan's unique sensory technique, trying to identify the real body.

No!

He could not sense it!

It was the same principle as when Naruto Uzumaki later used this move against Neji's Byakugan.

As long as Chakra was distributed evenly among every Shadow Clone, no one below the Three-Tomoe Sharingan—or with sensory abilities below Tobirama Senju at his peak—could hope to identify the original.

Bang!!

The three Izunas attacked. One drew a kunai and clashed with Masashige Hagoromo's tachi.

Less than a second later, the other two leaped up from behind, each holding a kunai as they stabbed down from above.

Masashige Hagoromo twisted his sword-wielding right hand, temporarily knocking aside the kunai of the Izuna in front of him. Then he swung up a leg and kicked him in the abdomen.

Bang!

With a sound like a bursting balloon, that Izuna dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.

Masashige Hagoromo hurriedly swung his blade, blocking all the kunai flying down from above. At the last moment, he caught one that had been knocked into the air with a backhanded grab and hurled it back, striking another airborne Izuna.

Bang!

The body was hit, then turned into white smoke.

Another clone!

"Then you must be the real one!"

Masashige Hagoromo fixed his gaze on the last Izuna. With a low, furious roar, he gathered what little Chakra he had left.

"Hagoromo Style: Feather Piercing Void Breaker!"

In an instant, blurred silvery-white Chakra shimmered around Masashige Hagoromo's body, while his sword was coated in a special silvery-white Yang Chakra.

The next instant, like an arrow drawn tight against a bowstring and poised for ages, it shot out in a flash.

A straight, thrusting blade technique.

Its principle was somewhat similar to the Hell Stab of the future Third Raikage.

In less than the blink of an eye, Masashige Hagoromo's final attack, using every last bit of his Chakra, pierced through Izuna's abdomen in midair.

"Vice Clan Leader!!!"

Ise Uchiha shouted urgently from afar.

From his angle, he could see that Masashige Hagoromo's blade had carved a hole straight through Izuna's stomach.

"Die!"

The Saito Clan Leader's voice came from beside him. A buzzing sound followed as a blade coated in Wind Release Chakra slashed toward him.

Ise Uchiha was startled. The reflexes of a jonin made his body react naturally before his mind could even process it, swiftly retreating to evade.

However, a section from his right shoulder down to his stomach was cut open, leaving behind a deep gash.

Ise Uchiha hurriedly covered his stomach. Fortunately, his intestines had not spilled out.

Bang!

Yet in the distance, something unexpected happened.

Izuna, whom everyone believed to be the real body after being stabbed through by Masashige Hagoromo in midair, turned into white smoke and vanished once again.

For a moment, Masashige Hagoromo, who had been watching that battlefield from the shadows and had just been about to breathe a sigh of relief, was completely dumbfounded.

W-What was going on?

That still wasn't the real body?

Just as everyone was left stunned, one of the kunai scattered across the ground burst with a bang and transformed back into human form.

Izuna, having reappeared, had no time to care about anyone else's shock. An enormous Rasengan had already formed in his hand.

"Great Ball Rasengan!"

He rushed behind Masashige Hagoromo at blinding speed. Before the other man even had time to turn around, the Great Ball Rasengan slammed directly into his back.

The Great Ball Rasengan.

It had not been activated from the system by Izuna, but was something he had comprehended on his own after obtaining Wind Release: Rasengan.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, Izuna did not want to spend those points. He would rather obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan as soon as possible.

Feeling the twisting agony coming from his back, Masashige Hagoromo's pupils turned white. The intense pain forced his mouth wide open, yet he could not make a sound.

More than ten seconds later, a massive spherical wound had appeared on his back, and he collapsed heavily.

"He's still breathing."

Izuna drew a kunai and casually tossed it downward, piercing through Masashige Hagoromo's throat.

Ise Uchiha, badly wounded and clutching his injury after desperately forcing back the Saito Clan Leader, stared wide-eyed. "You used the Transformation Technique to turn into a kunai?"