"This brat...!"
Danzo was stunned. He had never expected Xia Yu to dodge his attack so easily.
According to the intelligence he had gathered over the past six months and more, Xia Yu merely trained with Sasuke for an hour every day, tossing kunai and practicing a few amateur moves. He had made no progress at all.
So how could he explain the very real agility Xia Yu had just displayed before his eyes?
Before he could dwell on his shock, Xia Yu's counterattack came.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
An enormous fireball resembling a small meteor appeared once again.
"!!!"
Everyone present was dumbfounded.
So Xia Yu had created that fireball!
They had originally thought those "intruders" were responsible!
Asuma Sarutobi: "Is this really the same lecherous Xia Yu we know?"
Kurenai Yuhi: "He... he's so handsome... All that frivolity was a disguise, and he isn't afraid of those in power. This aloof side of him is such a contrast. He's so charming..."
Asuma Sarutobi: "???"
Inoichi Yamanaka: "There's no mistaking it! I can sense it clearly. This is definitely Xia Yu's own chakra. But this amount of chakra is simply..."
Hyuga Hiashi: "You sensed it too? With my Byakugan, I can see an astonishing amount of chakra inside Xia Yu! I've never seen so much chakra before!"
Choza Akimichi: "That fireball is enormous. Lord Danzo may be powerful, but he's old, after all. We should help him!"
"No!"
Shikaku Nara immediately rejected Choza's suggestion, replying meaningfully, "Let's stay out of it. I'm more concerned with [the truth] than protecting Danzo's life. Xia Yu is a catalyst. Perhaps he can bring out [the truth] the higher-ups have deliberately hidden..."
Inoichi had no intention of intervening either. Just a few days earlier, Danzo had forcibly demanded that the Yamanaka Clan select a member to join Root. Under the pressure of Danzo's position and tyranny, Inoichi had had no choice but to hand over a young clansman, Yamanaka Fū.
Shibi Aburame had experienced the same thing at the same time. In the rear garden of the Aburame Clan Compound, Danzo had taken an interest in the highly talented Shino Aburame. Shibi had refused. His son was only eight, after all. Joining Root would ruin his entire life.
But Danzo had remained adamant, refusing to leave until he got his way. Fortunately, Shino's companion Torune Aburame had sacrificed himself to protect Shino, volunteering to become Danzo's subordinate. Only then had Danzo abandoned the idea of taking Shino.
Every ninja clan head in Konoha harbored a silent hatred for Danzo.
The moment the fireball appeared, Danzo finally understood why his subordinates had failed to assassinate Xia Yu, and why Xia Yu had even been able to hold his own against more than thirty Root ninja.
Uchiha Xia Yu's strength was terrifying indeed!
In desperation, Danzo swiftly concentrated a large amount of chakra in his throat.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
A ball of high-pressure wind, like a rocket, swiftly slammed into the great fireball.
Might Guy was utterly baffled by the sight. "What? What is Lord Danzo thinking? Wind feeds fire! How can he use Wind Release against Fire Release? The fireball will only get bigger!"
Kakashi immediately noticed something wrong. "This is bad! Lord Danzo only wants to divert the fireball away from himself. He isn't considering whether it'll disappear at all! Guy, we need to put it out. If it lands and sets the village on fire, we'll be in trouble!"
"Damn it!"
The other ninja dared not delay when they saw this, rushing forward to extinguish the flames.
On the main battlefield, Xia Yu and Danzo remained locked in combat.
Xia Yu: "You old bastard, you really will do anything to save your own skin! Aren't you afraid of burning innocent people?"
Danzo stared fixedly at Xia Yu, all the contempt previously in his eyes gone. "Hmph. You created the fireball. Even if someone gets hurt, it'll be your fault!"
Xia Yu spat. "Pah! You're so fucking thick-skinned. I've never seen anyone so shameless!"
"Enough talk!"
Danzo could no longer be bothered to trade insults with Xia Yu. His years of combat experience had shown him that Xia Yu's chakra and ninjutsu were ridiculously powerful, but his footwork and movements were somewhat crude.
If he wanted to win, close combat was his best option!
He spat out a wind blade formed from raging wind, gripped it in his hand, and swiftly appeared behind Xia Yu, stabbing hard at his lower back.
Yet Xia Yu seemed to have known in advance. He leaped into the air early, once again evading Danzo's attack perfectly.
"Hmm? How is that possible?"
Danzo was baffled. He simply could not understand how Xia Yu could see through his moves so easily.
Standing on another rooftop, Xia Yu opened his eyes slightly, revealing a pair of gleaming scarlet eyes.
"The Sharingan! You... you've actually awakened it!"
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan, genuine beyond doubt.
Danzo was shocked once again.
He could safely say he had been surprised more today than on any other day in his life!
As far as he knew, Xia Yu had clearly been nothing more than a brainless breeding machine who thought with his crotch.
He had clearly been weaker than even a genin!
Just six months ago, those eyes had clearly been good for nothing but flirting.
So why? How had he managed to grow this strong without anyone noticing?
Something was wrong!
Something was wrong with this fellow!
"The Uchiha Clan really is mysterious!"
A sinister thought filled Danzo's mind.
He wanted to capture Xia Yu alive and force him to reveal how he had grown so strong in such a short time!
