The Wind-Fire combination ninjutsu crashed against the Susano'o skeleton, quickly scattering apart without any effect.
Golden Eagle, positioned further back, also took action, sending out successive strikes of Eight Trigrams: Air Palm.
Without the troublesome Wood Dragon Technique, these Anbu attacks were incapable of harming the Susano'o.
The Susano'o's skeletal fists swung with the intent to kill all the Anbu present, engaging them in combat.
Soon, an Anbu member was sent flying by a skeletal fist, their condition unknown.
Seeing that none of them were a match for Uchiha Mahiru, Golden Eagle realized one thing.
Uchiha Mahiru's strength had absolutely reached the Kage-level!
A group of people rushed out from the depths of the forest!
Leading them was Danzō!
The moment Uchiha Mahiru awakened the Mangekyō, Danzō had come sniffing around!
Sensing people in the forest, Uchiha Mahiru grew more cautious, not daring to dismiss his Susano'o.
Continuously using the Susano'o against the nearby Anbu while occasionally using Fire Release against those further away, Uchiha Mahiru's consumption was immense.
The White Zetsu had said his talent wasn't enough to awaken the Mangekyō; Uchiha Madara had forcibly helped him.
A sharp pain shot through Uchiha Mahiru's left eye, and a trail of blood streamed down from beneath it.
Was his ocular talent truly insufficient?
At that moment, Uchiha Mizukiku charged out of the dense forest from the side.
"Mahiru! I'm here to help you!"
After forming hand seals, Uchiha Mizukiku split into more than a dozen identical copies of himself.
The dozen-plus Uchiha Mizukikus charged towards the remaining Anbu.
Uchiha Mahiru felt a wave of relief; Mizukiku was a top expert within the Uchiha clan.
This was the Phantom Body Flicker Technique!
The phantoms existed between physical entities and illusions; they could attack enemies but wouldn't disappear after being hit.
With Uchiha Mizukiku joining the fray, the pressure on Uchiha Mahiru decreased drastically.
He dispelled the Susano'o, bending over and panting heavily.
Golden Eagle's Eight Trigrams: Air Palm struck the Uchiha Mizukiku in front of him, the attack bizarrely passing through Mizukiku's chest.
However, Uchiha Mizukiku's kunai solidly slashed Golden Eagle's shoulder.
Mahiru felt happy inwardly; Uchiha Mizukiku was one of the top three experts in the Uchiha clan, the son of Lord Kagami.
Seeing his subordinates were all injured, White Ram had no choice but to abandon the fight, first covering his team's temporary retreat.
With Uchiha Mizukiku exerting his strength, the battle soon ended.
Lying on the ground with his chakra points sealed, Uchiha Kirika breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, the Uchiha had won.
He saw Uchiha Mizukiku walking towards his brother. With Mizukiku's protection, even if his brother was exhausted, he wouldn't be in any real danger anymore.
Right at that moment, a sudden change occurred!
Uchiha Mizukiku, who had just been smiling and saying something to his brother, drove his kunai deep into his brother's abdomen in the next second.
The kunai was buried completely, only the metal ring at its end visible.
Uchiha Kirika watched his brother lean on Uchiha Mizukiku's shoulder, vomiting a large mouthful of blood!
His eyes widened to their limit, dense red blood vessels instantly appearing in them.
In the shadows, the White Zetsu was very excited.
Was it coming?
Uchiha Kirika was the one Lord Madara had his eyes on!
Uchiha Kirika's ocular chakra violently fluctuated, stimulating his brain!
From the dense forest, Danzō charged out.
Danzō's single eye first swept over the Ameno Mihashira and Fox, his gaze filled with contempt.
Fox was actually controlled by Uchiha Mahiru? The Anbu's new Deputy Chief was nothing special. How much stronger could he be than Lynx?
Danzō was followed by several Root ninja who fanned out to seal the area, prepared to stop anyone from entering.
Whatever Danzō did next would only be known by those present.
Danzō moved with extreme speed, instantly arriving before Uchiha Mahiru.
His movements were eerily light, completely unlike a man in his forties.
