Three Tomoe

Aburame Ryoma was a genius ninja of the Aburame Clan.

He had once been an elite member of Root, and his infiltration skills had stood out even among generations of Anbu.

It was said that he had been immensely powerful back then, nearly matching Orochimaru of that time.

He had once been ambitious, wanting to strengthen the Aburame Clan.

He traveled everywhere collecting insects, and eventually, he truly found a new species.

The Kikaichū he cultivated, like Aburame Shikuroo's, were nanoscale Poisonous Insects.

They could be released into the air and spread without physical contact.

Later, while developing a new secret technique, something went wrong with his body.

He began secretly killing his teammates and using their blood to feed his Poisonous Insects, but the matter was soon exposed, and he was imprisoned.

So it was him. Keimei instantly became alert.

He hurriedly formed hand seals, his chest swelling.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

The target was beneath his own feet!

Pfft! Surging flames shot from his mouth, struck the ground, and then curled back at him.

Keimei burst out of the flames, his whole body scorched black.

"Hmph!" Aburame Ryoma snorted coldly. This Uchiha Clan brat was truly decisive.

The great swarm of Poisonous Insects that had already infiltrated him was instantly burned to ash.

He knew the insects were invisible to the naked eye, yet he had still aimed the flames at himself.

Though he had burns all over his body, he had at least escaped Aburame Ryoma's nanoscale Kikaichū assault.

If Aburame Ryoma's insects touched him, Keimei would lose control of his entire body within seconds.

He would die here without ever knowing why.

"Will you come with me obediently, or should I take your corpse back?"

Aburame Ryoma had exhausted all his nanoscale Poisonous Insects. Hatching more required blood, so he could only attack with ordinary Kikaichū.

With a wave of Aburame Ryoma's hand, a huge swarm of Kikaichū immediately surged forward.

Keimei's burns were severe. He could only leap backward with difficulty. Without any ninja tools in hand, he could only rely on Fire Release.

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

Clusters of fireballs sprayed from Keimei's mouth.

They collided head-on with the swarm of Kikaichū.

A large number of Kikaichū instantly fell from the air.

Several other fireballs struck the ground, and flames immediately erupted across it.

Seeing the commotion, Aburame Ryoma swiftly flashed through the flames and lunged at Keimei.

Keimei dodged a punch in a miserable state, rolled twice across the ground, and Ryoma stepped forward again, kicking him in the body.

But Ryoma's foot suddenly felt light.

Bang! Keimei exploded into a cloud of smoke.

"Hmm!?" It was a Shadow Clone? When had he—

As the Shadow Clone burst into smoke, the memories of all the damage it had suffered instantly returned to Keimei, who was elsewhere.

Keimei had known from the beginning that he could not win. When he fired the Great Fireball at the ground, he had divided nearly all his Chakra into another Shadow Clone.

It was an extremely risky move. If the Shadow Clone vanished after suffering severe damage while his own Chakra was insufficient—

The instant those memories of injury returned to the original body, it was very likely that the original body would be unable to endure them and pass out.

Keimei staggered and nearly collapsed, but he had to hold on. His clan had only just escaped the ravages of war. If something happened to him, who knew how much turmoil it might stir up again?

"Hngh!" Keimei suppressed a groan as blood flowed from his nose.

He could hear footsteps. Ryoma was about to catch up.

Secret Technique: Kikaichū!

Buzzing filled the air as the sound of a massive swarm of Kikaichū reached his back.

Keimei's eyes widened furiously. "Ah!" His body suddenly felt lighter, strength flooding back into him as he leaped forward and dodged the attack.

"Hah... hah..."

Keimei panted heavily. The Sharingan spinning in his eyes had evolved from Two Tomoe to Three Tomoe.

"You've got some skill, tricking me like that." Having been delayed for so long, Aburame Ryoma was growing angry from embarrassment.

But when he saw that Keimei's eyes had become Three Tomoe Sharingan—

He could not help but feel delighted. "Ha, what luck."

The Kikaichū around him took flight and swept toward Keimei.

"Am I going to die?" Keimei stared ahead. With his Chakra exhausted, his body could no longer dodge in time.

Bang! A great cloud of dust exploded from the ground, and a skeletal giant instantly enveloped Keimei.

"Yo, good thing I made it in time." Natsuki gave Keimei a thumbs-up.

"Captain..." Keimei relaxed, his vision went black, and he collapsed.

"So this is Susanoo!?" Feeling the surging Chakra from across the way—

Though it was only Susanoo's skeletal form, its oppressive aura made the Kikaichū on Aburame Ryoma's body cry out in distress.

Aburame Ryoma immediately turned and ran.

Natsuki swept his gaze over the area, and Susanoo slapped out with one hand, kicking up a violent gale!

"Buzz...!" Aburame Ryoma immediately exploded into an Insect Clone.

Then he reappeared nearby at once.

But more than half of his Kikaichū had already vanished. Clearly, this Substitution Technique had consumed more than half of Ryoma's Chakra.

Natsuki dispelled Susanoo and flashed forward.

He brought his hands together and formed the Horse hand seal.

Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!

Pfft! Boom!

Massive flames burst forth, instantly turning the ground into a sea of fire.

Aburame Ryoma exploded into insects once more, but all of his Kikaichū were instantly scorched by the flames.

The violent flames and intense heat completely cleared out the surrounding area.

The instant Aburame Ryoma's Kikaichū were burned away, he revealed himself and was immediately engulfed by flames.

The intense heat charred him black in an instant, leaving him no time even to cry out.

A blackened human-shaped mass fell to the ground.

Rustle, rustle, rustle. The sounds of people moving through the forest rang out as many members of the Uchiha Clan finally arrived.

But by the time they reached the scene, the ground was already a mess, and many Trees had caught fire.

Oops, it seemed he had gone a little overboard. Natsuki scratched his head.

Fire Release was the most suitable thing for dealing with insect users.

To make sure every last Kikaichū was burned to death, Natsuki had used all the Chakra he could.

As a result, Great Fire Annihilation had burned out an open space nearly half the size of a basketball court.

"Put out the fire first! Hurry!"

Water Release: Water Flow Technique!

Water Release...

Though the Uchiha Clan excelled at Fire Release, it did not mean they could not use Water Release. After all, they had the Sharingan to copy techniques.

Natsuki helped Keimei up. When he had set up the Defensive Sensory Barrier Technique, he had happened to be testing it by feeding Chakra into it.

So he had known the moment Ryoma infiltrated.

He had also arrived at the scene, only he had not intervened.

Still, Keimei's performance had truly given him a pleasant surprise.

First, he had burned himself with a Great Fireball, then used the flames to transfer all his Chakra into a Shadow Clone.

He himself had used the flames to quickly conceal his figure and escape.

He had completely played Ryoma.

It had just been far too risky.

The reason creating a Shadow Clone was dangerous was that when Chakra was depleted—

Once the Shadow Clone ended, its memories returned to the original body, and the original body could easily be overwhelmed and pass out.

The Multiple Shadow Clone Technique was even a forbidden technique.

Other than Naruto, Asura's reincarnation, no one else had ever dared to forcibly create a whole pile of Shadow Clones.

Unexpectedly, Keimei had endured the Shadow Clone's backlash through sheer willpower and awakened Three Tomoe at the brink of death.

The Uchiha Clan's medical team had already given him a preliminary examination. Aside from the burns on his body, Keimei was fine.

That was excellent news.

Looking at the corpse lying on the ground, Natsuki remembered that this guy was supposed to be locked in the dungeon.

Wasn't the Third Hokage unable to find a reason to deal with Danzo? Now he had one.