Konohanasakuya (Seeking Votes! Seeking Investment!)

No two Mangekyo Sharingan patterns are ever identical.

Sōken was no exception.

Using Danzo's pupil as a mirror, Sōken saw the six-bladed windmill pattern in his own eyes—similar to Shisui's four-bladed blade design, but with two extra blades, each longer and more sharply curved.

"Beautiful eyes, aren't they?"

A delighted smile spread across Sōken's face.

But to Danzo, that smile was more loathsome than a demon's, and those crimson Sharingan with their six-bladed windmill pattern awakened a long-buried memory—the Uchiha... had this evil power appeared again?

He opened his mouth to shout.

But by the time he witnessed Sōken's utterly transformed eyes, it was already too late.

"Welcome to my world."

The voice abruptly rang in Danzo's ears, cutting off his thoughts. He shifted his gaze and found himself no longer in the wrecked corridor of the Hokage Building. Instead, he stood in a pleasant garden courtyard—complete with stone lanterns, a pond, a small hill, and a bamboo grove...

Looking up, he saw an endless blue sky, so vast and empty it seemed ready to swallow him whole.

This is fake.

His mind clear, Danzo looked down at his unharmed body, and a surge of humiliation rose in his heart—insulted at being underestimated. Even if the Uchiha Clan's Genjutsu was formidable, did they have to humiliate him like this? Did they really think he couldn't break this inexplicable illusion?

Fine!

He tried several times, but had to admit he truly couldn't break this seemingly harmless Genjutsu.

Danzo surveyed the garden, which had no visible exit or path, pondering what kind of illusion this was. It didn't seem to be a directly harmful Genjutsu—so it was a trapping technique, something like the 'Fox Heart Technique'? No, that wasn't right. The Fox Heart Technique made people think they were lost in a maze, forcing them to walk endlessly and exhaust their stamina.

In his current state, he couldn't even feel any control over his real body. So was this something like the Mist Servant Technique? Or the Not-This-Place Technique? None of them felt quite right...

"Hokage Assistant Danzo, don't you think this garden is missing something?"

The voice he'd heard before rang in his ears again.

In the blink of an eye, Danzo saw Uchiha Sōken sitting on a fallen strip of bluestone three or four steps away on the grass. That detestable bastard wore a sickeningly mocking smile, grinning right at him!

Sōken sat on the stone, relaxed and at ease.

He raised a finger and pointed around the garden with an air of superiority. "Here we have a hill, water, bamboo groves, grass, stone lanterns, and a small shrine—but no beauty of flowering trees... So, please lend me a hand! How about adding a lovely cherry tree here?"

"Uchiha Sōken, what the hell are you plotting?"

Danzo watched Sōken with full alertness, wary of this unidentified Genjutsu... Huh? As Sōken suddenly stood and stepped closer, Danzo inexplicably found Sōken's height growing taller and taller, as if he himself were kneeling at Sōken's feet, looking up at his chin?

"Still haven't noticed? Too slow, Hokage Assistant Danzo! You're well-versed in Fuinjutsu—why haven't you realized something's off about your own state?"

Sōken looked down at Danzo, whose lower body was buried in the earth, his smile growing more and more delighted!!!

He wasn't some mental defective who could only feel happiness from others' pain. He simply took pleasure in seeing Danzo suffer. At heart, he was still a good person who hated causing others pain!

On the battlefield, to make sure everyone was thoroughly dead and spared from suffering, he'd kindly offer a full cremation-and-ashes-scattering service!

As if waking from a dream, Danzo finally noticed he was buried in the ground.

But honestly, the old man wasn't panicking—not one bit. There was nothing to panic about. This was Uchiha Sōken's illusion world; anything could happen. If Sōken hadn't made a move, that would've been the real surprise!

"Is this all you've got, Uchiha Sōken?"

Danzo looked up at Sōken with contempt.

"This is just the beginning, Hokage Assistant Danzo."

Sōken chuckled and pointed a finger. "Look! It's already sprouting!"

A vivid green sprout burst through the skin of Danzo's left shoulder and began growing visibly larger at an astonishing speed.

"Aaaah!!!"

Danzo, who hadn't even grunted when his right leg was smashed to pulp, let out a heart-rending scream. The plant's roots burrowed into his body, writhing like little snakes, while outside, roots as thick as pythons churned the soil and coiled around his body layer by layer.

Before long, a towering cherry tree stood gracefully in the garden, thousands of tender pink buds adorning its branches.

"Uchiha Sōken!! You... what... what have you done?"

That was a good question.

What had Sōken done?

Looking down at Danzo—dried up like a mummy drained of all moisture, wrapped in dense roots—Sōken's brows and eyes brimmed with endless delight. "Let me tell you something. When every last cherry blossom on this tree has fully bloomed, that's when your death will be declared. All your spiritual energy will be drained and converted into nourishment to make me stronger."

Danzo struggled violently.

But he hadn't been able to break free before, and now the dense roots held him fast. All his struggles were futile. This was Sōken's Mangekyo Sharingan dojutsu. Unless one possessed ocular power or spiritual energy comparable to or surpassing Sōken's, there was no escaping this Genjutsu named [Konohanasakuya].

Konohanasakuya—

This was one of the two dojutsu Sōken awakened upon unlocking his Mangekyo. Rather than a Genjutsu-type dojutsu, it was more of a Yin Release-type dojutsu. As Sōken had said, this technique caused a towering cherry tree to grow from the target's body, continuously draining their spiritual energy as the flowers bloomed... This was no ordinary Genjutsu anymore. It had stepped into the realm of turning illusion into reality—this was—

Yin Release, a Yin Release dojutsu.

Sōken bent down, leaning close to Danzo's face, and said with a smile:

"But don't worry, I won't kill you right now. After all, Lord Danzo, you're the Hokage Assistant. Finding an excuse to brawl with you is fine, but without evidence that ruins your reputation, killing you would cause me huge trouble... Of course, I won't let you live to keep making trouble for me either."

"This tree full of blossoms... will leave a few for you. You'll linger on for a month or two, then die a natural death. By then... your death won't have any direct connection to me."

"Snap!"

Sōken snapped his fingers. The buds all over the tree burst into fervent bloom—except for a small cluster in the corner, which remained still and untouched!