This was a secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan, passed down only to its own members. By focusing the mind through the soul and directing it at an enemy, the user could take control of that enemy's body.
Xuanye froze for an instant, his expression turning stunned.
Yamanaka Fu noticed and was overjoyed.
"You dropped your guard and dispelled your Illusion Technique right in front of me. That's why you lost!"
Yamanaka Fu was about to carry out Lord Danzo's orders: kill Xuanye and bring back those eyes, so clearly different from those of other Uchiha.
But just as his hand was about to touch Xuanye's eyes, a cold Ninja Blade pierced his chest from behind. Blood gushed out.
The moment pain tore through him, the illusory world before his eyes shattered.
Yamanaka Fu's pupils contracted. Only then did he realize in horror that the person he had controlled with the Mind Body Switch Technique was not Uchiha Genya at all, but another Root Jonin.
The Kunai in his hand had gone straight through the man's heart. The man's body was already growing cold.
He and everyone else had been trapped from the very beginning in an Illusion Technique they could not wake from!
"What made you think I had dispelled Mirror Flower, Water Moon?"
Xuanye's voice came from every direction. Yamanaka Fu even wondered whether the blade through his own body was an illusion too.
His five senses had been completely rewritten. Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste had all become playthings of the Illusion Technique.
"So the Illusion Technique is called Mirror Flower, Water Moon..." The light faded from Yamanaka Fu's eyes.
The ocular technique housed in Xuanye's left eye was called Mirror Flower, Water Moon. It was a Mangekyō ocular technique that could manipulate the five senses over a wide area.
Ordinary illusion techniques merely disrupted Chakra. An Illusion Technique that controlled all five senses was nearly impossible to break.
Xuanye could even make someone live an entire lifetime within the illusion, then leave them brain-dead.
Unlike Tsukuyomi and Kotoamatsukami, Mirror Flower, Water Moon required no eye contact. If Xuanye wished it, its victims would never even notice anything was wrong.
In the real world, a line of blood ran from Xuanye's left eye. His eye then slowly returned from its Mangekyō state.
Most of the Root ninja at the scene had died at one another's hands. In the world of Mirror Flower, Water Moon, almost every attack they launched had been directed at an ally.
Only the final strike that killed Yamanaka Fu had come from Xuanye himself.
His left eye felt sore, and Xuanye gently closed it.
Mirror Flower, Water Moon's drain on his ocular power was manageable. If he was only controlling ordinary Jonin, he could handle even more of them at once.
Apart from breaking free by force with spiritual power—the power of Yin Release—there was probably no other way to dispel the technique.
But... had Danzo really grown impatient enough to attack him in public?
The Uchiha's recent moves must have made Danzo uneasy. Otherwise, he would never have struck inside the village.
Xuanye thought of something that was very likely to happen soon and fell into contemplation.
The Nine-Tails' power... should I make a play for it?
There was another matter, too, and it was extremely important.
His left eye's vision had worsened slightly. The change was barely perceptible, but it was real.
Xuanye frowned.
The Mangekyō's side effects... they really are a nuisance.
The path to the Eternal Mangekyō was closed to Xuanye. His parents had died in battle long ago, he was an only child, and he had no children of his own.
But that was not a serious problem. In theory, evolving the Mangekyō into the Rinnegan did not require passing through the Eternal Mangekyō stage.
The Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, had never gone through that stage. His Mangekyō had awakened directly into the Rinnegan.
Xuanye would only grow stronger. Pushing his Mangekyō to the Rinnegan was merely a matter of time.
After dealing with the assassins Root had sent, Xuanye took out a signal flare and fired it into the sky.
Before long, a squad from the Uchiha Security Force hurried over and found a gruesome scene.
Uchiha Genya stood amid the corpses. Every black-clad attacker had died from a single blow, while not even the hem of his clothes was stained with blood.
It had clearly been a one-sided slaughter.
"Xuanye, are you all right?" Inabi was the first to reach him, his voice full of concern.
"I'm fine." Xuanye pointed at the bodies. "These people attacked the head of the Konoha Security Division in public. That amounts to treason!"
"Take all the bodies back and find out who they were. Their families must pay for this!"
Because of the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal, Xuanye did not expect to extract much useful information from their minds.
Their identities, however, would be useful. Very useful.
Inabi paused at the order. Did they really need to investigate who these people were?
Their clothes and masks made it obvious. They were Root operatives!
"Xuanye! That old dog Danzo is behind this! Let's contact the clan head right away. We can't let this go!"
Inabi was about to speak up for Xuanye when he caught a look from him.
"Let's go back first. Keep this quiet."
Given Danzo's methods, he would never admit to being behind the attack. Fugaku, meanwhile, lacked the decisiveness to act.
If they took the matter straight to Sarutobi Hiruzen, it would likely end in a drawn-out argument.
Power in Konoha was still in the hands of those old men. Xuanye made it a rule not to fight on ground where he held no advantage.
He had his own plans. If he could not deal with Danzo directly for now, he would start by clipping his wings.
Inabi had grown up alongside Xuanye. The moment he saw that thoughtful look, he knew Xuanye was plotting something.
Fugaku had already appointed Xuanye to lead the entire Konoha Security Division. He was now their superior in name as well as in practice.
"Yes!"
The Security Division worked quickly. Before the Anbu even arrived, its members had collected all the bodies and identified them.
Just as Xuanye was preparing to send someone to demand compensation, an unexpected visitor came to see him.
"Xuanye, I heard Lord Danzo's Root ninja attacked you?"
"Please don't do anything rash. This must all be a misunderstanding. We can go to the Lord Third and Lord Danzo and clear it up."
Seeing the worry on Shisui's face, Xuanye's expression turned faintly amused.
"Three Jonin and six Chunin ambushed me right here in the village."
"I'm the head of the Security Division. Danzo attacked me without an arrest warrant, and after something this serious, you're still speaking up for him?"
To be honest, Xuanye was a little surprised that the first thing Shisui had said was "Lord Danzo."