Torune Aburame and Fuu Yamanaka's Death
"Torune." Danzo stopped and turned to face the way he had come. "You stay here. Victory isn't necessary; just buy time."
Torune Aburame, the ninja completely encased in a special protective suit, nodded silently. He never spoke and rarely showed any emotion; he was one of Danzo's most deadly tools. The nano-sized poisonous insects within him— Rinkaichū —could decompose any cells they came into contact with, resulting in instant death.
"Watch his eyes," Danzo warned one last time, then continued forward with Fuu Yamanaka.
Torune stood quietly in the middle of the forest path, like a spider waiting for its prey. Three minutes later, three figures appeared at the edge of his field of vision.
"Stop!" Karin suddenly raised her hand, and the three Taka stopped simultaneously. She adjusted her glasses, her expression grave. "There's an ambush ahead. The Chakra... it's very strange, like a collection of countless tiny individuals. And it's highly poisonous."
Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spun, and through the gaps in the trees, he saw a figure completely shrouded in a dark protective suit. "A ninja from the Aburame Clan."
"Let me give it a try." Jugo volunteered, the Curse Mark already spreading across his skin. "My constitution should be able to withstand most of the toxins."
"No." Sasuke, unusually, stopped his subordinate, a calm glint in his eyes. A piece of information suddenly flashed through his mind—information obtained from Karin: "Torune Aburame, Nano-Sized Venomous Insects; contact with it is fatal, but it is extremely sensitive to light."
Although the source of this intelligence was unknown, Sasuke chose to believe it. After the devastating defeat at Kumogakure, he learned not to overlook any possible informational advantage.
"All of you step back and don't come any closer," Sasuke commanded, then slowly stepped forward himself.
Torune Aburame remained silent as only Sasuke stepped forward. He merely raised his hands slightly, and from the cuffs of his protective suit, a swarm of nanobots, almost invisible to the naked eye, spread out like black mist, causing the surrounding vegetation to wither and die the moment it came into contact with the swarm.
"Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Sasuke first, his spear, formed from condensed lightning, aimed straight for Torune's throat. Torune neither dodged nor evaded; a shield of insect mist formed in front of him. As the Chidori Sharp Spear the insect mist, the lightning rapidly dimmed, being decomposed and devoured by countless nanobots.
Sasuke's eyes sharpened, and he quickly changed his attack. He clasped his hands together, and his entire body erupted with dazzling lightning. "Chidori Current!"
The lightning bolts spread out from him, covering a radius of ten meters. Torune finally moved, retreating rapidly, but the range of the Chidori Current was too large, and some of the lightning still touched his protective suit.
Just then, Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan suddenly focused.
"Amaterasu!"
Black flames suddenly ignited in the area covered by the Chidori Current, or more precisely, at the remnants of lightning on Torune's body. The Amaterasu Fire intertwined with the lightning, producing crackling sounds.
For the first time Torune made a sound—a short, muffled groan. His protective suit was ablaze, Amaterasu's flames were consuming his body. He hurriedly commanded the Rinkaichū to try and break up the flames, but Amaterasu was an inextinguishable fire, and the Nanobots were burned to ashes the moment they came into contact with it.
Even more deadly is that the intense light produced by the burning Amaterasu is the natural enemy of the nanobots. Under the intense light, the swarm of nanobots inside the Torune began to rampage and devour the host.
"Light...light..." Torune uttered hoarsely, then knelt on the ground. Under his protective suit, his skin began to fester in large areas, a result of the Rinkaichū going out of control under the intense light.
Sasuke didn't approach, but just watched coldly. A few seconds later, Torune's body was completely engulfed by Amaterasu, turning into a burning black fireball, and finally leaving only ashes.
Karin and Jugo arrived from behind, their eyes filled with shock as they looked at the ashes on the ground.
"That's it... resolved?" Jugo incredulously. He could sense the terrifying nature of those insects; if he had rashly gone forward, he would probably already be a corpse.
"Intelligence is key," Sasuke said simply, turning to continue the pursuit. "Let's go, Danzo shouldn't be far."
