Izumi's eyes widened in horror at the sight. She didn't have time to dodge or defend—this was too fast.
It happened out of nowhere.
She could only watch those fingers closing in on her eyes, ready to dig her Mangekyo out.
However, she didn't feel pain. She didn't even feel a tug on her eyeball. To her utter disbelief, the hand simply passed through her, like it was an illusion.
'Was it an illusion?' She couldn't help but question herself, though it was pointless. For someone with the Mangekyo Sharingan, it was nearly impossible to be put under a Genjutsu—at least, not unless it was another Mangekyo ability.
Only when she calmed down, realising she was completely unharmed, did she recognise the figure as none other than the recently killed Danzo—who somehow had come back to life.
'Clone? A substitution?' Those were her first thoughts. But which clone or substitution technique could create a life-like corpse of oneself? Izumi couldn't name any.
"What's this?" Danzo was equally baffled. He had used Izanagi to come back to life. Fortunately, he had activated the technique immediately when Izumi awakened her Mangekyo. Without it, he would have been dead.
But…
'What happened? Why couldn't I touch her?' Danzo was completely dumbfounded.
"Wondering what happened?" A sudden voice startled them both out of their daze. It was Sukuna, of course.
"It's called Izanagi. It's a technique from your Uchiha clan. Once they awaken their Mangekyo Sharingan, they can use it. At the cost of their eye, they can manipulate reality to some degree—cheat death, if you want to call it that." Sukuna ignored Danzo and explained to Izumi and Kiyomi, while other Uchiha members were still battling the Root.
"You, who are you? How do you know that?" Danzo's heart was unsettled. How could anyone know this? He had only recently implanted the Hashirama-cell arm, embedding the few Sharingan he had acquired to stabilise it.
After his last near-death experience, Danzo had been extremely cautious. He had pushed Orochimaru to make the arm quickly, and the moment he secured some Sharingan, he wasted no time having them implanted alongside the Hashirama cells.
It wasn't perfect—he still wasn't used to the arm—but he could already use Izanagi.
No one should have known about this. Not even his Root members.
'Was it Orochimaru?' Danzo thought. That was the only possible explanation. There was no other way.
'Damn that Orochimaru.' Danzo's fury was boundless. He had paid a steep price to have Orochimaru craft the arm so quickly. And that snake had betrayed him like this?
"Sharingan." Once Izumi recognised the technique, she was baffled. Others could use it too? She had no idea.
Seeing one of Danzo's eyes covered, she realised he must be hiding a Sharingan there. Sukuna knew better, though.
Danzo's right arm was concealed beneath his sleeve, but the way he held it open was proof enough—Orochimaru had already implanted the Hashirama cell arm for him.
Sukuna was both surprised and annoyed at the revelation. He had thought he could take out the old goat easily, but Danzo was faster than anticipated.
"Seems like the last encounter with me left quite a mark, Danzo. To have that arm implanted so quickly… knowing Orochimaru, it must have cost you a fortune." Sukuna said offhandedly, drawing everyone's attention to Danzo's arm.
"How do you know that?" Danzo gritted his teeth and demanded.
"Be careful. He must have more Sharingan in that right arm of his. Stay vigilant. Not only can he come back to life while Izanagi is active, but as long as he has a functioning Sharingan in his arm, he'll be practically invincible for about a minute after reviving." Sukuna once again ignored the man and revealed intel no one should have known, warning Izumi and Kiyomi.
"You, you bastard." Danzo's blood boiled. This person had already cost him so much, and now he was casually exposing all his secrets as if he could see straight through him.
For a ninja, having one's secrets revealed was no different from dying.
"I must be vigilant now." He muttered to himself.
Sukuna had achieved his goal—warning the girls, unnerving Danzo, and more importantly, shifting attention away from how Izumi had remained untouched earlier. That, of course, had been Sukuna's doing.
Kamui.
He had touched her just before Danzo could.
And there was more. Sukuna had been keeping track of time. Danzo's one minute had just ended.
…Swoop.
Another air-tearing sound echoed through the Root base as Danzo before them was cut cleanly in half.
This time, they hadn't even seen Sukuna move. Danzo was sliced apart like rotten meat. Both Izumi and Kiyomi flinched, though they recovered quicker than before.
"Stay vigilant, he could be anywhere." Sukuna shouted, putting the girls on alert.
That snapped them back. The fight wasn't over. They immediately stood back-to-back, covering each other's blind spots. But Sukuna wasn't having it.
