The Advantage Is Mine

Shimura Danzō's face darkened to the extreme as unbelievable suspicions churned in his mind.

"This guy... is he really just a member of the Uchiha Clan?"

As far as he knew, aside from Uchiha Madara, not even the strongest Uchiha of the Sengoku period could possess such a terrifying amount of chakra!

A technique on the level of the Perfect Susanoo couldn't be maintained for long even by a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Only the First, Senju Hashirama, could possibly have possessed such an immense amount of chakra.

Yet Uchiha Yoru wielded it with ease, as though he were casually using the Shadow Clone Technique.

—This was simply absurd!

What kind of monster was he?!

"Let's see if your 'Root' belongs aboveground."

Uchiha Yoru seemed to have seen right through Shimura Danzō's thoughts, but he offered no explanation. Instead, he smiled faintly, a trace of deranged excitement in his eyes.

Before he had even finished speaking, the Susanoo's twin blades came crashing down!

Like a god swinging a battle-axe, they turned the entire Root Base upside down in an instant!

BOOM!!—

The Root shinobi scattered in terror, desperately launching ninjutsu in retaliation. Fire Release, Wind Release, and Lightning Release flashed through the night, but against the Susanoo, their attacks were like insects trying to shake a tree. They couldn't even make the energy barrier tremble.

The Susanoo's twin blades swept through the air, striking dozens of times!

A mist of blood filled the air, and the screams abruptly ceased.

Within seconds, the entire Root Base had become a ruin, strewn with corpses.

Shimura Danzō stood where he was, his face ashen and cold sweat running down his forehead.

He had seen powerful opponents before, but this kind of utter domination filled him with a suffocating sense of helplessness and terror.

—If he'd moved even slightly just now, he would probably already be a pile of minced flesh.

Uchiha Yoru surveyed the surroundings with satisfaction, a smirk on his lips and a mocking glint in his eyes.

He dispelled the Susanoo with ease and slowly descended to the ground.

But the instant his feet touched the ground—

Shimura Danzō's pupils contracted. He immediately launched an attack with no wind-up, frantically gathering Wind Release chakra!

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

—Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several rapidly spinning blades of wind, carrying astonishing cutting force, slashed wildly toward Uchiha Yoru!

No hand signs—he'd launched them directly!

Danzō's Wind Release was among the finest techniques in the Ninja World. This move was incredibly fast; even a Kage Level shinobi would struggle to dodge it in time!

And yet—

"Heh..."

Uchiha Yoru smiled faintly, his gaze utterly unruffled.

Poof!—

In an instant, his figure turned into a blur, easily evading every blade of wind!

Shimura Danzō's eyes widened!

—What kind of speed was that?!

He couldn't even track Uchiha Yoru's movements. The next moment, his vision suddenly went black as a veined hand clamped around his throat and slammed him hard against the wall!

"Danzō, had enough?"

Uchiha Yoru looked down at the so-called "Darkness of the Shinobi World," his gaze indifferent and his voice terrifyingly calm.

"You should be grateful... I don't want you to die too quickly tonight."

Danzō struggled desperately, only to find that his chakra was almost completely suppressed. His body wouldn't move at all!

It was a terror born of being utterly crushed!

At last, he understood that the gap between himself and Uchiha Yoru couldn't be bridged with schemes, ninjutsu, or secret techniques—

It was a difference in their very levels of existence!

"Cough... cough..." Danzō's face flushed crimson, and for the first time, genuine despair surfaced in his eyes.

"What... do you... want...?"

Uchiha Yoru's lips curled into a faint smile. He leaned down and whispered in Danzō's ear:

"Of course, I want to..."

But at that seemingly hopeless moment—

"Now's my chance!"

A cold glint flashed in Shimura Danzō's eyes as he suddenly struck back like a dying snake!

He ripped off his eye covering, revealing the Mangekyō Sharingan brimming with a strange power.

—Uchiha Shisui's eye!

"Kotoamatsukami!"

Danzō unleashed the last of his chakra. The blood-red pupil in his eye spun rapidly, and the power of the genjutsu poured forth in an instant.

A sinister smile appeared on Shimura Danzō's lips.

"It worked... hahahaha!"

This brat only had an ordinary Three-Tomoe. Against a Three-Tomoe, the Mangekyō gave him every advantage!

And yet—

Uchiha Yoru remained where he was, calm as still water. The scarlet Sharingan in his eyes slowly turned, filled with disdain.

"That's it?"

"Kotoamatsukami?"

He didn't even blink, letting Danzō's dōjutsu invade his mental world.

But in the next instant, the smile froze on Shimura Danzō's face.

His dōjutsu seemed to be swallowed up. The moment it touched Uchiha Yoru's mind, it was like a stone sinking into the sea—not even a ripple appeared.

"N-no... impossible!"

Danzō's body jolted as the backlash struck his brain!

"Argh!!!"

He screamed, blood trickling from the corner of his eye as he clutched at it, his whole body trembling with pain.

The backlash from the dōjutsu's power ravaged his mind like sharp blades. The agony nearly drove him to collapse.

Uchiha Yoru's expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Danzō, did you think you could control me with Kotoamatsukami?"

Uchiha Yoru scoffed, amusement in his eyes.

"How ridiculous."

Kotoamatsukami was indeed powerful, but even the strongest dōjutsu needed enough chakra to support it.

Danzō was only barely sustaining the transplanted Sharingan, and his chakra reserves and mental strength couldn't compare with Uchiha Yoru's.

What's more, Uchiha Yoru had inherited Indra's power. His eyes might look like a Three-Tomoe, but they were a Three-Tomoe capable of awakening the Perfect Susanoo!

His mental world had long since become an endless ocean. No matter how desperately Danzō's genjutsu struggled, it couldn't raise the slightest ripple.

"But since you're so fond of this eye..."

"Then I'll grant your wish."

Uchiha Yoru leaned forward slightly. As Danzō watched in terror, his slender fingers reached straight for the man's eye socket.

"No, no!!"

Shimura Danzō struggled desperately, but under the suppression of the genjutsu, his body wouldn't move at all.

Click.

A sharp snap.

Blood spurted as Uchiha Yoru tore the scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan from its socket.

Danzō's eye socket was left empty, blood running from its corner like tears.

"AAAH!!!"

He let out a pained roar, his voice laced with despair and fury.

But Uchiha Yoru didn't stop.

He looked at the blood-covered Sharingan in his hand without the slightest trace of attachment.

"This thing shouldn't exist."

In the next instant, he slowly tightened his grip.

Crack.

The Sharingan crumbled between his fingers, crushed into a mass of blood-red fragments.

Shimura Danzō stared blankly, then collapsed to the ground, his face vacant.

He had gone to any lengths to steal the Uchiha Clan's eye power, never imagining that one day this Sharingan would become the source of his suffering.