Ephemeral Bloom

"Huff—"

Ingetsu had landed a blow, but he did not retreat. Enduring the pain, he clenched his teeth without making a sound and removed his Yachihoko Mangekyo with his backhand.

His face twisted, veins bulging on his forehead.

His right eye went dark.

His brain trembled.

Waves of excruciating pain beyond what ordinary people could bear assaulted him, thick blood spilling between the fingers of his right hand.

Between ragged breaths, Ingetsu did not hesitate. He put away the Yachihoko Mangekyo and pressed the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo into his empty right eye socket.

The nerves and vessels within the socket transformed into pathways under the maintenance of Chakra, successfully connecting with the Mangekyo's universally adaptable pathways.

The Uchiha opened their mouths and widened their eyes, as though they could personally feel Ingetsu's piercing agony.

Izumi's heart clenched.

The Root Organization members' scalps went numb at the sight. That guy had swapped eyes without the slightest hesitation or a single sound. Even within the Root Organization, there were not many people that ruthless.

Ingetsu opened his eyes. The vision in his right eye gradually cleared from a blur. The pain remained, but it had lessened considerably.

The Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo rested quietly in his eye socket, watching everything around him. It trembled slightly as it regained its vitality.

"Big Brother..." Watching Ingetsu's back as he endured the pain alone, Tamao's vicious expression deepened. He kicked Danzo away.

Ingetsu swept his gaze over the Root members in the trees.

He had expended seventy percent of the Yin Release Chakra in the Yachihoko Mangekyo to place mental control over the hundred elite Root members in this forest.

Even without the Yachihoko Mangekyo on him now, once the mark had been planted, these puppets could not break free of his control without outside help.

Mixed among the Root members were the eight Uchiha Police Force members in disguise.

At that moment, beneath their masks, their faces were deathly pale. Witnessing the scene below, their hearts suddenly raced, their emotions surging.

On the way here.

Ingetsu had not explained the purpose of this operation.

Before leaving Konoha, he intended to do something for the Uchiha—to assassinate Danzo and reclaim what belonged to the Uchiha!

Just moments ago.

Other than Tamao, even Uchiha Izumi had thought Ingetsu had gone mad.

Assassinate the Hokage Assistant!

This was something even the Uchiha High Council, who harbored thoughts of rebellion, had never dared to imagine or attempt!

Even elite Jonin from the other Four Great Shinobi Villages would not dare dream of assassinating this high-ranking figure known as Konoha's Dark Shinobi.

Even if Captain Ingetsu awakened the Mangekyo.

There was no way he could accomplish such a thing!

Yet the scene before them told them that Ingetsu had exploited the chaos, led them into the Root Organization ranks unnoticed, and completed the decapitation operation.

Before this, other than Tamao, no one had believed Ingetsu could bring them this far.

"He really... did it."

Nanfeng stood frozen on the tree branch. He instinctively drew his ninja blade from his back, only to realize in astonishment that he had regained control of his body.

The other Uchiha came to their senses as well.

They looked toward the Uchiha Compound, where the cries and screams were already fading.

They could not go back.

Their clan was gone.

Grief, desolation, and endless pain exploded in the minds of these Uchiha. Stimulated by their suffering, their Pupil Power began to surge dramatically.

"Damn Konoha's higher-ups!!"

"If Shisui hadn't died, how could the Uchiha have ended up like this!"

Since they had lost everything, they would follow Ingetsu, who had brought them this far, and vent their fury upon the true culprits!

At this moment, even Izumi, who was normally gentle and kind, thought the same way.

They drew their ninja blades and stood guard near Ingetsu, silently waiting for the best chance to strike.

Ingetsu withdrew his gaze and looked at Danzo's corpse before him. After briefly assessing his condition, he realized that his Yachihoko Mangekyo now had only the final ten percent of its Yin Release Chakra left.

Aside from the ten percent used to initially control the nine clansmen.

Another ten percent of Yin Release Chakra had been carried by Ingetsu's Shadow Clone into the clan head's residence and planted inside Uchiha Mikoto.

Although he had gained a Kotoamatsukami.

His Chakra was nearly exhausted.

Next, he had to end this quickly, preserve his strength, and prepare to flee.

But the battle was not over yet!

