Danzo: This Is My Blame to Bear. Don't Try to Take It from Me

Watching Uchiha Akito's Sharingan spin rapidly, Hyuga Shin looked on with eager anticipation.

That's right! Since he hadn't gained any combat experience, Hyuga Shin had set his sights on the Sharingan.

That didn't mean Hyuga Shin looked down on the Tomoe Sharingan. He wanted to spur it into evolving into the Mangekyō Sharingan. Whether he succeeded depended on Uchiha Akito's talent.

The guy was only in his twenties, yet he was already an elite jonin. His talent should be pretty good.

Still, whether he could bring about the Mangekyō Sharingan was beyond Hyuga Shin's control. He could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

For this, Hyuga Shin had even used the illusion technique he'd painstakingly developed. He'd spent half a year researching it with five hundred Shadow Clones, combining that work with his own knowledge to create it.

He'd developed this illusion to make up for his own shortcomings. It was incredibly powerful, absolutely an S-rank illusion technique. Even Tsukuyomi might not measure up to it.

Terror Reincarnation forcibly pulled its target into a mental space and subjected them to one terrifying reincarnation after another. The only way to break free was to forcibly shatter the cycle.

Otherwise, they could only sink into the Terror Reincarnation forever, never escaping. Demonic Illusion: Terror Reincarnation wasn't a dōjutsu, but an illusion technique performed with Hand Seals. However, Hyuga Shin could also release it through the Tenseigan.

By Hyuga Shin's estimate, this jutsu might even have an added effect on women. It was definitely an illusion technique second only to Infinite Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami.

Uchiha Akito's Sharingan spun faster and faster. Its tomoe began to link together, until the Three-Tomoe Sharingan finally connected.

The pattern began to change, eventually taking the shape of a Wind Demon Shuriken. It looked somewhat like Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyō.

Although he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, Uchiha Akito still hadn't broken free of the illusion.

Looking at the Mangekyō Sharingan, Hyuga Shin smiled faintly. Then, expressionless, he reached out and gouged out Akito's eyes before putting them away.

After gouging out his eyes, a flame engulfed Uchiha Akito, burning him into a pile of ashes. He never managed to break free of the illusion before he died.

Although it was his first time killing someone, Hyuga Shin didn't feel the slightest discomfort. It felt no different from hunting in the back mountains back then.

Ever since arriving in this world, Hyuga Shin had come to terms with everything. He'd been ready to kill from the very beginning.

That was why he could gouge out Uchiha Akito's eyes without batting an eyelid, then burn him to ashes.

Although it all seemed to take a long time, only a little over ten minutes had passed.

"It's time to leave. Konoha must have sensed all that commotion. If we don't go now, it'll be too late."

"But before we go, we should mess up the scene a bit. Rankyaku: Blade Barrage."

Using the Glint-Glint Fruit's levitation ability, Hyuga Shin kicked out countless tiny Vacuum Blades, leaving the surrounding ground and trees in a chaotic mess.

Then he activated the Glint-Glint Fruit's power and turned into a beam of light, appearing beside Mikoto.

"It's done. Let's go!"

"Mm!" Mikoto nodded. She didn't ask how he'd handled it. No matter what Hyuga Shin had done, she would support him. That was just who Mikoto was.

Taking Mikoto's hand with the one that wasn't stained with blood, he used spatial teleportation to take her away, appearing ten kilometers from the scene.

They arrived beside a small stream, and Hyuga Shin began washing the blood from his hand. It had gotten on him when he gouged out the eyes.

After cleaning his hand, Hyuga Shin checked his chakra. He'd already used up more than half of it.

Most of it had gone toward spatial teleportation. Taking Uchiha Mikoto with him didn't merely double the chakra cost; he'd also teleported ten kilometers in one go.

"Shin, you're not hurt, are you?" Mikoto came over and asked anxiously.

"I'm fine! Don't worry, Mikoto." Shin smiled at her as he replied.

Mikoto still seemed worried. She walked up to him and looked him over carefully, even reaching out to touch him. Only after a long while did she finally relax.

Only then did Mikoto realize what she'd done. Her face turned bright red, and she couldn't quite bring herself to meet Shin's eyes.

"I'll go make dinner," she said, then hurried away with her face still red.

"By the way, Mikoto, do you know if that Uchiha had any relatives? A younger brother or an older brother, for example?" Shin went over and asked.

Mikoto looked at Shin in confusion, then said, "You mean Uchiha Akito?"

Mikoto thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Uchiha Akito didn't have any relatives. His parents are dead. Why do you ask, Shin?"

"Nothing. I was just asking."

To be honest, Hyuga Shin was a little disappointed. If Akito had had a relative, Hyuga Shin might have considered getting himself a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.

But what could he do? Uchiha Akito's parents had been useless. They'd only had one child, Uchiha Akito, and they were dead.

Otherwise, Hyuga Shin would even have set his sights on Akito's parents. He wasn't a good person—in fact, he was downright wicked.

Chapter 33: Danzo: This Is My Blame to Bear. Don't Try to Take It from Me

"How is it? Have you found anything?" The Third Hokage asked calmly, pipe in his mouth.

At this point in time, the Third Hokage was still in his prime. His imposing presence commanded respect, making him seem like a completely different person from the old Third Hokage he would become.

"No. We only found a pile of ashes. But there's a scrap of clothing here. The emblem on it looks like the Uchiha Clan crest."

An Anbu member held out a scrap of cloth to Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Sarutobi Hiruzen reached out and took it, then looked at Uchiha Tei, who stood silently nearby.

"Uchiha Clan Head, do you recognize this?"

"It does belong to the Uchiha Clan, but I don't know who it belonged to." Uchiha Tei shook his head. He truly didn't know.

"Check whether anyone in the Uchiha Clan has gone missing or been injured. I hope this has nothing to do with your clan."

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke coolly.

"Heh. Our Uchiha Clan specializes in Fire Release and Lightning Release. The signs here clearly point to Wind Release. Perhaps someone is targeting our clan."

Uchiha Tei's expression turned cold as well. He suspected the ashes belonged to someone from the Uchiha Clan.

"Let's wait until we find out what happened. Also, have the Anbu thoroughly search Konoha for suspicious individuals. We need to make sure someone from another village hasn't come here to cause trouble." Sarutobi Hiruzen gave his orders.

After a round of instructions, the heads of the various clans who had come after hearing the commotion all left. Only Sarutobi Hiruzen remained.

"Sigh. Danzo, was this your doing?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't the only one who suspected him. Everyone who knew Danzo had the same suspicion; they just hadn't said it aloud.

The damage was clearly caused by Wind Release, so Danzo was the only person they could suspect, even though plenty of people in Konoha could use Wind Release.

Most importantly, they'd found a scrap of clothing belonging to a member of the Uchiha Clan. Danzo and the Uchiha Clan were famously at odds.