"Not just you?"
Hearing Fugaku's cryptic words, Neiki sensed something was wrong. He tightened his grip on Shisui's eye—
—and it vanished into nothingness.
He spun around.
In the distance, the Danzō who'd been sliced into three pieces had somehow reassembled himself. He was struggling to wrench the short sealing blade from his chest, his glare fixed on Fugaku.
"You… should die!"
The moment Danzō noticed Neiki's cold gaze shift toward him, he bit his lip and made the only rational choice—he abandoned the short blade that was sealing his chakra and turned to flee.
With his chakra sealed, he stood no chance against Neiki.
The self-Binding Seal had failed to trigger at all. That meant Neiki had fully slipped his control.
Staying here was pointless.
This was guaranteed defeat.
Even Izanagi couldn't overturn the reality of being skewered by that sealing sword.
Understanding his situation, Danzō, despite the burning hatred he felt for Neiki for nearly killing him earlier, decisively chose to run.
Neiki, still disguised as Yamanaka Fū, had intended to fish in troubled waters—reap the spoils of the battle between Fugaku and Konoha, and in one stroke hunt down both an Uchiha clan leader and Root's commander.
—How could things possibly go that smoothly?
Fugaku, unwilling to die at the hands of a "mere youngster," stubbornly fought back. In Danzō's eyes, that was admirable.
So long as he could pull out the sealing short sword and restore his chakra, this crisis would end, and the face he'd lost could be reclaimed.
Just a Hyuga's dog…
Just a Root traitor…
You want to play fisherman?
Fine. Then I'll be the mantis.
And I'll show you what it means when the oriole strikes.
But as Danzō strained to rip the sealing sword free, Fugaku suddenly exposed him.
All of his plans to counterattack Neiki collapsed in an instant.
The blade's suction was too strong. He couldn't pull it out by himself. His only option was to run, with the sword still lodged in his chest.
Run…
Get away…
Remove this cursed blade and come back for revenge later!!!
Just as that thought formed, he felt a chill against his neck.
Danzō turned.
With a sharp slash, a lightning-imbued sword pierced through his skull as easily as slicing a melon, then embedded itself in a nearby tree.
"Urgh…"
Danzō's throat emitted a strangled sound as he toppled to the ground.
An instant later, his body dissolved into shadow and reappeared a short distance away.
Izanagi.
On his bandaged arm, another Sharingan eye slowly closed.
Revived again, Danzō looked up just in time to see another lightning-charged kunai whistling toward him. He barely dodged, catching a glimpse of Neiki—who had abandoned Fugaku and was now focused solely on him—before immediately darting deeper into the forest.
"You're not going to chase him?" Fugaku, who'd been poised to escape, noticed that Neiki had slowed.
Neiki said nothing. Activating his Byakugan, he adjusted his stance, gripping the lightning-imbued kunai with both hands, concentrating fully.
Weak Point Detection.
He hurled the Lightning Release kunai into the darkness with all his strength.
A scream of agony rang out.
Flocks of birds exploded from the trees in a panic.
"If you'd just offered up your neck and let me cut it, he wouldn't have escaped, no matter how many times he revived," Neiki said, having consumed yet another of Danzō's Sharingan. He glanced sideways at Fugaku.
It was, of course, a sarcastic jab.
Reviewing the entire ambush in his mind, Neiki finally understood why Danzō, who'd been cut apart so completely, could still resurrect himself.
No problem with the target.
No problem with the sequence.
The problem was that arm full of Sharingan.
No matter when the first hand seal had been made—no matter if the arm had already been separated from his body—it could still, within that one-minute window, automatically complete the remaining seals. Orochimaru, who engineered the arm, had been thorough.
Neiki narrowed his eyes.
Izanagi had rewritten the reality of Danzō being dismembered—
—but it hadn't overwritten the moment he was pierced by the sealing sword. That event had occurred before the first Izanagi seal.
Fugaku couldn't help feeling it was a pity that Danzō still lived. Izanagi had even overwritten the future Fugaku had seen with his Mangekyō.
In the future he'd foreseen, Danzō had already died.
He even regretted that Neiki hadn't finished chasing Danzō to erase his last chance at survival.
But regardless, Fugaku still had to die.
"How many of our Sharingan did he steal?" Fugaku asked, his voice unsteady.
"Enough for him to stall until Konoha's reinforcements arrive," Neiki replied as he retrieved his long sword.
Through his Byakugan, he could see Danzō fleeing in the distance and the Inuzuka tracking party rushing after him via scent.
"You should cut off all ten of his fingers next time," Fugaku suggested. "One by one."
His failure was entirely due to that severed arm being able to form seals by itself.
"I think I'll just decapitate him next time," Neiki said calmly.
He'd learned a lesson from this encounter, but his mood had soured. After reclaiming his sword, he turned immediately on Fugaku.
"Must you really fight to the bitter end?" Neiki asked as his blade swung down.
"Sorry… if you were my son, I wouldn't resist…" Fugaku said, struggling to parry with his only remaining arm.
It was a one-sided slaughter.
…
The blade flashed.
A new wound opened along his ribs.
"But… the Uchiha clan… cannot lose to the Hyuga…"
…
The sword stabbed into his shoulder, carving away a chunk of flesh.
"I always believed… between Konoha's two geniuses… Itachi was the stronger…"
…
Finding an opening, Neiki's blade tore across Fugaku's abdomen, spilling his intestines.
"Even now… after all you've done… I still think so…"
…
The remaining arm was severed.
"I am the Uchiha clan's leader—"
…
His torso was cleaved in two.
"I am Itachi's father…"
…
The sword pierced his chest and pinned him to the ground.
Even so—
"No one can… make me… surrender…"
…
"Well done," Neiki said. That was his only reply.
…
"You'll never… surpass…"
…
Itachi opened his eyes.
"You're awake?" In a dark cave, a fire crackled.
The masked man sat on a rock, quietly watching him.
The firelight threw a huge, shifting shadow against the stone wall.
"The Uchiha revolt is over," the masked man said calmly as he saw Itachi stand.
Itachi paused for a moment, his fists clenching at his sides, but he still headed for the cave entrance.
"But Konoha's destruction," the masked man added, "seems to have only just begun."
Itachi stopped and turned back.
A black-and-white figure, wrapped like a Venus flytrap, emerged from the ground.
In its hand was an old explosive tag.
"I found something interesting beneath Konoha~" White Zetsu drawled, waving the tag.
"This thing was made before that kid was even born," Black Zetsu's low voice followed, "but it's the reason he can face so many Konoha shinobi without fear."
As Itachi wondered who this "he" was, the masked man's crimson eye reflected Itachi's face.
"That brat knows far too many things he shouldn't…"
"So tell me."
"How much do you know about Neiki?"
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