As Uchiha Yato's words faded,
he unleashed a Fire Release Ninjutsu they had never seen before.
"Fire Release: Great Meteor."
A massive meteor descended from the sky, hurtling toward the three of them.
The surface of the meteor was wreathed in roaring flames, and just as it was about to strike them,
Uchiha Yato shouted—"Scatter."
The meteor instantly shattered into a rain of fiery stones, reigniting the flames that had been extinguished by the Water Release, once again engulfing the trio in a sea of fire.
The leader of the black-clad men immediately lost his nerve and tried to beg for mercy.
"Lord, we were wrong."
"We were deceived into coming here, told that the Uchiha had vast wealth to plunder."
"Please spare our lives, and we'll reveal who hired us. How about it?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Yato knew they couldn't be from Root.
He silently praised Shimura Danzo in his heart—this time, he wasn't foolish enough to send Root operatives after him.
Even if these three died here, Danzo wouldn't care. They were just hired hands, and he wouldn't even have to pay them.
Uchiha Yato said, "Forget it. Looking at you, life hasn't been kind."
At these words, hope flared in the three men's hearts—though none noticed how they tightened their grip on the Exploding Tags hidden behind their backs.
If Uchiha Yato got close, they would give him a memory he wouldn't forget.
Uchiha Yato continued, "In that case, I, Uchiha Yato, will show mercy just this once."
The corners of their lips curled into gentler smiles. They thought he had softened.
But then, Uchiha Yato finished, "Let me free you from this painful world."
With that, he revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Of course, Uchiha Yato knew they were lying. Their actions—heading straight for murder instead of searching for the Uchiha Clan's vault—proved their target was him alone.
It wasn't about the Uchiha Clan's treasures, as they claimed.
Every shinobi knew one rule when fighting an Uchiha: never look into their eyes.
But under tension and relief, people instinctively forget crucial things.
Uchiha Yato had lulled them into lowering their guard with his words.
Their perfect downfall was all part of his design.
And the reason he went to such lengths? To test the Eye Technique of his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Though he had known its power upon awakening, some abilities still needed further refinement.Perhaps with some development, he might discover that his Eye Technique could function like Obito's Kamui, even allowing for intangibility tricks.
Uchiha Yato's left eye is called the Wheel of Time, which, as the name suggests, is related to time.
It can manipulate his own time and create save points—for example, slowing his speed by half or doubling it.
Slowing it by half provides more reaction time, while doubling it is akin to speeding himself up.
The ability of his right eye is called the Space of Time.
It can adjust time within a certain area, with the consumption of ocular power determined by the size of the space and the time multiplier.
Uchiha Yato even specifically asked the system if he could first "save" his ocular power and then use it later to exploit a loophole.
Unfortunately, such an exploit isn't possible—once ocular power is consumed, it cannot be restored in principle.
A glance at the system shop showed that the Eternal Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye required 300,000 emotion coins—this was what Uchiha Yato now needed to strive for.
The consumed ocular power could be slightly replenished with emotion coins, roughly five coins per use.
Uchiha Yato also asked the system why it could replenish ocular power.
The system replied that some questions shouldn't be asked.
Now that he had three test subjects, Uchiha Yato could thoroughly experiment with the effects of his abilities.
He had already tested his left eye's ability—anything entering his personal space could be slowed or accelerated.
For instance, if Aburame Ryoma had used his insects against him, they might not have caused harm.
But it would have exposed his Mangekyo Sharingan, which was why Uchiha Yato wasn't afraid of Aburame Ryoma at all.
This time, the main focus was testing his other Eye Technique—the Space of Time.
It could alter time within a certain area, but the implications were vast, as space and time were interconnected.
First, Uchiha Yato conducted an experiment by covering one of the black-clad men in wounds.
Then, he manipulated the time within that space.
After a brief change, the wounds stopped bleeding, but they didn't heal.
After several attempts with no significant changes, Uchiha Yato moved on to the next test.
During adjustments, he found he could make blood flow faster, pushing the subject to the brink of shock.
And just before death, he could slightly delay the moment of death, though he couldn't prevent it entirely.
Thus, the first test subject quickly paid the ultimate price, allowing Uchiha Yato to understand the capabilities of his Eye Technique.
Soon, it was the second test subject's turn.
Uchiha Yato had him attack directly, altering his own speed.
In other words, the technique worked even on conscious living beings.
During this, Uchiha Yato deliberately dispelled the genjutsu, yet the subject remained unaware of the changes to himself and his surroundings.
The concealment was extremely effective—without reference points, those within the affected space would hardly notice any difference.
By the end, as the subject's stamina faded, Uchiha Yato forcibly extended his life by 30 seconds before death finally took him.
Congratulations—the second test subject had fulfilled his purpose.Before starting on the third test subject, Uchiha Yato attempted to alter the surrounding scenery.
He managed to slightly improve the previously scorched terrain within a small area, but this minor change consumed three to five times more ocular power than when used on a person.
This realization made Yato abandon any thoughts of accelerating crop growth or other welfare-oriented applications.
As for the final subject, Yato tested his enhanced genjutsu abilities before mercifully ending the man's suffering and sending him off from this world.
With this, the capabilities of Uchiha Yato's Mangekyo Sharingan gradually became clearer through his experiments.
Yato muttered to himself, "This time, I really have to thank our comrade Shimura Danzo for providing these test subjects."
"As thanks, I'll definitely find an opportunity to visit him again—to shear another round of wool."
By the time he sensed someone approaching, Uchiha Yato had long since left the scene.
As for the deaths of these three ninjas, that was a headache he'd leave to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
When the Anbu reported the deaths of the three ninjas to Hiruzen, the Third Hokage had no choice but to drag himself out of his comfortable retreat and return to the office building to handle the matter.
After all, this concerned the safety of the Hidden Leaf—something the Hokage couldn't afford to be careless about.
Unintentionally, Hiruzen was once again cleaning up Danzo's mess.