The gaze beneath Root, a new storm

"Ten Eyes?" Fugaku's hand pressed against his sword hilt, barely contained killing intent in his voice. "Danzo sewed our clansmen's eyes onto his own body?"

Kakashi stared at the eye patch. "If he's using Izanagi, he needs Sharingan to pay the price."

Veins rose around Hiashi's Byakugan. "There's a chakra disturbance outside the village. Wood Release chakra is spreading."

Sasuke put the eye patch into an evidence bag. "Move out. Take them alive. Danzo is the exception."

The Nara ninja Shikaku had sent hurried forward to stop him. "Lord Shikaku ordered us to keep him alive."

Sasuke looked at him. "I'll keep his mouth intact until the trial. No guarantees about the rest."

The team left the village through a concealed gate on the north side.

Fugaku led the Uchiha elites on the left flank, Hiashi led the Byakugan ninja on the right, and Kakashi's ANBU dismantled traps ahead. Neji followed behind the recording team, his face taut as he watched every flow of chakra.

At the entrance to the abandoned valley in the northwest, the trees were twisted, with flesh-colored markings growing across their bark. Half an ANBU kunai protruded from the ground, dog fur wrapped around its handle.

Kakashi crouched to examine it. "A marker left by Pakkun's ninja hounds. They caught the scent of blood, then Wood Release impaled them."

Hiashi activated his Byakugan and scanned the mountain. "Three underground levels. The first is empty, the second has cultivation tanks, and the chakra on the third is a complete mess. Someone is at the center."

Fugaku's voice turned cold. "Danzo?"

"There's something else, too." Hiashi's brow tightened. "It doesn't look human."

Sasuke raised his hand. "Open the Record Scrolls. Record everything once we're inside."

An ANBU hesitated. "We haven't finished dismantling the valley's barrier. Forcing our way in will trigger a cave-in."

Sasuke walked up to the barrier, his Sharingan spinning. Black sealing patterns crawled across the rock face, with snake patterns and Root marks hidden at their center.

Kakashi recognized the problem. "A modified barrier from Orochimaru. Danzo used his formulas."

Sasuke drew the Kusanagi Sword. "If he's afraid of outsiders seeing it, there's something worth seeing inside."

A blue chakra skeleton spread out around Sasuke. His nascent Susanoo tore the sealing patterns off the rock face by force. Stones tumbled down, revealing an iron ladder descending into the underground entrance.

Fugaku stared at the skeleton, shock flickering in his eyes, but asked no questions.

Kakashi waved a hand. "ANBU, scout ahead."

"No." Sasuke stopped him. "Root loves feeding scouts to its seals. The Hyuga will check the route. The Uchiha will follow me."

There were no guards on the first level.

Old Root masks hung on the walls, and bloody drag marks streaked the floor. Neji swept the corners with his Byakugan, his face paling. "There's a lot of residual chakra here. As if people were drained dry and discarded."

Fugaku swore under his breath.

When the iron door to the second level opened, the recording ninja nearly dropped his scroll.

Rows of cultivation tanks stood along the walls, deformed bodies floating in green liquid. Some had grown branches, some had half their faces covered in Cursed Seals, and some had empty eye sockets, their mouths still opening and closing without a sound.

A Hyuga ninja took half a step back. "Are they still alive?"

Kakashi lifted an experiment tag with his short blade, then stopped halfway through reading it.

Sasuke took the tag. "Wood Release Compatible Subject. Uchiha eye tissue stimulation. Failed Subject Seventy-Three. Note: mental collapse. Right eye recoverable."

Fugaku's breathing grew heavy. "Right eye?"

Sasuke continued forward. A small refrigerated cabinet was sealed in a corner, a fragment of the Uchiha Clan Crest pasted onto its door.

Takaya smashed the door open. Inside was a row of jars preserving Sharingan. Beneath every jar was a name.

Shinji Uchiha.

Keita Uchiha.

Mina Uchiha.

Several other names had been blurred by the solution, leaving only the clan crests legible.

Fugaku braced a hand against the cabinet door, veins bulging on the back of his hand. "These people were reported missing after the night of the massacre."

Sasuke took down the first jar and handed it to the recording ninja. "Get a clear image. The name, serial number, and preservation date."

Neji stood beside him, remembering Hizashi's Eye, his teeth grinding.

Kakashi said quietly, "Danzo didn't just flee here on a whim. He's been preparing all along."

Sasuke sealed the cabinet. "Then unless we get everything out of him tonight, he won't have another place to hide."

Thirteen Root death squad members hung from the wall outside the door to the third level. Their tongues had been cut out, and wooden branches grew from their chests. The Wind Character was carved into every forehead.

Hiashi scanned them with his Byakugan. "Wood Release burst out from inside their bodies and killed them."

Kakashi looked through the doorway. "Danzo is silencing witnesses."

Sasuke kicked the iron door open.

At the center of the underground laboratory, half of a massive cultivation tank had shattered, spilling liquid across the floor. Shimura Danzō stood at the far end, his robe torn open and his right arm wrapped in white bandages. Beneath them, shapes shifted as eyeballs moved.

On the stone platform beside him lay a withered piece of wood used to cultivate hashirama cells.

Danzo turned around. His usual composure was gone, replaced by a sickly frenzy.

"Sasuke Uchiha. You came after all."

Fugaku advanced with his sword. "You old dog. Give back my clansmen's eyes."

Danzo raised his right arm, the bandages slipping off layer by layer. More than ten Sharingan were embedded in the pale arm, several still moving.

Killing intent erupted from the Uchiha elites.

Yamada Naoto's eyes reddened. "That's Uncle Tanaka's eye! I recognize the scar at the corner!"

Another clansman shouted hoarsely, "And Mina's!"

