Utatane Koharu had expended a tremendous amount of stamina, but her mind remained clear. She keenly sensed that Uchiha Yato was attacking her.
"No..." Before her cry could fade, a blazing red fireball shot toward her like lightning, hurtling straight at her.
"I'm an elder of Konoha, you can't..." Utatane Koharu's words were abruptly cut off as the fireball struck her body at astonishing speed.
She had originally intended to keep questioning Uchiha Yato, to pressure him with her words and force him to abandon his plan to "baptize" Konoha.
However, the fireball's impact left her unable to utter another word. Every word was replaced by screams of agony.
"Save me!" Utatane Koharu's cry echoed through the air, her voice filled with terror and despair.
"Hiruzen... En..." She tried to call out the names of Konoha's other higher-ups, hoping they would come to save her.
But it was already too late.
With one final, shrill scream, Utatane Koharu's body slowly collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, devoid of any trace of life.
Thus, Uchiha Yato had successfully killed his first major target—Utatane Koharu. The news exploded in everyone's hearts like a thunderclap.
Everyone who witnessed the scene wore expressions of utter horror.
Their gazes were fixed tightly upon Uchiha Yato, as though he were a vicious ghost from hell, bringing endless fear and despair.
These people were not cowards who feared death. Having come this far, they had long been mentally prepared for its arrival.
Yet they had never expected death to descend so swiftly, and in such a cruel manner—in Uchiha Yato's hands, Utatane Koharu's life had been snuffed out as easily as a candle flame.
What they found even harder to accept was that Utatane Koharu was not an outsider. She was one