The Root Were Evil by Nature

Uchiha Fucheng casually flicked half a tongue off his kunai, then rubbed the blade repeatedly against Yamanaka Otsuki's clothes, looking disgusted.

His cold-blooded manner genuinely frightened the other Root shinobi hanging from the wooden frames.

Even the dozen or so Uchiha jonin standing guard here were badly shaken by his sudden killing spree.

In the eyes of these Uchiha jonin, Fucheng was usually rather strict, but he was still quite friendly toward Uchiha clan members and ordinary Konoha shinobi.

They had never imagined that he would become a completely different person when dealing with Root shinobi.

He killed jonin from the Ino-Shika-Cho clans without a second thought.

Only after the other Root shinobi had stopped making a fuss did Fucheng speak calmly. "I know you're all Root shinobi. Shimura Danzō has been keeping an eye on the Uchiha for quite some time.

"But now that I've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, you suddenly went berserk. Why?

"You have the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, so you can't reveal Root's secrets. But you can speak honestly about your own opinions.

"Whoever's willing to talk, I can make sure you don't die in too much pain. You saw how Yamanaka Otsuki died just now.

"The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal uses chakra to crush your brain. Nothing could be more agonizing in your final moments."

Only then did the Uchiha jonin understand why Fucheng had been so brazen about killing without hesitation. He clearly had no intention of letting a single Root shinobi go!

The more ruthlessly he killed without hesitation, the more it cowed the Root shinobi.

The gruesome deaths were happening right before their eyes.

Not every Root shinobi had been brainwashed into a fanatic. As soon as Fucheng finished speaking, two of them immediately cried out for mercy.

The shinobi, tears streaming down his face, begged Fucheng to spare him.

"Lord Fucheng, I was wrong. I had no choice. Shimura Danzō controls whether we live or die. I was forced into this."

The other shinobi begging for mercy also burst into tears.

"Lord Fucheng, Danzō threatened me by taking my family hostage. I never wanted to harm you. It was all Yamanaka Otsuki. He was our squad leader. He said you had awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.

"He said you were a threat to Lord Danzō, and ordered us to contact Root in secret. We were supposed to ambush and kill you on the way back to the village."

Uchiha Fucheng regarded the two men with amusement. "Well, this is interesting. I thought you wouldn't be able to tell me anything.

"Since you're cooperating so well, I can consider removing your control seals.

"Someone! Take them aside and have them write and sign statements about everything that isn't restricted by the seals."

Two Uchiha jonin untied the men.

They fastened special chakra restraints around them, then led them aside and made them kneel to write out their statements.

With these two as a breakthrough, the most the five supposedly tough ones could manage was to keep their mouths shut.

Fucheng smiled. "Anyone else want to confess? If not, don't blame me.

"You've done more than your share of evil in Root. Better to die sooner and be reborn sooner."

Several Root shinobi glared back at him. One member of the Shimura Clan even began cursing him furiously.

"Root exists for Konoha! You Uchiha are the evil ones. All you evil Uchiha should be wiped out!"

This time, Fucheng didn't even move. He simply lifted his chin.

Uchiha Arashi, who was guarding the prisoners nearby, charged forward without a word.

He was an elite jonin from the branch of the Uchiha Clan led by the Great Elder, Uchiha Setsuna. But ever since he had submitted to Uchiha Fucheng, he had become Fucheng's most fanatical follower.

It was something like convert's zeal.

Uchiha Arashi grabbed Shimura Tsuchiya by the cheek and cut his tongue straight out of his mouth.

Shimura Tsuchiya died in much the same way as Yamanaka Otsuki.

Now, too, he first vomited blood, then began to convulse violently.

A terrifying crackling sound came from inside his skull as his bones crunched and shattered. As the cracking grew louder, blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and the hole where his tongue had been.

The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal!

It was truly terrifying.

Once again, it displayed a gruesome way to die that sent chills through everyone who saw it.

The two Root shinobi lying on the ground and frantically writing their statements began scribbling even faster.

Even the four remaining prisoners on the wooden frames stopped shouting.

They were afraid of provoking Uchiha Fucheng.

Even the most fanatical Root shinobi would fear death, tremble, and feel helpless when faced with it.

The two Root shinobi kneeling off to the side had already filled four or five pages in just a few minutes.

Fucheng knew that was probably all they could get out of them.

Before he learned how to remove the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, he could only gather information that didn't involve Root's secrets by having them disclose it willingly, in roundabout ways.

Even the [Yamanaka Secret Technique: Mind Reading] he had just received from [Yamanaka Fu's Fate Dice] couldn't access the prisoners' memories while they were under the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

After obtaining the two Root shinobi's statements, Fucheng gave them quick, painless deaths.

As for the die-hard Root fanatics who refused to speak, Fucheng had a more deliberate punishment in mind.

The young Uchiha jonin who had awakened their Three-Tomoe Sharingan during this battle were all summoned.

Fucheng ordered them to personally send the four Root shinobi to their deaths.

Even the Uchiha shinobi who had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan felt a chill run down their spines at the terrifying deaths caused by the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.

"Remember this. This is Root, a Konoha intelligence agency that's always trying to destroy the Uchiha and every one of us. When you return to the village, stay on your guard."

Fucheng spoke in a frigid voice.

With blood covering the ground, his words made the scene all the more chilling.

Unfortunately, none of the deaths had triggered a system notification.

Uchiha Fucheng shook his head regretfully.

He knew about "Impure World Reincarnation and Orochimaru's cloning techniques," so he naturally wasn't about to leave their bodies and organs behind.

He set everything ablaze.

All the usable biological material was reduced to ashes.

Finally, Fucheng cautiously used Earth Release to fill in the underground space.

Only then did he lead the Uchiha shinobi back to the Konoha camp, completely at ease.

Their retaliation against Root had brought some unexpected gains, too.

Among the items seized from the Root shinobi, they actually found six Uchiha Sharingan with three tomoe and five eyes with two tomoe.

The Uchiha jonin were furious.

Some of the Uchiha moderates had worried that retaliating against Root might have been too rash.

But with this evidence of Root targeting the Uchiha and taking their Sharingan, even the mildest Uchiha jonin grew radical upon seeing the Sharingan taken from their kinsmen.

It was no different from Kurapika seeing the Scarlet Eyes at the auction.

Sometimes, all it took to bring people closer was a shared secret.

They had risked being discovered by the village and boldly killed Root shinobi together.

Having this secret in common brought the Uchiha jonin closer to one another.

With Uchiha Fucheng further bringing them together, the major factions in the entire Uchiha camp began to get along.

Some conservative, moderate Uchiha shinobi had even come to feel that the radical Uchiha's actions in the past had been far too cautious...