Chapter 164 — Yōhei, The Left Eye: Izanagi?
Beneath the vast blue sky, the expansive forest roared with scattered explosions.
Here, blazing flames surged upward—
the aftermath of Fire Release techniques.
There, violent winds howled through the trees—
the result of Wind Release attacks.
From time to time, red signal flares shot up above the forest canopy.
Each flare immediately triggered fierce chases and desperate battles in the woods below.
Then—
Two signal flares unlike the others shot into the sky at the same time.
They glowed a deep blood-red, rising much higher than the ordinary ones.
Within a radius of five kilometers, every Sand shinobi squad noticed them instantly.
And they all understood their meaning.
At least two jōnin together had encountered a powerful enemy.
They urgently required jōnin-level reinforcements.
Sure enough, orders quickly spread through the Sand ranks.
Several jōnin-led squads began gathering together in organized groups before rushing toward the location of the flares.
---
Meanwhile, Taichi glanced up at the two special signal flares.
Then he looked at the two Sand jōnin who had already regrouped.
He knew immediately—
This battle had to end here.
He couldn't eliminate the two jōnin quickly enough.
If he became stalled here, the incoming reinforcements might trap him completely.
And Taichi had no intention of spending attribute points just to sustain himself in a situation like this.
With a sharp whistle, he gave the signal.
The two shadow clones rampaging on the outskirts immediately responded.
They rushed toward Taichi and took over the task of holding back the two Sand jōnin.
They didn't attempt close combat.
Instead, they simply bombarded the jōnin relentlessly with Fire Release techniques.
Fireball after fireball rained down like artillery.
Meanwhile, Taichi's real body seized the opportunity.
He cut straight through the surrounding genin and chūnin defenses and swiftly retreated into the forest.
---
This perfectly demonstrated a simple truth:
Until a ninja specializing in long-range attacks ran out of chakra, there was very little others could do to stop them.
Especially someone like Taichi—
A shinobi capable of unleashing powerful techniques without even forming hand seals.
Five minutes later, the memories from his dispersed shadow clones returned to him.
They had both dissipated naturally after exhausting their chakra.
Taichi couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Having a large chakra reserve really had its advantages.
Even simply spamming ninjutsu could overwhelm enemies.
Still, his current chakra pool—around fifty thousand units—was only impressive compared to ordinary shinobi.
Compared to those with abnormal physiques…
It was still nothing special.
Looks like I need to hurry and learn Tsunade's Yin Seal, Taichi thought.
Otherwise, the next big increase in chakra would only come when his body matured around age twelve.
But by then…
The war might already be over.
And his need for massive chakra reserves wouldn't be as urgent anymore.
---
On the Sand side, the two jōnin were having an extremely frustrating time.
Facing the relentless bombardment from Taichi's shadow clones, they found themselves in a dilemma.
They dared not charge forward recklessly.
Taichi's golden flames were simply too dangerous.
But retreating wasn't an option either.
They could only keep dodging.
The nearby genin and chūnin tried to help.
But the clones were incredibly slippery.
They focused solely on evasion.
And while evading, they kept launching Phoenix Flower Fire attacks nonstop.
Anyone who tried to approach them got bombarded.
Anyone who tried to chase Taichi's real body got bombarded.
If no one moved forward, they simply focused their attacks on the two jōnin.
The result was almost absurd.
More than a dozen Sand shinobi were being held in place by just two shadow clones.
---
Of course, the clones' true purpose wasn't to defeat them.
Their job was simply to prevent the jōnin from pursuing Taichi.
If the genin and chūnin had scattered and chased after him together, the clones wouldn't have been able to stop them.
But no one was foolish enough to do that.
With their strength, catching up to Taichi would only mean dying in seconds.
So most of them were perfectly happy staying behind and wasting time with the clones.
After all—
From their perspective, the overall battlefield situation favored Sunagakure.
A few minor setbacks didn't matter.
Under this ostrich-like self-comfort, the Sand shinobi remained there until the clones finally dissipated from chakra exhaustion.
Only then did the jōnin reorganize their forces.
Some stayed behind to treat the wounded.
The rest resumed pursuit in the direction Taichi had fled.
---
Compared to Taichi's intense but relatively controlled battle…
The larger battlefield was far more brutal.
Not every Konoha interception squad was successful.
Some failed to escape after attacking and were surrounded and annihilated.
Others ran directly into overwhelming enemies and were killed before accomplishing anything.
---
Elsewhere on the battlefield—
The five-man squad led by Yōhei now faced a situation eerily similar to the one Taichi had just encountered.
At first, relying on their superior strength, Yōhei's squad had rampaged across the battlefield for a while.
But as the number of squads they eliminated increased, the number of enemies drawn to them also began to grow.
Until finally—
During another sudden encounter, they ran into a Sunagakure jōnin squad.
The battle erupted instantly.
The moment both sides saw each other, they attacked with full force.
Yōhei and Kakashi took the lead.
Working together, the two of them almost immediately suppressed the enemy jōnin.
Meanwhile, under Shaori's guidance, Obito and Rin fought the enemy's remaining teammates, trading blows back and forth.
Under normal circumstances—
This battle would almost certainly end in Yōhei's squad winning.
But this was the battlefield.
And more importantly—
It was a battlefield where Sunagakure currently held the advantage.
---
After several exchanges, Yōhei sensed something was wrong.
Although the Sand jōnin had fallen into a disadvantage, his defense was extremely steady.
He showed no intention of taking risks.
He was simply stalling.
Dragging out the fight.
As several minutes passed, Yōhei began to grow anxious.
Just as he was about to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan to finish the fight quickly—
From the distant forest came the faint sound of rustling branches.
Everyone present immediately changed expressions.
Reinforcements.
Yōhei realized he had reacted too late.
He should have used the Mangekyō the moment he recognized the enemy as a jōnin.
If he had done that, his squad would never have fallen into this dangerous situation.
But regret was useless now.
Their only choice was to break free and retreat immediately.
---
Yōhei poured more chakra into his Sharingan.
The three tomoe spun rapidly—
Then merged into the shape of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
The giant windmill pattern in his right eye began spinning violently.
His exclusive ocular technique—
Susano-no-Mikoto—
activated.
Power surged through his body.
His strength instantly doubled.
The Sand jōnin was caught completely off guard.
After only two or three blocks, the kunai in his hand was knocked away.
Yōhei's blade flashed—
And the jōnin's left arm was severed.
The enemy retreated rapidly in shock.
Yōhei didn't pursue.
Instead, he threw several kunai toward the Sand shinobi still fighting Shaori and the others.
The sudden attack forced them to retreat defensively.
"Enemy reinforcements are coming!"
"Retreat immediately!"
Yōhei shouted.
He stopped Obito, who had been about to chase the enemy.
When everyone regrouped beside him, Yōhei issued his next order.
"You all withdraw first."
"I'll hold them off."
Shaori looked at him seriously.
She noticed the streak of blood already running from the corner of his right eye.
"Be careful."
She didn't hesitate.
Turning immediately, she retreated.
Kakashi and the others understood there was no time to argue.
"Be careful."
They said the same before following Shaori away.
The entire exchange took only a few breaths.
---
Once Yōhei confirmed his teammates had escaped safely, the tension in his chest finally eased.
He quickly formed hand seals.
His Mangekyō spun rapidly.
Susano-no-Mikoto surged again—this time not merely doubling his power.
But doubling it again.
Then—
"Fire Release — Great Fire Annihilation!"
A thin line of flame shot from Yōhei's mouth.
Once it left his body, it exploded outward instantly—
Transforming into a massive sea of fire.
Under the amplification of Susano-no-Mikoto, the technique's temperature and range increased dramatically.
Within a hundred meters ahead of him, everything was swallowed by flames.
Only the forest canopy limited the spread.
Otherwise, the inferno would have been even larger.
The Sand squad that had been pursuing him—
Aside from the jōnin who had retreated first—
The remaining three shinobi and several of the fastest pursuers were now trapped in the blazing sea.
They screamed as the fire consumed them.
---
But the power came with a price.
A trail of blood flowed from Yōhei's right eye.
It ran down his cheek to his chin without stopping.
His right eye's vision had already begun to blur slightly compared to his left.
So Taichi really was right.
Previously, Yōhei had only used the Mangekyō sparingly.
And after each use, Taichi had healed him.
So he had never taken the warning seriously.
But this time—
The consequences of overusing it were undeniable.
The Mangekyō Sharingan was not a power that could be used casually.
After unleashing the technique, Yōhei didn't linger.
He immediately turned and chased after his squad.
---
Moments after he left—
Four Water Release techniques blasted toward the flames.
"Water Release — Water Disorder Wave!"
Large sections of the fire were extinguished instantly.
Several surviving Sand shinobi were dragged from the inferno.
But their burns were catastrophic.
The leading jōnin shook his head helplessly.
"These ones… can't be saved."
After all—
Not everyone possessed Taichi's miraculous medical ninjutsu.
Even severe burns like this could be healed by him.
For ordinary medics, it was impossible.
"Send them on their way."
"Better than letting them suffer."
One of the rescuing shinobi hesitated.
But when he saw the wounded ninja's desperate eyes—
He silently nodded.
Pulling out a kunai, he whispered,
"…Sorry."
