Surprised? Didn't See That Coming!

Danzo's bandage-covered right eye, a shuriken-shaped Mangekyō Sharingan, now emitted an eerie crimson glow.

A powerful and bizarre ocular technique instantly flooded Sasuke's mind.

Kotoamatsukami, hailed as the strongest genjutsu, had been successfully activated!

Kotoamatsukami was absurdly overpowered. It could directly alter someone's memories, thereby controlling them and forcing them to do things they did not wish to do. It could even make them commit suicide.

However, heaven was always fair. As absurdly powerful as Kotoamatsukami was, its restrictions were equally severe.

After Kotoamatsukami was used once, it was said that one had to wait more than a decade before it could be used again.

That was only reasonable. If Kotoamatsukami had no cooldown and could be used without limit, Shisui would have long since become invincible in the Ninja World!

And now, the memory Danzo had viciously implanted in Sasuke was to turn Sasuke into a fiercely loyal dog.

There was, more or less, a personal grudge mixed into it.

"Hmph! Why haven't you put this old man down yet? You defeated cur!"

Seeing that his ocular technique had successfully struck its target, Danzo snorted and smugly gave the command.

Sasuke obediently lowered his arm slowly. Rather than simply releasing his grip and letting Danzo fall, he seemed unwilling to let the other man suffer even the slightest injury.

"Very good!"

Danzo was quite pleased after landing safely.

He straightened his somewhat disheveled clothes. Looking at the obedient burly man before him, Danzo could no longer suppress the joy in his heart. He bared his teeth, and a chilling grin spread across his ugly face as he laughed triumphantly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!!!"

"I wasted all that breath on you just to make you lower your guard. Just as I expected, you muscle-brained fool fell for it."

"Now that you've been hit by my Kotoamatsukami, be a good dog for this old man!"

In truth, the moment Danzo saw Sasuke's ferocious strength, he had considered using Kotoamatsukami to control him, making him serve as his personal weapon of murder.

Kotoamatsukami was hailed as the strongest genjutsu, so Danzo was not worried that it would fail to control a brute who fought using nothing but muscle.

His only concern was that he would be killed before he could use Kotoamatsukami.

Thus, to be safe, Danzo had chosen to meet up with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others first, then deal with this muscular brute together.

With all those experts around Hiruzen Sarutobi keeping him occupied, Danzo had been absolutely certain that his Kotoamatsukami would hit.

He just had not expected his subordinates to be so useless. They had not even managed to stall for a few minutes before they all fled, leaving him with no time to rendezvous with Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.

After being caught up to, he could only change his strategy. He threatened Sasuke and spouted nonsense, all to buy time to activate Kotoamatsukami.

The result was a complete and perfect success!

He had gained a powerful, utterly loyal enforcer who would never betray him.

"With you, you rabid dog, wiping out the Uchiha clan will be effortless. Even the position of Hokage will be nothing more than something already in this old man's grasp!"

"If that Hiruzen refuses to accept it, this old man will let him see what true power is! Ha ha ha!!"

Danzo was incredibly excited and thrilled at this moment, unable to stop himself from imagining the future.

It was as if he could already see himself using Sasuke to successfully ascend to the position of Hokage.

Then, he coldly ordered Sasuke before him.

"What are you standing around for? Kneel and pay respects to your master, you rabid dog!"

Yet Sasuke remained expressionless, as though he had not heard a thing, without moving an inch.

Danzo frowned slightly at the sight. Could it be that, having just been controlled by Kotoamatsukami, his own will is still resisting?

He immediately raised his voice and barked sternly.

"Are you deaf!? Didn't you hear this old man tell you to kneel!?"

Perhaps raising his voice had worked. The burly man's knees began to bend, as if he were slowly kneeling.

Danzo nodded in satisfaction, smiling. "That's more like it!"

Just as he was about to enjoy Sasuke's grand bow, a huge palm swung toward his old face.

Then came a sharp slap, and Danzo, still wearing a smug smile, spun through the air.

"I was just messing with you, idiot! You actually believed it?"

Sasuke clapped his hands together and sneered.

Not far away, Danzo lay where he had been sent flying, somewhat dazed. What attacked this old man?

Clearly, his mind had not yet caught up with what had happened!

But the pain radiating from his cheek quickly brought him back to his senses.

He turned his head and looked at Sasuke striding toward him, his face like he had seen a ghost.

"How is that possible!? How is that possible!? This old man's Kotoamatsukami clearly hit you! Why can you still attack me? Why do you still have your own consciousness? Why weren't your memories altered!?"

This was Kotoamatsukami, hailed as the strongest genjutsu! How could it fail to control a brute who fought using nothing but muscle!? It was simply inconceivable!

Danzo was shocked, confused, horrified, incredulous... Under the assault of so many intense emotions, he looked like a gambler who had lost everything, screaming madly in place!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Danzo continued shrieking hysterically. He had believed his plan was a flawless success, only for it to make a complete 180-degree reversal. He simply could not accept such an outcome.

Slap!!

Only when Sasuke grabbed him again and rewarded him with another slap did his hysterical screams finally stop.

"Why? Why weren't you controlled by Kotoamatsukami!?"

Looking at the person before him, Danzo's face twisted as he asked with bloodshot eyes.

"Forget a thief like you. Even if the original owner of this eye, Shisui Uchiha, personally used Kotoamatsukami on me, he still wouldn't be able to control me."

Sasuke looked proud, and his tone brimmed with absolute confidence.

He was not bragging. That was simply the truth.

At the end of the day, Kotoamatsukami was merely an ocular technique of an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan. It could control others, but controlling him, someone with an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, was utterly impossible.

Not to mention that one of his eyes was a Rinnegan.

The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was one level above an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, while the Rinnegan was two levels above it.

If he could still be controlled by the ocular technique of a mere ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan even with these two eyes, the Sage of Six Paths would probably crawl out of the underworld.

Slap slap slap!!

Sasuke instantly gave Danzo more than a dozen hard slaps and sneered.

"You still dared call me a rabid dog. Feeling pretty pleased with yourself, huh!"

With that, he gave him another dozen or so slaps.

"Ah!! Bastard!!"

Danzo let out a shrill roar. His face had been slapped so swollen it resembled a pig's head, yet it was exceptionally savage now. His lone eye was filled with viciousness, as if he wanted to devour Sasuke alive.

"This old man is the mighty leader of Root, someone second only to one and above tens of thousands in Konoha! How dare you, you rabid dog, humiliate me like this!"

"Die! All of you, die!!"

Danzo screamed madly.

The next moment, Sasuke heard a hissing sound, as though something had been ignited.

They were Explosive Tags. Danzo had set off every Explosive Tag on his body.

Of course, he knew such an explosion would not harm Sasuke, so that was not his goal.

The next moment,

Boom boom boom!!!

Danzo, whom Sasuke was holding in his hand, exploded directly into chunks of flesh.

Sasuke brushed away the smoke before him and narrowed his eyes.

Had Danzo chosen to end his own life because he could not endure the humiliation Sasuke had inflicted on him?