Mangekyō Sharingan

Chiya let out a muffled groan and staggered half a step forward.

Before he could steady himself, another kick slammed into his ribs from the right.

Bang!

His whole body crashed into the wall. His chest tightened, and bloody froth immediately spilled from his mouth.

But those people did not pause at all.

One slashed at his shoulder, another stabbed toward his leg, while a third struck directly at his chest with a sealing formula in his palm.

Chiya's eyes hardened. He forcibly twisted aside to evade the sealing technique, but the blade sliced open his left shoulder, blood instantly staining his clothes red.

"Meteor Release, Lava Swamp!"

Chiya pressed both hands to the ground.

With a roar, a large stretch of the corridor floor glowed red. Scalding magma-like chakra surged from the cracks. Several Root ninjas immediately leaped onto the walls as the stone beneath them hissed from the heat.

Chiya took the chance to retreat, leaning against the wall as he gasped for breath.

Blood dripped down his fingers, falling onto the scorching ground with faint hisses.

One ninja stood on the wall, looking down at him from above.

"Get him!"

The moment he spoke, three figures pounced at once.

Chiya looked up. His Sharingan caught their movements, but his body was already half a beat too slow.

He blocked the first blade and dodged the second.

But the third blade stabbed straight for his heart.

Too close.

He could not dodge it.

Chiya's pupils suddenly constricted.

At that moment, the ninja's body abruptly froze.

Just as the blade was about to pierce Chiya's chest,

his knife stopped less than half an inch before him.

Chiya froze for a moment.

The ninja's expression changed as well.

His lips moved faintly, as though he were desperately trying to control his own body.

At the entrance to the corridor, Ino stood there with her hands in a seal, her face so pale it was nearly bloodless.

"Mind Body Switch Technique..."

Her voice was soft, and her body swayed.

The next instant, she fell straight down.

Thud.

But it felt as though something had exploded in Chiya's ears.

"Ino!"

The other Root ninjas reacted with astonishing speed.

One of them suddenly turned his head. Seeing Ino collapsed at the corridor entrance, his eyes showed no trace of emotion.

"Yamanaka Clan."

He raised a hand and pointed.

"Kill her."

The moment he spoke, one ninja charged toward Ino.

Chiya's pupils abruptly shrank.

He tried to move, but the two people beside him had already pinned down his shoulders and arms from either side. One of them even drove a knee hard into his abdomen.

Bang!

Sweetness flooded Chiya's throat, and blood surged up at once.

"Get off me!"

He roared as chakra erupted wildly from his body. The ground beneath his feet reddened again, and searing heat swept upward, making the two men restraining him frown.

But they did not release him.

It was as if they had expected him to struggle. Their fingers locked tightly around his joints, a sword hilt pressed against the back of his neck, making it difficult even for him to raise his head.

Chiya could only watch helplessly as the ninja rushed before Ino.

Ino lay on the ground. Because of the Mind Body Switch Technique, she had yet to regain consciousness.

Her long blonde hair lay scattered beside her face. Her usually proud expression was now frighteningly pale.

Her fingers were still slightly curled, as if she had not yet had time to fully relax them after forming hand seals.

Chiya's mind buzzed.

No... don't touch her.

He opened his mouth, but only another mouthful of blood rose in his throat.

The ninja did not hesitate. He raised his short blade, its edge flashing through the dim corridor light.

In that instant, everything suddenly seemed so slow to Chiya.

Slow enough for him to see a speck of dust on the blade's tip.

Slow enough for him to see Ino's eyelashes tremble faintly.

Slow enough for him to remember how her eyes had turned red with grievance earlier, yet she had still pretended not to care, saying, "You think I wanted to come?"

She should not have come.

He had clearly told her not to.

Why had she not listened?

Why did it have to be her?

"Stop..."

Chiya's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

The next instant, the short blade fell.

Squelch.

The blade pierced Ino's chest.

Ino's body jolted violently.

Blood poured from her clothes at once, rapidly staining a large patch red. Her eyes slowly opened a sliver, still unfocused, as if she had just returned from somewhere far away and had yet to understand what had happened to her.

She looked at Chiya.

Her lips moved.

But no sound came out.

Chiya's entire body went rigid.

The two people holding him down were still exerting force, but he suddenly could not feel any pain.

The wound at his waist, the cut on his shoulder, the blood churning in his abdomen—all of it felt impossibly far away.

All he could see was Ino. He saw more and more blood flowing from her chest. He saw her fingertips lightly claw at the floor, grasping at nothing.

At that moment, countless emotions flashed through his mind.

Perhaps it was regret? Regret that he should have planned ahead, should have stressed once more that she must not come, should have left the venue much earlier.

Perhaps it was rage? Rage at these ninjas, at Danzo, at this world, at his own weakness—his utter, pathetic weakness.

