Kotoamatsukami at the Edge of the Abyss

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at him.

"Send several more Root squads?"

Danzo's expression darkened.

"The Yamanaka Clan possesses a vast amount of Konoha's intelligence."

"Lie Yang kept him alive because he intended to read the village's secrets."

"If he only wanted intelligence, why didn't he take anyone else?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi countered.

Danzo was speechless for a moment.

Kurenai Yuhi, Hinata Yota, Kakashi—none of them knew less about Konoha than Yamanaka Daito did.

Yet Lie Yang had taken only the Yamanaka ninja capable of using the Mind Body Switch Technique.

His goal was clearly more than intelligence.

But no one could figure out what it was.

"The losses have reached their limit."

Utatane Koharu spoke wearily.

"We can't keep this hidden any longer."

Danzo immediately said, "Once the news is made public, the Uchiha will definitely demand an explanation."

"Then let them explain!"

Mitokado Homura pressed the casualty list onto the table.

"The one who defected was Uchiha Lieyang."

"The one who killed Konoha ninja was also Uchiha Lieyang."

"We concealed it before to avoid provoking the Uchiha and preventing a repeat of the old incident when Madara Uchiha led his clan away."

"Now Konoha has already paid too great a price for those concerns."

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained silent for a long time.

At last, he looked at Danzo.

"Release the truth."

Danzo narrowed his eyes.

"All of it?"

"Announce the facts of Lie Yang's defection and his murder of Konoha ninja. Issue the highest-level wanted notice."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was icy.

"It will be jointly signed by me and the council of elders."

"The Uchiha Clan must also publicly state its position."

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura nodded at the same time.

But Danzo did not leave immediately.

"Hiruzen, there's one more matter."

"Speak."

"Lie Yang once told the pursuers that Konoha's rules, the Will of Fire, and his clan all demanded that he become what others wanted him to be."

Danzo stared fixedly at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"He also said that if their positions differed, they were enemies."

"What exactly is his position?"

No one in the office answered.

Over the past few days, Danzo had repeatedly pondered every word Lie Yang had left behind.

But he still could not understand.

Lie Yang did not want Konoha's identity, did not want the Uchiha's support, and did not want the businesses and connections he had built in the village over three years.

He had not defected to another ninja village, nor had he left the Land of Fire.

It was as though everything ninja across the world pursued meant nothing to him.

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up his pipe but did not light it.

"Perhaps he has joined some force we do not know about."

"Another ninja village?"

"Not necessarily a ninja village."

Hiruzen Sarutobi recalled the scattered intelligence reports that had surfaced over the past few years.

A group of powerful ninja of unknown identity.

Rogue ninja.

Black robes patterned with red clouds.

"Akatsuki..."

Danzo frowned.

"That organization made up of rogue ninja?"

"For now, it is only speculation."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked out the window.

"When Kakashi and the others return, we'll hear the full account of the battle before making a judgment."

Unable to get the answer he wanted, Danzo could only turn and leave.

The next day, Uchiha Lieyang's wanted posters were put up all over Konoha.

The news spread throughout the village in just half a day.

"He killed so many Konoha ninja?"

"Root, ANBU, even ordinary tracking squads—all of them died!"

"The Uchiha really never took the village seriously!"

"It wasn't enough for them to control the Konoha Police Force? Now even a special jōnin has defected!"

People discussed it everywhere—in the streets, the mission hall, and the training grounds.

No one was secretly stirring things up.

The resentment that had built up for so long was already fierce enough.

The suspicions left behind by the Nine-Tails Incident, the conflicts between the Konoha Police Force and the villagers, and the Uchiha clansmen's usual arrogance were all dragged out again at this moment.

"And they dare talk about the Will of Fire?"

"That clan only thinks of itself!"

"If Uchiha Lieyang can defect, who knows whether the others will do the same?"

The louder the uproar outside the village became, the quieter the Uchiha Clan Compound was.

The clan assembly hall was packed with people.

No one spoke.

