Preparing to Defect

The lead Root ninja saw Uchiha Shaoyu standing motionless and assumed that his injuries were too severe for him to resist. A cold sneer curled his lips as he thrust his kunai directly toward Uchiha Shaoyu's wrist.

Yet, the moment the blade was about to touch Uchiha Shaoyu's clothes, Shaoyu's body tilted slightly. Like a ghost, he evaded the lethal strike while his right hand shot out with precision, gripping the opponent's wrist.

"What?"

The Root ninja's expression changed drastically. He had not expected Uchiha Shaoyu's movements to be this swift; he looked nothing like a man who had been critically wounded.

He tried to break free, only to find that Uchiha Shaoyu's hand was locked onto his wrist like an iron clamp, rendering him completely unable to move.

Seeing this, the two Root ninjas nearby immediately stepped in to support their comrade, their kunai lunging toward the left and right sides of Uchiha Shaoyu.

Uchiha Shaoyu's gaze sharpened. Without letting go of the man he was holding, he kicked his left foot back violently. His body spun half a circle in mid-air, his right foot connecting precisely with the wrist of the ninja on the left, sending his kunai flying. At the same time, he formed his left hand into a fist and slammed it heavily into the chest of the ninja on the right.

"Ugh!" The Root ninja on the right groaned as a mouthful of blood sprayed out. His body flew backward, crashing heavily against the courtyard wall before sliding to the ground; he struggled for a moment but failed to stand back up.

Seeing this, the lead Root ninja became increasingly horrified. He abruptly mobilized his chakra, desperate to break free from Uchiha Shaoyu's grip, and shouted.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A mass of scorching flames erupted from his mouth, surging toward Uchiha Shaoyu's face.

Uchiha Shaoyu's eyes narrowed. Instead of dodging, he pushed the Root ninja in his grip forward. The Great Fireball slammed directly into the back of his own comrade, instantly setting the man's clothes ablaze.

"Ah!" The Root ninja shrieked, completely losing his ability to resist.

Uchiha Shaoyu let go, watching him roll on the ground to extinguish the flames, then turned his gaze toward the final remaining Root ninja.

That ninja's face had turned deathly pale. He had not expected Uchiha Shaoyu to be this formidable; in just a few rounds, he had already neutralized two of his companions.

He swallowed hard and slowly retreated, his kunai still gripped tightly in his hand, clearly hesitant about whether to continue the attack.

But he was a ninja of Root; the consequences of failing a mission were far worse than death.

After a moment of thought, the Root ninja gritted his teeth, raised his kunai, and charged again.

Like a gambler betting everything on one final throw, the Root ninja used the momentum of his retreat to kick off the ground. His body became a blur of motion, his kunai carrying a biting, cold light as it aimed straight for Uchiha Shaoyu's throat.

He had calculated that Shaoyu had just finished dealing with two companions and his breathing had not yet fully stabilized; clinging to the desperate hope that a severely wounded man must have openings, this strike carried a measure of ruthless, do-or-die ferocity.

Uchiha Shaoyu seemed truly unable to react in time. His body remained in the posture from his previous kick, his neck tilted slightly, failing to evade completely.

The sharp tip of the kunai tore through the air, piercing into flesh with a sickening chiss sound. Warm blood immediately overflowed along the groove of the blade, staining the collar of Shaoyu's black combat outfit red.

"I hit him!"

A light of wild ecstasy erupted in the Root ninja's eyes, his heart pounding violently from the sheer excitement.

He could already imagine himself receiving the appreciation of Danzo after completing the mission. He subconsciously increased the force in his hand, wanting to drive the kunai completely through the carotid artery.

But just then, he suddenly felt a sharp, piercing pain in the back of his neck, as if countless fine needles were stabbing into his nerves at once. The scene before him twisted violently.

Uchiha Shaoyu, whose throat had supposedly been pierced, slowly curled his lips into a cold arc. The deep, bone-exposed wound faded away like a receding tide, his skin becoming as smooth as before, without a single scar left behind.

"H-how is this possible?"

The Root ninja's pupils contracted violently. His kunai felt as if it had stabbed into cotton, losing all resistance.

He tried to pull his hand back to retreat, only to find that his body felt as if it had been nailed to the spot. A heavy, numbing sensation surged through his limbs, and he was completely unable to move.

"Genjutsu? When?"

His gaze was pulled upward uncontrollably, and he locked eyes with Uchiha Shaoyu's scarlet irises.

Three tomoe were spinning rapidly within the black pupils, like the gears of fate, radiating a soul-shaking ocular power.

The unique scarlet glow of the Sharingan enveloped his consciousness. The surrounding environment collapsed instantly; the courtyard vanished, replaced by an endless, boundless darkness. Only Shaoyu's eyes shone brilliantly in the void, like a god looking down upon its prey.

"When did you get the delusion that you wouldn't fall for a Genjutsu?"

Uchiha Shaoyu's voice echoed in the darkness, carrying a trace of imperceptible mockery.

The Root ninja's mind went blank, fear washing over him like a cold tide.

He finally understood: the sensation of the kunai piercing the throat, the warm blood—it had all been a false illusion created by the Sharingan.

From the moment he saw Shaoyu "injured," his consciousness had been under the other's control.

The so-called "successful hit" was nothing more than a method for the predator to toy with its prey.

He tried to mobilize his chakra to break the Genjutsu, only to find that the chakra within him was like a severed river, completely unable to circulate.

The ocular power of the Sharingan acted like invisible shackles, firmly locking his spirit and body, forcing him to endure the torture of despair in the endless dark.

Although Uchiha Shaoyu's Genjutsu was not as absurd as the Tsukuyomi of Uchiha Itachi or the Kotoamatsukami of Shisui from the original history, the powerful ocular energy of his Mangekyo Sharingan still brought his Genjutsu to an extremely potent level.

The Root ninja before him was barely at the Jonin level; while he was indeed capable, he was still far too weak to resist such a Genjutsu.

In the darkness, Uchiha Shaoyu slowly raised his left hand, three fingers pressed together, and aimed them at the ninja's forehead.

"Since you wanted to make a move on me, you should have been prepared for failure."

The Root ninja's eyes were filled with extreme fear and regret. He opened his mouth to beg for mercy, but no sound could escape.

Despite his hundred-percent loyalty to Danzo after being brainwashed, no one wanted to die if they could live.

Before the absolute ocular power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, all of his struggles appeared laughable.

A second before his consciousness sank completely into the dark, he only saw the tomoe in Uchiha Shaoyu's eyes spinning faster and faster, as if they were about to devour his soul entirely.

In the real world, the Root ninja remained in his lunging posture, his kunai stopped less than an inch from Shaoyu's neck. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated, and a trace of lingering, ecstatic joy remained on his lips, yet his body had lost all signs of life.

His spirit had completely collapsed under the impact of the Genjutsu, turning him into a soulless husk. He fell straight backward, crashing heavily onto the ground, never moving again.

The Genjutsu of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan was not something a guy of this level could contend with, let alone the current Mangekyo Sharingan.

That old man Danzo really underestimated the Uchiha; he thought Shaoyu was injured and sent these few bottom-feeders to deal with him.

Uchiha Shaoyu slowly deactivated his Sharingan, his scarlet pupils returning to an ink-black hue.

"Has Root become this arrogant? It seems it is time to leave Konoha."

Indeed, Uchiha Shaoyu had already prepared himself to defect.