"Sorry, but not you. You'll be a liability in this fight. Go and rest for a while—we'll handle him." Sukuna grumbled before grabbing Kiyomi with lightning speed. Before either girl could react, Kiyomi was swallowed by a vortex, landing in a completely different place.
This was the Kamui dimension.
"What?" Her mind short-circuited again. What was going on? Where was she now?
Back in the Root base, Izumi panicked when she saw this. She turned a sharp glare at Sukuna, as if demanding, 'You better explain this or you're dead.'
Sukuna doubted she could carry through on that threat, but he quickly reassured her. Kiyomi was safe—he had removed her because this battle was too dangerous for her.
Izumi reluctantly nodded. Together, she and Sukuna turned, searching for Danzo.
Seconds later, Danzo reappeared some distance away, whole again. The body they had cut vanished into thin air. His right arm was now bare, revealing the grotesque sight of four Sharingan embedded along its length. And when he lifted his head, the bandages over his left eye were gone—revealing yet another Sharingan glaring back at them.
Izumi's eyes went wide at the sight of Danzo's arm. Those Sharingan—they belonged to her clansmen. She felt sick.
"Five left," Sukuna muttered, clicking his tongue.
Izumi's Mangekyo spun dangerously. "Then we kill him five more times."
"Technically six, but you understand the drill."
Danzo wasted no time. His hands blurred through seals, and a gust of wind exploded toward them.
"Cursed you Uchiha… take this, Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets."
Dozens of small, high-speed wind projectiles rushed at them. Sukuna, using his Mangekyo's enhanced tracking, dodged easily enough, though a few grazed past, slicing into the walls. Izumi moved instantly, her Mangekyo locking onto Danzo.
The air behind him warped—space folding into itself as a black sphere formed. The pull was immediate, dragging splinters, debris, and even Danzo toward it.
'Ah, this ability again.' Sukuna had only briefly seen Izumi's Mangekyo ability before. He liked it. The power to create black holes—it was formidable.
Danzo stabbed a kunai into the floor, anchoring himself, and countered with Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, blasting at the black hole to push himself free.
Seeing that a single Wind Style could disperse it, Sukuna's expectations of her Mangekyo ability dropped. It seemed weaker than he thought.
Little did he know, Izumi had done that intentionally—exposing a fake weakness to conserve her power and mislead Danzo.
Sukuna seized the opening. He dashed forward in a blur. His dismantle ripped the floor apart, invisible slashes tearing toward Danzo.
But this time, Danzo had a Sharingan. He caught a flicker of the attack and twisted aside, barely dodging. Still, it left a deep gash on him.
'So, with the Sharingan, I can see them.' Danzo was elated. This was the technique he feared most, but if he could see the slashes, then he could dodge them.
As for Izumi, her black holes were dangerous but fragile. Still, he would remain cautious.
"Tsk…" Sukuna clicked his tongue. A dojutsu user was his worst matchup—they could see his invisible slashes.
Still, Sukuna's follow-up—a lightning-fast upward slash at the neck—landed cleanly. Danzo's head rolled for the third time. At that speed, even if Danzo could dodge one strike, multiple slashes were impossible to evade—only someone like Minato could manage it.
Again, Danzo respawned, this time further away and already moving.
"Four left. Remember to stall him for a minute before killing him," Sukuna grinned.
Izumi nodded, though internally rage boiled. Those Sharingan embedded in Danzo's arm belonged to her clansmen.
Danzo's face was calm, but his attacks grew sharper. In a Shunshin, he appeared before Izumi, kunai slashing down. She twisted away, Mangekyo opening another black hole at his feet. This one formed quicker, sucking at the ground like a snapping jaw. Danzo leapt, but Sukuna's dismantle sliced into him, sending him into the pull and ripping open his chest.
His body vanished again.
"Three left."
Danzo reappeared higher this time, perched on a broken wall like a predator. His hands blurred through seals.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere."
A massive compressed ball of wind tore through the room.
Sukuna didn't act. Killing Danzo before his minute ended was pointless. Annoying, but necessary.
He kept his distance.
Izumi was already moving, teleporting in micro-bursts, using her black holes as short-range speed enhancements. She appeared behind Danzo, kunai aimed at his neck. But Danzo, anticipating her, spun and grabbed her wrist, trying to slam her into the wall.
Sukuna intervened. His hand shot forward, touching Danzo's torso—Cleave. Blood splattered as Danzo's body split open diagonally.
"Two left."
xxx
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