Fugaku Uchiha sat upright in the seat of honor, the wanted notice that had just been delivered placed before him.

He had long suspected that Lie Yang's disappearance was connected to Root's deployment.

Yet when he truly saw the wanted notice, he still could not understand.

Why had Lie Yang left?

He had become a special jōnin at only twenty, possessed considerable prestige in the Konoha Police Force, and the businesses he operated continued to expand.

The clan had not treated him poorly.

Nor had the village openly suppressed him.

With such a bright future, why had he abandoned it all?

An elder broke the silence.

"Lie Yang could not have defected without reason."

Another said gravely, "The higher-ups concealed this for more than ten days and only released the news when the casualties could no longer be controlled. There must be more to this matter."

"But what about the dead?"

"The wanted notice was jointly signed by the Hokage and the council of elders. It can't all be fabricated."

"Outside, they already see the Uchiha as traitors!"

Arguments gradually broke out.

Fugaku did not join in.

His gaze passed over the crowd and landed on Shisui in the corner.

Fourteen-year-old Shisui sat there quietly.

He had a gentle temperament and clear, perceptive eyes.

He was deeply trusted by the Hokage's faction and was also the youngest holder of the Mangekyō Sharingan within the Uchiha Clan.

More importantly, his eyes housed the strongest genjutsu capable of changing a person's will.

Kotoamatsukami.

It was the Uchiha's most important trump card at this moment.

It was also a power the higher-ups would never truly feel at ease with.

As Fugaku looked at Shisui, the worry in his heart grew heavier.

Lie Yang's defection had already completely exposed the rift between the village and the Uchiha.

If they made a single wrong move next, the entire clan could be pushed into an abyss from which there was no return.

Outside the cave, rainwater continuously dripped down the rock walls.

Lie Yang sat cross-legged in the deepest part of the cave.

The captured Yamanaka Daito leaned against the stone wall. His cheeks were sunken, his lips cracked, and his entire body had wasted away until he was little more than skin and bones.

For more than ten days, he had not truly slept even once.

Lie Yang had kept him alive with soldier pills, then used Mangekyō genjutsu to forcibly control his consciousness, compelling him to use the Mind Body Switch Technique again and again.

When his chakra was exhausted, he rested.

Once his mind recovered even slightly, he continued.

Yamanaka Daito's body had long since reached its limit.

"Form the seals."

Lie Yang opened his eyes.

Yamanaka Daito's hands trembled. Even raising his arms had become incomparably difficult.

"No..."

The Mangekyō patterns turned.

Eye power pressed directly into his consciousness.

The resistance on Yamanaka Daito's face swiftly vanished.

His withered hands slowly rose, forming the unique hand seal of the Yamanaka Clan.

"Mind Body Switch Technique..."

An unfamiliar will instantly surged into Lie Yang's mental realm.

This time, it was no longer merely mechanical obedience after hypnosis.

The remnants of Yamanaka Daito's lucidity, hatred, and instinct to survive all erupted at once.

That will threw everything it had against the core of Lie Yang's mind.

Boom!

An invisible storm exploded in the depths of his consciousness.

Lie Yang's entire body shuddered.

His perception of time stretched infinitely.

A raindrop falling outside the cave seemed to stop in midair.

A single beat of his heart felt as though dozens of minutes had passed.

His mental power rapidly extended outward.

The five senses.

Nerves.

Muscles.

The flow of blood.

Every inch of his body came under absolute control.

The Mangekyō in his eyes spun madly, its eye power raging violently. Three tomoe patterns stretched without end, as if this mental clash would give rise to an entirely new transformation.

Yamanaka Daito's will continued to strike.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

But that power grew weaker and weaker.

His chakra had been completely depleted.

His mental core was also nearing exhaustion from the repeated strain, and the Mind Body Switch Technique began to collapse.

Yamanaka Daito's emaciated body suddenly convulsed. Blood poured from his mouth and nose at once, while his barely raised hands fell limply.

The last trace of life within him was completely extinguished.