The sudden appearance of Uchiha Akainu and Uchiha Sasuke caught the three off guard.
For them to barge into this underground chamber so brazenly, pinpointing its location with such precision, meant they knew about the massive stash of illegal drugs hidden here!
But… how?
Was there a traitor?!
The moment that thought crossed their minds, the three Uchiha ninjas instinctively stepped back, putting some distance between each other, their eyes filled with wary suspicion.
Among them, Uchiha Hayata cautiously glanced at the other two. His face taut, he took two steps forward, blocking Uchiha Akainu's path, and snapped, "Hey! What's with you guys? We didn't invite you here, did we?"
His gaze shifted to Naruto, seizing an angle to attack. "This kid isn't even an Uchiha! Bringing an outsider into our clan's territory? What do you think this place is, some amusement park anyone can waltz into?"
"Uchiha Akainu…" Hayata's eyes burned with hostility as he warned, "I'd advise you to mind your own business. Your meddling has already pissed off plenty of our clansmen."
But to his surprise, Uchiha Akainu completely ignored his warning, speaking as if he hadn't heard a word.
"Uchiha Hayata, Uchiha Masaru, Uchiha Naoto."
Akainu's cold eyes glinted with murderous intent as he named them.
"You're involved in smuggling and selling illegal drugs in massive quantities. And just over a month ago, you committed multiple deliberate murders outside the Land of Fire, with half the victims being innocent civilians."
As he finished, Akainu's right hand rested on the handle of his ninja blade, making Hayata's eyelids twitch.
Damn it…
After months apart, this guy was still as stubbornly uncompromising as ever!
"Uchiha Akainu!" one of Hayata's companions, Masaru, suddenly shouted, furious. "Stop acting all high and mighty! All you do is turn your blade on your own clan! What else are you good for? Everything we do is for the future of the Uchiha clan!"
"We're raising funds for the clan's plans. Once they succeed, the entire Leaf Village will belong to us! The Uchiha will no longer be sidelined—we'll stand above the Leaf! But you, with your so-called [Justice], will be nailed to the Uchiha's pillar of shame. You're worse than that traitor Fugaku, always siding with outsiders!"
Sasuke: "…"
Hearing them drag his father into their rant sparked an urge in Sasuke to argue back. But his seven-year-old logic reminded him he couldn't outtalk an adult.
"People like you, who harm others for the so-called 'future of the Uchiha,' are the ones who deserve to be nailed to the pillar of shame," a girl's voice cut through, icy and sharp. "You'll never see the heights Senior Akainu stands at."
Izumi drew her ninja blade faster than Akainu could.
Because, as she focused intently, holding her breath, she saw it—red text floating above the three men's heads, detailing their countless crimes committed in just a few months!
Villains like these, who'd fallen so far into depravity, would only hurt more people if left alive.
[Absolute Justice] demanded the eradication of such evil from the ninja world!
Without waiting for Akainu's orders, Izumi struck.
The cramped space wasn't suited for Fire Release ninjutsu, and besides, Izumi wasn't great with ninjutsu anyway—she excelled in taijutsu. With a single Body Flicker, she closed in on Hayata, her speed a complete transformation from her past self.
Hayata had been on guard against Akainu, not expecting this short girl to attack first! He quickly activated his two-tomoe Sharingan, tracking her movements.
He drew his blade, aiming to cut down this reckless kid.
But the moment his eyes met Izumi's, his pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Three-tomoe Sharingan!!!
Clang!!!
Their blades clashed, the impact jarring both their arms. Hayata, reacting in a hurry, shifted his blade downward, aiming for Izumi's throat.
"Hayata! What are you doing?!" a panicked shout snapped him out of it.
He realized his blade had struck nothing but air—it felt like stabbing at a ghost.
Sharingan genjutsu!!!
Hayata instantly knew he'd been caught in an illusion the moment their eyes met. Gritting his teeth, he unleashed his own ocular power to break free, only to catch a glint of a blade in his peripheral vision—less than two centimeters from his heart!
Oh no…
Ding—
A kunai flew in, striking the side of Izumi's blade, deflecting it just enough to leave only a shallow gash across Hayata's chest, drawing a trickle of blood.
The other two Uchihas had joined the fray, attacking Izumi together.
Izumi was now fighting two seasoned opponents alone.
The stinging pain in his chest left Hayata drenched in cold sweat, his heart pounding. He'd come that close to death! This girl wasn't holding back!
Three-tomoe Sharingan… Is she that half-blood Uchiha? How'd she end up with Akainu?!
---
"I… I can't even follow!" Sasuke, standing behind Akainu, gaped at the sudden爆发 of battle, unable to track their movements.
If these guys were this strong, how powerful was his brother, who'd wipe out the Uchiha clan in the future? Could he ever stop him from making that mistake?
Sasuke was overwhelmed with shock and helplessness.
"Meow, the newbie's improved a ton!" Jiro, who'd leapt off Izumi's shoulder the moment she moved, mused. "She's at Special Jōnin level now, right? Shame her ninjutsu talent's lacking—she's too specialized. If she were better at ninjutsu, she'd be even stronger, meow."
"She's that strong?" Naruto muttered, wide-eyed.
In his mind, this girl, only a few years older than him, was like Teacher Akainu's secretary, always trailing behind to take notes or handle clerical work.
Clearly, his assumptions about Uchiha Izumi were dead wrong.
"Meow, but taking on three at once… that's a bit much," Jiro said, licking its paw. "Two of them have two-tomoe Sharingan, one's got a single-tomoe, and they're all experienced adults. The newbie's got three-tomoe and a few boosts from Justice, but she's still just a recent academy grad."
"Plus, if this fight messes up those illegal drugs, the dust could make things messy, meow."
As Jiro prepared to jump in and help, it suddenly noticed a foot step forward beside it.
Jiro froze, looking up to see only Akainu's towering figure.
The cat's face twisted with pity—pity for those three Uchihas.
"Meow, guess I won't get to show off in front of the kid. With Akainu stepping in, there won't even be bodies left."
---
"Phew… their teamwork's tight!" Izumi parried one opponent's blade and flung several shuriken, forcing the other two to pause momentarily.
It gave her a second to catch her breath.
"Senior Akainu's 'gifts of Justice' really boosted my stamina and chakra reserves. I can handle the three-tomoe Sharingan without passing out now," she thought. "But fighting three coordinated Uchiha ninjas… am I still out of my depth?"
As she gritted her teeth, ready to cast another Sharingan genjutsu, she felt her collar tugged.
Before she could react, her feet left the ground, and she was yanked backward.
A familiar scent hit her.
Senior Akainu!!!
Akainu released her collar and glanced forward. The Uchiha ninja Izumi had just forced back was now charging with his blade, his face twisted with malice. But when he saw Akainu step forward, his expression shifted to shock.
Swish!!!
A flash of steel filled the ninja's vision. His two-tomoe Sharingan couldn't even catch Akainu drawing his blade—it was still sheathed! Akainu sidestepped the incoming slash, brushing past the attacker.
The Uchiha, stunned, turned to look back, only for his head to tilt unnaturally. A ring of blood around his neck widened, gushing crimson as it soaked his clothes.
Naruto's scream echoed.
The severed head, frozen in shock, rolled across the floor. Blood sprayed from the headless body, splattering the ceiling with countless crimson blossoms.
"Naoto!!!" Hayata shouted in horror.
But before his shock could settle, he noticed his other companion, Masaru, scream in terror and dodge to one side—straight toward Akainu, practically throwing himself into his arms!
Hayata realized Masaru had fallen into Akainu's Sharingan genjutsu—without even noticing when Akainu activated it!
"Masaru! Snap out of it! It's an illusion! It's fake!!!" Hayata yelled desperately.
Too late.
Akainu's blade flicked across Masaru's neck with casual ease. The head slid off, blood erupting skyward.
In less than five seconds, a two-tomoe and a single-tomoe Uchiha lay dead.
