Tremble Beneath These Eyes

The utterly deranged laughter at the height of madness made everyone present shudder in fear. A lunatic wielding such terrifying power was nothing short of a massive disaster to them.

"Move!"

Uchiha Okamoto understood the clan head's methods well. At once, he pulled Uchiha Itachi out of the encirclement of three Chunin, and under the cover of Huo Uchiha and the others, the two retreated toward the rear.

Within a few breaths, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others who were withdrawing discovered an inexplicable spatial pressure suddenly bearing down on them from every direction. It felt as though taking even one more step would crush their entire bodies to pieces.

Spatial vortices materialized out of thin air in every direction, continuously compressing the space in which they could move. Like ripples spreading across still water after a drop fell into it, they drove everyone together.

"So the Mangekyō Sharingan's ability can affect even this place. I really underestimated him."

Shimura Danzō surveyed his surroundings with a grim expression, trying to find a safe path out.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Kyu would not give them a chance to escape. The battlefield changed in an instant, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Even before carrying out the plan, he had never imagined he would get such a perfect chance.

"Anyone who can use Earth Release, gather around me immediately!"

Seeing that things were going badly, Hiruzen Sarutobi hurriedly organized his forces to prepare a defense.

Space-time ninjutsu had always been mysterious and unpredictable. Even a ninja as powerful as Hiruzen Sarutobi did not dare charge through recklessly.

The bloody, horrifying scene of instant slaughter from moments ago was still vivid in everyone's minds. Charging in blindly would mean near-certain death.

Besides, Uchiha Kyu could not possibly use such a wide-ranging spatial ability repeatedly. As long as they endured this, he would likely become a toothless tiger at their mercy.

Seeing the Earth Release ninja gathered by Hiruzen Sarutobi attempting to resist, Uchiha Kyu smiled disdainfully.

If space-time ninjutsu could be defended against so easily, there would not be a saying that space reigned supreme.

"You ignorant fools, tremble beneath these eyes."

"Ha ha ha... Space Crushing."

The cold, arrogant laughter seemed to carry endless killing intent. At the same time, the spatial vortices all around them responded to Uchiha Kyu and began to churn.

As the spatial eye technique, born of blood and tears, bloomed to its fullest, bloody tears streamed from his eyes, carving two horrifying streaks of blood across his face.

The terrifying power of this eye technique brought Uchiha Kyu the ultimate thrill of battle, giving him the illusion that no one in the world could stand against him.

Amazing.

This felt incredible.

This was the Sharingan. This was a Kekkei Genkai, the insurmountable gulf between ordinary people and bloodline ninja.

Boom!!!

The defensive earthen walls formed by Earth Release were easily ground to dust by the Spatial Turbulence, as though they were tofu. No matter how desperately they poured in chakra, it was useless.

The devastating Spatial Turbulence swept toward Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.

"It's over."

Danzo's face went pale with despair as he frantically used defensive ninjutsu in an attempt to block it.

"Could it be that this old man's road ends here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his head in despair.

How could ants shake a great tree? This attack contained all the ocular power of a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.

Fortunately, Uchiha Kyu's Mangekyō Sharingan differed from ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan. His eyes were equivalent to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and their ocular power could slowly recover.

Hm?

Uchiha Kyu suddenly sensed an unusual spatial fluctuation. Hiruzen Sarutobi and several others had vanished from where they stood.

The remaining people were not so fortunate. At least several hundred elite ninja were wiped out beneath Space Crushing.

There was no possibility of agonized screams or gruesome scenes. Beneath the power of Space Crushing, even ants had no time to struggle or suffer.

Only a vast cloud of dense blood mist remained where they had stood, bright and vividly red. The heavy stench of blood instantly filled the noses of Uchiha Kyu and the others.

Uchiha Kyu stood where he was, gasping for breath. The chakra within him was no longer enough to fight another battle.

"I never expected the Fourth to arrive on time this time."

Uchiha Kyu let out a chilling laugh.

"Third Hokage-sama, I'm sorry. I could only save this many people."

A handsome blond young man bathed in sunlight, dressed in a Hokage robe and holding a specially made Flying Thunder God kunai, warily watched the laughing Uchiha Kyu across from him.

"Thankfully, you were not too late. Otherwise, this would have been Konoha's greatest disaster."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked deeply shaken. Inwardly, he rejoiced that Minato had arrived in time. Otherwise, if all of them had died here, an utterly weakened Konoha would inevitably have faced a joint assault from the other four great ninja villages.

The dead could be trained anew, but once they died, they were truly dead.

"Everyone we brought this time is gone."

Shikaku Nara's heart ached. Many of his clansmen had been among them. To die like this in a civil war was truly not worth it.

"Now is not the time for this. Minato, your Flying Thunder God Technique should be able to counter his ability, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand, stopping Shikaku from saying anything further that would dampen their spirits, then looked at Minato with a grave expression.

"Uchiha Kyu should be weakened now. He cannot possibly unleash a spatial ninjutsu with such a terrifying range again."

"Leave it to me, Third Hokage-sama."

Minato Namikaze nodded solemnly. Had he arrived even a second later, the Uchiha Clan might truly have succeeded.

Fugaku Uchiha sat collapsed on the ground, still unable to recover from the shock. He had never expected Kyu to want to kill even him.

"Minato Namikaze, you missed your chance to seize complete control over Konoha's power."

Though they stood on opposing sides, Uchiha Kyu still rather admired Minato Namikaze's cheerful, sunny nature. At the very least, he did not have to worry about this man plotting against him at every turn.

"Uchiha Kyu, stop now. Blind slaughter cannot solve the problem. I know that more than anyone, you want to resolve the Uchiha Clan's predicament, but you chose the wrong method."

"In your current state, you cannot defeat me."

Minato Namikaze shouted at him with complete confidence.

"Stop? Are you joking?"

Uchiha Kyu looked at him with utter disdain and sneered faintly. "As you said, slaughter is not the best choice, but it is the fastest and most direct method."

"The victor becomes king, and the loser becomes a bandit."

"There are only two outcomes in this world: winners and losers."

"It seems there's nothing left for us to discuss."

Minato Namikaze frowned and prepared to act. As Hokage, he absolutely could not allow the other man to destroy the village's peace.

"Clan head, we're here."

At that moment, Uchiha Ying, who had just separated from Akatsuki, hurried over with his squad.

"How did it go?" Uchiha Kyu asked quietly.

"Reporting to the clan head, our plan succeeded. I had people safely escort Akatsuki's members out of the village."

Uchiha Ying stepped forward with an excited expression and whispered softly.