The blade pierced upward through the jaw into the brain.
Instant death.
No pain.
After finishing the others in the same way, the Sand shinobi stood there with frost-like anger on their faces.
"Angry?"
"Want revenge?"
"Then chase them down."
"Kill every last one of those Konoha bastards!"
"Yes!"
The jōnin's simple words ignited hatred in the group.
Their killing intent surged.
With morale restored, the jōnin gave the signal.
The Sand squad resumed their pursuit.
---
Meanwhile, Yōhei hurried through the forest.
Although he had only left slightly later than his teammates, their full-speed retreat had already erased their trail.
He relied on his Sharingan to track faint signs left along the path.
But tracking wasn't his specialty.
Nearly fifteen minutes later—
A distant explosion caught his attention.
The direction matched the path his teammates should have taken.
Yōhei exhaled in relief.
He had finally caught up.
But his relief lasted only a moment.
Because that explosion meant only one thing.
They had encountered enemies again.
---
Yōhei accelerated.
Breaking through the forest, he finally saw the battlefield.
Kakashi and Shaori were locked in combat.
They had no chance of disengaging quickly.
Meanwhile—
Obito and Rin were fighting two other Sand shinobi.
But their situation was far worse.
They were still newly graduated genin.
Even after their recent growth, they had not yet reached chūnin level.
Yet their opponents—
Were two Sand chūnin.
---
Just as Yōhei prepared to rush in—
The situation collapsed.
Rin, the weakest among them, was kicked violently by the enemy.
She flew backward and crashed to the ground, coughing blood.
She couldn't even stand.
The Sand shinobi grinned viciously.
He flickered forward.
Kunai aimed straight at Rin.
"RIN—!!"
Obito screamed.
His mind went blank.
His body reacted before his thoughts.
Ignoring the enemy in front of him—
He took a slash across his back and burst forward with unprecedented speed.
Throwing himself over Rin's body.
He intended to block the attack with his own life.
"SHK!"
The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out.
But the pain Obito expected never came.
Because in the instant he moved—
Another figure appeared faster than either of them.
Standing firmly between Obito and the blade.
Yōhei.
He had arrived in time.
And used his own body to block the strike.
The kunai pierced directly into his heart.
Blood burst outward, soaking his chest and splattering across Obito and Rin.
Time froze.
Obito.
Rin.
The attacking Sand shinobi.
Even Kakashi and Shaori in the distance.
Everyone stared in shock at the scene.
"YŌHEIIIII—!!"
Shaori was the first to react.
Her scream tore from her throat in despair and disbelief.
Her chakra erupted violently.
Lightning exploded around her body, forcing her opponent back.
She was about to rush over—
When something impossible happened.
---
The Sand shinobi who had just killed Yōhei froze.
Because the corpse in front of him—
Began dissolving like an illusion.
First the wound.
Then the blood.
Then the entire body.
Within a single breath—
Yōhei's "corpse" vanished completely.
The scene was so bizarre that everyone instinctively thought of the same word.
Genjutsu.
And in that moment of stunned silence—
"SHK!"
Another blade pierced flesh.
From behind the Sand shinobi.
Yōhei appeared like a ghost.
No warning.
No chakra signature.
Only the blood tears flowing from his left eye.
His kunai had already pierced the enemy's back—
Straight through the heart.
"Im… impossible…"
The Sand shinobi collapsed.
The last thing reflected in his eyes was the man he had supposedly killed moments earlier.
The killer had become the killed.
Such was the fate of shinobi.
---
This was the exclusive Mangekyō ability of Yōhei's left eye.
A technique awakened when he once watched Shaori nearly die—
A desperate desire to escape death itself.
The forbidden ultimate technique:
Izanagi.
The Sharingan records the user's current state.
During the technique's duration, any damage—even death—
Is turned into illusion.
Reality is rewritten to restore the recorded state.
Unlike ordinary Uchiha who must sacrifice the light of a Sharingan to use Izanagi—
Yōhei's Mangekyō version consumed only ocular power.
However, the cost was still enormous.
At full strength, he could only use it three times before risking blindness.
But unlike sacrificed eyes—
Ocular power could recover.
Slowly.
And as Yōhei's strength grew, so would that power.
Three uses today.
Four.
Five.
Even more in the future.
As long as he didn't overuse the Mangekyō—
Yōhei had effectively become half-immortal.
---
Ignoring the shock on both sides, Yōhei immediately rejoined the fight.
With his arrival, the evenly matched battle instantly tilted in Konoha's favor.
Within only a few exchanges—
Every Sand shinobi on the battlefield was dead.
"Move."
"More enemies are coming."
Yōhei pulled Rin to her feet.
Then led the group deeper into the forest at full speed.