Countering Kotoamatsukami!

The aftershocks of Conqueror's Haki had yet to fully dissipate. Root ninja lay scattered across the ground, foaming at the mouth, a silent testament to Ye Chuan's formidable strength.

An aged, sinister figure slowly emerged from the shadow of a nearby tree, leaning on a cane.

It was Shimura Danzō.

He looked like an ordinary elder of Konoha High Command, dressed in a plain kimono, his face covered in wrinkles. Thick bandages wrapped his right eye and right arm, and his steps seemed somewhat unsteady.

Yet his exposed left eye gleamed with a cold light, like a hawk's gaze and an abyss alike. The chilling aura he exuded was enough to send a shiver through anyone.

Behind him, two other masked Root ninja followed like shadows.

"Ye Chuan..."

Danzo's voice was low and hoarse. He glanced at his incapacitated subordinates scattered across the ground, then fixed his gaze on Ye Chuan.

A flicker of surprise crossed his eye, but there was far more cold killing intent.

"I... underestimated you."

"Not only are you as strong as a monster, but you even possess this... power?"

"You have indeed ruined quite a few of my plans."

Ye Chuan remained calm, his gaze passing over Danzo to settle on the two Root ninja behind him.

Drawing on his memories of the original story, he immediately recognized them.

One was a ninja of the Yamanaka Clan who specialized in secret mental techniques, named Yamanaka Fū.

The other was an anomaly of the Aburame Clan who could control nanoscale venomous insects, named Aburame Torune.

Both were Danzo's most trusted aides, and both ranked among the best of the Jonin.

"It seems you've really spared no expense to deal with me, Danzo," Ye Chuan said flatly.

"Talented young people are always prone to straying down the wrong path."

Leaning on his cane, Danzo approached step by step, his tone betraying neither joy nor anger.

"Tsunade is far too softhearted. Her 'Will of Fire' will only make Konoha weak."

"Look at Pain's invasion. If you hadn't held him off through sheer luck, Konoha would already have ceased to exist!"

"I am the one who can truly protect Konoha and lead it to greatness!"

His eye gleamed with ambition.

"Ye Chuan, your talent and strength should not be wasted on someone as naive as Tsunade."

"She can barely save herself now. She exhausted her chakra and fell into a coma. Even if she wakes up, she may not be able to continue serving as Hokage."

"Konoha needs a tougher leader!"

He stopped and spoke in an enticing tone:

"Abandon Tsunade and join my Root!"

"I can give you everything you want! Power, status, resources..."

"I can even give you access to the deeper powers of a ninja!"

"Join me in reshaping Konoha and building a truly powerful ninja village!"

Was this... his final attempt to recruit me?

Ye Chuan looked at the old man before him, whose mouth was full of claims about serving Konoha while he brimmed with ambition, and his lips curled into a mocking smile.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in hiding in the gutter and playing political games."

He refused without hesitation.

"Besides..."

Ye Chuan pretended to give it serious thought, then said teasingly:

"Rather than follow an old man like you, who clearly has more schemes than a honeycomb has holes..."

"I'd still rather work under my beautiful teacher. At least... I'd be in a better mood."

"..." The muscles in Danzo's face twitched, and his eye instantly filled with cold killing intent!

"Very well... since you'd rather learn the hard way..."

Danzo's voice turned utterly sinister.

"Then I have no choice... but to nip an unstable element like you in the bud!"

"What a shame. I had wanted to make you the sharpest 'root' in my hands..."

"Once you're dead, I'll take over as Hokage and deal with that nuisance, Tsunade."

"Konoha will ultimately be mine!"

With that, Danzo stopped concealing it and slowly began undoing the metal sealing device around his right arm!

An ominous, chaotic chakra presence began seeping out.

At the same time, Yamanaka Fū and Aburame Torune vanished from behind him, preparing to coordinate their attacks with Danzo.

But how could Ye Chuan give them the chance to prepare at their leisure?!

Just as Danzo had undone half the seal on his arm, Ye Chuan moved!

[Soru]!

His figure vanished in an instant! He headed straight for Danzo!

But the instant he moved, his Observation Haki clearly detected a subtle mental fluctuation approaching from the side!

It was Yamanaka Fū's Mind Body Switch Technique! He was trying to seize control of Ye Chuan's body while he attacked Danzo!

"Naive!"

In the midst of his high-speed movement, Ye Chuan abruptly changed direction, tracing a ghostlike arc and precisely evading the invisible mental attack.

Yamanaka Fū's secret technique missed.

Immediately afterward, countless black insects, so tiny they were nearly invisible to the naked eye, swarmed toward Ye Chuan like a dark cloud.

Aburame Torune's nanoscale venomous insects could instantly destroy cells once they made contact.

"Insects? Just the thing to test this on!"

Bzzzt-!

Powerful Lightning Release Chakra instantly erupted from Ye Chuan, blue arcs dancing around his body.

The surging venomous insects were electrocuted to cinders the moment they touched the Lightning Release Chakra, falling to the ground with a series of crackles.

Lightning Release was precisely these insects' greatest bane.

"What?!" Aburame Torune paled in shock.

In that instant of shock, Ye Chuan had already closed in on him.

He did not strike to kill. With a flick of his wrist, he struck the backs of both men's necks with the blunt edge of his blade.

Thud! Thud!

Both men grunted, their vision went black, and they passed out.

Against opponents of this level, Ye Chuan did not even need to use his blade's cutting edge.

Having instantly dealt with the two troublesome guards, Ye Chuan fixed his gaze on Shimura Danzō ahead of him once more.

By now, the seal on Danzo's right arm had been completely undone.

A monstrous arm covered in scarlet Sharingan lay exposed to the air.

His right eye, which had remained covered in bandages, also slowly opened.

Danzo's most troublesome ability was Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan.

Genjutsu of that level was almost impossible to guard against.

Though its cooldown was extremely long, Danzo clearly regarded this operation as a decisive battle on which he was staking everything, and he might very well use it outright.

"Brat, your strength has indeed exceeded my expectations."

"But this ends here. Witness the true power of this eye!"

Before he finished speaking, Danzo's Sharingan, which belonged to Shisui, abruptly focused.

Yet just as the genjutsu was about to activate, Ye Chuan's Observation Haki clearly detected Danzo's intent.

Here it comes!

Without the slightest hesitation! [Soru]! [Flash Step]!

Ye Chuan pushed his speed to its limit, his figure instantly becoming a blurred afterimage as he vanished directly from Danzo's visual lock!

"Hmm?!"

Danzo's pupil contracted! His target... had vanished?!

The [Kotoamatsukami] he had so carefully prepared lost its target, and its powerful ocular energy could only return without accomplishing anything.

Refusing to accept it, Danzo locked onto Ye Chuan's position and concentrated his ocular power, attempting to activate Kotoamatsukami again!

But every time, just as he was about to succeed, Ye Chuan's figure always vanished from his sight a step ahead!