"Fuga"
The air around him warped with heat, his cursed energy erupting until the very walls seemed to tremble. Then, with a deep inhale, Sukuna exhaled an enormous torrent of roaring flames, wide and overwhelming, stretching like a crimson tidal wave.
It was similar in scope to Madara's Great Fire Annihilation—an unbroken wall of fire that filled the entire hallway from floor to ceiling, racing forward with crushing force. The heat was so intense that the stone walls blackened instantly, the flames carving deep scars into the structure.
Aburame Torune's swarm of deadly insects, which had been advancing through the corridor, was instantly incinerated, their chittering cut short in a burst of ash and smoke. The fire didn't stop there—it devoured everything in its path, even burning away the twisted remains of ROOT shinobi Sukuna had slain earlier, leaving only charred silhouettes against the wall.
The hallway was now a furnace, and Sukuna stood unmoving in the center, the heat swirling around him like a living thing.
Kiyomi, almost out of her wits, was left staring at the utter destruction caused by that attack.
She honestly thought he was about to use his domain. Her breath came ragged just thinking about it.
However, what came instead was a modified version of Sukuna's Fuga technique. He used it like a fire style jutsu. Since he, unlike Ryomen, had never formed any binding vow related to his Fuga to make a fire arrow, he could use his Fuga independently.
For this technique, too, he had placed a very simple binding vow: he had to form the sign Enmaten hand seal to release this version of Fuga.
And the outcome was very impressive. He looked at the charred surfaces and the utter destruction around him with a satisfied expression.
Kiyomi placed one hand on her chest, trying to calm her racing heart, cursing Sukuna in her mind for the fright. Her eyes now glared daggers at him with such intensity that she could have awakened her Mangekyo.
If Sukuna knew what Kiyomi was thinking, he could only laugh. The girl clearly didn't understand the difficulty of opening one's domain. He couldn't do it yet, let alone use it for someone like Aburame Torune.
However, Aburame Torune wasn't that weak—he had managed to escape Sukuna's overpowered fire style jutsu imitation.
Torune burst through the lingering heat and smoke. Perhaps he had sacrificed all of his insects to protect himself from the Fuga attack, his body now moving with deadly speed. In a blink, he closed the distance between himself and Sukuna.
Sukuna tensed, ready to snipe him from afar, but before he could act, Torune was already too close. Then Sukuna noticed something—Torune's eyes weren't on him. They were locked onto Kiyomi.
His gaze dropped to Torune's right hand, now covered in a faint, sickly purple coating. Sukuna's mind flashed with alarm.
'Rinkaichu,' Sukuna knew this technique. They were a species of venomous insects hosted inside Torune's body. Dangerous.
Without hesitation, he rushed toward Kiyomi, determined to block Torune from touching her. But as he reached her, Torune suddenly twisted, lunging directly at Sukuna, his poisoned hand reaching for his neck. Yet Sukuna was informed enough not to let Torune touch him there—he had already anticipated the feint.
The moment Torune changed direction, Sukuna's left hand shot forward, grabbing Torune's wrist mid-strike, halting the poisoned palm inches from his face. At the same instant, Sukuna's right hand lashed out like lightning, slamming into Torune's abdomen.
Before Torune could even react, Sukuna's palm glowed with cursed energy, and a chilling edge of power surged from it.
'Cleave'
Unlike Dismantle, the long-range variant of Shrine, Cleave only worked with physical touch and was stronger than Dismantle.
The technique tore through Torune's body in a perfect, merciless cut. His form split apart into pieces, as though he had been thrown into a grinder.
He fell and splattered across the scorched ground in fragments.
Kiyomi's mind spun, the gore making her stomach churn.
Sukuna stood over the remains, breathing steadily. "I personally never like this technique, it always makes a mess, sigh," he said quietly, glancing over at Kiyomi, giving her an apologetic smile which never reached her due to his mask.
He glanced at the hand he had used to block Torune's strike. The skin was already turning a deep, ugly purple, and a faint burning sensation spread up his arm. Tiny, venomous bugs—Torune's trademark.
He could see the infection with his Sharingan.
"Perhaps I should have just dodged the attack," Sukuna grumbled. It was completely possible with Kamui. He had only blocked and chosen to immediately take down Torune because Kiyomi could have been in danger.
Without a second thought, he raised his other hand, cursed energy crackling around his fingers. With one swift motion, he used his own technique to slice clean through the infected arm. Blood splattered across the scorched floor. His face remained completely calm—he didn't even care about the pain.
Kiyomi, who had just caught her breath from the chaos, gasped loudly. "What the hell—?!"
But Sukuna didn't even flinch.
Before her eyes, the stump at his shoulder began to shift and reform. Muscles twisted, veins slithered into place, and skin sealed over new flesh. In seconds, a fully intact arm had grown back, as if nothing had happened.
Kiyomi's expression shifted from shock to pure confusion. She knew the reverse curse technique existed, but this was her first time seeing someone regrow missing limbs with RCT.
Sukuna flexed his new fingers casually, giving her a sharp glance. "Wanna learn." His tone came out much more mischievous than he intended.
Kiyomi blinked, still stunned.
Sukuna was amused by her reaction. He was planning to tease her a little more just when he sensed the Uchiha members moving closer to the center of the base.
"Guess we don't have time then. Follow me," he muttered to Kiyomi before taking off in that direction.
Kiyomi followed as well; she had no other option anyway.
Back with the Uchiha members, they were making their way into the base with relative ease. Izumi might not be as talented as Itachi or Shisui, but the awakening of her Mangekyo had given her an unreachable height compared to most shinobi in the world.
With her Susanoo, even a kage-level shinobi would have trouble against her. Though this came at a cost, of course.
Izumi didn't dare use her ocular power and risk prematurely losing her eyesight. She had hardly used her eyes yet, but she wished to be cautious.
Danzo and ROOT weren't the only obsession in her heart—she needed this power to go after Itachi as well. She had to learn the truth: why Itachi did what he did, whether he had really been forced, manipulated, or was under a Genjutsu.
However, even when not directly using her Mangekyo powers, the passive boost a Mangekyo grants to a Uchiha was great. She had always been a Genjutsu-type shinobi, and now all her Genjutsu were many times stronger.
With her newly acquired Genjutsu prowess and the insight Mangekyo had brought, she was tearing through the ROOT shinobi ranks, clearing the way for her clansmen.
In no time, they broke through the first line of defense and entered the base, heading directly for Danzo. Her first instinct was to go save Kiyomi, but lacking her exact location and following the plan they had agreed on, she stayed her course—which led her and the rest of the Uchiha directly to the mastermind behind their demise.
To Danzo!
xxx
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