At this moment.

"Whew—"

[ ]

Danzō staggered backward, trying to gasp for air, but he suffocated instead. His left eye trembled as it stared at the two before him, its light gone.

The instant his heart was pierced by the ninja blade.

Danzō died.

Yet through Ingetsu's Mangekyo, before Danzō died, the corners of his mouth had curled slightly upward in a cold, sinister smile.

Just as the other Uchiha believed the outcome had been decided.

The black robe on Danzō's corpse suddenly slid to the ground, revealing his bandage-wrapped right arm.

Its index and middle fingers were raised, forming half of a one-handed seal.

The white bandages around his arm slipped off layer by layer.

Under the moonlight, the other Uchiha were shocked to discover that Danzō's arm resembled a pale, withered tree branch. A Three Tomoe Sharingan was embedded in the back of his hand, though it was slowly closing.

How unsettling!

"Shimura Danzō actually has another Sharingan. The Dojutsu he activated... feels both familiar and strange."

Nanfeng, wearing glasses, looked at Ingetsu in astonishment.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart.

Ingetsu's right Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo suddenly vanished without warning. Even Danzō's corpse, which had been leaning against the tree, vanished eerily as well.

Like marks wiped away from a blackboard.

Danzō appeared five meters away.

The Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo emerged in his empty right eye socket, as though Ingetsu had never taken it from him.

Before Ingetsu made his move.

Danzō's concealed right hand had already formed a one-handed seal, using the Uchiha clan's forbidden technique, Izanagi.

It forcibly altered outcomes unfavorable to himself—such as being marked by Yachihoko, dying, and having his Mangekyo taken from him.

During this time.

He had already died. Even if Ingetsu took his Kotoamatsukami, he could not use that "strongest genjutsu" to alter Danzō's will.

For the next minute, Danzō could control the rules and alter anything unfavorable to himself.

This was the forbidden technique—Izanagi!

The Root Organization members in the trees all breathed sighs of relief, while the Uchiha tensed from head to toe.

"Young man, let me give you some advice. In your next life, don't waste so many words when you assassinate someone!"

Wind swirled around Danzō's feet. He stepped forward, shattering the ground as he exhaled a fierce gust toward Tamao.

Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!

Whoosh—

The gale howled.

Sand and dust rose into the air.

Tamao seemed to have been swept into the eye of a storm. The vicious wind became countless steel blades, madly slicing apart his armor and leaving dense wounds across his skin. The immense wind pressure also crushed his internal organs.

Pfft—

Tamao spat out a mouthful of blood and drove his ninja blade into the ground, trying to withstand the Wind Style with his body alone.

But the tremendous force of the gale still swept him away, sending him flying backward. He smashed through numerous trees in the forest before crashing to the ground.

Large swathes of the forest were cut down by the Wind Style.

Izumi's heart skipped a beat. Having activated her Three Tomoe Sharingan, she deftly evaded the continuing gale, leaped down from the tree, and carried away the heavily injured, unconscious Tamao.

The Uchiha in the trees scattered, avoiding the Wind Style that imposed immense pressure upon them.

Boom—

Several immobile Root Organization members could only watch as the Wind Style swept toward them at its peak. They did not even manage to scream before their flesh and blood were torn apart by the fierce gale, exploding into a mist of blood.

The Uchiha who had evaded the Wind Style looked back at the devastated stretch of forest, their eyes widening as they struggled to catch their breath.

After dealing with the troublesome fodder, Danzō's figure appeared out of thin air before Ingetsu. Greedily, he reached for Ingetsu's left eye socket.

Danzō's counterattack was completed in an instant, even faster than when Ingetsu and Tamao had worked together to kill him.

Not only did he want to kill this innately evil Uchiha brat, he also wanted to seize the other's Mangekyo!

His subordinates had not reacted at all.

It had to be because of the other party's Mangekyo ability!

Such a dangerous ability should belong to Konoha—and only Konoha could keep it under control.

He gladly accepted it!

Meanwhile.

Clang—

Danzo's right eye flared red as the shuriken-shaped pattern of Kotoamatsukami spun.

Silent Yin Release Chakra passed through their exchanged gaze, forcibly pouring into Ingetsu's mind.

The situation reversed in an instant.