Not having intelligence was a huge disadvantage.
The Uchiha clan was monitored from every angle and in every way, rendered almost transparent, while Uchiha Mahiru knew nothing about the village's intelligence.
He possessed the Mangekyō, yet he had been subdued in a single move.
Seeing Fox, Uchiha Mahiru suddenly remembered what the White Zetsu had said.
In the Land of Rain, facing Uchiha Madara, the Anbu's Fox and others waited until the Uchiha clan suffered casualties, only revealing his Wood Release after their teacher, Uchiha Michi, died.
Fox let Uchiha Madara and the Uchiha clan fight to a stalemate, intentionally letting the Uchiha die.
Fox absolutely had the strength to do so.
"Copper Fox! We will absolutely not go to any Anbu! You have no right to judge us Uchiha! No one can judge me!"
Yōkō was taken aback. Who did he think he was, trying to 'surpass heaven'? No one can judge you?
Yōkō tilted his chin, signaling Golden Eagle to hurry up and act; this prefab slab was far too arrogant.
Golden Eagle rushed forward, using a set of the Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms to seal Uchiha Mahiru's chakra points.
With Yōkō's Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal and Golden Eagle's Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms as a double insurance, unless Uchiha Mahiru brought out some of his trump cards, he was definitely going down today.
Yōkō watched Uchiha Kirika from the corner of his eye.
Uchiha Mahiru was just the sacrificial offering; Uchiha Kirika was Yōkō's real target.
Seeing his brother in distress, Uchiha Kirika's Three Tomoe spun wildly.
Not bad, Yōkō thought to himself. Uchiha Kirika's ocular power is very active. The next step is to keep stimulating him using his brother until he awakens the Mangekyō.
The moment Golden Eagle sealed Uchiha Mahiru's chakra points, a brown Susano'o skeleton appeared in the next instant!
Uchiha Mahiru used the Susano'o to forcibly break through Yōkō's Self-Cursing Body Binding Seal.
Golden Eagle was sent flying by a single swipe from the skeleton's palm.
Just ribs and one arm, yet it had such explosive power.
Yōkō stared at the four-curved spiral Mangekyō pattern in Uchiha Mahiru's eyes. It was quite beautiful.
However, you were too impatient, exposing your Mangekyō so early.
Uchiha Mahiru stood within the rib cage of the skeleton and said coldly, "Copper Fox, let my brother go! I will only say this once."
Let your brother go?
You're still worrying about your brother? You should worry about yourself first.
Yōkō planned to force out all of Uchiha Mahiru's abilities step by step, letting Uchiha Kirika witness with his own eyes how his brother gave his all, only to face failure.
Facing the Susano'o was a good chance to test his own Wood Dragon Technique.
He formed three hand seals. A wooden dragon erupted from the ground before Yōkō.
Yōkō didn't use his full power; the wood dragon was only 1 meter thick.
The wood dragon lunged out and swiftly entangled itself with the Susano'o.
The Susano'o's arm grabbed the wood dragon's neck, but the wood dragon was exceptionally flexible. Its body coiled around, wrapping the Susano'o's rib cage at its center.
Uchiha Mahiru's face changed dramatically!
The chakra on the Susano'o was rapidly draining!
The chakra was being absorbed by the wood dragon, which visibly thickened and strengthened.
Not good!
If he let the wood dragon continue to absorb chakra, the Susano'o would only grow weaker and weaker!
Uchiha Mahiru thought to himself that he must destroy the wood dragon in one go.
Uchiha Mahiru closed his eyes, hesitating for a brief moment. When he opened them again, a massive amount of chakra surged from his eyes.
The rib-cage Susano'o instantly transformed into a half-bodied skeleton Susano'o.
The half-bodied skeleton Susano'o was a full five people tall, its two hands tearing the wood dragon apart.
Yōkō thought, Can't you use a different ability? Why keep using Susano'o? What is your Mangekyō's unique ocular power?