Hayata's eyes widened, his pupils trembling as he stared at his childhood friends, now headless. His hands shook violently around his blade.
"We… we were doing this for the Uchiha's future! To end the village's discrimination, we worked tirelessly to fund the coup! What did we do wrong?!"
Bloodshot eyes blazing, Hayata's two-tomoe Sharingan began to shift under the surge of intense emotion.
"Uchiha Akainu, you're a traitor to the Uchiha! You've betrayed your blood! You're worse than the Hokage's lapdogs!!!"
His two-tomoe spun, visibly morphing into three.
In that moment, Hayata felt the world shift. The flood of ocular power made him sense a transformation in his strength.
His rage and grief twisted into a manic grin, then a wild laugh as he clutched his face with one hand, blade in the other.
"Ha… haha! Hahahahaha! Is this the power of the fully evolved Sharingan? I feel it! Naoto, Masaru, your deaths weren't in vain! Your will lives on in me! You gave me the key to unlock the three-tomoe Sharingan!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
"Uchiha Chi—"
His laughter cut off as he lowered his hand, locking his new three-tomoe gaze onto Akainu. The狂喜 in his eyes turned to shock.
Akainu was already inches away, his right arm transformed into molten lava, shaped into a terrifying, man-eating magma hound lunging at him!
Hayata's three-tomoe Sharingan caught Akainu's movements with perfect clarity.
But… his body couldn't keep up!
The glow of magma lit up his front, the searing heat curling his hairs.
Move! Move, damn it!!!
Hayata screamed internally, urging his body to react. But as he finally twitched to dodge, the magma hound tore through his chest!
BOOM!!!
His ninja vest melted instantly, offering no resistance. The magma hound blasted through his back, carving a massive molten hole in the chamber's wall.
Hayata's crimson eyes trembled wildly.
"Pfft… urgh!!!" He vomited clumps of blood, baked solid by the heat.
Flames licked the edges of the gaping hole in his chest.
All strength drained from him.
Despair and confusion clouded Hayata's face. He'd awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan in his fury—why was he still defeated so instantly?
This… is Uchiha Akainu's Lava Release?
Isn't it… a bit too strong?
As Akainu withdrew his molten arm, Hayata's eyes dulled to gray. He collapsed forward, lifeless.
[Ding! You've successfully killed three "red-named" villains! Your chakra has slightly increased! Congratulations, you've obtained: "All ocular power from a pair of two-tomoe Sharingan," "Leaf-Style Swordsmanship Experience Book ×10," and "A complete list of personnel involved in the Leaf's illegal drug smuggling and trafficking!"]
---
"Three-tomoe Sharingan…"
"Dead, just like that…"
Sasuke stared, stunned, at the massive molten hole in the wall, magma still dripping slowly beside it. As an Uchiha, he knew how powerful the three-tomoe Sharingan was. Even with just a single-tomoe, he felt invincible at the ninja academy, already itching to challenge that Hyuga Neji kid.
If a single-tomoe was that strong, what about three?
Yet, that incredible power was nothing before Uchiha Akainu. Sasuke had braced for a fierce battle, even worrying for Akainu, only for the "fight" to end absurdly fast.
"Hm? Who's there?!" Izumi suddenly tensed, whipping around. Her voice and movement startled Naruto and Sasuke, who turned to see a masked man standing behind them, one hand in his pocket.
Izumi froze. "…Root?"
"Ahem!" Kakashi coughed awkwardly.
Noticing Akainu's gaze shift toward him, Kakashi quickly removed his Root mask to avoid misunderstandings, revealing his half-masked face.
Glancing at the three corpses, Kakashi explained, "The Hokage sent me to keep an eye on Naruto. I heard commotion from outside and got worried, so I came down to check."
He was starting to regret his impulsive decision.
But Akainu ignored him entirely, tossing a palm-sized notebook to Izumi.
Izumi fumbled to catch it.
"Senior, what's this?"
"A list," Akainu said. "Today's hunting list."
Izumi: "???"