Mirror Flower, Water Moon

This was the Yamanaka Clan's secret technique, concentrating one's spiritual energy into a single point through the soul and releasing it at the enemy, thereby taking control of their body.

Xuanye froze for an instant, his expression turning startled.

Yamanaka Fu, having noticed this, was instantly overjoyed.

"You dispelled your Illusion Technique and appeared before me without any defenses. That is why you lost!"

Yamanaka Fu was just about to complete Lord Danzo's mission—kill Xuanye and bring back those eyes that were clearly different from those of other Uchiha clan members.

But just as his hand was about to touch Xuanye's eyes, a cold ninja blade suddenly pierced through his chest from behind, blood spraying out at once.

The instant the intense pain struck, the Illusion Technique world before him suddenly shattered.

Yamanaka Fu's pupils contracted sharply as he realized in terror—the one he had just controlled with the Mind Body Switch Technique was not Uchiha Genya at all, but another Root jonin.

The kunai in his hand had completely pierced through the other man's heart, and his body was growing cold along with it.

He and everyone else had been trapped in an Illusion Technique they could not wake from from the very beginning!

"What made you think I had dispelled Mirror Flower, Water Moon?"

Xuanye's voice came from every direction. Yamanaka Fu even began to wonder whether the blade piercing through him at that very moment was also an illusion.

All five senses had been completely altered. Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste had all become playthings of the Illusion Technique.

"So the name of this Illusion Technique is Mirror Flower, Water Moon..." The light in Yamanaka Fu's eyes dimmed.

The ocular technique dwelling within Xuanye's left eye was called Mirror Flower, Water Moon, a Mangekyō ocular technique of the Illusion Technique type that controlled all five senses over a wide range.

Compared to ordinary Illusion Techniques, which only interfered with chakra, this kind of Illusion Technique that controlled all five senses was nearly impossible to counter.

Xuanye could even make those under its control live out an entire lifetime within the illusion before entering a complete state of brain death.

Compared to Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami, Mirror Flower, Water Moon could be cast without making eye contact. And as long as Xuanye wished it, those caught in it would have no way of detecting anything unusual.

In the real world, a bloody tear streaked down from Xuanye's left Mangekyō before it slowly withdrew from its Mangekyō state.

Most of the Root ninja at the scene had died to attacks from their own comrades. Within the world of Mirror Flower, Water Moon, nearly every attack they launched had been directed desperately at their allies.

Only the final slash that dealt with Yamanaka Fu had been delivered by Xuanye himself.

Feeling some soreness in his left eye, Xuanye gently closed it.

Mirror Flower, Water Moon's consumption of ocular power was acceptable. When simply controlling ordinary jonin, he could even control more people at once.

Other than forcibly breaking free with spiritual power—in other words, the power of Yin Release—there should be no other way to dispel this technique.

But... Danzo had already lost patience and dared to attack him openly in public?

It seemed the Uchiha's recent actions had made him uneasy. Otherwise, he would not have acted within the village.

Thinking of something that was highly likely to happen soon, Xuanye could not help but ponder it.

The power of the Nine-Tails... should he make plans for it?

Besides that, there was another extremely important matter.

He could feel that the vision in his left eye had declined slightly. It was imperceptible, but it truly existed.

Xuanye immediately frowned.

The side effects of the Mangekyō... really were troublesome.

There was no need for Xuanye to consider the path of the Eternal Mangekyō. His parents had long died in battle, he was an only child, and he had no children either.

Still, it was not much of a problem. In theory, evolving the Mangekyō into the Rinnegan did not require passing through the Eternal Mangekyō stage.

Just like the Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo. Back then, Otsutsuki Hagoromo had not gone through the Eternal Mangekyō stage either, awakening the Rinnegan directly from the Mangekyō in one step.

Xuanye would only grow stronger in the future. Pushing his Mangekyō toward the Rinnegan was merely a matter of time.

After dealing with the assassins sent by Root, Xuanye directly took out a signal flare and fired it into the sky.

Not long after, a squad from the Uchiha Security Force rushed over and saw the utterly grim scene.

Uchiha Genya stood amid the corpses. Every black-clad man on the ground had been killed in a single blow, while not even a drop of blood had stained the corner of his clothes.

It was clear that this had been a one-sided slaughter.

"Xuanye, are you all right?" Inabi was the first to arrive, asking with concern.

"I'm fine." Xuanye pointed at the people on the ground and ordered, "These people attacked the head of the Konoha Security Division in public. They have effectively committed treason!"

"Take all these corpses back. Find out where they came from. Their clans must pay the price!"

Because of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, Xuanye did not expect to extract much useful information from their minds.

But their identities were still useful—extremely useful.

Inabi was stunned when he heard the order. Did they really need to investigate who these people were?

Their attire and masks made it obvious. They had to be from Root!

"Xuanye! That old dog Danzo must have done this! We'll contact the clan head immediately. We absolutely cannot let this go!"

Just as Inabi was about to stand up for Xuanye, he saw Xuanye give him a look.

"Go back first. Don't spread word of this."

Leaving aside Danzo's usual methods, there was no way he would admit to doing something like this. And Fugaku also lacked sufficient decisiveness.

If this matter was brought directly to Sarutobi Hiruzen, it would likely end up becoming another drawn-out dispute.

Konoha's power was still in the hands of those old men, not his. Avoiding conflict where he held no advantage was one of his principles.

Xuanye had his own plans. Since he could not deal with Danzo directly for now, he would first try to clip his wings.

Inabi, who had practically grown up playing with Xuanye, immediately understood from Xuanye's pensive expression that Xuanye was definitely plotting something nasty.

Xuanye had now taken over the entire Konoha Security Division under Clan Head Fugaku's appointment. It could even be said that Xuanye was now their superior in name.

"Yes!"

The Security Division was extremely efficient. Before the Anbu even arrived, they had gathered all the corpses and directly identified them.

Just as Xuanye was preparing to send people to demand compensation, an unexpected person came looking for him.

"Xuanye, I heard that Lord Danzo's Root ninja attacked you?"

"Please don't act rashly. This must all be a misunderstanding. We can go find the Third Hokage and Lord Danzo and clear things up."

Seeing Shisui's deeply worried expression, Xuanye's face suddenly took on a meaningful look.

"I was ambushed by three jonin and six Chunin right inside the village."

"You should know that I am now the head of the Security Division. Danzo attacked directly without arrest authorization. Such a major and vicious incident occurred, yet you are still speaking up for Danzo?"

To be honest, Xuanye had been somewhat surprised when Shisui's first words had been "Lord Danzo."