"666!"
"Regardless of whether he's the Old Thief or not, this move was cool as hell!"
"It must be just for show!"
"Forget whether it's strong or not, just tell me, isn't it cool?"
However, with the battle against Kakashi before, everyone knew more or less that this strike wasn't as simple as it looked on the surface.
Danzo blocked with his arm.
The strike landed with a metallic clanging sound, leaving everyone bewildered.
It turns out this hand of his can move—
But in the next second, the Black-Robed Man's maneuver was even more staggering. With a brush of his palm, the bone blade seemed to come alive, immediately fracturing and dispersing, turning into bone needles that scattered forward.
Although Danzo reacted, he still got hit.
After the brief encounter, the Black-Robed Man rapidly flew forward, not stopping at all.
The camera angle changed again—
Where were the Black-Robed Man, Uchiha Izumi, and the children?
"666" filled the screen.
Everyone expected that the Black-Robed Man might be able to escape, but no one expected him to leave so decisively, completing the task of blocking and retreating in a single encounter.
Danzo wanted to give chase, but looking at the camera close-up, his condition didn't seem very good.
Kishimoto was the most dazed.
Because—
He knew very well that although he designed the Shikotsumyaku and had already drawn many action drafts, there was no such ability in the drafts.
This kind of usage didn't belong to any kind of "Dance."
He stared at the Black-Robed Man, his eyes filled with confusion.
Could it really be a setting he added, causing the "Yagyu Masahiko" before him to awaken the Shikotsumyaku?
Or perhaps...
The Black-Robed Man wasn't Yagyu Masahiko, but one of the survivors of the Shikotsumyaku?
He couldn't judge for a moment.
However, Kishimoto also had a doubt.
He hadn't thought that far ahead; he didn't expect it to become popular before drawing it, so after reflecting on the "Prequel," he felt that his own design for the Clan Massacre Night had many loopholes.
But the depiction in the "Prequel" was clearly more comprehensive.
What about the current Third Hokage then?
Soon, his doubt was answered.
The scene changed; in the Hokage Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat opposite Utatane Koharu.
From the dialogue, Utatane Koharu seemed to be trying to persuade him, but from a God's eye view, the audience knew she was just stalling for time.
For a moment, there was another wave of cursing.
Everyone really couldn't stand the actions of the three "Advisors," including Kishimoto—
He wanted to join in the cursing, but felt embarrassed.
Because he had a hunch that if it were according to his design, the plot might be similar.
For the sake of "contradiction" and "conflict," some logic could be sacrificed.
Kishimoto watched silently.
After a brief confrontation, the scene shifted upward to the Ninja Academy where Sasuke was located.
After that—
Everything happened as expected.
On Sasuke's way home, he went from happy at first to surprised, then bewildered, then shocked, and finally, upon seeing his family's corpses and Uchiha Itachi holding a blade, his eyes filled with despair.
The next moment, the tomoe in Itachi's pupils transformed into a special pattern.
Dojutsu: Tsukuyomi!
Various illusions were presented on the screen.
This was a massacre!
A tragic cry erupted from the house, and Masahiko Yagyu rushed inside with a Body Flicker.
"Itachi, this—"
"Fuck, this line from the Old Thief Masahiko—while not wrong, is still hard to take."
"Extremist: Itachi, you're too extreme!"
"To be fair, if it were Masahiko, he really wouldn't do such a thing."
Everyone complained, but they didn't think Yagyu Masahiko would massacre his own people; at most, he would kill through someone else.
Personally exterminating the clan, and even volunteering for it, was truly too niche.
As the plot evolved.
Sasuke was sent to the hospital by Masahiko, and then, just as Masahiko expected, he left the hospital and returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound.
But, it was different from what he thought.
There were still clansmen who were To Live.
However, they didn't greet him; each one stared at Sasuke with cold, hateful eyes.
They no longer wore clothes with the Uchiha fan symbol.
Uchiha—
Overnight, everything had changed.
