Danzo had no intention of holding back his trump card. He directly unleashed his "strongest illusion" on Kuroki.
An Uchiha with the Mangekyō Sharingan—an Uchiha who dared to not flee at this moment but instead assassinate him—was enough to earn Danzo's respect and serious attention in battle.
As for using Kotoamatsukami...
If he couldn't suppress the mysterious masked man and Uchiha Itachi later, that would be the Hokage's problem!
In an instant, Kuroki stood frozen, his mental pathways feeling as though they had been reset, like lines of code waiting for someone to alter his thoughts and will.
This was a force he couldn't resist.
It ignored the resistance of his eye power.
It ignored the resistance of his will.
This Yin-Release chakra perfectly matched the neural structure of the human brain. It could seamlessly integrate into the human sensory system from any angle.
Then, it would weave another world—a world where the victim wouldn't notice or escape.
But in this world, the controller was not the victim—it was the caster.
Kotoamatsukami...
This technique, hailed as the "strongest illusion" of the Mangekyō Sharingan, could only be used once every several years. However, the victim would essentially be controlled for the rest of their life.
In the distance, witnessing Kuroki being controlled without any apparent reason, the Uchihas' breathing grew rapid. They stepped back, their bodies stiffening.
Uchiha Izumi, Uchiha Naruki, and the other Uchihas seemed to see their impending fate.
Kuroki had failed in his assassination attempt. Danzo's reinforcements, led by the Third Hokage himself, were already en route with a large contingent of Anbu forces.
They were about to follow the rest of the Uchiha who had died at Itachi's hands, becoming part of history's dust tonight.
In contrast, the members of Root finally felt relief. Their Lord Danzo had lived up to his name, easily defusing such a dangerous assassination attempt!
The Root members showed no emotional response to their comrades who had died, caught in Danzo's Wind Release attack.
To them, dying at the hands of Lord Danzo was an honor!
A Root squad leader glanced at the nearby Uchihas and sneered, "You survivors... just wait to die!"
The Uchihas' faces turned pale. They dared not look at what would become of Kuroki, instinctively protecting Izumi and the severely injured Tamao.
Even if they died...
They would die together.
Izumi sensed Tamao's body tensing up from his severe injuries. She wanted to say something, but then she saw Tamao, blood-soaked, his Sharingan flaring with three tomoe, standing up and straightening his back as he roared:
"Big Brother didn't lose!!!"
From childhood to now, in Tamao's eyes, Kuroki had always been someone who, no matter the situation, never failed to follow through on his word.
Back then, when he promised to take Tamao out of the hospital, he did so, disregarding the objections of the clan leader and their people. Now, Big Brother had said he would lead them to avenge themselves, and here they were, facing off against Danzo!
Even if Big Brother died...
He hadn't lost!!
The other Uchihas silently bowed their heads.
"I'll give you a swift end!"
Danzo's expression darkened as he used his fingers to pluck out Kuroki's left eye. Blood splattered through the air as the controlled Kuroki stumbled back.
"Heh..."
Danzo, though outwardly calm, felt a surge of excitement inside. He hadn't been this thrilled since seizing Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had just obtained another Mangekyō with control abilities!
The joy came so suddenly.
Danzo looked down at the Sharingan in his hand and immediately embedded it into the hollow slot on the back of his right hand.
This arm, cloned with Hashirama's cells, could perfectly withstand the powerful chakra impact of multiple Sharingan.
Its surface was covered with rows of black holes.
Once the Sharingan was absorbed, the hole on his hand closed like a real eye socket enveloping the eyeball.
Logically speaking...
The Mangekyō's spiritual control over Danzo should have been countered by the power of Kotoamatsukami, which he had stored in his mind as a defensive mechanism against such powers.
But instead, his arm, cloned from Hashirama's cells, instinctively reacted and used the remaining tomoe in his hand to block the Mangekyō, causing Danzo's mind to be temporarily controlled by the Eight Thousand Spears.
