Dance to your heart's content before I get serious!

"Damn it! Why is this guy so strong?!"

"Be careful! Don't let him get close!"

In the forest, more than a dozen Root operatives surrounded Uchiha Mirai in the center, their eyes filled with shock.

Uchiha Mirai's eyes were blood-red, three black tomoe slowly revolving within them. Anyone who met his gaze would inevitably shudder under the immense pressure.

It was as if they had been targeted by some terrifying beast, their chakra instantly turning sluggish within their bodies!

Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha clan head, had been known as Fierce Eye in his youth.

The Root operatives did not know whether Uchiha Fugaku's Fierce Eye was stronger than Uchiha Mirai's.

But the Uchiha Mirai before them was absolutely an incomparably ferocious beast!

And they had just cut the reins of that beast!

Whoosh!

Uchiha Mirai's figure suddenly vanished.

A Root operative several meters in front of him abruptly felt a terrifying chill erupt from behind him, as though he had fallen into a bottomless abyss a hundred meters deep.

Bang!!!

He did not even have time to turn around.

Terrifying force exploded from his waist, violently snapping his entire upper body backward in an almost inhuman manner.

Without even time to scream, the ANBU operative was sent flying, his life extinguished.

The surrounding Root operatives felt a sudden chill rise in their hearts.

But Uchiha Mirai's slaughter was far from over.

Those scarlet eyes, as though soaked in blood, locked onto their next target in an instant.

It was a Root operative gripping a ninja blade.

The moment he noticed Uchiha Mirai's gaze turn toward him, the Root operative broke out in a cold sweat!

"Fall back!"

Aburame Shikuro, the leader, shouted in horror.

Even now, he could not understand it. Their group had clearly come to kill Uchiha Mirai.

How had the situation reversed so completely in such a short time?!

Uchiha Mirai alone pressed down on them like an army of thousands, leaving them unable to breathe!

The ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked apart. Using the powerful force from his kick, Uchiha Mirai shot forward like a cannonball.

It took barely the blink of an eye.

He had already arrived before the blade-wielding Root operative.

The Root operative was terrified out of his wits. Uchiha Mirai's overwhelming aura left him with almost no thought of resisting.

At the critical moment, he could only place all his hopes on the ninja blade in his hand.

Using every ounce of strength in his body, he slashed down at the charging Uchiha Mirai.

"Die!!!"

What answered him was a pair of scarlet eyes!

Clang!

The Root operative's body suddenly stiffened, his eyes falling into a brief daze beneath the Sharingan's gaze.

Uchiha Mirai seized the opportunity.

Crack!

He snapped the man's neck cleanly and decisively.

Gripping the Root operative by the neck, Uchiha Mirai stood amid Root's encirclement, his gaze calmly sweeping across the surrounding shinobi.

A faint killing intent radiated from him.

Every Root operative his eyes passed over felt fear rise in their hearts, cold sweat streaming down their foreheads.

"What, weren't you here to kill me? Is that all you've got?"

Uchiha Mirai smiled disdainfully.

He casually tossed the corpse of the Root operative whose neck he had snapped at the feet of the Root operatives opposite him.

Perhaps because of the immense pain he had suffered before death, the Root operative's expression was grotesquely twisted.

His bloodshot eyes had rolled upward, exposing large amounts of white; his tongue hung from one side of his chin, mixed with blood and saliva; his entire head was twisted at an unnatural angle.

The miserable sight of their companion's death filled the surrounding Root operatives with both fear and intense killing intent.

Pairs of eyes stared fixedly at Uchiha Mirai in the center, their murderous intent surging.

"Interesting!"

Uchiha Mirai rolled his neck, producing a crisp series of cracks.

"My body's only just warmed up. Before I get serious, dance to your heart's content!"

"Faster!"

"Pick up the pace!"

A number of Konoha's ninja had already gathered in the village and were rushing toward the forest where the battle had broken out.

Yamanaka Inoichi stared at that forest, a trace of tension in his eyes.

Aside from that immense, calamitous chakra, which had been confirmed to belong to Uchiha Mirai, there were also quite a few weaker chakra signatures over there.

Who were they?

That forest was also within Konoha's boundaries.

Who would dare attack Calamity Uchiha in a place like this?

What kind of ninja were they?

Though he was unwilling to admit it, Yamanaka Inoichi already understood the answer.

Within Konoha, the only ones capable of doing such a thing were the Hokage's ANBU and Danzo's Root.

The ANBU was unlikely, unless the Third Hokage wanted to directly go to war with the Uchiha Clan.

That left only Danzo's Root.

Something terrible was likely about to happen in Konoha.

Yamanaka Inoichi's expression was exceedingly grim.

He could almost see the bloodshed that would soon follow...

Besides Yamanaka Inoichi, a great many other Konoha ninja were also rushing toward the forest where the battle had erupted.

A terrifying battle had broken out so close to the village.

This was absolutely not a good sign.

Although some ninja did not possess Yamanaka Inoichi's exceptional sensory abilities, they could understand the severity of the matter with only a little thought.

Ninja from other villages could not possibly appear near Konoha without any warning. Even within Konoha, only a few famous individuals could unleash such power.

The more they thought about it, the deeper their shock became.

Danzo sped toward that forest, followed by more than a dozen elite Root members.

A cold smile hung on his lips. Danzo could hardly wait to see Uchiha Mirai die miserably.

Aburame Shikuro's Nano Poison Insects were a biological attack that surpassed all poisons!

Death was certain upon contact!

They were the most satisfactory tool he had cultivated in Root over all these years.

"Calamity Uchiha, let's see whether your poison is stronger, or Shikuro's Nano Poison Insects are stronger?"

Danzo sneered.

Even if Shikuro failed, so what?

After being besieged by more than a dozen elite Root members, how much strength would Uchiha Mirai have left to resist?

Killing Konoha ninja was a grave crime!

When the time came, the Root members behind him would swarm forward and finish off the exhausted Uchiha Mirai.

Even Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan's patriarch, would have nothing to say!

Every path had been sealed off!

Uchiha Mirai had no chance of escape!

At the same time, at the Uchiha Clan Compound, the Uchiha Clan's ninja also noticed the battle in the forest.

"That presence... it's Brother Mirai's chakra!"

Uchiha Itachi's face darkened as he fixed his gaze on the forest from which the aftershocks were spreading.

"Itachi, are you sure you didn't sense it wrong?"

Uchiha Fugaku, beside him, wore an exceedingly grave expression.

"There's no way I'm wrong! I've followed Brother Mirai for so long—I can recognize his chakra in an instant."

Uchiha Itachi spoke with absolute certainty, though a trace of tension showed in his eyes.

During the three years Uchiha Mirai had lived in seclusion, Itachi had practically remained at his side the entire time, serving him tea and attending to him. He was more familiar than anyone with Uchiha Mirai's strange chakra!

And precisely because of that, Uchiha Itachi could not help but feel nervous.

Brother Mirai had encountered a battle!

And judging from the situation, his enemy was likely quite powerful.

That location was so close to the village. Who would dare attack Brother Mirai?

Uchiha Fugaku's eyes were deep, like the abyssal floor of the sea.

"Organize the clan members and send reinforcements immediately."

"Gather every clan member who has awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan."

Uchiha Fugaku paused slightly, his voice low.

"Tell them Konoha intends to make a move against Uchiha Mirai."