Defection

A black-and-red skeleton slowly formed around Chiya.

First came the ribs, then the spine.

Then a massive skeletal arm emerged from the Chakra, its five fingers spread like a hand reaching out of hell.

Boom!

The entire hearing chamber shook.

The front rows of tables and chairs overturned in the blast. Several Anbu were forced back by the Chakra before they could get close. Wall lamps shattered, scattering glass across the floor.

The crowd erupted into chaos.

"What is that?"

"Get back!"

"Protect the adviser!"

Naruto stared at Chiya.

Sakura froze too.

Sasuke stared hard at the black-and-red skeleton, his breathing growing heavy.

So this was Chiya's power?

Chiya stood within Susanoo's ribs, the black patterns in his Mangekyō Sharingan slowly turning.

He looked at Danzo.

"Old dog."

The calm on Danzo's face finally cracked.

"Seize him!"

Several Anbu charged at once.

In the next instant, Susanoo's skeletal arm swept across the room.

Bang!

The first Anbu was sent flying into a wall, cracking it. A second came in from the side and thrust his short blade forward.

With a sharp clang, the blade shattered.

Chiya turned. Susanoo's arm reached out and seized him.

The next instant—

Splat! The Anbu was crushed into a mass of blood.

Everyone stood stunned. Then panic engulfed the chamber, and people screamed as they scrambled for the exits.

Mitokado Homura's face changed drastically.

"Chiya Uchiha! Are you rebelling?"

Chiya burst out laughing.

"Isn't that exactly what you wanted to see? You falsely accused me of betraying the village, so I'll betray it for real!"

He raised his head and stared past everyone at Danzo.

"Old dog! Weren't you going to take me away?"

Danzo rose and retreated.

He moved fast, tapping his cane against the floor as he blurred toward the side door.

"I'll give you the chance!"

Chiya's right eye spun sharply.

The space beneath Danzo's feet suddenly grew heavy.

He had barely moved halfway when he slammed into what seemed like an invisible wall. He turned his head in shock.

Chiya's voice grew increasingly manic.

"Running?"

Susanoo's skeletal hand snatched him up.

Danzo's expression changed completely.

He raised his hands to form a seal, but the skeletal hand had already closed around him.

The skeletal hand dragged Danzo before Chiya.

"I gave you a chance, but you weren't up to it!"

With that, Susanoo's hand squeezed hard.

Crack!

For a moment, the chamber fell terrifyingly silent.

Everyone heard bones being crushed.

"Ah!" Danzo screamed as though his throat were being torn apart.

His body slowly collapsed inside Susanoo's hand, blood spraying between its fingers.

Splat!

Susanoo's hand closed completely.

Danzo was crushed into a lump of flesh and blood.

The room fell deathly silent.

Naruto's eyes went wide.

Sakura covered her mouth, her face deathly pale.

Ino sat frozen in her wheelchair, tears still clinging to her cheeks.

But in the next instant, a figure appeared out of thin air on the other side of the chamber.

Danzo stood there again, his clothes mostly intact, though his face looked grim.

Izanagi.

Of course. That old dog wouldn't die so easily.

Danzo raised his head, killing intent finally entering his eyes.

"Chiya Uchiha, you will die today."

"Then come and try."

Dense footsteps sounded outside the chamber. Large numbers of Konoha ninja had arrived.

"Quick!"

"Seal the exits!"

"Don't let him escape!"

More ninja kept arriving. Anbu, jonin, and patrol squads all converged on the chamber.

Chiya's vision darkened, and Susanoo's skeleton began to sway.

I can't drag this out.

I can't kill Danzo right now.

If I stay, they'll wear me down and kill me.

Chiya fixed Danzo with a fierce stare.

"Next time, I'll take your life, old dog!"

Then Chiya spun around, and Susanoo's skeletal arm smashed into the chamber's outer wall.

Boom!

The wall exploded.

Rubble flew, and cold air rushed in from outside after the rain.

"Stop him!"

Several ninja lunged through the breach from outside.

Chiya's left eye turned.

"Void Crossing!"

Those ninja suddenly slowed.

It was as if they had been dragged into thick water. Every movement they made slowed to a crawl.

Susanoo charged straight through.

Bang, bang, bang!

Several ninja were sent flying into the courtyard wall and stone pillars.

Chiya burst out of the chamber.

"Chiya!"

Naruto finally reacted and started to chase him.

Sasuke moved too.