Sasuke was bewildered, heartbroken, and sad; under the setting sun, he stumbled aimlessly and saw Naruto working hard at running.
By the river, he watched Naruto run past and didn't move for a long time.
"At this moment, Sasuke should understand Naruto, right?"
"Feels like it."
"Sakura really doesn't understand anything—I ship this CP!"
"NaruSasu, I'm crying!"
Whenever there's such a plot, there are always some viewers who ship strange things.
Masahiko glanced over, unable to understand.
After that was his conversation with Hiruzen Sarutobi, but after his conversation with Hiruzen Sarutobi—
Kakashi appeared.
He was having a hard time holding it together.
At that time, Hiruzen Sarutobi's loss of composure—who knows if it was a genuine revelation of emotion or an act; if it was the latter, the old man Hiruzen was indeed too devious.
Fortunately, he didn't show any flaws.
Masahiko rested his head on his hand, watching the plot and bullet chat, and glanced at the progress bar.
It was almost at the end.
After waiting for a moment [Popularity Rating: S]
[Comprehensive Evaluation—]
[You triggered heated discussions in this episode and gained extremely high attention and popularity; the performance pay reward has been increased.]
[Obtained Reward 1: Basic Module Upgrade Card]
[Obtained Reward 2: Low-level Projection Card]
With the double boost, the rewards became two items again.
He had already obtained a Basic Module Upgrade Card before, so Masahiko was familiar with it and quickly used it— [Loading Advanced Study Module: Taijutsu Chapter]
[Load successful!]
Of the remaining two modules that hadn't been upgraded, he would definitely prioritize Taijutsu.
Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Nintaijutsu modules were all activated.
Masahiko suppressed his emotions and looked at the next reward, soon understanding that its effect was different from projections summoned by other cards; it could summon a projection of any category, and the duration was only affected by the other party's ability.
He called up the panel.
Looking from top to bottom, Masahiko's gaze locked onto abilities like Physical Activation and Collapsing Flow.
While he was thinking, an insect flew in from outside.
He opened the window.
A figure entirely in black crouched by the window, said nothing, and handed in a scroll.
Afterward, the person left with a Body Flicker, not asking why Uchiha Sasuke was here.
Masahiko opened the scroll.
With a quick glance, he soon realized what it was—the research records of the Eight Gates!
"Eight Gates—"
Masahiko closed the window and began to read carefully from beginning to end.
Half an hour later, he understood the gist.
This was the Root Organization's research on the Eight Gates; Danzo hoped to use some kind of shortcut to directly achieve the operation of opening the Eight Gates.
"Danzo really has a wild imagination—"
Such a massive amount of Chakra, even if it could be released using techniques like "Tenketsu," an ordinary person without training simply couldn't withstand it.
It was easy to imagine.
How many lives the Root Organization had wasted for this scroll before finally deciding to give up.
A moment later, he picked it up again to read carefully, mentally comparing it with his own abilities and style.
As the scroll stated.
The violent Chakra brought by liberating the Eight Gates is difficult for Ninjas to harness and cannot be used for releasing Ninjutsu.
Its greatest effect is still enhancing Taijutsu.
For normal Ninjas, unless they reach the Gate of View or above, or only use the Gate of Opening and Gate of Rest, the side effects are greater.
Masahiko, however, thought of another technique.
Shira's Seven Heavenly Breaths.
This technique is similar to the Eight Gates, also developing physical potential beyond limits, but its path is somewhat like Lightning Release Physical Activation.
The difference is—Lightning Release Physical Activation can be applied to only parts of the body, like how Kakashi uses it more for the coordination of Chidori and Raikiri.
Or, it can be applied to the whole body like the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but it requires a large amount of Chakra.
The Fifth Generation Raikage Darui was unable to learn this secret Nintaijutsu due to insufficient Chakra.
The Seven Heavenly Breaths uses increased oxygen absorption to achieve beyond-limit activation of cells, thereby comprehensively boosting the physical body.
"Let's try the Intelligent Projection first."