Danzo's startled cry was swallowed by the towering sea of flames.
But as the leader of Root, Konohagakure's most deeply hidden organization, this old fox who had spent decades navigating the Shinobi World would hardly die so easily.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Boom!
A blast of high-pressure air erupted at the heart of the inferno, forcibly tearing an opening through the flames that seemed poised to devour everything.
Shimura Danzō emerged looking somewhat bedraggled. The hem of his once immaculate kimono had been scorched, and the cane he always carried had snapped partway down. Yet there was not a trace of fear in his lone eye.
Instead, it held a chilling fervor and greed.
He stared fixedly at Chiya.
More precisely, at the eerie Mangekyō Sharingan in Chiya's eyes and the red Susanoo surrounding him, radiating an aura of destruction.
"So this is... Susanoo?"
Danzo's voice was hoarse, trembling slightly with his yearning for absolute power. "The Uchiha Clan's divine power..."
The heat from Ryūjin Jakka distorted the surrounding air, lending an unreal quality to their confrontation.
Standing within Susanoo's protection, Chiya looked down at the old dog and lightly twirled his Zanpakuto, scattering a spray of sparks.
"A fish that slipped through the net?"
Chiya scoffed, his voice carrying through the burning chamber. "Danzo, haven't you gotten something wrong? I'm not a fish that slipped through your net. I'm... here specifically to tear that net apart."
"Arrogant fool!"
Danzo slammed his broken cane against the ground, a vicious glint flashing through his lone eye. "Just like a youngster, you have no idea how vast the world is. You think awakening the Mangekyō means you can do whatever you please in Konoha? I have spent decades protecting Konoha's peace from these dark depths. What kind of powerful foe haven't I seen?"
Danzo took a deep breath, his tone turning sanctimonious. "Chiya Uchiha, your power is too dangerous. The Uchiha Clan is inherently evil. Left unchecked, this ominous power will surely bring catastrophe upon the Shinobi World! For Konoha, for the future of the Shinobi World... entrust your eyes to me!"
"I will put this power to good use and make it a cornerstone of Konoha's protection!"
Hearing such shameless words, Chiya nearly laughed aloud.
That was Shimura Danzō.
His heart held nothing but selfish desires, yet his lips always proclaimed the noble cause of "for Konoha."
"Entrust my eyes to you?"
Chiya tilted his head slightly, his gaze sweeping over the right arm Danzo kept concealed beneath his robe.
"Danzo, don't you already have enough Sharingan embedded in that right arm?"
At those words, the entire chamber fell deathly silent.
Several Root elites who had been preparing hand seals to support Danzo's attack abruptly froze.
Though they were his most loyal operatives, branded with the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and prepared to die for him, that did not mean they knew all his secrets. Even within Root, his Sharingan transplants were classified at the highest level!
Danzo's gloomy old face instantly stiffened, and his lone eye contracted sharply.
"You... how do you know?!"
This was his secret!
Even the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had been kept in the dark. How had this obscure Uchiha brat found out?
Chiya ignored Danzo's shock and continued in a disgusted tone:
"Embedding the eyes of ninja from your own village in your arm like trophies, and even relying on Orochimaru's human experiments to transplant Hashirama cells and suppress rejection... tsk, tsk."
Chiya shook his head and abruptly pointed Ryūjin Jakka at Danzo.
"Shimura Danzō, does your so-called 'protecting Konoha' mean stealing power from the dead? You make me sick!"
"Shut up!!!"
Danzo lost his composure. The humiliation and fury of having his secrets exposed in public turned his aged face a livid purple.
Kill him!
He must be killed immediately!
Both to seize those Mangekyō Sharingan and to preserve this secret, Chiya Uchiha had to die today!
"Torune! Fū! Attack!"
Danzo roared the order, but took half a step back himself. Clearly, he intended to let his subordinates exhaust Chiya's ocular power while he sought an opening for a surprise attack.
"Yes!"
Two figures instantly charged in from opposite sides.
The man on the left wore an orange coat and sunglasses. He was an elite of the Yamanaka Clan-Yamanaka Fū.
The man on the right was wrapped in a tightly sealed protective suit, with only his eyes exposed. He was the Aburame Clan's forbidden technique user-Torune Aburame.
These two were Danzo's trusted lieutenants. Their strength had long since reached the elite jonin level, and their coordination was flawless.
"Mind Body Performance Technique!"
Yamanaka Fū did not attack directly, instead attempting to disrupt Chiya's control over Susanoo through his secret technique.
"Secret Technique: Poison Dust Technique!"
Torune removed his gloves, exposing his purplish-black skin to the air. He swept both hands forward, sending a cloud of purple mist racing through the gaps in Susanoo toward Chiya inside.
Those were nano-sized venomous insects!
Once inhaled or brought into contact with skin, these insects would instantly destroy an opponent's cells. Their lethality was immense. Even someone on the level of the Five Kage would suffer grievously if struck, assuming they survived at all!
Chiya watched the approaching "purple mist." Rather than panic, his eyes brimmed with disdain.
"Insects?"
"Insects again."
Chiya sighed, seemingly bored by this method of attack. "Spend long enough in a sewer, and it's only natural to end up covered in bugs."
"Since they're germs and venomous insects, they need a thorough sterilization!"
