"My lord, we've brought Uchiha Ichiro."
The Uchiha stopped before an unremarkable stone wall and spoke quietly.
"Bring him in, quickly!"
A hoarse voice, brimming with delight, rang out from somewhere near the stone wall.
They exchanged glances, each seeing the hesitation in the others' eyes. None of them particularly wanted to step into this domain.
"What are you standing around for?! Do you want me to come out and welcome you personally?!"
The voice sounded again, this time tinged with anger.
"Yes, my lord!"
They answered immediately, then sighed helplessly and walked in with miserable expressions.
The stone wall rippled like water as their figures disappeared into it, then returned to its usual unremarkable appearance.
Once they entered the space, all they could see was a perfectly square, empty chamber, as though someone had hollowed out an exceptionally neat square cavern inside the mountain.
It looked perfectly ordinary.
But they knew just how terrifying this unremarkable-looking space was.
A few days earlier, Uchiha Kagami had slipped back into the Uchiha District and given them a thorough demonstration of this space's horrors.
Anything enclosed within his space fell entirely under Uchiha Kagami's control.
They had reached this conclusion thanks to several clansmen who had spoken disrespectfully to him. Once enclosed within the space, their bodies had instantly broken into several pieces, killing them on the spot.
And unless Uchiha Kagami allowed it, no one could enter this space to hurt him.
They had reached this conclusion after attacking him with various release techniques. Their ninjutsu passed through the space without accomplishing anything.
Uchiha Kagami's Mangekyō ability was called [Netherworld].
This Mangekyō ability had been born amid the agony of burning under Fire Release after Watanabe Ichiro had used Flying Thunder God to attack him at close range. He had wished for the power to control space and to escape harm. Those two wishes had combined to bring [Netherworld] into being.
In Japanese mythology, the "Netherworld" was a space parallel to the mortal world, invisible and intangible, where many Kunitsukami dwelled.
And its ability fit that description perfectly.
[Netherworld] used the Mangekyō's ocular power to bring the "Netherworld" temporarily into this world.
During that time, the Mangekyō wielder held absolute control over the area and could freely admit or expel anything within the space.
If a person entered it, the Mangekyō wielder could make a part of them leave-for example, their heart or brain.
When he had displayed his power in the Uchiha Clan Compound, he had allowed the clansmen who had insulted him into this space, then sent several parts of their bodies out.
As the spatial overlap was undone, some parts of them left while the rest remained inside [Netherworld]. That was how their bodies had split apart without Uchiha Kagami moving a muscle.
This Mangekyō ability amounted to intangibility combined with invincibility at close range, making it an exceptionally strong counter to Flying Thunder God.
Or rather, this Mangekyō ability was almost impossible to counter.
Very few conventional methods could actually harm him.
Perhaps only a vast cloud of poisonous mist, or placing him deep beneath the sea-some method that prevented him from escaping before his chakra ran out-could defeat him.
The Uchiha walked through the space with extreme caution, hardly daring to breathe.
They carefully carried Watanabe Ichiro over to Uchiha Kagami, then stood there shrinking back, not daring to make a sound.
"He's dead?! Didn't I tell you to bring him alive?"
Uchiha Kagami looked at Watanabe Ichiro, wrapped in something resembling a body bag, and the eagerness on his face instantly turned cold.
If he's dead, who's going to bear the weight of my hatred?
Where am I supposed to vent my rage?
How am I supposed to bring comfort to my wife's departed soul?
"He's not dead! He's not dead! Lord Kagami, we only drugged him a little. He's still alive."
They immediately scrambled to unwrap the cloth holding Watanabe Ichiro and lifted him out. He looked gravely wounded and close to death, but he was still breathing.
Watanabe Ichiro looked utterly wretched. His face was pale, his eyes tightly shut, and his limbs bound. Dozens of chakra suppression devices of varying sizes had been inserted into his body.
Anger flared in Uchiha Kagami's heart. What was this supposed to be?!
He still remembered the day he had challenged Watanabe Ichiro.
The absurdly young new Clan Head had stood in the district's fighting grounds, calmly trading attacks with the same techniques he used, mocking his older opponent's incompetence through his actions.
Uchiha Kagami had given it everything he had, only for Flying Thunder God to bring his opponent right up to him, where a single Fire Release attack had finished him off.
He had been careless. He had completely failed to notice the Flying Thunder God Mark left on the hem of his clothing during close combat.
Damn it! Damn it!
I actually lost to someone so much younger than me!
Even though I already knew about his abilities!
Even though I gave it everything I had!
I can't accept this humiliation. I want revenge!
I want to get stronger, then defeat him!
Now I've mastered the Mangekyō Sharingan, and I have a powerful ally backing me. Reclaiming the position of Uchiha Clan Head is within reach!
But this is what my old enemy has been reduced to, pathetically stabbed in the back by his own people.
Is this the kind of victory I wanted?
Uchiha Kagami remembered what Watanabe Ichiro had said at the clan meeting that day.
"I eagerly await someone who can defeat me fair and square. Then they can lead the Uchiha Clan toward an even brighter future! Make the Uchiha greater!"
That's right. What I want is an exhilarating fight, a battle where I give it everything I have!
Winning through some underhanded ambush is an insult to me.
I won't take the Clan Head's seat if I obtain it through methods like these. My wife, who placed her hopes in me, wouldn't want me to rise to power this way either.
"Take him back for treatment... no, leave him here."
Halfway through speaking, Uchiha Kagami remembered those disgusting Elders in the clan.
If he sent Uchiha Ichiro back, those two-faced bastards trying to curry favor with him would probably twist his meaning and give Ichiro a thorough "treatment" that very night, making sure he never saw the next sunrise.
Besides, with all the jolting along the way, Uchiha Ichiro might die en route, judging by his shallow breathing.
Then I'd never be able to say in good conscience that I earned my position as Uchiha Clan Head fairly.
A dead man could not die a second time. If something went wrong and Ichiro died, Uchiha Kagami would never be able to get past it.
So he had them remove all the chakra suppression devices and leave behind the antidote for the Secret Drug, then dismissed them with a curt order to get lost.
As though granted a pardon, they put the things down and happily scurried out.
They gathered outside the cliff face, gulping fresh air and feeling their arms and legs. Only then did it truly sink in that they had made it out alive.
"I thought we were done for," one of them murmured, his legs still feeling unsteady.
"Come on, let's go. If he changes his mind in a minute..."
They immediately fell silent and hurried away. Only after they had traveled some distance did they relax enough to start talking quietly.
"Honestly, I thought that Ichiro was pretty good. With him running the clan, my family was better off than before."
"What good does what you think do? As if you'd have the guts to let him go."
"No, no, I wouldn't dare. My whole family works under the Elders. If I let him go, brother, you'd have to look for me in a mass grave."
"Yeah, we're just pushovers anyone can trample on. Why else would they dump this job on us? Why didn't the Elders send their own grandsons?"
"Just take it one day at a time. Thinking about it won't do any good. You worry too much, still thinking about Uchiha Ichiro. What does whether he lives or dies have to do with nobodies like us?"
"I was just saying. That lord must hate his guts. Judging by all this, he probably kept him there to tear him apart alive. Lord Kagami is very good at interrogation, after all..."
Passing nearby, Black Zetsu pricked up his ears and overheard their conversation. His heart turned cold.
It's over. My Plan B, are you still alive?
Before you continue