Outside the capital of the Land of Rivers.
Mitokado Etsu and his wife finally met Mitokado Homura.
Mitokado Homura had rushed here covered in dust. This was the final vassal nation on his diplomatic tour.
They dismissed the assistants and Guardian Captains. The three of them stood by the cliffside of the river valley, chatting as a family.
This time, however, Yako had no interest in listening to their conversation about gathering massive wealth.
The moment the three of them became absorbed in calculating profits and talking excitedly—
Yako burst from the cliff and immediately unleashed a Mangekyō technique.
"Eternal Mangekyō: Island of Miasmic Collapse!"
Beneath the three of them, an island of absolute darkness suddenly appeared.
A strange force erupted from the black island.
Anything touched by the island collapsed downward instantly.
Mitokado Etsu and Mitokado Hiki were weaker.
They were caught by the Island of Miasmic Collapse.
In an instant—
Their bodies compressed into thin slabs of flesh.
Mitokado Hiki became an oval-shaped pancake. Her shoulders formed the long axis, while her chest and back formed the short axis.
Mitokado Etsu had been raising his arm enthusiastically while bragging about how hard he worked to accumulate wealth.
So when he was crushed, he became an oval slab with a handle—like a tadpole-shaped quarter note on a musical staff.
Cruel.
Bloody.
The origin of this Mangekyō technique traced back to the moment Uchiha Dōma had been crushed into pulp by Wood Release before Uchiha Gogo.
That memory had birthed this entire set of Mangekyō abilities.
What disappointed Yako was that Mitokado Homura reacted extremely quickly.
After seeing his son and daughter-in-law die first, he somehow broke free from the Island of Miasmic Collapse.
Explosions and thick white smoke erupted around him.
When the smoke cleared, Mitokado Homura's body had been blasted far away.
Yako frowned as he stared at the giant scroll on Homura's back.
The scroll had been summoned instantly, and explosive shockwaves engraved into the sealing formula had changed Homura's position in an instant.
Mitokado Homura was also a sealing expert.
He seemed extremely skilled in sealing-storage techniques.
Uchiha Gogo's Mangekyō abilities—Ame no Mihashira and Island of Miasmic Collapse—were designed to complement each other.
Island of Miasmic Collapse was powerful.
But it worked best after the enemy had been trapped first.
Ame no Mihashira trapped the enemy.
Island of Miasmic Collapse finished them.
But Yako also had methods of trapping enemies.
He glanced at the four assistants and the Guardian Captains nearby, briefly considering whether he should kill them first so he could freely use the Self-Binding Curse Mark.
Mitokado Homura stood frozen.
He stared in horror at the two pools of flesh beneath Spiral Zetsu's feet.
Seeing this, Yako used Island of Miasmic Collapse again.
Today, he had to kill Mitokado Homura with Mangekyō techniques and place the blame squarely on Spiral Zetsu.
No—
He was simply helping Spiral Zetsu.
Wouldn't this improve Spiral Zetsu's performance metrics under Uchiha Madara?
If you rounded it off, Guruguru should be thanking him.
Seeing his son—whom he had raised for more than twenty years—reduced to a pool of flesh, Mitokado Homura's mind went blank.
Shinobi began training at the age of five.
Their bodies were already overworked and damaged.
For every shinobi, having children was difficult.
And Mitokado Homura had only one son.
Only one.
In that moment, it felt as if he had fallen into an endless abyss of ice.
"Protect the adviser!"
The four assistants saw Homura momentarily stunned and rushed toward Spiral Zetsu.
Yako was about to activate Island of Miasmic Collapse again—
When suddenly—
His vision blurred.
A surge of mental energy stabbed straight into his mind.
That feeling—
A Yamanaka clan technique?
Only the Yamanaka clan's secret techniques could land a surprise attack like this.
Yako narrowed his eyes slightly and forcefully shattered the mental intrusion with sheer willpower.
In the distance, one assistant collapsed to the ground.
The backlash caused him to foam at the mouth.
The Uchiha possessed extraordinarily powerful spiritual strength.
For a Yamanaka assistant to clash head-on with an Uchiha was practically suicide.
Still—
He had bought one second.
Not only the three assistants—
The three Guardian Captains also rushed toward Spiral Zetsu.
Yako thought carefully.
If Spiral Zetsu truly possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, how would he respond in this situation?
The Eye of Insight.
The Eye of Copying.
The Eye of Illusion.
With Yako's current chakra reserves, even brute-force genjutsu was incredibly powerful.
Holding a kunai, Yako dodged the chaotic rain of kunai and ninjutsu flying toward him.
Then he faced the first assistant.
"Genjutsu: Binding Illusion!"
The assistant froze instantly.
Completely immobilized.
Yako threw the kunai.
It pierced straight through the assistant's throat.
These assistants were all loyal subordinates of Mitokado Homura.
Killing them meant nothing.
Three genjutsu in succession.
Three assistants dead.
Yako then stabbed the fallen Yamanaka assistant with another kunai.
All assistants were dead.
The three Guardian Captains rushed in next.
Genjutsu first.
Kunai to finish.
Two dead.
One wounded.
Yako deliberately left one survivor.
Someone had to bring the news back to Konoha.
That Mitokado Homura had been killed by Spiral Zetsu.
The wounded Guardian Captain lay on the ground, barely breathing through a torn chest wound.
Yako turned his gaze toward Mitokado Homura.
The man's eyes had changed.
Dark.
Filled with bone-deep hatred.
Homura had recovered from the shock of losing his son.
One hand pressed against the massive scroll as he stared at Spiral Zetsu.