Chiya's gaze sharpened, and he abruptly held his blade horizontally before him.
"Ryūjin Jakka: Flame Barrier!"
Humm!!
Rather than releasing flames outward, this time Chiya instantly concentrated Ryūjin Jakka's terrifying heat within Susanoo, radiating a dense, high-temperature barrier around it.
This was heat that could evaporate moisture and denature proteins!
Sizzle, sizzle-!
The mist of nano-sized venomous insects that had struck terror into countless ninja suddenly began making faint popping noises three meters from Chiya.
Before the searing wave of spiritual pressure Chiya released, those insects failed to survive even a microsecond. They were instantly "sterilized," dissolving into wisps of smoke that vanished into the air.
"What?!"
Torune Aburame, who had been preparing to close in and finish him off, stared with violently contracting pupils.
His venomous insects... had all died, just like that?
Before they could even touch his opponent, that heat wave had burned every last one of them to death? How was that possible? Just how hot did it have to be to instantly kill nanoscale organisms?
"What... what kind of Fire Release is this?!" Yamanaka Fū was equally stunned. His Mind Body Switch Technique was once again repelled by that violent wave of spiritual heat, sending a stabbing pain through his brain.
"This isn't Fire Release."
"It's the Fire Burial that will send you to hell!"
"Torch!"
Chiya finally moved.
Holding his sword in one hand, he aimed at the two panicked men before him and delivered a vicious diagonal slash.
Whoosh-!!!
A golden-red tornado of flame burst into being along the path of his blade.
Howling and spinning, it instantly swelled to dozens of meters in height. Like a fire dragon opening its enormous maw, it swallowed Yamanaka Fū and Torune Aburame whole!
"Aaaaah-!! Lord Danzo, save me!!"
"It burns! My body... is melting!!"
Faced with this attack, the two top Root elites could not even put up a proper resistance.
The tornado's high-speed rotation generated immense centrifugal force, trapping them at its center, while temperatures hot enough to melt metal instantly ignited their Chakra Armor, skin, and flesh...
Just three seconds.
The screams cut off abruptly.
The fiery tornado slowly dissipated, leaving only a nauseating burnt stench in the air and two piles of ash on the ground that no longer resembled human bodies.
Root elites?
Before Ryūjin Jakka, all were equal-all became ash!
[Ding! Root elite jonin Torune Aburame killed! Slaughter points +2,000!] [Ding! Plunder successful! Chakra reserves +5,000!] [Ding! Congratulations, host! Passive skill acquired: [Venomous Insect Resistance (Advanced)] (All insect toxins are ineffective against the host and will be automatically purified by the high temperature at the surface of his body)!] [Ding! Root elite jonin Yamanaka Fū killed! Slaughter points +2,000!] [Ding! Plunder successful! Mental power enhancement (Intermediate) acquired!]
The system notifications deepened the smile on Chiya's lips.
"Who's next?"
Chiya casually dispersed the lingering flames before him, his gaze passing over the wreckage strewn across the floor to settle on the old man standing at the very back.
The ordinary Root ninja had already been all but wiped out by the earlier pressure and shock waves, and the two remaining trusted aides had each been killed in a single strike.
Within the vast underground chamber, only Chiya and Danzo remained, facing one another.
Danzo stood in the shadows, his expression dark.
Now that all his subordinates had been annihilated, the aura around him grew even more dangerous, even more sinister.
"Good... very good."
Danzo lowered his head, his voice terrifyingly deep. "Chiya Uchiha, I certainly underestimated you. To kill Torune and Fū instantly, your strength must already exceed the ordinary Kage level."
"But..."
Danzo slowly raised his head, naked killing intent filling his lone eye.
"You think you've won just because you killed all my subordinates?"
"My title as the Darkness of the Shinobi rests on more than these men!"
Click! Click! Click!
Amid the snapping of metal mechanisms, Danzo tore away the robe sleeve covering his right arm.
Then he began removing the layers of heavy, golden metal sealing braces around it.
As the seals came undone, a sinister chakra presence that inspired profound discomfort began to permeate the air.
When the final metal plate fell to the floor, Chiya at last saw that legendary arm.
Its skin was pale and utterly bloodless, cultivated from the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
Embedded in that ghastly white arm were ten crimson Sharingan, all closed. As Danzo infused them with chakra, they snapped open... one after another!
Ten Three-Tomoe Sharingan, plus the one in his right eye-eleven Sharingan in total!
They shifted restlessly within Danzo's arm, radiating nauseating fluctuations of ocular power.
This was Danzo's trump card.
This was what gave him the confidence to face Chiya and his Mangekyō Sharingan!
"Chiya Uchiha!"
Danzo raised that monstrous arm studded with eyes, his face twisted viciously.
"Witness it! This is the perfect union of the Uchiha Clan's power and the Senju Clan's power! This is... the ultimate power that only I can wield!"
"Today, I will use your Uchiha Clan's eyes to punish you, an Uchiha traitor!"
Looking at that arm, Chiya felt no fear. Instead, he lightly licked his lips, the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes spinning even more wildly.
"A perfect union? Ultimate power?"
"Danzo, you know nothing about power."
Ryūjin Jakka blazed anew in Chiya's hand. This time, the flames began turning golden.
"Since you've been so generous as to put them on display..."
"Then I'll gladly-take them all!"
Before you continue