Or perhaps it was confusion. Ever since he had transmigrated here, he had always treated everything with a detached, carefree attitude. Deep down, he had always believed he was just an outsider. He knew every plotline. He understood every event. But why? Why had things become like this?

The scene before him seemed to have slipped beyond his control. The scene before him seemed to have truly dragged him completely into this world.

Chiya, because of your arrival, someone has truly died because of you!

He remembered his life before transmigrating. In his twenties, he had been nothing but an overworked office worker with few friends and no one to worry whether he was sick or whether he had eaten properly. Yet over these past years since transmigrating, it seemed that this was the most anyone had ever cared about him in his entire life.

Everything slowed further. He heard his heartbeat, slow and slow, while the scene before him seemed frozen in time.

Chiya's breathing gradually stopped.

Then every emotion came pouring out!

In an instant, regret, rage, confusion, anxiety—all of it flooded his mind.

At last, some string within his heart snapped.

"Ino..."

His voice was soft.

The next moment, Chiya abruptly raised his head.

The three tomoe in his eyes spun wildly as blood vessels crawled across his eyeballs like spiderwebs. Agonizing pain exploded deep within his eye sockets, as if red-hot iron nails were being driven inch by inch into his brain. Bright blood streamed from the corners of his eyes.

"Aaaah!!!"

The two ninjas holding him down both sensed that something was wrong.

"Retreat!"

But it was already too late.

Chiya stared fixedly at the ninja who had stabbed Ino.

The ninja had just tried to pull out his blade when the air around him suddenly distorted.

His movements abruptly stopped. The small space around him seemed to be fiercely clenched by something invisible.

The knife was still lodged in Ino's chest.

His hand still gripped the hilt.

But the next instant, his entire body began to deform.

His bones cracked sharply. His chest suddenly caved in, his shoulders and neck crushed together.

The ninja finally showed a terrified expression. His mouth opened, but he could not even let out a scream.

The next instant,

Bang!

A mist of blood exploded.

Warm blood splattered across the walls and across Chiya's face.

Chiya knelt on the ground, two trails of blood running from the corners of his eyes.

His eyes had completely changed. Within those scarlet pupils, the original Three-Tomoe Sharingan had vanished without a trace!

In their place was a circle of cold, twisted black patterns!

Mangekyō Sharingan!

He slowly raised his head and looked at those who remained.

"You're all going to die."

Meanwhile, all of Konoha had fallen into complete chaos.

Above the rooftops,

the Four Violet Flames Battle Encampment had risen, its violet flames sealing off the entire rooftop.

Orochimaru had already used Impure World Reincarnation to summon the First and Second Hokage. The Third Hokage truly lived up to his title as the Professor, unleashing nature-transformation ninjutsu one after another.

Until the First Hokage clapped his hands together.

"Wood Release, Deep Forest Emergence!"

The next instant, a dense forest rapidly grew across the rooftop. Sarutobi darted left and right among the trees, but branches still bound his body, leaving him unable to move.

In the arena, Kakashi had just dealt with one enemy when several more ninjas pounced from the side before he could regain his footing.

They did not fight Kakashi head-on. They only stubbornly held him back. Wind blades swept over the stands, forcing Kakashi to save the unconscious spectators beside him first. Whenever he tried to pursue Chiya in the direction he had left, those people surrounded him again.

Kakashi's eyes turned cold.

He pushed up his forehead protector, his Sharingan fixed firmly on the movements of the people before him.

Elsewhere, Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru had already followed Pakkun out of the venue.

Not long after, several Sound Ninja pursuers caught up. Shikamaru glanced back, his brow furrowing even tighter.

"What a pain..."

Though he said that, his steps came to a halt.

Naruto was about to turn back when Shikamaru had already waved him away.

"You guys go ahead. I'll hold them off."

Naruto gritted his teeth, but in the end he continued charging forward with Pakkun.

Deep within the forest, Sasuke had already caught up with the three from the Sand Village.

Kankuro tried to stop him, but Shino, who arrived shortly afterward, blocked him. The two quickly clashed among the trees, puppet mechanisms clicking as swarms of insects surged from the shadows.

Temari was also swiftly defeated by Sasuke.

Gaara's condition was already very wrong. Half his body was wrapped in sand, and his aura grew increasingly violent. After catching up to him, Sasuke attacked once more. Lightning exploded in his palm as Chidori stabbed toward Gaara.

But this time, his body had reached its limit as well.

The Cursed Seal at his neck burned, the pain making his movements falter.

The next instant, the sand slammed down.

Boom!

Sasuke was sent flying and crashed heavily into a tree trunk.

Gaara slowly raised his head, his voice hoarse and inhuman.

"Sasuke Uchiha..."