The world changed completely in Ling's eyes.
The excruciating pain receded like a tide, replaced by an utterly cold clarity. The pure Yin Release energy pouring into his body had not destroyed him. Instead, the Jōgan forcibly guided and tamed it, bringing it into a dangerous balance with his own chakra before finally channeling it into his eyes.
What he "saw" was no longer mere energy flow, but something deeper and more fundamental-the paths along which chakra circulated, the minute trembling of muscle fibers, even a "preview" of his opponent's intent to attack in the next instant! This was no longer a projection based on probability, but something approaching absolute "insight"!
The incredibly swift attacks of the two Root members became slow and riddled with openings in his newly born, scarlet, pinwheel-patterned eyes, through which a faint glassy undertone flowed.
On the left, the Wind Release ninja. Predicted trajectory of Vacuum Great Sphere: three degrees to the right, with the central chakra node 0.7 inches below the center of the wind sphere. On the right, the hidden-weapon ninja. The kunai in his hand was intended to block movement; the real killing move was the poison senbon concealed in his sleeve. Target: left knee joint.
The information flooded his brain as naturally as instinct.
Ling's body moved before his mind did!
He formed no hand seals and used no complex ninjutsu. Just as the wind sphere was about to strike him, he turned his body by the tiniest fraction, narrowly avoiding the core of the attack. At the same time, his left foot took a seemingly casual half-step forward, just enough to let the silently launched poison senbon skim past his trouser leg.
Precise! Efficient! As though he had practiced it thousands of times!
Both Root members' pupils contracted! Impossible! In this condition, how could he evade their lethal combined attack so effortlessly?!
"His eyes!" the Root member using hidden weapons cried out involuntarily. "The Sharingan?! But the pattern is wrong!"
It was unlike any tomoe-patterned Sharingan they knew! That spinning pinwheel pattern carried an unsettling strangeness and mystery!
"Cheap tricks! You're on your last legs!" Though startled, the Wind Release ninja remained composed, his hands flying through another series of hand seals. "Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!" Dozens of sharper wind blades formed a net of death and swept toward Ling!
Yet the instant he completed his seals, Ling's new eyes had already seen through the entire flow of his chakra and the final trajectories of the wind blades.
Ling moved! Rather than retreating, he charged straight at the wind blades!
His movements did not look fast and were even somewhat unsteady (his gravely injured body had not fully recovered), but every step landed precisely in a gap in the network of wind blades! Like a butterfly dancing through a storm, he passed through the dense barrage with the narrowest of margins, yet without haste! The shrill screams of wind blades slicing the air rang incessantly in his ears, but they could not even touch the hem of his clothes!
"What?!" The Wind Release ninja blanched in horror. Such insight?! Even a Three-Tomoe Sharingan might not be capable of this!
Seeing this, the other Root member immediately hurled a large number of kunai tied with explosive tags at Ling from every direction, while he merged into the shadows, attempting to deliver a fatal strike from behind.
[Jōgan (fusion state) notification: explosive tag trajectory calculations complete. Predicted shadow infiltration route: underground to the rear right, at three o'clock. Estimated emergence in 2.3 seconds. Optimal response...]
A cold smile curved Ling's lips. Without even turning his head, his hands fluttered like butterflies among flowers as he swiftly drew the last few shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and threw them behind him without looking!
Clang, clang, clang! The shuriken struck the handles of several crucial kunai with absolute precision, altering their trajectories and causing them to collide with one another, triggering a chain of explosions. Instead, they formed an exploding wall of fire behind Ling, temporarily blocking the view!
Almost simultaneously, Ling spun around. Holding the fingers of his right hand together like a blade, he concentrated the small amount of chakra he had just recovered, which now carried a trace of the Jōgan's properties, and thrust with unerring precision toward a spot in the ground to his right!
"Yin Release: Purifying Erosion!"
Squelch! A muffled sound rang out, accompanied by a stifled grunt of pain!
The Root member, who had just emerged halfway from the shadows and was preparing his sneak attack, stared at his shoulder in disbelief-Ling's fingers had landed directly on the most crucial node in his chakra circulation, as though he had foreseen it! A strange chakra with purifying and erosive properties surged into him, instantly throwing the chakra circulation throughout his entire arm into chaos before freezing it solid! It was as though invisible shackles had locked it in place!
"How could you..." He was utterly horrified. The sensation of being seen through completely and subdued in a single move was more terrifying than facing Director Shimura Danzō!
Ling gave him no chance to speak. The instant he restrained one opponent, he used the force of that finger strike to slide toward the Wind Release ninja like a phantom!
Seeing his companion subdued in an instant, alarm bells blared in the Wind Release ninja's mind. He retreated frantically while forming hand seals again. "Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
An enormous sphere of highly pressurized wind formed and blasted toward Ling with a destructive aura! This was an area attack, with nowhere to dodge!