He needs more pressure.
Yōkō formed hand seals with both hands, using a larger-scale Wood Dragon Technique.
This time, the wood dragon was a full 3 meters thick.
Yōkō stood on the wood dragon's head, charging straight at the Susano'o.
The wood dragon was extremely fast. Standing on the dragon's head, the wind howled, whipping his long robe and black hair.
From atop the dragon's head, Yōkō used a Water Release technique.
Water Release: Water Cutting Wave!
A high-speed water jet shot towards the Susano'o's shoulder.
The water jet cut through the outer layer of chakra, but when it hit the Susano'o's bones, it had no effect.
Such strong defensive power... Elemental ninjutsu wasn't enough; he still had to rely on Wood Release.
The wood dragon and the Susano'o wrestled together, with the wood dragon being more agile.
The Susano'o grabbed the wood dragon's neck, but Wood Release could grow from any point. The neck could be five meters long, or ten.
The wood dragon's maw opened wide, biting down hard on the Susano'o's neck.
A large amount of chakra was absorbed by the dragon's mouth, making the wood dragon increasingly tough and resilient.
The Susano'o skeleton struggled desperately, its two skeletal arms not only unable to break free from the wood dragon but growing weaker and more feeble.
Seeing the brown skeleton up close, its texture was quite unique.
The color of the skeleton was like the wooden pillars of a palace-style building.
Yōkō stared at Uchiha Mahiru inside the skeleton.
Show me something else.
Wood Release specifically countered Susano'o. A half-bodied skeletal Susano'o was no match for the Wood Dragon Technique.
Uchiha Mahiru also realized that even his strengthened Susano'o was no match for the wood dragon.
He tightly closed his eyes again, preparing to use his true trump card.
Mangekyō Ocular Jutsu!
The Mangekyō was the eye that reflected the heart.
It was said that the abilities of the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō were all different.
Uchiha Mahiru opened his left eye, the Mangekyō Sharingan spinning half a circle.
"Mangekyō! Ameno Mihashira!"
He remembered how his teacher, Uchiha Michi, had been bound by Wood Release... Ameno Mihashira was the strongest control-type ocular jutsu of the Mangekyō!
Hearing Uchiha Mahiru shout the name of his technique with such imposing momentum, Yōkō's mind raced.
It was said that the ancient gods Izanagi and Izanami were siblings. They built a great hall and within it gave birth to the myriad gods.
The pillar that supported the great hall was named Ameno Mihashira.
A terrifying, chilling sensation. Chakra instantly surged from Uchiha Mahiru's left eye, enveloping Yōkō.
Yōkō suddenly felt as if everything before his eyes was covered by a brown filter.
It was actually an instant-cast Mangekyō ocular jutsu?
A thick, semi-transparent brown pillar materialized out of nowhere around Yōkō.
He was sealed within the pillar, unable to move!
His body couldn't exert force; he was completely immobilized.
His chakra couldn't be extracted or circulated.
It felt as if his blood had solidified; he had completely lost his ability to act.
This was the type of control ability Yōkō feared the most.
Without Yōkō's control, the Wood Dragon Technique's power greatly diminished. No longer able to absorb chakra, it was torn apart by the half-bodied skeleton Susano'o spreading its arms.
The wood dragon crashed to the ground with a thunderous impact.
The chakra of the half-bodied skeleton Susano'o faded layer by layer; the chakra flames, arm bones, and ribs disappeared one after another.
Uchiha Mahiru panted heavily, sweat from over-extracting chakra beading on his forehead and chin.
Was the toll of the ocular jutsu on himself this heavy?
A few uses of Susano'o and one use of Ameno Mihashira, and his vision was already becoming blurry.
However, the effect of the ocular jutsu was remarkable.
The Anbu's Copper Fox was sealed inside a thick, brown, semi-transparent pillar, unable to move.
