Danzo, I Want Your Eye!

Squelch!

A sticky, stomach-turning sound of flesh tearing rang out abruptly through the silent canyon.

Lin Feng's fingers didn't hesitate for a moment. Under everyone's horrified gaze, they dug deep into Shimura Danzō's right eye socket.

"Gaaahhh—!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream, barely human, burst from Danzō's throat.

It wasn't merely a cry of pain. It was the despair of having his ambitions ripped away, the humiliation of having his secrets laid bare, and the terror of feeling his life force rapidly drain away.

His sole remaining left eye bulged from the pain, bloodshot. His body thrashed and convulsed in Lin Feng's grasp like a fish out of water, but the hand clamped around his neck remained as immovable as an iron vise.

The scene was too bloody, too brutal.

Along both sides of the canyon, the surviving Amegakure and Root ninja turned deathly pale. Their hands and feet went cold, and they even forgot to breathe.

They had witnessed countless battles and deaths, but nothing had ever made them tremble so deeply in their souls.

This wasn't a battle. It was an execution.

A one-sided slaughter, with no suspense whatsoever.

"He's a madman... He's a madman..." Hanzo the Salamander slumped on the ground, muttering unconsciously. A foul, warm wetness spread through his pants.

He had completely broken down.

The dignity of a "demigod"? The glory of a Kage? In front of that man, they were worth less than shit.

Yahiko and Konan stared blankly at the scene, their stomachs churning.

They hated Danzō, the mastermind behind the conspiracy. But when they saw him being treated so cruelly with their own eyes, they felt no satisfaction—only a deeper fear.

This man who called himself Uchiha Madara was no different from Danzō or Hanzo. They were all monsters who relied on violence and killing to solve problems!

Only Nagato...

He knelt on the ground, staring blankly at the figure with his back to him, torturing his enemy.

He looked at the Rinnegan, identical to his own, and felt that the power came from the same source, yet was a hundred times stronger than his.

The man's earlier words echoed in his mind.

"This is how these eyes are meant to be used."

"Not like you, using them to protect these worthless weaklings."

So... was this how it was?

If you had absolute power, could you decide the life and death of others as you pleased, and crush every scheme and betrayal in the most direct, brutal way?

Lin Feng slowly pulled his hand back.

Between his fingertips, he held an eyeball that was still twitching faintly, its surface webbed with blood vessels.

In its pupil, three black tomoe spun frantically with fear and pain.

A Sharingan.

A cursed eye, torn alive from a member of the Uchiha Clan.

"Tsk." Lin Feng's face twisted with undisguised disgust. "Filthy thing."

He didn't even spare another glance at the Kekkei Genkai that countless ninja dreamed of possessing.

He put it into a specimen jar and preserved it.

"You don't deserve to take anything from my Uchiha Clan!"

"No—!!!"

Danzō let out one last hoarse scream. When Lin Feng released him, he collapsed to the ground like a heap of mud, clutching his blood-soaked eye socket as he rolled and howled like a madman.

His greatest secret, along with all the ambitions and support he had relied on for the rest of his life, had been exposed in front of everyone just like that.

Lin Feng turned around, his indifferent gaze sweeping over the Root ninja who were completely terrified.

"Your master is a cripple now."

"Now it's your turn."

"Dying for him is the only honor you rats from the sewers will ever have."

As soon as the words fell—

"Banshō Ten'in!"

An irresistible, terrifying force of attraction erupted around him!

The surviving Root ninja on the cliffs couldn't react in time. The force yanked their bodies into the air, and they screamed in terror as they were pulled toward Lin Feng like dumplings being tossed into a pot!

"No! Don't!"

"Help! Lord Danzō!"

Their cries for help were answered only by Danzō, rolling on the ground in even greater agony.

Dozens of Root elites were squeezed together in midair, forming a writhing, twisting ball of flesh made up of human bodies.

Lin Feng slowly raised his other hand.

A black sphere, like a miniature sun, appeared in his palm.

Devastating Planetary Destruction!

It was only a miniature version, but more than enough to deal with these nobodies.

The black sphere shot out, instantly pulling in the ball of Root ninja.

Rumble—!

Rocks were torn from the ground and attached to the ball of flesh, which grew larger and larger!

Screams and the cracking of bones were sealed away inside, buried beneath the rocks.

In just over ten seconds, a massive stone sphere more than twenty meters in diameter hung motionless in midair, where the Root ninja had been.

One move. Every last one of them wiped out.

At last, the entire canyon fell completely silent.

All that remained were the Amegakure ninja, collapsed on the ground in terror, too frightened even to flee, and... Hanzo the Salamander, who was completely stunned.

Lin Feng's gaze finally returned to the "demigod."

"Now no one will disturb us."

Thud!

Without the slightest hesitation, Hanzo summoned what little strength he had left and dropped heavily to his knees before Lin Feng, pressing his forehead hard against the muddy ground.

"L-Lord Madara! I was wrong! I really was wrong!"

"It was all Danzō! He was the one who manipulated me! Please spare my life! I'll be your dog! Amegakure... the entire Land of Rain will serve you!"

To stay alive, he ground his dignity into the dirt.

Lin Feng looked at his groveling figure, the corner of his mouth curling in mockery.

"I'm not interested in your life."

His gaze passed over Hanzo and settled on Nagato behind him.

"I told you, his life is yours."

"Your companions nearly died because of your naivety. The people you trusted trampled your ideals underfoot as if they were a joke."

"Nagato."

"Tell me now. What exactly is the 'peace' you keep talking about?"

Nagato trembled and slowly raised his head.

He looked at Hanzo, prostrate at the man's feet and begging like a dog.

Then he glanced at Yahiko and Konan beside him, their faces full of worry and lingering fear.

Finally, his gaze fell on his own trembling hands.

Once, these hands had wanted to embrace the whole world through dialogue and understanding.

But all he had received in return was betrayal, deception, and death.

The man had taught him a lesson in the most direct and cruel way possible.

So this was what pain felt like.

So this was what helplessness felt like.

"I..." Nagato's lips moved. The confusion, naivety, and weakness in his Rinnegan were giving way to something cold and unyielding.

He slowly rose to his feet.

Passing Yahiko and Konan, he walked toward Hanzo, one step at a time.

Yahiko tried to stop him, but Konan laid a hand on his shoulder.

She gave him a gentle shake of her head.

She knew that from this moment on, something had changed forever.

Nagato reached Hanzo and looked down at the "demigod" who had once towered over them, now reduced to a stray dog.

Feeling the icy killing intent radiating from him, Hanzo trembled even harder.

"D-Don't kill me..."

"Please..."

Nagato said nothing.

He only slowly raised his right hand and aimed it at Hanzo's head.

"Shinra—"

Just as the two words were about to leave his lips—

"Wait."

Lin Feng's indifferent voice rang out again.

Nagato paused and turned to him, confused.

Lin Feng hoisted the enormous Gunbai onto his shoulder and walked over to him. In a voice only the two of them could hear, he spoke softly.

"Killing him this way would be too easy on him."

"And too... boring."

A hint of amusement flashed in his Rinnegan.

"If you want them to feel pain..."

"Wouldn't it be more interesting to make them slaughter one another in the depths of despair?"

As he spoke, Lin Feng looked toward the other side of the canyon, where the Amegakure ninja were so terrified they could barely hold on to their weapons.

Then, right in front of Nagato, he gave those Amegakure ninja an order that froze their souls.

"Now I'll give you a chance to live."

"Kill him."

Lin Feng pointed the handle of his Gunbai at Hanzo, kneeling on the ground.

"Whoever cuts off his head gets to live—and becomes the new leader of Amegakure."