Fugaku drew his sword. "Danzo!"

Danzo laughed wildly, the Sharingan on his right arm spinning erratically. "This was for Konoha! The Uchiha's power shouldn't be hoarded by your narrow-minded clan. The First's Wood Release and the Uchiha's eyes-only together can they become the divine power that protects the village."

Sasuke stepped to the front, the Kusanagi Sword hanging at his side. "Protecting it by gouging out your own people's eyes?"

Danzo stared at him. "You don't understand. The Hokage is too soft. Hiruzen is too soft, and the Uchiha are far too ambitious. I had no choice but to shoulder Konoha's darkness."

"Shoulder its darkness?" Sasuke raised his hand, aiming the Record Scroll at him. "Hold your arm a little higher. Let the whole village see what the darkness Shimura Danzō shoulders looks like."

Danzo's smile froze for a moment. "You're still gathering evidence?"

"Of course." Sasuke straightened his collar. "Before I kill you, I'm going to squeeze out every bit of value you have."

The corner of Danzo's eye twitched. "You think bringing these people gives you the right to judge me? My right arm holds over ten Sharingan. Every one of them can rewrite death. Kill me once, and I'll stand back up."

Kakashi's voice grew grave. "Izanagi."

Fugaku tightened his grip on his sword. "Then we'll keep cutting until he has no eyes left."

Danzo looked at Fugaku with scorn. "Uchiha Fugaku, you were weak as clan leader. You couldn't even control your own son. Now you let an eight-year-old child walk all over you, and you dare speak of revenge?"

Fugaku did not rise to the provocation. He simply looked at Sasuke. "Clan leader, give the order."

Sasuke nodded. "Cut off his arm. Don't hit his head. I want him to acknowledge the evidence himself."

Danzo snorted. "Arrogant!"

He pressed his right arm against the ground. Wood Release burst through the floor, stabbing straight toward the recording ninja. Hiashi stepped in front and spun into Rotation, deflecting the wooden spikes. Neji shielded the scroll, striking repeatedly with Gentle Fist to knock aside several slender branches.

Sasuke rushed up to Danzo, slashing the Kusanagi Sword toward his right arm. Danzo drew a kunai with his left hand to block, while branches beneath his feet carried him backward.

Kakashi cut in from the side, driving Lightning Blade straight at Danzo's shoulder. A Sharingan on Danzo's right arm closed, and his body shifted position. Lightning Blade passed through an afterimage and shattered the stone platform behind him.

Fugaku's Sharingan spun, pressing genjutsu onto Danzo.

Danzo sneered. "This arm is covered in your Uchiha eyes. You intend to use genjutsu against me?"

The Sharingan on Danzo's right arm shared the burden of Fugaku's genjutsu. Danzo formed hand seals in response. "Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

The wind projectile shot toward Fugaku. Sasuke raised his Susanoo skeleton across its path, blocking the Wind Release, though several cracks split its surface.

"To reach this level at eight years old." Greed deepened in Danzo's eyes. "Your eyes really are more suitable than Itachi's."

Sasuke's gaze darkened. "You think you're worthy of mentioning him?"

The Kusanagi Sword thrust forward, wreathed in lightning. Danzo raised his arm to block head-on. A Sharingan immediately closed, but wooden bark grew over his right arm, stopping the blade.

Kakashi shouted, "The hashirama cells are devouring his chakra! He can't control them for long!"

Hiashi locked his Byakugan onto Danzo's right shoulder. "There's a seal core behind his shoulder blade. Strike there, and the arm will lose its balance."

Sasuke sidestepped a wooden spike. "Neji, record every word he says."

Neji clutched the scroll, his voice tight. "I am."

At the word "record," Danzo's face twisted. "I'll kill you watching eyes first!"

Wood Release surged again. The cultivation tanks along the walls shattered, and branches dragged the deformed test subjects toward the group.

The Uchiha elites activated their Sharingan and met the attack. The Hyuga sealed chakra points with Gentle Fist, while the ANBU severed the branches. Chemical solution splashed through the laboratory, and the sealing lamps went out one after another.

Sasuke did not retreat. He used his Susanoo skeleton to force aside the Wood Release, then drove the Kusanagi Sword into Danzo's right shoulder.

Danzo roared in pain. Three Sharingan on his right arm closed at once. White light engulfed his body, and the wound healed.

He panted, but his laughter grew even more deranged. "Do you see? I cannot die!"

Sasuke looked at the three closed eyes. "A dozen lives sounds like a lot. In practice, they don't last long."

Danzo's smile faded.

Sasuke raised his hand. "Fugaku, Kakashi, Hiashi. Take turns forcing him to rewrite his death. Don't let him breathe."

Fugaku's blade pressed in, Kakashi's Lightning Blade cut off escape routes, and Hiashi's Gentle Fist severed the flow of chakra. Forced back step after step, Danzo closed the Sharingan on his right arm one after another.

But as he retreated beside the cultivation tank, his heel landed on a hidden seal.

Danzo suddenly raised his head, his mouth splitting into a grin. "Sasuke Uchiha, did you think Izanagi was the only thing I prepared for myself?"

Sasuke's gaze dropped to the seal on the floor. "Fall back!"

It was already too late.

Danzo tore open the clothing over his chest. A black Cursed Seal was embedded over his heart, connected beneath it to the Wood Release conduits running throughout the laboratory.

Kakashi's expression changed drastically. "The Reverse Four Symbols Seal?"

Danzo raised his right arm. The last few Sharingan opened together, and Wood Release chakra poured from his body toward the ceiling. The entire underground laboratory began to collapse.

He stared at Sasuke, his laughter echoing through the falling rubble.

"Then be buried here with me, you Uchiha brat."