His instant-cast Mangekyō ocular jutsu had restrained Fox.
This was Uchiha Mahiru's first time using this technique in actual combat, and he was very satisfied.
"Lord Fox!"
Golden Eagle and the others rushed forward, but were forced back by a Great Fireball Technique from Uchiha Mahiru.
Uchiha Mahiru's bloodline talent for maniacal laughter awakened:
"Hahahahaha!
"The Anbu Deputy Chief who commands Wood Release is nothing more than this.
'Konoha's Crimson Maple'? 'Konoha's Copper Fox'? With such garbage strength, you can become Deputy Chief, then I should at least be a Chief!
Let my brother go! I'll exchange my brother for your garbage Deputy Chief!"
Golden Eagle stared at Lord Fox inside the Ameno Mihashira. He watched for several seconds, but there was no counterattack from his superior.
Could it be that Lord was truly locked by that strange semi-transparent brown pillar?
An instant-cast control-type ocular jutsu was too terrifying.
Golden Eagle glanced at the ground behind Uchiha Mahiru, where a few insects had appeared, and said, "Uchiha Mahiru, every shinobi has the obligation to accept investigation by the Anbu. The Anbu is the Hokage's direct force. Don't be so foolish. You are not just opposing us, the Anbu, but the Hokage himself!"
Uchiha Mahiru snorted coldly. "In that case, the face you're losing isn't just the Anbu's, but the Hokage's as well!"
"Uchiha Mahiru!" Golden Eagle shouted angrily. "Don't you..."
At that very moment, a sudden change occurred.
From under Uchiha Mahiru's feet, a swarm of insects secretly crawled up, forming into a hand.
White Ram had silently infiltrated behind Uchiha Mahiru using his insects.
Poisonous insects bit into Uchiha Mahiru's ankle; some burrowed under his skin, tunneling back and forth, devouring flesh and blood.
Uchiha Mahiru was greatly shocked. In a few more seconds, his ankle might be bitten through!
They were aiming to cripple one of his feet! The Anbu was ruthless!
Not daring to be careless any longer, Uchiha Mahiru's Susano'o appeared once again.
The massive chakra surge directly killed the surrounding insects.
Not bothering with the insect swarm that had been flung away, Uchiha Mahiru let a wire fall into his hand, quickly wrapping it around his calf to prevent the insects from burrowing upward through his flesh.
Gathering a large amount of chakra on his fingers, he crouched down and stabbed his own calf.
The insects were pierced to death through his flesh, but his ankle was severely injured.
By the time he stood up again, he saw a half-figure floating in the air behind him.
The lower half of White Ram's body slowly dispersed, turning into a swirling cloud of insects.
Uchiha Mahiru was thrown into disarray by the Anbu's endless stream of methods. Why was the village's power so strong?
A few Anbu members had seized the moment of his exhaustion to seriously injure his ankle.
What the Clan Head said seemed to have some merit; the village indeed had no shortage of powerful individuals.
Among these people, aside from Fox who had some reputation, Uchiha Mahiru had never seen the others before. He wondered how strong the village's famous shinobi like the White Fang or the Sannin really were.
White Ram shouted to the Black Gorilla squad behind him, "Use combination ninjutsu! The bigger the commotion, the better!"
Facing the two Fire Release and two Wind Release combination ninjutsu rushing towards him, Uchiha Mahiru felt a sense of unease.
Although this place was remote, such a large commotion would inevitably attract the attention of others in the village.
How was this going to end?
The highest position he had held in the Security Police was head of the Interrogation Division. He wasn't like Uchiha Tōka and the others who had more dealings with the village. He didn't even know what the Konoha Village's emergency protocol was for such a situation, or who the village would send to investigate.
Forget it. He would follow his own plan.
Once he beat all the Anbu to the ground, they would naturally talk to him properly!
Facing the Wind-Fire combination ninjutsu, the Susano'o appeared once again.
***
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(End of Chapter)