Danzo realized that within his aged body, the Hashirama cells held a higher status than his brain.
For now, he couldn't control the Hashirama cells within him, and they had nearly gotten him killed.
"Hmph, as long as I'm alive, nothing will escape my control! You evil Uchiha brat... accept your judgment from fate!"
Danzo's old eyes narrowed as he slowly approached the retreating Kuroki. Using Kotoamatsukami, he altered Kuroki's will, forcing him to stay still, willingly awaiting his execution.
Kuroki stood frozen.
By now, Danzo had accumulated only a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan, one of which had been consumed during his theft of Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
The remaining one had just been used to cast Izanagi, which allowed him to gain this Mangekyō.
Trading a three-tomoe for a Mangekyō...
What a deal!
As Danzo savored the new power in his arm, he arrived before Kuroki.
Just as he was about to smirk and extinguish the flame of life in Kuroki's body, his smile suddenly faded. He quickly looked down at his arm, cloned from Hashirama's cells.
To his shock, he realized that the power of the Sharingan in his hand was not as immense as a Mangekyō should be.
Because...
"His eye power... is fading!"
"Not only that."
Danzo's eyes widened as he helplessly watched that Sharingan close, losing its life force, and preparing to unleash a dojutsu he was all too familiar with.
"This dojutsu... I just used it."
"Izanagi?" Danzo looked at Kuroki in astonishment and questioned, "How do you know this forbidden technique!?"
Blinded and affected by Kotoamatsukami, Kuroki covered his eyes without answering, but a slight smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"No!! You didn't have any time to form the seals just now, not even with one hand. Even if you know Izanagi, how could you have had the chance to use it? Izanagi requires hand signs!
And on top of that... you were even willing to sacrifice your Mangekyo? Who are you, really?"
Countless questions swirled in Danzo's mind, shocked both by Kuroki's true identity and by the decisiveness of sacrificing the Mangekyo.
Suddenly, a realization struck him!
Danzo's face twitched as he snarled, "I get it now! It was a transfer seal! You sealed Izanagi in your Mangekyo ahead of time, so it would activate as soon as you were attacked?"
Kuroki shook his head, denying Danzo's guess, and looked at him with a hint of pity for his rigid thinking.
At that moment, the tables had turned!
Kuroki activated his Izanagi, erasing all unfavorable outcomes to himself—including being under the control of Kotoamatsukami. He had lost his previous control over Kotoamatsukami but now gained the ability to rewrite reality for the next minute.
More than a minute had passed since Danzo unleashed Izanagi.
Now, it was Kuroki's turn to control the rules.
Suddenly, Danzo's Kotoamatsukami in his right eye socket vanished, leaving a dark, empty hollow. He completely lost his connection to Kotoamatsukami.
"Kotoamatsukami! My Kotoamatsukami!"
Danzo's mind was again consumed by the searing pain of losing his eye, leaving him mentally drained.
"Did you really think that I just removed my Mangekyo and placed Kotoamatsukami in my right eye socket for no reason? Izanagi can only alter negative effects on oneself.
"I placed Kotoamatsukami into my own eye.
"Your Izanagi took it back.
"You targeted me.
"When my Izanagi activates, Kotoamatsukami will naturally return to my eye socket and undo the Kotoamatsukami cast on me.
"Also... when Kotoamatsukami returned to your body, even though you had used it, the Hashirama cells inside you nourished it, drastically reducing its cooldown time.
"Am I right?"
As Kuroki's right eye regained its light, Kotoamatsukami reappeared, and he embedded the Hachinoyumi Mangekyo into his left eye while speaking.
And thus...
An unusual sight emerged in his eye sockets.
In his left eye, the blade-shaped Mangekyo!
—Hachinoyumi!
In his right eye, the shuriken-shaped Mangekyo!
—Kotoamatsukami!
PS: Please keep reading, the next chapter will be exciting!
(End of Chapter)