The Mangekyō Sharingan Beyond Intelligence

Splurt!

Blood sprayed out.

The blade sliced through his shoulder and neck, plunging diagonally into his chest.

Kirisaki Rei's body froze in place.

The ninja sword slipped from his hand and crashed into the mud.

He opened his mouth, and a large amount of blood poured from it. His legs could no longer support his body.

Lie Yang pulled out his blade.

The corpse crashed heavily to the ground.

The wounded man beneath the tree watched Kirisaki Rei fall silent, his hand pressed against his abdomen trembling violently.

The green medical chakra flickered unsteadily.

He no longer had the strength to run.

Nor did he have any chance of continuing the fight.

Lie Yang walked up to him.

The wounded man did not draw a kunai or try to form hand seals.

His chakra was nearly depleted.

The wound in his abdomen was too deep. His intestines and internal organs had both been damaged. If he had not been forcibly stimulating his cells with medical ninjutsu all this time, he would have died long ago.

"Uchiha Lieyang."

The wounded man gasped for breath.

"Can you answer one question?"

Lie Yang stopped.

The ninja stared into his eyes.

"For the past three days, you kept your eyes covered."

"The intelligence said your Shadow Clone Technique handled the fighting, while your real body never opened its eyes."

"Why?"

This question did not only trouble Konoha's higher-ups.

None of the ninjas pursuing Lie Yang could understand it.

The Sharingan was the Uchiha's greatest power.

Yet when facing his pursuers, Lie Yang had deliberately sealed off his own vision.

If his eyes had been injured, he had just activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan normally.

If he was hiding his identity, his Shadow Clone Technique had already exposed the Sharingan.

No matter how they assessed it, they could not find a reasonable answer.

Lie Yang answered casually, "I just awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, so my eyes are a little uncomfortable."

The wounded man's pupils suddenly contracted.

The Mangekyō Sharingan!

According to Konoha's latest intelligence, Lie Yang still only possessed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan!

He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to ask more questions.

The short blade had already pierced his heart.

Splurt!

The green medical chakra went out with it.

The wounded man's body trembled, and his head drooped limply.

Lie Yang pulled back his short blade and turned to survey the battlefield.

There were no survivors.

The seventh batch of pursuers had been completely eliminated.

He stood where he was and closed his eyes.

The battle from moments ago rapidly replayed in his mind.

From sensing the underground ambush, to evading the kunai, to consecutively killing the ninjas hiding in different places, every entry into the Gene Lock no longer required a genuine threat of death.

The rhythm of his heartbeat.

The way his mind impacted his survival instincts.

The changes between chakra and physical energy.

He had completely grasped every detail.

Lie Yang could clearly sense that the shackles hidden deep within his genes still existed, but they could no longer restrain his consciousness.

Activate.

Deactivate.

Controlled at will.

No desperate situation required.

No fear required.

And no need to wait for an enemy's fatal attack.

He had completely mastered the first stage of the Gene Lock!

Lie Yang raised his right hand.

His fingers slowly curled inward before suddenly clenching into a fist.

Thump!

His heart gave a heavy beat.

Every muscle in his body suddenly tensed.

The sound of the wind, flowing water, and dripping blood all became clear at once.

The next instant, he deliberately relaxed his mind.

The absolute calm rapidly faded.

His body did not immediately collapse.

The backlash remained, but it was nowhere near as deadly as the first time.

Lie Yang had gotten his answer.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Poof!

White smoke dispersed.

A shadow clone appeared at his side.

"Carry me."

After saying that, Lie Yang voluntarily exited the Gene Lock.

Boom!

Intense pain instantly swept through his entire body.

The agony of torn muscle fibers erupted all at once. His limbs convulsed uncontrollably, and his heartbeat fell out of rhythm for a short time.

Lie Yang's legs gave out.

The shadow clone had been prepared. It caught him in one motion, turned, and carried the original body onto its back.

"It's much lighter than the first time."

"The duration was shorter, and my body has adapted too."

Lie Yang lay on the shadow clone's back, his voice slightly strained.

He could feel the chakra within him rapidly flowing toward his damaged cells.

His physical energy was continuously being consumed.

His torn muscles began to heal, while his erratic heartbeat gradually steadied under the chakra's buffering.

Without chakra, this level of physical overexertion could still cause permanent damage.

But with a ninja's energy system, the most dangerous backlash had been greatly weakened.

The risks of using the first stage of the Gene Lock had fallen to an acceptable level.

The shadow clone carried Lie Yang over the corpses scattered across the ground and swiftly left the streamside.

Konoha.

Kakashi Hatake lay at home with a book in his hands.

He had no mission today.

Nor did he have any training scheduled.

The sunlight outside was pleasant, and conversations from passersby occasionally drifted in from the street.

Kakashi turned a page.

His movement suddenly stopped.

An indescribable feeling rose from the bottom of his heart.

He looked up at the window.

There was nothing unusual on the street.

There was no unfamiliar chakra nearby either.

Yet that feeling did not disappear.

It was as though something connected to him was waiting somewhere far away.

Knock, knock, knock!

A sudden knock sounded at the door.

"Kakashi Hatake."

A low voice came from outside.

"Lord Hokage has summoned you urgently."

Kakashi closed his book, rose, and pulled open the door.

