Mikoto: What Are You Doing? (Seeking Follow-up Reads!)

Ten White Zetsu fell from the sky, surrounding Ingetsu. Their right arms swung in long arcs, their clenched fists crashing down with the force of a thousand pounds!

Swish—

A perfect, pitch-black arc spun through the air. Wherever Black Blade Dark Moon passed, it left behind a lingering, lonely edge.

The White Zetsu revealed blank and startled expressions. The next instant, their heads and fists cleanly separated from their bodies, raining down upon the ground.

Ingetsu sheathed his blade with elegance.

He glanced sideways at the black blade.

Feeling the course of the slash.

Dark Moon's hilt felt soft and delicate, while its blade was light. When its edge struck the hard bodies of the White Zetsu, it was like cutting through water, meeting no resistance whatsoever.

Besides...

It gave Ingetsu an intense sense of longing. It seemed capable of carrying energy and was waiting for its master to fill it.

Ingetsu stared at Dark Moon in his right hand, raised his left hand, and formed the Tiger hand seal, transforming the Chakra within his body into fire-nature Chakra.

A searing, scorching energy gathered from the Chakra pathways throughout his body, converging toward his throat.

Ingetsu took an unconventional approach, guiding this scorching fire-nature Chakra transformation toward his right hand, the one holding the blade.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

Like a long drought welcoming sweet rain, Black Blade Dark Moon emitted a pitch-black, mysterious mist that coiled around Ingetsu's right hand. Through his skin, the black mist absorbed the fire-nature Chakra contained in his right arm and injected it into the blade.

In an instant.

The air seemed to burn, and the temperature soared.

Below Dark Moon's hilt, the straight blade ignited with searing Black Flames, like Amaterasu's Black Flames—seemingly impossible to extinguish.

"So this counts as... an elemental Chakra enchantment?"

Surprise appeared on Ingetsu's face. He could foresee that if Dark Moon struck an enemy now, it would inevitably carry the scorching effect of fire-nature Chakra.

The White Zetsu attacking the Uchiha suddenly stopped and turned to look behind them.

They keenly sensed the abrupt rise in temperature throughout the area as the air gradually dried out.

The White Zetsu who wielded Wood Release were exceptionally sensitive to changes in humidity and temperature.

The White Zetsu raised their brows and widened their eyes, staring directly at the long blade burning with Black Flames in Ingetsu's right hand. They revealed the genuine fear of beasts facing their natural predator.

What plant wasn't afraid of fire...

The White Zetsu ceased their attack.

The Uchiha fighting desperately against the White Zetsu heaved sighs of relief and hurriedly supported their injured companions as they gathered together, lest the White Zetsu scatter them again.

Everyone also discovered the change in their Captain Ingetsu.

"What... kind of ninjutsu is that?"

An Uchiha stared unblinkingly at Dark Moon, which burned with Black Flames.

That question was already beyond them.

None of his companions answered.

Ingetsu walked straight toward the White Zetsu. The Black Flames on Dark Moon, tightly gripped in his right hand, surged violently, as though they intended to melt this entire world away.

Dark Moon continued absorbing fire-nature Chakra without pause, maintaining this enchanted state.

Fortunately.

The effects of that pill had yet to wear off. At this moment, Ingetsu's strength and Chakra recovery speed were both ten times their normal levels!

Though terror showed on the White Zetsu's faces, they all took two steps back when confronting the Black Flames, their expressions turning ferocious once more.

They abandoned their attacks on the nearby Uchiha and swarmed toward Ingetsu alone.

Boom—

The searing Black Flames surged again. Ingetsu swung Black Blade Dark Moon, and wherever its long edge passed, it seemed to ignite a wall of black fire.

His figure was agile and nimble.

He weaved through the White Zetsu's encirclement.

Every swing of Dark Moon cut several White Zetsu in half at the waist. Then, the fiercely burning Black Flames instantly scorched their bodies.

These White Zetsu possessed extremely powerful vitality. Being slashed by ordinary ninja blades and kunai would not kill them.

But before Black Flames that would not go out until they had burned everything to ash, they could only resemble logs awaiting incineration.

The Uchiha stood frozen in place. They had never seen the methods Ingetsu was using now.

