Chapter 196 – Annihilation (Part I)
Clang!
A sharp metallic ring echoed as a black-clad assassin appeared behind Uchiha Kei. The man's blade pressed toward Kei's body—yet it couldn't pierce any further.
Somewhere along the way, Kei's body had become wreathed in an ominous layer of black chakra.
Kei tilted his head slightly, glancing first at the blade, then at the assassin holding it.
His face betrayed nothing, calm as ever. But within—his thoughts surged like a storm.
That damned old man. Just as Kei suspected, the elder truly was a shameless, ruthless bastard.
Striking without a word—direct, decisive, merciless. Kei himself might've done the same in another situation, but having it turned on him still left a sour taste.
Of course, he'd been wary. He had prepared. And yet, even expecting it, the sudden strike still jolted him.
The guards in the outer hall—mere distractions. The real killing blow had been placed here, in the shadows.
Had Kei not been so cautious, had he slipped even once—he wouldn't have stopped that blade.
"Why so impatient?" Kei's voice was calm, almost indifferent, though his blood burned beneath the surface.
"You spoke of the Mangekyō Sharingan just now. But do you know how such eyes are awakened?"
Uchiha Shin said nothing. His gaze darkened, expression twisted.
And when he saw the black chakra cloaking Kei—chakra that took on a tangible form, heavy and oppressive—his body gave an involuntary shiver.
Susanoo.
That suffocating presence, that shadow of a skeletal arm forming at Kei's side—it could only be Susanoo.
But Shin's mind rebelled at the thought. This brat, this child, wielding such eyes? Impossible.
Kei had never been reported to have slain a parent, a sibling—no "closest bond" lost by his hand. His ties to his family were strained at best.
Could it have happened on the battlefield? A fallen comrade, a teammate? Perhaps… but Shin doubted it. Kei seemed far too cold, too calculating, to be driven by such fragile sentiment.
And yet—his mind drifted to Shuu and Yuu, the brothers. Could Kei have…?
"To awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan," Kei said coolly, his gaze locked on the assassin but his words for Shin, "one must kill their dearest—family, lover. Only in the throes of that agony, in that violent storm of emotion, can the eyes evolve further."
The skeletal arm of Susanoo burst forth, rising from Kei's shadow, its bony hand flexing with unnatural strength.
"I must admit… Shuu and Yuu truly were close brothers."
"You… you possess the Mangekyō Sharingan?" Shin's fists clenched tight, his breath ragged.
"Or did you force them to slaughter each other—and claim their eyes for yourself?"
"No." Kei's lips curled into a cold smile. "There were two pairs of Mangekyō that night."
The skeletal arm lashed out, smashing down where the assassin stood. But the man flickered away in an instant, vanishing into shadow once more.
Kei didn't chase. He hadn't expected that clumsy strike to kill an assassin of that caliber.
Susanoo wasn't meant for speed. Its true terror lay in its impregnable defense—and overwhelming offense.
This assassin was built for ambush, for stealth. Kei knew better than to rely on brute force alone.
"But I never took them. Fugaku never took them either." Kei straightened, his shadowy armor dissolving back into nothingness.
"They still carry their eyes. Such perfect materials… it would be a waste to let them go unused."
"No… materials left unused?" Shin muttered. Realization struck, twisting his face into something feral.
"You already have the Mangekyō. Of course! That's why you left their eyes untouched—you're saving them as spares, aren't you? Or perhaps… perhaps you've even ensnared Fugaku himself with those cursed eyes!"
Kei tilted his head, exhaling softly.
The old man's imagination truly was something else. Some guesses sharp, others wildly absurd.
But why bother explaining to a dead man walking? At best, Kei might grant him a few words of truth as a courtesy—before his end.
His tomoe spun furiously, merging into a new form. Black pupils twisted into interlocking triangular patterns, a kaleidoscopic bloom of power.
At once, Shin snapped his head aside, refusing eye contact. He dared not risk even a glance at those accursed eyes.
Inside, waves crashed violently in his chest. The Mangekyō Sharingan… this wretched brat truly possesses it!
Then another thought took root. Greedy, poisonous.
The Mangekyō Sharingan—eyes beyond the third tomoe. No Uchiha could see such power and not covet it.
If Kei were killed here, those eyes would be his. And Kei had admitted he still held Shuu's and Yuu's eyes as well…
Shin's pulse thundered. He had to try.
"Kill him!" Shin roared, voice sharp with rage and hunger. "Slay him! This traitor to the Uchiha must die!"
With his order, the wooden walls around them shattered outward. Hidden shinobi burst into the room, their kunai darkening the air.
Dozens of blades rained down, cutting off every path of escape.
Kei had surrendered his weapons before entering this chamber. Without them, the barrage should have been inescapable, overwhelming.
But weapons were not Kei's greatest shield. Not anymore.
He didn't move. He didn't need to.
The instant the first kunai touched him, a black ribcage shimmered into being, bones solidifying into a barrier of pure chakra.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The rain of steel fell uselessly against the skeletal fortress.
The storm of kunai clattered endlessly against Kei's skeletal Susanoo. Each impact screeched across the chamber, a chorus of steel against bone.
With a light spring, Kei leapt into the air. His hand flashed, snatching a kunai from the barrage as he landed.
Susanoo covered his upper body, but his legs remained exposed. Not that it mattered.
The Uchiha shinobi, though shaken by the sheer resilience of his defense, remained unnervingly calm. Without waiting for orders, they drew blades and charged as one.
Kei touched down, kunai in hand. A blade came slashing for his head. He dipped low, fluid as water, then shifted back a step. His elbow snapped backward, cracking into flesh.
A muffled grunt.
In the same motion, Kei twisted the kunai in his grip, reversing his hold. With a brutal upward thrust, he drove it through the jaw of the attacker behind him. The steel pierced clean through skull and out the forehead. The man collapsed without so much as a scream.
One down. Kei didn't pause.
Pivoting sharply, he slipped aside from another ambush. He could have taken the strike—Susanoo would have blocked it—but years of battle instincts refused to let him stand still and be cut.
And what if, one day, his chakra ran dry? What if Susanoo failed him? He refused to let himself grow dull, to forget how to fight as a man rather than a fortress.
Ten against one. Any outsider might have thought Kei cornered.
But Kei felt no pressure at all.
Even with their Sharingan, even with honed combat skills, their eyes were too shallow. Their insight—pathetic compared to his. Their speed—laughably slow.
In the tight confines of the chamber, Kei flowed between them like a shadow, untouchable. He hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.
"Ahhh!"
Three blades arced toward him. Kei's eyes flicked once, tomoe spinning, and he saw every trajectory. His body shifted with a dancer's grace—one sidestep, one turn—and the blades found only air.
Lightning erupted.
His left hand blazed with crackling arcs, then plunged through the chest of a charging Uchiha. The man shrieked, a sound that split the room.
At the same instant, Kei's right hand clamped onto another attacker's wrist. With a vicious twist, he redirected his kunai into yet another shinobi's chest.
The chamber reeked of blood.
Barely a few breaths had passed, and five Uchiha already lay lifeless at Kei's feet.
From the far side of the room, Shin and the other elders watched in silence, their faces carved in grim lines.
So this… this is his power?
The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan?
And then—Kei's hand shot out.
He caught another Uchiha by the throat, fingers like iron, cutting off both breath and voice. But this time, he did not finish the kill.
He simply held the man there, choking, waiting…