Not only had Uchiha Mizukiku stabbed Uchiha Mahiru with all his strength, but he had also cast a Genjutsu on him.
Uchiha Mizukiku was hailed as the number one Genjutsu user within the Uchiha clan.
Uchiha Mahiru was immobilized.
Danzō's fingers, like eagle talons, reached for Uchiha Mahiru's left eye.
Slap!
A hand firmly grasped Danzō's wrist.
Danzō's pupil constricted sharply, his gaze fixed on the newcomer.
Fox?
Everyone else, seeing Fox appear so suddenly, looked towards the Ameno Mihashira.
The human form inside the Ameno Mihashira shifted and changed. The one trapped wasn't Fox, but a Wood Clone!
The Wood Clone contained such dense life force that even the Sharingan couldn't see through it.
At the Valley of the End, Uchiha Madara failed to see through Senju Hashirama's Wood Clone and was stabbed in the back.
What Uchiha Madara couldn't see through, Uchiha Mahiru couldn't either.
Yōkō had been lying in wait, watching for the change in Uchiha Kirika.
He could hide no longer. He absolutely could not let Danzō get his hands on the Mangekyō. Ameno Mihashira was a strong counter to him.
An instant-cast control-type ocular jutsu was too dangerous.
Danzō's three fingers were a mere 2 centimeters from Uchiha Mahiru's eyeball.
Danzō exerted force instantly!
His fingers advanced another half a centimeter.
However, wooden vines shot out from Yōkō's sleeve, tightly wrapping around Danzō's arm!
Danzō was stunned. These vines could absorb his chakra?
"Lord Danzō..." Yōkō's tone was calm yet firm. "Uchiha Mahiru is suspected of brutally murdering an Anbu shinobi. There's no need for Root to intervene. My Anbu will conduct a thorough investigation."
Seeing Lord Fox appear, White Ram, Golden Eagle, and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
The two squads they brought had suffered heavy losses, with members falling left and right. They hadn't expected Lord Fox to have already freed himself from his predicament.
Danzō channeled powerful chakra into his arm, attempting to exert force, yet he couldn't break free from the Iron Vines.
Danzō was inwardly shocked. Was Fox's mastery of the Wood Dragon Technique so refined?
He could actually make wooden vines absorb chakra like the Wood Dragon?
The Wood Dragon was massive. To miniaturize its effects required immense talent and skill.
The chakra he was extracting not only failed to break the vines but was absorbed by them, making them even more tenacious.
"Stand down!"
Hearing Danzō's rebuke, Yōkō shook his head right in front of him.
I'm the Anbu Deputy Chief now. Did you think you could still order me around with a simple command?
If I'm happy, I'll call you Advisor Danzō. If I'm not, I'll slap you in the face, and Yellow Dog wouldn't even get angry; he'd probably praise me for it.
"Advisor Danzō, don't make this difficult for me. An Anbu shinobi was brutally murdered. This matter must be resolved by my Anbu."
Seeing that Fox was unyielding, Danzō glanced at the wooden vines. He needed to create destructive force far exceeding the vines' tolerance all at once to break them.
Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!
A large tree instantly sprouted from Danzō's right arm, bursting through Yōkō's Iron Vines.
Yōkō, Uchiha Mizukiku, and the others were all knocked back by the erupting tree.
Seizing this opportunity, Uchiha Mahiru also broke free from the Konoha members' control, collapsing some distance away.
A kunai was buried deep in his abdomen, only half its ring visible, blood gushing out.
His left eye, from overusing his ocular jutsu, continuously streamed blood.
Seeing his brother's miserable state, Uchiha Kirika lay prone on the ground, his entire body twitching from the strain.
He wanted to extract chakra. He struggled, wanting to get up, to help his brother deal with the terrifying Advisor Danzō, the fearsome Anbu Deputy Chief, and the hateful traitor Uchiha Mizukiku.
But his chakra points were sealed by Golden Eagle.
Just then, a muffled, strange voice sounded from beneath the ground.
