The lead Root Ninja, seeing Uchiha Shao Yu standing still, thought he was unable to resist due to his heavy injuries. A cold sneer curled his lips as the Kunai in his hand lunged straight for Uchiha Shao Yu's wrist.
But at the very moment the Kunai was about to touch Uchiha Shao Yu's clothes, Shao Yu's body suddenly shifted slightly, dodging the fatal strike like a phantom. Simultaneously, his right hand shot out, accurately grabbing the opponent's wrist.
"What?"
The Root Ninja's face changed drastically; he hadn't expected Uchiha Shao Yu's movements to be so swift, not at all like someone who was heavily injured.
He tried to break free, only to find Uchiha Shao Yu's hand locked onto his wrist like an iron vise, making it impossible to move.
Seeing this, the two Root Ninjas nearby immediately moved to support him, their Kunai stabbing toward Uchiha Shao Yu from both sides.
Uchiha Shao Yu's eyes narrowed. He didn't let go of the man in his grasp; instead, he kicked back fiercely with his left foot, rotating his body mid-air. His right foot accurately struck the wrist of the Root Ninja on the left, sending the Kunai flying, while his left hand formed a fist and slammed hard into the chest of the Root Ninja on the right.
"Pfft!" The Root Ninja on the right let out a muffled groan as a mouthful of blood sprayed out. His body flew backward, crashing heavily against the courtyard wall before sliding to the ground. He struggled a few times but failed to stand up.
Seeing this, the lead Root Ninja grew even more terrified. He suddenly surged his Chakra, trying to break free from Uchiha Shao Yu's restraint, while shouting under his breath.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A ball of blazing fire erupted from his mouth, hurtling toward Uchiha Shao Yu's face.
Uchiha Yu's eyes flickered. He didn't dodge; instead, he shoved the Root Ninja in his hand forward. The Great Fireball blasted directly onto the back of his own comrade, instantly setting the man's clothes ablaze.
"Ah!" The Root Ninja screamed in pain, completely losing his ability to resist.
Uchiha Shao Yu let go, watching him roll on the ground to extinguish the fire, before turning his gaze toward the remaining Root Ninja.
That Ninja's face was now pale with fear. He hadn't expected the Uchiha Shao Yu before him to be so formidable; in just a few rounds, he had incapacitated two of his companions.
He swallowed hard and slowly backed away, though the Kunai in his hand was still gripped tightly, clearly hesitant about whether to continue the attack.
But he was a Root Ninja, and the consequences of failing a mission were even worse.
After a moment's thought, the Root Ninja gritted his teeth and charged forward again with his Kunai.
Like a desperate gambler, the Root Ninja used the momentum of his retreat to kick off the ground. His body turned into a blur, and his Kunai, glinting with a cold light, aimed straight for Uchiha Shao Yu's neck.
He calculated that Sho U had just dealt with two companions and his breath hadn't fully settled yet. Betting on the chance that holding a heavily injured person would inevitably leave an opening, this strike carried a desperate ruthlessness.
Uchiha Shao Yu seemed truly unable to react in time. His body still held the posture of having just kicked away the Kunai. His neck tilted slightly, but he failed to avoid it completely.
The sharp tip of the Kunai sliced through the air, piercing the flesh with a squelch. Warm blood immediately overflowed along the Kunai's groove, staining Shao Yu's black combat collar red.
"It hit!"
A light of wild joy erupted in the Root Ninja's eyes, his heart pounding violently with extreme excitement.
He could almost imagine the scene of receiving Lord Danzo's appreciation after completing the mission. He subconsciously increased his strength, wanting to pierce through the opponent's carotid artery completely.
But at that moment, he suddenly felt a sharp sting at the back of his neck, as if countless fine needles were simultaneously stabbing into his nerves. The scene before him suddenly distorted.
The Uchiha Shao Yu whose neck he had supposedly pierced slowly curled his lips into a cold arc. The bone-deep wound receded like a tide, and the skin became smooth as before, without a single scar left behind.
"Ho-how... how is this possible?"
The Root Ninja's pupils contracted violently. The Kunai in his hand felt like it had pierced into cotton, losing all resistance.
He tried to pull back and retreat, but found his body as if nailed to the spot. A numbing heaviness spread through his entire body, making it impossible to move.
"Genjutsu? Since when?"
His gaze drifted upward uncontrollably, meeting Uchiha Shao Yu's blood-red eyes.
Three tomoe were spinning rapidly within the black pupils, like the gears of fate, emitting a heart-palpitating Dojutsu Power.
The crimson light unique to the Sharingan enveloped his consciousness. The surrounding environment collapsed instantly; the original courtyard vanished, replaced by an endless darkness where only Sho U's eyes shone brightly, like a god looking down upon its prey.
"When did you fall under the delusion that you wouldn't be caught in a Genjutsu?"
Uchiha Shao Yu's voice echoed in the darkness, carrying a hint of imperceptible mockery.
The Root Ninja's mind went blank as fear submerged him like a cold tide.
He finally understood that the sensation of piercing the neck and the warm blood from just now were all false illusions created by the Sharingan.
From the moment he saw Sho U "injured," his consciousness had been controlled by the opponent.
The so-called "success" was merely the opponent's way of toying with his prey.
He tried to surge his Chakra to break the Genjutsu, but found the Chakra within his body like a dried-up river, unable to flow at all.
The Dojutsu Power of the Sharingan was like an invisible shackle, firmly locking his spirit and body, leaving him to endure the torture of despair in the endless darkness.
Although Uchiha Shao Yu's Genjutsu wasn't as outrageous as Uchiha Itachi's Tsukuyomi or Shisui's Kotoamatsukami from the original series, the powerful Dojutsu Power of the Mangekyo Sharingan still brought his Genjutsu to an extremely formidable level.
The Root Ninja before him barely reached the Jonin level. While decent, he was still far from being able to resist Shao Yu's Genjutsu.
In the darkness, Uchiha Shao Yu slowly raised his left hand, pressing three fingers together and aiming them at the man's forehead.
"Since you wanted to make a move against me, you should have been prepared for failure."
The Root Ninja's eyes were filled with extreme fear and regret. He opened his mouth, wanting to beg for mercy, but could not make a sound.
Although he was 100% loyal to Danzo after being brainwashed, no one wants to die if they can live.
Before the absolute Dojutsu Power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, all his struggles appeared utterly ridiculous.
A second before his consciousness completely sank into darkness, he only saw the tomoe in Uchiha Shao Yu's eyes spinning faster and faster, as if they were about to swallow his soul whole.
In the real world, the Root Ninja remained in a forward lunging posture, his Kunai stopping less than an inch from Shao Yu's neck. His eyes were wide open, his pupils dilated, and a lingering trace of wild joy remained on his lips, yet his body had lost all signs of life.
His spirit completely collapsed under the impact of the Genjutsu, turning him into a soulless husk. He fell straight back, crashing heavily to the ground, never to move again.
Even the Genjutsu of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan wasn't something a guy of this level could withstand, let alone the current Mangekyo Sharingan.
That old fogey Danzo really underestimated the Uchiha. He thought that because Sho U was injured, he could just send these low-level thugs to deal with him.
Uchiha Shao Yu slowly deactivated his Sharingan, his crimson pupils returning to ink black.
"Has Root become so arrogant? It seems it's time to leave Konoha."
That's right, Uchiha Shao Yu was already prepared to defect.
Advance chapter available on pãtrêon Got1808