Danzo: Fuck, are you two insane?!

"I told you not to use genjutsu on an Uchiha. Why can't you ever learn?"

Sasuke calmly met Danzo's crazed single eye, looking utterly exasperated. Lightning flickered in Susanoo's palm as he unleashed Eight Extremes Chidori, slapping Danzo into a lump of charcoal. At the same time, he stretched his senses to their fullest and began searching for Danzo.

He had even gone out of his way to consult ancient texts a while ago. Although Izanagi was exceptionally mysterious even within the Uchiha Clan, every bit as mysterious as the Mangekyo, if not more so, records of it did exist.

Izanagi could freely control illusion and reality. It was one of the Sharingan's ultimate dojutsu.

The instant the dojutsu activated, the Sharingan recorded the caster's state. Then, for the duration of the technique, it negated every adverse effect suffered by the caster. Any injuries, even the caster's death, could be erased by using illusion to rewrite reality, physically restoring the caster to the state recorded by the Sharingan.

In theory, this still counted as genjutsu, only it was an ultimate genjutsu that rewrote reality through illusion. Though the price was blindness, and its duration varied according to factors such as bloodline and strength-Danzo, for instance, could only maintain it for one minute-it was still terrifying enough.

Rather counterintuitively, Sasuke had spent a long time believing Izanagi worked on a per-life basis. Yet careful thought and research revealed that it actually worked on a timer. Taking Danzo as an example, no matter how many times he died within a minute, he would only expend one Sharingan.

Although Danzo currently had only six revival tokens, equivalent to six minutes of invincibility, nearly half the maximum eleven minutes he had in the original story, meeting him head-on still wasn't a particularly wise choice.

He could either copy a certain predecessor from the proctology department, flying into the air to kite him and run out the clock, or copy Uchiha Sasuke in the original story, using genjutsu to make Danzo mistakenly believe Izanagi was still active so that he would run straight onto a blade.

After a long period of deliberation, Sasuke's choice between those two existing options was...

He chose C.

Fight the invincible Danzo head-on!

With such an ultimate punching bag right there, wouldn't it be a waste not to give him a proper beating?!

Danzo had revival tokens, but so did he! Apart from the Han Li trial card that he had sensed Xiao Yan using two days earlier, he still had three usable trial cards this time!

Besides, this was his first time using Obito's Mangekyo, and there were far too many things he wanted to try.

[Kamui!]

His left eye widened, and a twisting vortex abruptly appeared over Aburame Torune. Almost instantly, Torune vanished from where he stood.

Immediately afterward, Sasuke unleashed ten consecutive uses of Kamui in one go. The sky-blotting swarm of destructive insects, ninjutsu, kunai, shuriken, and everything else vanished without a trace.

"Sure enough, Kakashi-sensei's mana pool is just too small. Kamui is something you have to spam." Smacking his lips, Sasuke indulged in his usual complaint about Kakashi's mana pool. As he savored Danzo's somewhat bewildered stare, his expression said that this pupil was beyond teaching.

Kakashi really was too short on mana. Although his reserves were already considerable compared with ordinary ninja, he was an outsider powering a highly energy-intensive Mangekyo. It would have been stranger if he weren't short on mana. Besides, the Mangekyo had burdened his body throughout his growing years. It was fair to say that it had practically held his talent back.

Yet Kamui, which wasn't so powerful in Kakashi's hands, was a completely different matter in Sasuke's. Even without a trial card, his vitality and chakra reserves had already reached levels Kakashi wouldn't dare imagine. Add his homemade power bank, and his mana pool was essentially on par with Impure World Reincarnation-even better than its infinite mana regeneration, which still capped the maximum size of the mana bar.

"What are you staring at? I'm coming to collect you!"

Seeing Danzo briefly dazed, Sasuke controlled Susanoo and beckoned with its hand. A spear formed from chakra and lightning plunged down from above, impaling Danzo once again.

Sasuke carefully felt the power of lightning erupt inside Danzo, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

It seemed he had found the crucial piece for his next step: turning ordinary Lightning Release Ninjutsu into heavenly lightning.

With the Mangekyo's observational capabilities, he could perceive some natural energy. If his guess was right, once he mastered senjutsu, his long-held fantasy of becoming heavenly lightning and using Kirin as a basic attack might actually come true...

He acted as soon as the thought occurred! With one hand, he lightly tapped the bracer on his right wrist, and energy brimming with vitality spread through the inside of Susanoo.

He had made this ninja tool with Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements, using the vitality and natural energy produced by Tang San's soul skill that he had previously sealed inside a scroll. In essence, it was still a power bank, but unlike the disposable, extremely inefficient scroll, it allowed him to freely control the flow rate and switch it on or off.

After all, outside the state granted by Tang San's Heart of Nature soul skill, he couldn't use natural energy. Tang San's soul skill let him command vitality and natural energy as easily as his own limbs. Although he currently lacked access without using a trial card, he still remembered how it had felt back then.

Incorporating natural energy into ninjutsu required long-term practice, preferably with a qualified sparring partner. And right now...

A smile flickered across his lips. Staring at Danzo, who had just reappeared nearby, Sasuke grinned ever more brightly. Chakra surged, and in an instant, a bolt of lightning even more dazzling than before appeared in Susanoo's hand. As Sasuke injected the shimmering white light of vitality and natural energy into it, a hint of gold gradually emerged in the originally blue lightning.

Boom!!!

Boom!!!

Boom!!!

Only after three full minutes of furious bombardment did Sasuke stop. The heat had vitrified the ground, leaving glassy crystals across its surface, while his right arm had somehow come to resemble a section of carved wood.

It was backlash from natural energy. His natural energy had been extracted from plants, so naturally, its effects differed from Mount Myōboku's petrification and frog transformation.

Yet as the Mangekyo balanced yin and yang within his body, Sasuke gradually discovered that using this natural energy helped him understand some of its mysteries. And as time passed, the damage from its encroachment kept healing.

"Although I've opened six of the seven apertures when it comes to Sage Mode-which means the one that matters is still blocked, and I haven't got a clue-it looks like injecting natural energy directly into ninjutsu works just fine. There's just a little side effect..."

Dispersing the lightning in Susanoo's palm, Sasuke produced a glimmer of golden lightning in his own hand inside it. But just as he was about to look for Danzo's respawn point, he discovered that Danzo, who should have been meeting him head-on, seemed to have finally chickened out. Instead of continuing their direct clash, he had chosen to respawn behind Naruto.

"Hmph, you inherently evil Uchiha brat! If you don't want your companion to die, you'd better..."

"Sasuke, for the village, use Chidori on me!"

Danzo: (눈_눈)

"You old do-Elder Danzo! Hurry up and kill him. Afterward, you'd better stew this son of the Demon Fox. I hear it can prolong your life and even boost your virility. Just don't forget to save me a share."

Yet before Danzo could figure out what Naruto was playing at, Sasuke was already looking eagerly expectant. Even Naruto, whose neck Danzo had pinned, wore the same expectant expression.

"Speaking of which, that's a pretty bizarre idea. What would that stuff taste like? I've heard human flesh is all sour..." Seemingly struck by a profound question, Naruto frowned in thought.

Danzo: ???

Fuck, are you two insane?!