Standing still, the ground beneath Yuhara was already littered with corpses.
Blood soaked the earth, the sticky liquid glistening eerily under the moonlight, and Yuhara was slightly out of breath.
Repeatedly using 'Secret Technique: Void Walk' had drained him significantly.
Even though his Mangekyō allowed him to have chakra reserves far above the norm, he really couldn't handle the stacked usage of 'Void Walk.'
He really missed that thing called 'Calm and Collected'—too bad he'd never encountered anything like that.
If it worked like a skill that replenished chakra whenever Yuhara killed an enemy, he'd truly be able to use this technique without hesitation.
"But my chakra recovery isn't bad, and it's lucky this skill was adapted to this world; otherwise, with the original version, I'd never be able to afford to use it."
Taking a deep breath and feeling the state of his chakra, Yuhara shook his head with a wry smile.
Right now, he had to carefully manage his usage of this technique—spacing out the intervals and number of uses—and for now, he could only treat it as an "uncalibrated Flying Thunder God" technique.
Space-time distortions weren't an option yet—unless he got his hands on a tailed beast or something, but that was totally unrealistic.
But just because it wasn't possible now didn't mean it wouldn't be in the future—especially since Yuhara had obtained Obito's severed arm, which filled him with even greater hope for his future.
Even though it consumed a lot, Yuhara didn't think he'd done anything wrong.
Both Root and ANBU had standing orders: if they failed a mission, they had to destroy their own bodies. Yuhara naturally wouldn't give them the chance to activate that technique.
So even though it cost him, he was willing to bear it—after all, these guys were his evidence.
"They're here?"
As Yuhara pondered, footsteps sounded in the distance. Actually, he'd sensed chakra fluctuations from afar not long after he started fighting.
Clearly, Shisui had led the clan's forces out, and they were already engaging the Root forces outside.
As his battle ended, the chakra fluctuations from other areas also began to quiet, and now they were all converging on Yuhara.
"Clan Head."
Soon, Shisui and Uchiha Fugaku arrived, the Uchiha shinobi behind them all bearing varying degrees of bloodstains.
Obviously, the fight hadn't been easy. After all, Root's ninja were no pushovers. But most importantly, they'd won.
"Is everyone here? How are things?" Yuhara asked directly. "What are the casualties?"
"Those guys were tough. We lost some clan members, but thanks to you drawing most of their fire, the situation is acceptable overall.
However, we couldn't recover some of our people's bodies."
Fugaku spoke softly, and Shisui nodded as well.
Ninja battles like this always came with casualties—the key was whether the losses were acceptable. And not being able to retrieve bodies was definitely frustrating.
But under the circumstances, they'd done as well as they could.
Yuhara had battlefield experience; while he regretted the clan's losses, he was more focused on the bigger picture.
"I understand. Shisui, I'm counting on you." Yuhara looked at Shisui seriously. "I don't know if any of them escaped, so I can't be sure if word got out.
So we need to act quickly. Our target is their base—their leader must pay the price.
And the only one who knows where that base is now is you, Shisui."
"No problem!" Shisui nodded firmly, his anger burning bright. "After what happened tonight, someone definitely needs to pay!"
"So Itachi failed?"
Inside Root's headquarters, Danzo looked at the half-kneeling Root ninja in front of him, his expression still indifferent, but his heart seething with anger.
Uchiha Itachi had the Mangekyō Sharingan, and he'd even claimed to have found outside help. And this was the result?
Danzo felt he should never have agreed with Sarutobi Hiruzen to let Itachi handle it alone—he should have sent Root forces in to eliminate the threat together.
Taking a deep breath, Danzo asked, "Send in the outside forces—tonight we must wipe out the Uchiha!"
"Danzo-sama, the outside forces can't be reached." The Root ninja kept his head low, voice weak. "They lost contact after reporting in."
Danzo's face finally shifted—he knew exactly what that meant.
Either they were unable to respond due to fighting, or they'd been wiped out!
Taking a deep breath, Danzo forced himself to remain calm, but just as he was about to speak, a deafening roar erupted.
A wave of scorching heat poured in through the ventilation shafts, and the entire Root base felt like it had become a furnace.
"Danzo-sama!"
A Root ninja ran in, quickly kneeling and speaking in a low voice.
"Enemy attack—it's the Uchiha clan! They've come for us!"
"Uchiha…"
Danzo's face darkened even further. The fact that they'd come this far meant that the Root personnel he'd stationed around the Uchiha's perimeter were likely already dead or worse.
Now he hated Uchiha Itachi even more. He hadn't seized Itachi's Mangekyō because he didn't fully understand its powers.
And, more importantly, he needed Itachi to use those eyes to act against the Uchiha.
But the bastard had failed even to defeat a single Mangekyō user among the Uchiha. Now Danzo regretted ever leaving those eyes with that worthless waste.
"Inform the Hokage that the Uchiha have rebelled against Konoha. Activate the highest emergency defense protocol. All Root personnel, including reserves, are to mobilize and hold these bastards back."
Though Danzo's heart was burning with rage, he still issued his orders calmly, then grabbed his cane and spoke in a low voice.
"I'll be waiting in the command room. Don't disappoint me."
"Afraid you'll be very disappointed."
A voice suddenly cut in, making Danzo's brow furrow.
He turned his head to see a young Uchiha ninja standing before him, a ninja blade in hand, the eerie patterns of the Mangekyō spinning in his crimson eyes.
Mangekyō Sharingan?
Danzo instantly recognized the youth before him—this was the Uchiha prodigy who'd once been named alongside Shisui. And he recognized those eyes for what they were.
He couldn't process it at first—why did this Uchiha Yuhara have a Mangekyō?
Then it hit him—could Itachi's failure have been because the Uchiha clan had more than one pair of Mangekyō?
As the realization sank in, Danzo's heart plummeted. But even as it fell, his gaze on Yuhara's eyes turned greedy.
He'd been able to restrain himself from taking Itachi's eyes, but now he couldn't hold back from seizing this pair.
Especially since this kid had come in alone!
(end of this chapter)