An ANBU ninja stood outside.

"What mission?"

"Lord Hokage will explain in person."

The ANBU turned and leaped onto the roof.

Kakashi put away his book and followed.

The two soon arrived at the Hokage Building.

When the office doors opened, quite a few people were already inside.

Might Guy stood with his arms crossed over his chest, unusually silent.

Kurenai Yuhi stood by the window, her expression grave.

A Hyuga ninja stood on the other side, his white eyes especially striking.

Hinata Yota.

Besides the three of them, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Danzo were also present.

Kakashi was the last to arrive.

"Sorry, I was delayed on the way."

Might Guy looked at him.

"Kakashi, this isn't an ordinary mission."

Kurenai Yuhi lowered her voice as well.

"I heard a lot of people have already died."

Kakashi did not ask further questions and stepped to the front of the group.

"Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed a thick dossier to the edge of the desk.

"Everyone is here."

"I will now assign the mission."

"The target is Konoha's rogue ninja, Uchiha Lieyang."

No one in the office spoke.

Kakashi picked up the dossier and opened directly to the first page.

Twenty years old.

Special jonin.

Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

After defecting, he had consecutively killed multiple pursuit squads.

He continued flipping through the pages.

Fire Release, Water Release, Wind Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release.

Five chakra natures.

One-handed seals.

Simplified hand seals.

Genjutsu.

Shadow Clone Technique.

Lightning Body Flicker.

Exceptional swordsmanship.

When he saw the final two entries, Kakashi slowed as he turned the page.

Lightning-nature chakra stimulated the body, enabling extreme-speed movement far beyond ordinary Body Flicker Techniques.

The kill was completed the instant he closed in.

The attacks were simple, direct, and almost entirely free of wasted movements.

Those few lines of description brought a long-buried memory back to the surface.

The same lightning.

The same short blade.

The same speed that left enemies no time to form hand seals.

Konoha's White Fang.

His father, Hatake Sakumo.

Kakashi stared fixedly at the battle analysis, his fingers unconsciously tightening around the paper.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him.

"You saw it."

"Yes."

Kakashi's voice was low.

"His fighting style is very similar to Father's."

"It isn't merely similar."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Root reconstructed the course of the battle from the dead men's memories. Uchiha Lieyang's Lightning Body Flicker, swordsmanship, and combat rhythm already possess the traits White Fang had back then."

Might Guy put away his usual smile.

"How fast is he?"

Danzo answered coldly, "Ordinary jonin cannot see him clearly."

"Even if they can block the first strike through experience, Lightning Release will enter their bodies through their weapons."

"So far, not a single person who has fought him at close range has survived."

Kurenai Yuhi looked over the file.

"A Three-Tomoe Sharingan combined with that kind of speed is indeed something ordinary ninja cannot handle."

Hinata Yota asked, "What about the Shadow Clone Technique?"

"His shadow clones possess the ability to independently kill jonin."

Danzo said, "The original body has mastered a special sensory ability. Even with his eyes covered, he can detect enemies lurking underground or attacking from behind in advance."

Hinata Yota frowned deeply.

"The Byakugan can distinguish the chakra of shadow clones, but if every shadow clone possesses jonin-level combat strength, identifying the original body does not mean we can break through."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Kakashi.

"That is why you will serve as captain."

Kakashi continued flipping through the file.

The more he read, the heavier his heart became.

Uchiha Lieyang was only twenty years old this year.

Yet he had already awakened five chakra natures.

Looking across all of Konoha, there were pitifully few who had truly developed all five natures.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.

Beyond them, most jonin could only master two or three natures proficiently in their entire lives.

Even more terrifying was his record.

Multiple jonin.

Special jonin.

A large number of chunin and genin.

Not one pursuer had survived.

Lieyang's combat traits were also extremely clear.

High speed and explosive bursts.

He tore through formations in a short time, prioritizing sensory ninja and jutsu users, then used Lightning Body Flicker to harvest the rest one by one.

The only possible weakness was endurance.

Such high-intensity Lightning Body Flicker, massive numbers of shadow clones, and five-nature ninjutsu could not possibly come without cost.

Yet until now, no one in Konoha had been able to drag the battle into a war of attrition.

Kakashi closed the file.

"I understand."

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked, "Any problems?"

"No."

Kakashi put away the file.

"I'll take this mission."

Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi did not hand over the formal mission order for a long while.

His gaze swept over Kakashi, Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and Hinata Yota in turn.

Judging by the lineup alone, this squad was already powerful enough.

The Sharingan could track Lightning Body Flicker.

The Byakugan could identify the original body.

Genjutsu could restrain dojutsu.

Might Guy would handle the direct confrontation.

But Lieyang had caused far too many casualties.

Any mistaken judgment could result in all four Konoha elites dying within the borders of the Land of Fire.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was silent for a moment before finally picking up the mission order.

"The mission rank will be raised to the highest S-rank."

"Kakashi will serve as captain."

"Might Guy, Kurenai Yuhi, and Hinata Yota will serve as the main combat members."

"Two additional Root squads will be assigned to scout along the route, seal off escape paths, and provide coordinated support if necessary."

"A joint pursuit force will be formed to surround and eliminate the rogue ninja, Uchiha Lieyang."