Kamui

Having been resurrected, Uchiha Chen gazed silently at the scene before him, a complex, indescribable emotion surging within his heart.

He watched as Uchiha Izumi collapsed onto his own dissipating corpse; for that moment, time seemed to have frozen solid.

Without hesitation, he pulled her tightly into his arms, feeling her faint breathing and the trembling of her body. He lowered his head to look at the girl who had fainted from overwhelming grief, his heart filled with guilt and self-reproach.

My performance just now was truly terrible... Uchiha Chen sighed to himself. He realized that his actions might have caused Uchiha Izumi immense pain, yet he was also relieved that the impromptu drama he had concocted had achieved such an unexpected effect.

He gently stroked Uchiha Izumi's cheek, attempting to convey a sliver of warmth and comfort.

Then, he opened the system panel, and sure enough, he saw the notification that the mission was complete.

It was just as he had anticipated. However, to his surprise, a special favorability option had appeared behind Uchiha Izumi's avatar in the system, and it had already been automatically locked.

According to the system's explanation, once favorability breaks through to a certain level, it locks automatically, meaning that no matter what Uchiha Chen does in the future, Uchiha Izumi's favorability toward him will only continue to rise and will never decrease. This discovery left him both pleasantly surprised and somewhat guilty. He would simply have to make it up to her properly in the future.

Meanwhile, the system also displayed the rewards for completing this mission. The most eye-catching among them were the Mangekyo Sharingan ocular jutsu Kamui and an Eternal Youth Pill. These rewards would undoubtedly add significant assistance to his upcoming actions.

Looking at the Kamui rewarded by the system, a surge of intense excitement could not help but rise in his heart.

This ocular jutsu was a god-tier skill; in the original work, Uchiha Obito was able to stir up trouble for so many years with just one eye. Now that he was about to possess a pair of eyes, how could he not be excited?

But when he looked at the person in his arms, this excitement gradually faded away.

Holding Uchiha Izumi tightly, he left the place in a hurried pace, returning to the clan leader's residence in the blink of an eye.

Upon entering the clan leader's home, he saw Mikoto, dressed plainly with a calm expression. He handed Uchiha Izumi over to her, instructing her to help clean her up and let her get some good rest.

Watching the back of Mikoto as she carried Izumi away in a hurry, he turned and walked into a room, taking the opportunity to claim the ocular jutsu Kamui.

As he felt the surging ocular power in his eyes, a doubt suddenly surfaced in Uchiha Chen's mind: he was not certain if his Kamui dimension was connected to that of Uchiha Obito. To prevent being attacked while using Kamui in the future, his Mangekyo Sharingan eyes spun slightly, intending to go inside now to find out for himself.

As ripples gradually spread through the space, Uchiha Chen's figure began to distort, eventually disappearing without a trace.

Meanwhile, in the underground base of the Root in Konoha, Shimura Danzō sat upright with a gloomy expression, quietly waiting for the good news to be delivered from the front.

Not long ago, after being mocked at Konoha Hospital, he had immediately sent men to collect detailed information regarding Uchiha Chen.

According to this intelligence, Uchiha Chen had once been a quite rare genius, proficient in Fire Release, Lightning Release, genjutsu, and taijutsu.

In the past, he had always presented himself with a cold, distant, and reclusive image.

However, to everyone's surprise, his personality had undergone a massive transformation in the last month, becoming unusually gentle and kind.

Not only that, but yesterday, a fierce battle between ninjas had erupted within the Uchiha clan.

According to information sent by Uchiha Fugaku, an unidentified ninja had snuck into the Uchiha compound, seemingly searching for something in secret.

When discovered, the two sides engaged in a life-and-death struggle, and in the end, the mysterious ninja was successfully killed.

Because the intruder carried no identification or marks to prove his identity, it was impossible to determine who he truly was. With no other choice, Uchiha Fugaku had to choose to report the matter to the Hokage today.

Hearing this, Shimura Danzō's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked with a hint of impatience in his eyes.

"What exactly does all this have to do with Uchiha Chen?"

However, the Root ninja remained calm and replied in a steady tone: "According to our current investigation results, there are clear traces of a barrier around the location where that battle took place.

And that place happens to be where Uchiha Chen resides. Yet, information regarding Uchiha Chen was not mentioned in the previous report.

Therefore, I believe the Uchiha clan is highly likely attempting to conceal some important information."

Upon hearing these words, Shimura Danzō's mind began to race.

A battle area of such scale had an impact that far exceeded what an ordinary elite ninja could cause.

Even measuring it by his own strength, he might not necessarily be able to achieve such a feat.

Then, how could such a powerful ninja be obscure and unknown?

I fear the so-called "intruder" was merely an excuse; all of this was nothing more than a farce directed and acted out by the Uchiha clan themselves!

Their true goal, perhaps, was to cover up the existence of a newly emerged ninja within the Uchiha clan who possessed Kage-level strength.

Thinking of this, a sense of intense vigilance surged in Shimura Danzō's heart.

Why would they go to such great lengths to hide it?

Shimura Danzō felt a jolt of shock as he thought of this.

Especially with Uchiha Chen's attitude undergoing such a massive shift over this past month, coupled with the way those two had been chatting and laughing with Hiruzen Sarutobi just now, it only deepened his suspicions.

Could it be that the Uchiha clan intended to change their stance and compete for the position of the next Hokage by befriending Hiruzen Sarutobi and Namikaze Minato?

Thinking of this, Shimura Danzō suddenly felt that he was drifting further and further away from the position of Hokage, and a hideous expression could not help but appear on his face.

He would never allow such a thing to happen!

Thus, he immediately reached out to summon a member of the Root and ordered: "Go and bring the Fire Killing Squad here; I have a mission for them." Having said that, he closed his eyes to conserve his energy, quietly waiting for their arrival.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Accompanied by two heavy footsteps, Shimura Danzō slowly opened his eyes, staring at the three figures—two large and one small—that appeared before him.

The Fire Killing Squad had arrived. Looking at the three people kneeling on one knee before him without a word, Shimura Danzō spoke expressionlessly: "You have come."

I have a mission for you!