"Uchiha Kirika, do you see? Without Lord Madara's protection, the Mangekyō Sharingan awakened by an Uchiha is nothing but a coveted collectible for others.
Watch closely. Your brother's eyes are about to be gouged out by Konoha Village.
Haha, others can pledge allegiance to Konoha, but the Uchiha absolutely cannot.
The Uchiha must either become the number one shinobi clan in the world, or become prey for others.
The Sharingan is every Uchiha's curse!"
Uchiha Kirika was stunned. He pressed his head low to the ground but couldn't find the source of the voice.
"Impossible! My brother's eyes are the legendary Mangekyō! Who are you? Please, help me! Let me extract chakra!"
Uchiha Kirika heard his brother's agonized scream and hurriedly looked up.
Uchiha Mizukiku body-flickered before his brother once more, another kunai sinking deep into his brother's chest.
Uchiha Mizukiku said coldly, "Konoha is what I must protect, Uchiha Mahiru. You will become the village's greatest calamity!
The Militant Faction you lead will also plunge the clan into a storm of bloodshed.
Stop struggling, Uchiha Mahiru!"
To seize the Mangekyō, Uchiha Mizukiku, despite having the advantage, held back from a killing blow, not aiming for the throat.
"Ahhhh!"
After successive screams, Uchiha Kirika watched in despair as Uchiha Mizukiku moved aside, and Danzō charged towards his brother once again.
Danzō's eagle-like talons reached for his brother's eyes once more.
Uchiha Mahiru's right eye spun wildly!
Mangekyō: Yono Shima!
Yōkō, who had been about to move from a distance, saw Uchiha Mahiru use his right eye's Mangekyō ability and relaxed the muscles in his legs.
Uchiha Mahiru, don't disappoint me now. Get it together and give that old thief Danzō a taste of something fierce.
A pinpoint black dot appeared on the ground before Danzō.
The black dot rapidly expanded, becoming a 3-meter diameter black circular island.
The island was absolute darkness, devouring all light.
Danzō, not paying attention to his footing, had already stepped onto the black circular island.
In the next instant, Danzō felt a terrifying force!
His bones were vibrating!
He seemed to grow shorter.
A moment later, Danzō collapsed into a puddle of bloody pulp!
Yōkō looked at the thin layer of flesh paste—white was bone, red was blood, brown was muscle, yellow was fat...
Such a powerful ocular jutsu!
It was said the ancient god Izanagi, holding the Ama no Nuboko, dripped brine from its tip, which coagulated and formed an island—Onogoro Island.
Mangekyō: Yono Shima. It seemed to create a terrifying gravitational force within the dark Yono Island. Anything touching the dark Yono Island would collapse into a thin sheet.
Was Lord Danzō dead?
Uchiha Mizukiku stared dumbfounded at the spot where Danzō had vanished.
There... lay a puddle of flesh pulp... even the bones were crushed into powder...
Uchiha Mahiru... killed Lord Danzō?
Uchiha Mizukiku pulled out his kunai: "Mahiru! You'll be the death of the clan! You killed Lord Danzō in front of so many Anbu shinobi?"
Uchiha Mizukiku, kunai in hand and radiating intense killing intent, charged at Uchiha Mahiru.
By now, bloody tears streamed from both of Uchiha Mahiru's eyes.
He was at the end of his rope.
Uchiha Mizukiku's kunai aimed straight for his throat.
He couldn't dodge it.
His consumption was too great; he was utterly spent.
Uchiha Mahiru suddenly remembered what Clan Head Kane had said: even if you awaken the Mangekyō, you cannot oppose the village.
So, the Clan Head was right...
Slap!
A hand suddenly clamped tightly around Uchiha Mizukiku's wrist.
Uchiha Mizukiku looked up, thinking it was the Anbu's Fox, and was about to erupt in anger.
How dare Copper Fox? Why does he repeatedly obstruct Root?
However, Uchiha Mizukiku was astonished to see that the one gripping his wrist was Lord Danzō?
Danzō thought to himself, The pupils dilate after death. A fresh Sharingan must be taken from a living host.
***
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(End of Chapter)