But Ling had never intended to dodge!
His eyes locked onto the enormous wind sphere, the pinwheel patterns spinning rapidly as a glassy light flickered faintly within them!
[Analysis complete: weakness in technique structure: unstable energy 0.5 meters to the left of the central compression point. Intervention plan: insertion of a Yin Release chakra needle can trigger structural collapse.]
Just before the wind sphere swallowed him, Ling once again made that seemingly suicidal move-he extended a finger, gathering an extremely fine thread of chakra at its tip, and pressed it precisely against a seemingly ordinary spot on the wind sphere!
Like a needle piercing a balloon! The immensely powerful, high-pressure wind sphere shuddered violently the instant it touched Ling's fingertip. Its internal structure collapsed at once, releasing a muffled boom, and it simply dissipated into thin air! All that escaped was a gust of turbulent air that stirred Ling's hair!
"Urgh!" The backlash from having his ninjutsu forcibly broken made the Wind Release ninja spit out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror! "M-monster! What the hell are you?!"
This had already surpassed his understanding of ninjutsu and kekkei genkai!
Ling did not answer. Strike while the enemy was down! Forcing himself to endure the excruciating pain throughout his body and the hollow sensation of his chakra nearing depletion once more, he appeared before the Wind Release ninja as though he had teleported. His eerie, cold Sharingan stared straight into the other man's terrified eyes.
"Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!" (One of the simplest D-rank genjutsu.)
Yet in this state, this basic genjutsu cast through these unknown Sharingan had an entirely different effect! It not only magnified the fear within his opponent's heart, but also carried a trace of power from the Jōgan's insight, striking directly at the weaknesses in his opponent's mind!
The Wind Release ninja screamed, as though he had seen the most horrifying sight of his life (quite possibly Danzo's punishment). His entire body instantly went rigid, and his mental defenses collapsed completely!
Without the slightest hesitation, Ling's kunai traced a cold arc.
Slash! Blood flashed.
The second Root jonin fell to the ground, dead.
In the blink of an eye, the situation had reversed!
The sole remaining Root member, whose arm's chakra had been locked down, watched helplessly as two companions were killed in the space of a few breaths. Boundless cold had already engulfed his heart. As he watched the blood-soaked boy, swaying on his feet yet possessing a pair of demonic eyes, approach him step by step, fear finally overwhelmed his commitment to the mission.
Run! I have to run! Take this information back! Uchiha Ling is a monster even more dangerous than Uchiha Itachi!
He gritted his teeth and, without the slightest hesitation, used the kunai in his other hand to sever the arm whose chakra had been locked down! Amid the gushing blood, he threw several smoke bombs, turned, and fled toward the cave entrance as fast as he could!
Ling did not pursue him. His body had already reached its limit. His newly born Sharingan rapidly faded, reverting to ordinary black eyes, and overwhelming weakness and agonizing pain surged over him like a tide, nearly sending him crashing to the ground.
He staggered over to Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru, who were half-buried beneath rubble. Inuzuka Gaku was unconscious, his breathing faint. Kuromaru was gravely injured, but still clung to life.
With difficulty, Ling formed hand seals, recalling the flow of chakra when Aoi had used medical ninjutsu. He slowly fed the last of his chakra, carrying the Jōgan's properties, into their bodies, barely keeping them alive.
After doing all this, he could hold on no longer. He slumped to the ground, gasping for breath, sweat mingling with blood as it ran down from his temples.
Deathly silence returned to the underground cavern, leaving only the heavy stench of blood and the scorched smell of lingering energy.
He had survived. In a hopeless situation, relying on the unknown power born from the fusion of the Jōgan and Sharingan, along with immense decisiveness and luck, he had turned the tables and killed his attackers.
But he knew the trouble had only just begun. One Root member had escaped, and his secret probably could no longer be kept. Danzo would never let this go. Moreover, the pitch-black fragment in his hand was growing faintly warm, resonating strangely with the chakra inside him...
Far away, in the direction of Maple Leaf Town, the vast energy field that had put people to sleep was already beginning to dissipate. The residents were slowly waking, unaware of everything that had happened.
Ling looked at the unconscious Inuzuka Gaku and Kuromaru, then at the fragment in his hand and the wreckage strewn across the ground, his gaze complicated.
Survive, grow stronger, unravel every mystery, and take revenge on those pulling the strings... This path was destined to be filled with thorns and bloodshed.
He struggled to his feet and looked toward the cave entrance, his gaze gradually becoming resolute and cold.
Konoha, I'm back. With eyes that see through falsehood, and a bloodstained heart bent on revenge.
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