Was the Mangekyo Really That Rare?

"I never thought even Flying Thunder God would fail. Your Mangekyo can actually seal off space?!"

Watanabe Ichiro's expression worsened, disbelief filling his eyes.

"Hahahaha! You finally figured it out?"

Once he realized Watanabe Ichiro could not escape his grasp, Uchiha Kagami relaxed his guard. He covered his eyes and threw his head back, laughing.

"After you used Flying Thunder God to get close and defeat me, I awakened these eyes and gained an ability that perfectly counters Flying Thunder God."

"With Netherworld unveiled, Flying Thunder God is no longer an unbeatable technique! No one who knows Flying Thunder God will ever escape me!"

"Uchiha Ichiro, I never intended to take advantage of you and bully you while you were poisoned! But you actually deceived me, made a fool of me!"

"Heh, hahahaha! Fine, deceive me! Now I don't have to think about anything else. I don't care anymore! I'll send you to your grave right now!"

Watanabe Ichiro's left arm dropped off instantly. He could not react in time, and Wood Release failed to keep up. Blood immediately gushed from the stump, soaking half his body.

"Ugh."

He grunted, pressing his remaining right hand over the stump. His body trembled uncontrollably, but he did not cry out in pain. He merely gritted his teeth and held on, breathing rapidly.

"You're pretty good at enduring pain."

Uchiha Kagami remained where he stood, watching the scene from a distance with interest. He even took several steps back, denying Watanabe Ichiro any chance to launch a sudden counterattack and turn the tables.

What a turtle.

Watanabe Ichiro offered that assessment as he looked at the system's progress bar, which had just reached 60%.

Fine. Let him show off a little longer, then get right in his face and beat him up.

Watanabe Ichiro kept acting, strictly apportioning the emotions in his eyes as though he were in an Overbearing CEO Novel.

Thirty percent pain, thirty percent resentment, thirty percent despair, and finally, ten percent cold indifference.

All right, that should fool him. Let him torment me a little more, and then...

His heart suddenly seized.

The Fountain of Life was stripped away by spatial fluctuations, and the blood throughout his body seemed to freeze in an instant.

Watanabe Ichiro looked stunned, the pie chart of emotions in his eyes vanishing entirely.

"The longer this drags on, the more trouble it brings. I'll send you to your grave right now!"

Uchiha Kagami glared with his Mangekyo and went straight for the kill.

Wait, what?!

Is it really appropriate for a villain to talk so little?

Fine, you won't get in my face to taunt me, but you won't even spend a little longer talking trash?

You're completely unqualified!

Do you even know how to play a villain?!

If you can't do it, don't!

Let me do it!

"Coincidence" shone with a faint golden light. The allotted fate had been paid, and the wish to "complete the spatial analysis immediately" was fulfilled.

The system's calculation progress bar filled instantly. The Flying Thunder God Technique button lit up, and the spatial fluctuations pinning him down were no longer lethal.

In the nick of time, Watanabe Ichiro vanished from where he stood, taking his slightly displaced heart with him.

"What?!"

Uchiha Kagami's eyes widened in disbelief. He watched helplessly as Watanabe Ichiro shifted from where he had been standing to another spot he had previously occupied.

"How is that possible? Am I seeing things?"

"How can Flying Thunder God work inside my Netherworld? Impossible! It's impossible!"

"What's so impossible about it?"

Watanabe Ichiro activated Wood Release, reattaching the parts that had fallen off one by one. He applied several Medical Scrolls he had just picked up from the ground-the very ones Uchiha Kagami had tossed to him earlier.

"Hey, I figured nobody wanted them, since they were just lying on the ground. Might as well use them to help an injured guy out."

His actions only poured more fuel on Uchiha Kagami's rage.

Uchiha Kagami unleashed his ocular technique several more times, but it no longer posed any threat to Watanabe Ichiro.

Watanabe Ichiro moved his body around to test it.

Yep, that's the Senju bloodline for you. The instant everything was back in place, I was fit as a fiddle.

Excellent.

Now, next up...

Watanabe Ichiro flexed his fingers, cracking his knuckles.

"Having fun with your Mangekyo, Kagami?"

"What a coincidence. I have that too."

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a pair of Mangekyo with a red base and black pattern appeared in his sockets.

"Besides, isn't playing in this tiny space boring? How about we fight like real men and have a Gundam showdown?"

A skeleton as scarlet as the flames of hell erupted into existence, pressing against the enclosed space until fine cracks appeared.

The skeleton's momentum did not abate. Muscles and meridians climbed over it, and its second form immediately followed!

The already unstable space began to shatter like glass!

The enormous giant's presence surged, and its flame-like palm slammed into the spot with the most cracks!

Space shook, and spacetime fell into chaos.

Existence and nonexistence overlapped. The connection between the living world and the Netherworld wavered, then finally snapped!

Uchiha Kagami's Netherworld-shattered!

A heaven-shaking boom erupted in Konoha's northeastern corner.

Rock collapsed, and scarlet light flared!

"What's that?"

"It's Uchiha Ichiro's Susanoo! Fantastic! My Plan B is alive!"

Black Zetsu was ecstatic. He sped toward it, only to turn back immediately.

No, I should wait until things quiet down. This little body of mine is too fragile. I couldn't take even one hit.

Haven't I survived all these years of storms and upheaval precisely because I'm this cautious?

This time is no different. Wait a little. No rush, no rush.

He hunkered down on a rock neither too close to nor too far from the Susanoo.

He could advance to gather information at the first opportunity, or retreat and immediately flee for his life.

You think being the number one turtle in the ninja world is a joke?

Meanwhile, Kagami Uchiha's Shadow Clone raced toward the Hokage Building, but the journey was far from smooth.

One of the more perceptive Elders had brought men to ambush him along the way. Burdened with his younger brother, the Shadow Clone had little room to maneuver. He barely escaped their pursuit, and his chakra was nearly exhausted.

After a lengthy delay, Kagami Uchiha's Shadow Clone finally reached the Hokage Building and found Senju Toka, the Senju Clan's third-in-command, who was on duty.

Worried that his original would die and cause the Shadow Clone to disperse, Kagami Uchiha explained the situation as quickly and concisely as possible.

Senju Toka looked utterly bewildered as he grabbed her shoulders and shouted at her.

"Take care of my little brother!"

"Lord Ichiro was taken away! The location is on this scroll! The enemy is Uchiha Kagami, and he has the Mangekyo! His ability involves space! Hurry and tell Lord Tobirama!"

"I'm surrounded in the Uchiha Clan Compound! Save-"

BOOM!!!

The Shadow Clone was interrupted. The tremendous explosion in Konoha's northeastern corner confirmed the truth of his words.

Sensing how little chakra he had left, Kagami Uchiha's Shadow Clone leaned toward Senju Toka's ear and screamed at the top of his lungs-

"Hurry! Save Lord Ichiro!"

Poof.

The Shadow Clone ran out of chakra and vanished.

The explosion and the shouting overlapped, leaving her head throbbing faintly.

Senju Toka could not help narrowing her beautiful eyes. Without a moment's delay, she used the Body Flicker Technique several times and pushed open the door to Tobirama Senju's laboratory as fast as she could.

"Lord Tobirama! Hurry and save them!"

She added between gasps.

"Both of them!"