Kakashi flashed in front of them.

He put one hand on Naruto's shoulder and held Sasuke back with the other.

"Don't follow him."

Naruto whipped his head around.

"Why?"

"Chiya's a good person! He was framed! Why won't you let me go after him?"

Kakashi looked at the broken wall, his voice grave.

"If he stays in Konoha, he'll die."

Naruto froze.

Beside him, Sakura began to cry.

"But..."

Kakashi said nothing.

Sasuke stared out through the wall.

He finally understood.

Those people had never cared whether Chiya had killed a Konoha ninja.

From the start, they had wanted the special power within him.

Sasuke slammed his fist into the table beside him.

Bang!

His blow left a crack in the wooden table.

Power. It always came down to power.

If I were strong enough, would any of this have happened?

If I were strong enough, it never would have come to this. Everyone would treat him—and every member of the Uchiha Clan—with respect!

Sasuke stared in the direction Chiya had gone and made a vow in his heart.

Chiya, I'll catch up to you. And I'll clear your name.

Outside the chamber, Chiya had already reached the rooftops and was racing toward the edge of the village.

Susanoo's skeleton shielded him as black-and-red Chakra churned in the post-rain air. Ninja pursued him, hurling Kunai, Shuriken, and all kinds of jutsu.

They struck Susanoo's skeleton, scattering sparks.

Chiya did not look back.

He pushed off and leaped from one rooftop to the next.

Several ninja ahead formed hand seals at once.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Boom!

A massive, thick wall of earth rose from the ground, blocking his path.

Pain shot through Chiya's right eye, and blood ran down from its corner.

"Heavenly Dominion!"

The space at the center of the wall shuddered.

In the next instant, something seemed to crush its center, blasting a huge hole through it.

Chiya charged through the opening.

Behind him, a jonin closed in from the side, lightning blazing in his hand as he stabbed toward Chiya's back.

Chiya's left eye turned.

The jonin slowed for an instant.

Chiya twisted aside, and the lightning grazed Susanoo's skeleton.

Susanoo's skeletal arm lashed back.

Bang!

The jonin was sent flying through a roof and landed amid shattered tiles.

"Don't get close!"

"Keep him pinned down from a distance!"

"He can't hold out much longer!"

Chiya heard them.

They were right.

He could not hold out much longer.

Susanoo's skeleton was already turning faint, its black-and-red Chakra flickering.

Chiya gritted his teeth and kept racing toward the edge of the village.

Konoha's outer wall came into view ahead. Several ninja atop it began forming hand seals, and Chiya looked up.

"Get lost!"

No one moved.

Several jutsu struck at once.

Fire Release, Wind Release, and lightning all bore down on him.

Chiya snapped his eyes up.

The black-and-red Susanoo skeleton lunged forward and took the first wave of jutsu head-on. With a boom, flames burst across its frame, wind blades carved cracks into it, and lightning raced along its Chakra bones.

Blood rose in Chiya's throat, and he spat it out.

He did not stop.

A skeletal Susanoo arm slammed its fist into Konoha's outer wall.

Boom!

The wall cracked.

A second punch.

Crack!

The fractures spread.

When the third punch landed, the entire section of wall collapsed.

Rubble tumbled down, and dust billowed skyward.

Chiya charged through the breach.

Ninja came after him.

"After him!"

"Don't let him escape!"

Chiya plunged into the forest.

The trees flashed past, and the rain clouds pressed lower overhead.

Before long, rain began to fall again.

Then it grew heavier.

Whoosh!

Rain poured down.

Susanoo flickered a few times in the rain, and the edges of its skeleton began to crumble.

Chiya could barely see.

Tree trunks, curtains of rain, and muddy ground blurred together.

He tried to keep running, but his legs suddenly gave way.

Susanoo fell apart completely.

Black-and-red Chakra scattered into the rain like a flame snuffed out by the wind.

Chiya staggered two steps and caught himself against a tree.

His eyes could make out only blurred shapes and light.

He heard his pursuers in the distance, but could no longer tell which direction they were coming from.

Chiya gave a low laugh, his voice lost beneath the pounding rain.

"I really am... a mess."

Then his body went limp, and he fell into the mud.

The downpour battered him, quickly soaking his hair, clothes, and bloodstains.

The sounds of pursuit continued in the distance.

But Chiya could no longer hear them. He had passed out completely.

Just then, someone walked through the rain and stopped beside him...