Izumi and Mikoto stared at Ingetsu, lost in a daze.

"Stop standing around!"

As Uchiha Nanpu spoke, he formed hand seals with both hands, refined the Chakra within his body, transformed it into fire-nature Chakra, gathered it in his throat, and unleashed the Great Fireball Technique.

Setsuna—

The other Uchiha followed suit, unleashing different Fire Styles.

One high-temperature fireball after another blasted into the clustered White Zetsu, instantly lighting up the night with a raging inferno. Thick smoke billowed as flames shot into the sky.

The battle was overturned in an instant.

Among this batch of White Zetsu, the few remaining ones stood frozen in place, still shaken.

What awaited them was Ingetsu's Angetsu Zan taking their heads, and Black Flames consuming their bodies.

After these high-temperature Black Flames burned the White Zetsu to nothing, they continued burning for half a minute before finally going out.

In the distance.

Within the forest.

Obito's Kamui Mangekyo beneath his mask reflected the sea of fire, and his expression gradually darkened.

Pills that instantly restored mental and physical strength.

A pitch-black longsword that burned with Black Flames.

"How many secrets are you hiding?"

Obito gritted his teeth and widened his eyes. He found himself increasingly unable to gauge this clansman.

On the rugged mountain road.

Ingetsu dominated the battlefield until the remaining White Zetsu were few enough for the Uchiha to handle.

He stopped charging Angetsu.

At this moment, the medicine's effects had already worn off.

Fatigue showed on Ingetsu's face.

Without a supply of Fire-nature Chakra, the Black Flames burning on Angetsu slowly faded and extinguished, restoring the blade to its unremarkable ink-black appearance.

"How much longer?"

Ingetsu calmly watched Nonō.

"Eight minutes!"

Nonō's expression was grave. She bit her lip as beads of sweat formed on her forehead, while the medical ninjutsu from her hands continued to flow.

Beneath the fluorescent green Chakra, sixty percent of Tamao's external injuries had recovered. He was still far from fully healed.

Ingetsu frowned deeply, then turned and headed toward where the Uchiha had gathered, his cold gaze sweeping over them.

The Uchiha executing the White Zetsu on the ground felt chills run down their backs under Captain Ingetsu's gaze.

After inspecting them, Ingetsu's eyes settled on Uchiha Mikoto.

He strode over and grabbed her pale wrist. Ignoring Mikoto's glare, he pulled her over to Nonō.

After the battle, this beautiful married woman was drenched in fragrant sweat. The sleeves of her long house dress were soaked through and bore puncture marks from kunai.

Without looking closely in the dark—

one could not tell that she was wounded.

"What are you doing?!"

Mikoto's face tightened.

Rip— The sound of tearing cloth rang out.

Mikoto's cheeks suddenly flushed, and she froze in place. As soon as she spoke, Ingetsu violently tore away the sleeve covering the wound on her right arm, exposing the kunai injury.

Her skin was as white as snow.

Her slender arm was stained with blood.

"Uh—"

Even Nonō was startled by the sight. The nun's face reddened as she mistakenly thought Ingetsu intended to do something to this distinguished and elegant woman right in front of her.

Nonō immediately perked up.

Still holding Mikoto's hand, Ingetsu asked, "How long will it take to heal her wound?"

"Treating such a minor injury will only take a little over ten seconds."

Nonō stared at Ingetsu and responded seriously.

"Treat her first!"

Ingetsu pulled the somewhat reluctant Mikoto directly before Nonō.

"Okay, okay!"

Nonō stood up, rubbing her legs that had gone numb from squatting, and used medical ninjutsu to treat Mikoto.

The Uchiha all lowered their heads. As they cleaned up the battlefield, they could not help stealing glances at Ingetsu and Mikoto before quickly looking away.

The sound of earth breaking open rose nearby.

Everyone noticed.

Under the cover of night.

Beyond the battlefield, another group of White Zetsu emerged from the ground, one after another like mushrooms after rain—three times as many as before!

At that moment.

The wound on Mikoto's arm healed.

A prompt appeared in Ingetsu's mind.

[Side Quest]: Heal Teammate

[Options]:

Heal teammate.

Quest complete!

[Reward]: Green Medicine.