Danzo shouted orders to the crowd.
"Are you going to keep watching? This lecher has preyed on countless women in the village, leaving many young men without wives. Now he's publicly slandering Konoha High Command and even dares to resist! Taken together, his crimes warrant death!"
"Join me and capture Xia Yu at once! If he's allowed to keep running wild, he'll destroy the village!"
Xia Yu sneered. "What a way to turn the accusations back on me! I'll say it again! Everything I said is true. Danzo is reacting so strongly because he clearly wants to silence me!"
"And isn't 'preyed on' a poor choice of words? First, I married them properly. Second, it was consensual. Third, I take full responsibility! How is that persecution? Danzo, I think you're the one slandering me!"
As he finished, Xia Yu suddenly gave a wicked smile and said quietly to Danzo, "Your young wife gave birth a couple of days ago, didn't she?"
Danzo froze. "You... how do you know?"
"Heh... of course I know! Because that's my child! Danzo, did you really think you were still virile in your old age? Five-second man... Let me make this clear first: your young wife gave you that nickname. It had nothing to do with me."
"!!"
Danzo nearly burst a lung with rage, his face turning even greener than his hair. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to release the seal on his right arm and use the power of the Sharingan to kill Xia Yu in an instant.
But what little reason he had left told him he absolutely could not do that.
Danzo panted heavily. Thinking back carefully, the "son" his young wife had given birth to really did look eighty percent like Xia Yu.
The remaining twenty percent resembled the child's mother.
"Damn you! Xia Yu, once I catch you, I'll make you wish you could die!"
"Why are you all standing there? Help me destroy this innately evil Uchiha! Hiruzen, are you just going to watch?"
Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeply. Events had now gone completely beyond his expectations and were moving beyond his control.
The true strength Xia Yu had displayed surprised him, but attacking Xia Yu without regard for anything else really did defy reason.
Hiruzen knew Xia Yu had spoken the truth. He had also been trying to think of a solution that would satisfy both sides, but no matter how hard he thought, he could not find one.
With Danzo pressing him, Hiruzen thought it over repeatedly before deciding to "favor" Danzo.
After all, in this matter, he and Danzo were in the same boat.
"Everyone, go help Danzo immediately! Remember, go easy on him. Xia Yu's crimes don't warrant death. Just capture him alive. We'll discuss everything else later."
Ibiki Morino: "Lord Hokage, I sent people to the hospital to investigate just now. According to their report, Xia Yu really was attacked by unidentified individuals while waiting for his wife to give birth. He's telling the truth. Those people... may really have been after him!"
Hearing this, the other jonin and Anbu once again lost their desire to support Danzo.
Hiruzen Sarutobi shut his eyes tightly, then abruptly opened them. "I said, capture Xia Yu alive first! We'll discuss everything else later. What if the village is damaged because he and Danzo keep fighting? Put the greater good first. Stop standing around and go!"
A ninja's duty was to obey orders.
They did not dare disobey the Hokage's orders, nor did they have any choice but to obey.
Watching a crowd of ninja, some familiar and some unknown, suddenly surround him, Xia Yu's expression darkened. He sighed in an extremely cold, disappointed voice.
"Can't you see that I'm innocent? Can't you hear the truth I'm telling you? First the clan massacre, now this unjust encirclement. Does this little village of Konoha... really have no room for my Uchiha Clan?"
Shikaku Nara hurriedly tried to persuade him. "Xia Yu, we don't have a choice either. Come back with us first. Trust me, I'll do everything I can to uncover the truth. Lord Hokage is also considering the village's safety. You need to understand..."
"Understand, my ass!"
If he surrendered now, with Danzo's methods, there was no way he would survive!
Things having come this far, Xia Yu decided to go all out.
Seeing the powerful aura Xia Yu suddenly unleashed, the ninja all charged toward him.
"Don't give him a chance to form hand seals! Capture him now!"
Xia Yu did not form hand seals very quickly. Before he was even halfway through, the ninja had surrounded him from every angle, leaving no openings.
"Damn it! These bastards!"
"I'll have to use the Substitution Technique first!"
Just as Xia Yu was about to use the Substitution Technique to evade their onslaught for the moment, an ethereal voice with a microphone's electronic buzz suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Uchiha clan members +1. This clan member's overall potential rating is SSS. Special reward: upgrading the host's Three-Tomoe Sharingan to Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in both eyes!!]
"!!!"
Xia Yu was overjoyed!
"Now that's something!"
The reward for an SSS-rank child skipped the Mangekyō stage and went straight to Eternal!
Qiushi, it looks like our child was born safely!
Then I can't waste any more time here...
"Perfect Susanoo, rise!"
The next moment,
Blue, solid chakra rapidly filled the space around Xia Yu.
"This is...? No! Get out of the way!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi could no longer stand still and hurriedly warned everyone.
He knew better than anyone what this blue chakra represented.
Of everyone present, probably only he and Danzo had witnessed such terror.
After all, they had lived through the era of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
The ninja had not been attacking wholeheartedly to begin with. Upon hearing the Third Hokage's warning, they immediately stopped in their tracks.
Fortunately, they stopped quickly enough to save their lives.
At the same time,
An enormous blue giant rose into the sky with the sunrise.
And this was what true terror looked like...
Before you continue