The little genjutsu game was over.
In Yako's eyes, the three tomoe spun rapidly, focusing on observation.
White smoke erupted from the giant scroll.
The Five Ninja Blades once belonging to Senju Hashirama appeared again.
Yako glanced at the giant Fuma shuriken strapped to Homura's back.
For Mitokado Homura, this was his first battle against Spiral Zetsu.
He needed to probe the enemy before using his trump card.
For Yako, however—
This was their second fight.
He already knew Homura's trump card.
Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags hidden inside the Fuma shuriken.
Homura's control over the Land of Rivers mission profits had been for one reason—
To stockpile explosive tags for himself and his son.
Mitokado Homura charged forward.
The half-meter-wide Senju greatsword in his right hand.
The chakra-metal blade raised in his left.
The moment their weapons clashed—
Homura felt something strange.
It was as if every one of his movements had already been predicted.
He looked toward the Sharingan behind the mask.
So this was the observational power of the Mangekyō Sharingan…
What Homura wanted—
Was for Spiral Zetsu to lose the ability to move or dodge.
Then be blown apart by Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
What Yako wanted—
Was to immobilize this taijutsu master long enough to finish him with Island of Miasmic Collapse.
And place the blame on Spiral Zetsu.
Nearby, the wounded Guardian Captain struggled to pull a morphine syringe from his pouch and inject it into his leg.
The drug steadied him slightly.
Through the ringing clash of weapons, he watched the taijutsu battle between two Kage-level fighters.
Perfect.
Impenetrable.
Their ninja tools collided constantly in the air.
The Guardian Captain felt a surge of hope.
With the advantage of the First Hokage's Five Ninja Blades, Adviser Mitokado Homura held the upper hand.
In less than twenty seconds—
Spiral Zetsu's kunai had already been shattered three times.
The Senju greatsword slammed down again.
Another kunai snapped in half.
Yako twisted his body desperately, barely avoiding being crushed.
And then he realized something.
This was the second time he had fought Mitokado Homura.
He should have had the intelligence advantage.
But this time—
Homura had gone mad.
After the deaths of his son and daughter-in-law, something inside him had snapped.
The cautious probing style he normally used was gone.
He was now trading injuries without hesitation.
Within moments, both of them had drawn blood.
Hatred.
Every swing of the greatsword carried the weight of Homura's hatred.
And that hatred made him stronger.
Blood flowed from Homura's wounds.
From Yako's wounds flowed white fluid—deliberately created with Wood Release.
Yako had once wondered—
If Konoha's high-ranking leaders all fought on the front lines without fear of death…
How powerful would the village become?
Well—
Now he knew.
Mitokado Homura no longer feared death.
He didn't even want to live anymore.
Yako had been lucky.
He was witnessing what a fearless Konoha elder looked like in battle.
The Five Ninja Blades of Senju Hashirama—
They were terrifyingly powerful.
Yako possessed immense strength now.
But he had no proper weapon.
His kunai kept breaking until—
He reached into his pouch.
Empty.
The chakra-metal blade shot toward him.
Yako twisted aside.
The greatsword crashed down again.
He dodged again—
Then heard the whistle of something cutting through the air behind him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it.
The chakra-metal blade.
Coated in a thin layer of chakra.
Flying autonomously toward his lower back.
He hadn't even seen when Homura had thrown it.
And that wasn't all.
Homura had already drawn another weapon from his back.
The nine-section blade.
Its segments resembled bamboo joints.
Yako jumped upward, trying to escape the pincer attack.
But the blade suddenly snapped apart.
Each segment connected by chains.
It transformed into a nine-section whip.
The whip wrapped around Yako's ankle.
The blade segments cut into his skin.
He was yanked violently out of the air.
The chakra-metal blade was about to stab into his back.
Yako quickly formed hand seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Spikes!"
A massive tree erupted from Yako's body.
This was Danzo's favorite Wood Release technique.
Extremely practical.
The thick trunk blocked the blade behind him.
At the same time, it forced the chain blade off his ankle.
Mitokado Homura immediately retreated.
Without kunai, Yako formed a wooden spear in his hand.
He glanced at the Senju greatsword.
Then created several more wooden spears, binding them together to reinforce their strength.
The wound on his ankle slowly healed.
Yako didn't rush to attack.
Homura's taijutsu, swordsmanship, and combat tactics placed tremendous pressure on him.
And he also had to constantly guard against Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
After a brief silence—
Mitokado Homura charged again without expression.
Yako closed his eyes.
When he opened them again—
His right eye had already transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
In front of Homura—
A black point suddenly appeared.
The point rapidly expanded.
Island of Miasmic Collapse.
Explosions erupted from the giant scroll.
Homura avoided stepping onto the black island and launched himself into the air.
He tore open the scroll.
Hundreds—thousands—of kunai burst out like a swarm of locusts.
Yako darted through the storm of blades.
His eyes spun rapidly.
Searching.
Looking for explosive tags.
There!
Several kunai had hidden explosive tags attached to them.
Yako quickly retreated.
He retreated all the way to the cliff edge of the river valley.
The explosive tags detonated at the cliff.
The blast hurled Yako down into the valley below.
Mitokado Homura rushed to the edge.
His eyes narrowed.
The deep valley would amplify the power of Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.
Without hesitation—
He jumped down after Spiral Zetsu.
Midair—
Both men's gazes were firm.
Each of them believed the same thing.
The advantage is mine.
Yako glanced down at the river below.
Facing a taijutsu-focused Kage-level opponent like this…
Water Body Flicker might be his only answer.