After chasing for another three minutes, Karin issued another warning. "There are two people ahead, and one of them Chakra... that's very special, like it's specifically for the mental realm."
As soon as he finished speaking, Danzo and Fuu Yamanaka appeared in the woods ahead. They seemed to have given up on running away and chosen to face the enemy head-on.
"Sasuke, be careful of that guy with the Ninja Blade," Karin said urgently. "His Chakra connection is strange; he might be skilled in mental Ninjutsu."
Danzo glanced at the three pursuers, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes— Torune had only managed to buy so little time. He looked at Fuu Yamanaka: "Fu, one last time, buy me some time. I need to prepare that technique."
Fuu Yamanaka nodded, stepped forward, and formed a special hand seal.
"The Mind Body Switch Technique!"
An invisible mental shockwave struck Sasuke. This was a secret mental control technique passed down by the Yamanaka Clan; once it hit, it allowed the user to invade the target's body with their own consciousness and completely control their actions.
But Fuu Yamanaka made a fatal mistake—he didn't have a deep enough understanding of the Uchiha Clan's eyes.
Within Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the Tomoe spun rapidly. In his vision, the trajectory of Fuu Yamanaka's spiritual energy was clearly visible. Instead of trying to dodge, he went to meet it head-on.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
Two spiritual forces collided in mid-air. Under normal circumstances, Fuu Yamanaka's Mind Body Switch Technique should have the advantage, as it is a secret technique that the Yamanaka Clan has refined over thousands of years. However, he was facing the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the pinnacle of the Uchiha Clan's spiritual power.
Worse still, Sasuke's Genjutsu wasn't meant to control him, but rather to guide him.
"Jugo!" Sasuke hissed.
His teammates, who had been working in perfect harmony for so long, immediately understood. Instead of retreating, Jugo took a step forward, actively facing the mental impact of the Fuu Yamanaka.
Fuu Yamanaka felt his consciousness being pulled by a tremendous gravitational force, deviating from its original target (Sasuke) and rushing into another body (Jugo). Did he succeed? No, that's not right—
When he tried to control this body, he experienced a violent, chaotic, and inhuman mental world. Jugo's Curse Mark power brought not only physical mutations but also spiritual alienation. Fuu Yamanaka's consciousness was like a small boat caught in a raging storm, instantly submerged.
"Aaaaaah--!" The true form of the Fuu Yamanaka screamed in agony, blood flowing from its seven orifices.
Jugo's body swayed slightly, the Curse Mark patterns spreading rapidly as he entered state two. In his half-beast form, Jugo growled, but his eyes still retained a degree of clarity— Sasuke's Genjutsu protected his core consciousness, only temporarily relinquishing control of the surface of his body.
Sasuke appeared before Fuu Yamanaka like a ghost, thrusting out his Grass Cone Sword and piercing his heart with pinpoint accuracy.
Fuu Yamanaka stared wide-eyed at the sword in his chest, then looked in Jugo's direction. He finally understood—his consciousness was trapped inside that monster, while his physical body was being killed. This was the cruelest mental prison; he could clearly feel the pain of life slipping away, yet he couldn't control his body to make any reaction.
"Release," Sasuke said to Jugo, while drawing his Grass Cone Sword.
Jugo's body trembled, the Curse Mark slowly faded, and he returned to human form. Fragments of Fuu Yamanaka's consciousness dissipated from his body, completely annihilated with the death of his original form.
Danzo watched as the last guard fell, and a look of seriousness finally appeared on his face. He hadn't expected that the elite of "Root" that he had carefully cultivated would be so easily defeated in front of Sasuke Uchiha.
"Your turn, Danzo." Sasuke wiped the blood off his sword, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan coldly locking onto his target.
Danzo slowly raised his right arm and began to unwrap the bandages. When the Sharingan that arm was exposed to the air, Sasuke's breathing became noticeably rapid—a sign of extreme anger.
"These eyes...each one represents the soul of an Uchiha Clan," Danzo said calmly, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself. "And now, they will serve Konoha in their final moments."
The battle has entered its final stage.