One-Handed Hand Seals

Of everyone present just now, only Yamanaka Fū was a pure sensory-type ninja.

If Ning Qi had replaced Aburame Torune, then even if his disguise technique had been flawless and he knew Root ninjas' habits inside out, leaving no trace of suspicion in his movements, he would still have been exposed by this Yamanaka Clan elite capable of sensing abnormalities in the mind.

Therefore, if he had not casually killed Yamanaka Fū back in the Uchiha compound, Ning Qi had not originally intended to lie in wait beside Danzo.

It had merely been a spur-of-the-moment decision.

His original target had been Fugaku's eyes. Being able to kill Danzo had been an unexpected bonus.

In this battle, Fugaku's pair of Sharingan—eyes that had been removed in the original story before ever displaying their power—had unleashed a terrifying effect that even made Ning Qi take notice.

Certainly, Fugaku's Susanoo had also been immensely powerful, but no matter how formidable such a ninjutsu was, it could not have left so many people in Konoha completely helpless.

What truly made Fugaku's Susanoo flawless was that every method capable of breaking or countering it failed before those future-seeing eyes, or simply never appeared before Fugaku for one reason or another.

Even Ning Qi, who had orchestrated all of this, had not anticipated that outcome.

The Uchiha Clan's ability to break out of Konoha owed much to that power of foresight.

Although Ning Qi would not transplant them into his own eyes, he could not possibly leave those eyes in Konoha either.

And now that he had obtained Hashirama Cells, he had no need to worry about finding a use for that pair of Sharingan.

"A sealing sword technique similar to acupuncture-point strikes..."

A faint numbness spread from the wound. Danzo lowered his head to look at the blade piercing through his chest and felt all the chakra in his body being sealed away, utterly unusable.

"Is this... what gave you the confidence to attack me?"

Danzo asked softly.

His fingers twitched.

The next second.

Rip!

"Ah—" Danzo screamed.

Blood sprayed into the air.

His bandage-wrapped right arm was severed and sent flying by Ning Qi.

"Were you planning to use the Self-Binding Curse Seal, or Izanagi?" Ning Qi shook his head.

With a flick of his blade.

A head flew through the air.

The body hit the ground, kicking up dust.

The Self-Binding Curse Seal was a curse mark Danzo had placed within every Root member's body, a mechanism meant to deal with possible betrayal by Root ninjas. Once activated, the victim would be unable to move.

Ning Qi had not told Danzo that while he could not break the Caged Bird, unraveling a ninjutsu on the level of the Self-Binding Curse Seal was quite easy for him.

As for Izanagi, it was a divine technique capable of rewriting reality. It turned any unfavorable events that occurred within a certain period into events that had never happened, while making only favorable events real.

Even the reality of the caster's death could be completely altered.

But regardless of which ninjutsu Danzo had intended to use, Ning Qi gave him no opportunity.

Whether it was the Self-Binding Curse Seal or Izanagi, both required hand seals in advance.

And Ning Qi had not given Danzo any chance to form them.

From using the Sealing Sword Technique for the sneak attack, to cutting off the arm packed with Sharingan, to severing Danzo's head.

Ning Qi had divided Danzo into three separate pieces in one fluid sequence, as though he had practiced it a thousand times.

"I got you out of trouble, and this is how you repay me?"

Ning Qi was digging Shisui's Sharingan from Danzo's eye when he suddenly spoke. Without even turning around, he tossed a kunai behind him.

The kunai embedded itself in front of Fugaku, who had been about to flee.

"You killed quite a few Uchiha clansmen too." Fugaku drew a deep breath, turned around, and spoke softly.

There was no helping it. Since this man was so eager to die, after Ning Qi tucked Shisui's eye into his pocket, he could not be bothered to dig out the spoils from Danzo's arm.

"You can see the future, so can you see that you're going to die?" Ning Qi drew his long blade and slowly approached Fugaku.

"What I can see is merely one possible future. And now... I can no longer see it." Fugaku shook his head.

Having used future sight and Susanoo too many times today, his ocular power had been completely exhausted. His Mangekyo Sharingan had reverted to ordinary black eyes. In such a state, how could Fugaku possibly be Ning Qi's opponent?

"That note earlier, you were the one who sent it, weren't you?" Fugaku suddenly asked.

Idle conversation could not delay his death.

Ning Qi's blade slashed down diagonally, only to be blocked by Fugaku's kunai.

"If you obediently die, I'll tell you."

"So it was you," Fugaku sighed. Yet his movements did not falter in the slightest. Though Ning Qi's superb swordsmanship completely suppressed him, he still fought back desperately.

Sword wounds continued to multiply across his body. As if he wanted to die knowing the truth, Fugaku continued asking, "Since you dared act so openly, then at the very least, the Hyuga Main Family has already been wiped out too, hasn't it?"

"Can't you foresee it?"

Fugaku shook his head. "I can only foresee futures related to myself. As for things that have already happened, that isn't called foresight."

The note was something that had already happened.

The Hyuga clan was something unrelated to him.

He could not obtain information about either matter through foresight.

"What meaning does knowing so much have for you now?" Ning Qi sneered. Flames spread along his sword, and with one stroke, he severed Fugaku's kunai and hand together.

Fugaku endured the pain and formed hand seals with one hand. He spat out a massive Great Fireball, barely managing to force Ning Qi back.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he panted heavily, but the corners of his mouth rose.

"The Hyuga clan's fate... at least lets me feel that I made a good decision."

"...When I reach the Pure Land, I can still tell Hiashi... tell him... that, as expected, our Uchiha Clan is Konoha's greatest ninja clan!!"

Ning Qi raised an eyebrow. In some way, Fugaku before him seemed to overlap with the image of his own clan head.

He approached Fugaku with his sword in hand and casually praised him.

"Whether Konoha's greatest ninja clan is the Uchiha Clan, I don't know. But with that one-handed hand seal trick of yours, Hiashi definitely couldn't do it."

"Stop struggling. After I deal with you, I still have people from Konoha to clean up. Didn't you have a grudge against Konoha? Since you called my name earlier, you must have seen it too, what I intend to do..."

Fugaku slowly nodded and said helplessly.

"We don't hate Konoha. Otherwise, why would we have launched a coup?"

"But I did foresee what you intend to do. That is also why the Uchiha had to break out..."

As he spoke, Fugaku suddenly froze, as though he had noticed something interesting. He watched Ning Qi with an odd expression.

"...Do you know?"

"Izanagi is a forbidden technique of our Uchiha Clan. It has only three hand seals."

"Though it can alter reality for only the following minute, that minute actually begins from the moment Izanagi's first hand seal is formed."

"And there is actually more than one person here who can form hand seals with one hand..."