"Since there's no longer any value in using you…"
"…then—goodbye."
He murmured softly and flicked his fingers.
Puff! Puff!
Two compressed air bullets pierced straight through Torune and Yamanaka Fū's foreheads.
Clean. Precise. Efficient.
Moments later, faint streams of light—traits—rose from the two corpses.
Kaireached out without hesitation.
[Contacting targets: Yamanaka Fū, Aburame Torune.]
[Trait plunder successful. Congratulations, Host has obtained Fine Trait: Poison Resistance (Green), and Epic Trait: Mind Body Switch Technique (Purple)!]
Hiss—!
Another jackpot!
Mind Body Switch… and Poison Resistance!
Kaipaused for a moment, then muttered to himself:
"Feed Poison Resistance into Perception."
[Trait fusion in progress…]
[Fusion successful. Congratulations, Host has obtained Rare Trait: Perception Domain (Blue). Immune to poison. Can reduce/increase poison resistance of all lifeforms within a 100-meter radius.]
"Immune to poison… and can reduce poison resistance?"
Kaifroze for a beat, then glanced at another newly acquired trait.
"If I stack this with Nanoscopic Poison Insect Control…"
"…wouldn't that make me a walking source of poison?"
Wherever he goes, everything gets poisoned.
"And if I turn on Weak Presence…"
"…a moving, invisible poison field?"
"Wait—am I turning into that guy?"
Kaiwas genuinely shocked.
He took several deep breaths before calming himself down.
Then his attention shifted to the newly acquired purple trait.
Even though it wasn't gold, in his eyes, Mind Body Switch Technique was in no way inferior to most gold-tier traits.
Sure—Yamanaka Fū had used it like trash.
But in the late game?
This was a technique that could stall Six Paths–level beings, even if only for an instant.
As for why it only lasted an instant—
that was purely because the caster's mental energy sucked.
Thinking that, Kailooked toward his Mangekyō Sharingan.
He had carefully observed this before: once his traits were activated, his mental strength—normally only around high-jōnin level—would skyrocket to a terrifying degree.
Of course, the burden would skyrocket as well.
An imbalance between body and mind.
And for a ten-year-old body, that pressure was brutal.
He didn't want to end up like Itachi—burned out and hollowed early.
That was why he treasured Wood Release cells so much.
Unfortunately, without true First Hokage cells, the gap was still enormous.
"…I wonder if there are any remnants of First Hokage cells left in Root."
He muttered as he searched the two bodies.
Clack.
Soon, a black scroll engraved with the word "Root" dropped to the ground.
Unrolling it revealed a single sentence:
Danzō-sama is dead. The killer—Uchiha Kai.
Below it was a thoughtfully drawn portrait of Kai.
There were also strange coordinate markings and several sealed keys.
"Oh?" Kai's eyes lit up. "Root's base?"
"After killing Danzō, I never really collected the loot, did I?"
With that thought, he lifted his foot, ready to head straight for Root—
But at that moment, loud footsteps came from behind.
"Kai! Are you alright?!"
"Lord kai!"
The Uchiha clan members—just finished with their meeting—came rushing out after hearing the commotion.
Their eyes locked onto the boy outside the compound wall.
The younger members, especially, surged forward eagerly.
At this point, Kaiwasn't just the Uchiha clan's precious treasure—
he was the idol of their younger generation.
No exaggeration: even if Clan Head Fugaku dropped dead, Kaiabsolutely could not be harmed.
"Move, move! Slowpokes, don't get in the way!"
A young ninja shoved aside a middle-aged man and charged ahead.
Outside the crowd—
Fugaku, who had just been pushed aside, felt his eyebrow twitch.
Suppressing the urge to spit out a Great Fireball, he gritted his teeth.
"That's my son!"
Sadly, no one cared.
Instead, everyone's attention shifted to the two bodies on the ground.
"Yamanaka Fū… Aburame Torune?"
Fugaku's expression turned slightly grave.
"So Root still has remnants not absorbed by the Third…"
At that moment, another clan member came running in from outside the village.
Panting hard.
"Clan Head! Clan Head!"
"Hm?" Fugaku turned, recognizing the Ninth Elder—the one coordinating financial audits with the other clans.
His heart sank immediately.
The man ran faster when he saw Fugaku, shouting as he went:
"Clan Head! The financial reports from the Yamanaka clan, Aburame clan, Ryūma clan—they're all just trivial scraps!"
Slowly, realization spread among the Uchiha.
Their expressions darkened.
"They're cooperating… but deliberately stalling?"
Fugaku fell into thought.
He wanted to act decisively—
but worried that moving too hard might provoke backlash from the other clans.
For decades, he'd tried tirelessly to integrate the Uchiha into Konoha.
With little success.
If not for Kai's decisive move tonight, the clan would've—
Shaking his head, Fugaku looked toward Kai, hesitating.
"Kai… what do you think we should do?"
"Me?"
Kailooked at his father in surprise, then casually pointed at the two corpses.
"Aren't we sitting on a perfect excuse?"
Fugaku: "Hm?"
The clan members: "You mean…?"
Kaiwaved his hand, picked up the scroll, and casually scribbled a Cloud Village insignia on it.
Then he said calmly:
"The Yamanaka and Aburame clans colluded with Kumogakure and attempted to assassinate the Uchiha clan's young head."
"Now, Clan Head—please dispatch forces to place both clans under control."
Thump.
Thump-thump!
Those few words sent waves of excitement through the young Uchiha.
This—
this was the kind of clan head they wanted!
One disagreement?
Then crush them outright!
Whoosh!
Hundreds of eyes snapped toward Fugaku, filled with anticipation.
Seeing this, Fugaku clenched his teeth.
"Cough—alright! Ninth Elder, come with me to the Yamanaka clan. Second Elder, Fourth Elder—take men to the Aburame clan!"
"Tonight—we take full control of both clans!"
With that, he turned and left first.
As dawn approached, the feverish Uchiha once again welcomed their frenzy.
Watching their backs, Kaiturned his gaze the other way—
toward the coordinates on the scroll.
"Root…"
"I wonder what kind of goodies you've got for me."
With that thought, his figure slowly faded—
like smoke scattered by the wind.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL