Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but wonder: if it were him standing on the battlefield right now, could he defeat Jie Uchiha?
Or rather, could he last longer than Danzo?
At this thought, a wave of sorrow washed over Hiruzen. The answer was obvious. Even though Jie was only ten years old, his combat strength and experience had far surpassed his own. Unless he used a mutual-destruction technique like the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, he wouldn't stand a chance. And even if he did use it, Hiruzen doubted whether he could successfully drag Jie into the Shinigami's stomach with him.
Jie had no idea that Hiruzen was contemplating sacrificing himself to take them both out. After stabbing Danzo to death with a single strike, he stood silently in place, waiting for the old man to reappear.
Shisui Uchiha watched with mounting anxiety. Every time he tried to step in and help, the massive wound on his chest stopped him dead in his tracks. The slightest movement caused the wound to tear open, spilling huge amount of blood and leaving Shisui dizzy.
Ignoring Shisui, Jie stood at a distance, vigilantly scanning his surroundings. Danzo's corpse had already vanished from the ground, but he still hadn't found any trace of him.
However, Jie was certain that Danzo was still in the back mountain. After all, while Izanagi could rewrite any damage taken, there was a distance limit to where the user could respawn. There was no way Danzo could have slipped away right under his nose.
Suddenly, a faint, strange noise reached Jie's ears. A quick search revealed the sound was coming from underground.
"He really is a rat, scurrying around in the dirt."
A cold sneer tugged at the corner of Jie's mouth. He flipped the Sword of the Thunder God in his hand and plunged the tip ruthlessly into the ground.
"Earth Release: Underworld Swamp!"
"Lightning Release: Earth Flash!"
Massive amounts of lightning surged down the Sword of the Thunder God, channeling directly into the earth that had just been turned into a pool of mud.
Poof!
Amidst the flashing lightning, a soft sound reached Jie's ears.
'Dispersed? A shadow clone?'
Shadow clones dispersed automatically when attacked, meaning the target underground was just a decoy to draw his attention. In that case, the real Danzo had to be right above him.
"Uchiha Style: Sword of Leaping Flame!"
Jie violently yanked out the Sword of the Thunder God. Streaks of fire erupted from the blade, and a flaming slash instantly soared into the sky.
Just as Jie expected, Danzo was leaping through the air right at that moment, his hand glowing with an eerie black light. One look was enough to tell it was not an easy Jutsu to deal with.
However, when Jie clearly saw the panicked expression on the mid-air Danzo's face, his expression drastically changed. The Sharingan could see the flow of chakra, meaning a shadow clone's true nature was obvious at a single glance. And to Jie's eyes, the Danzo in mid-air was clearly just another shadow clone.
The flaming slash swept past, and the Danzo in the air exploded into a cloud of white smoke, confirming his suspicions.
Where was the real Danzo?
"Self-Cursing Seal!"
A pale hand burst from the soil and gripped Jie's ankle. Instantly, black runes rapidly surfaced, spreading across Jie's entire body.
"It's over, Jie."
Danzo broke out of the ground. The wound on his chest was still bubbling with fresh blood. Yet, Danzo acted as if he didn't feel a thing. He stood before Jie without a shred of defense, speaking calmly.
"Although your power is immense, you are still far too lacking in experience. The Self-Cursing Seal has been planted. You cannot move."
Jie furrowed his brows slightly. He could feel his body; it was indeed paralyzed. He thought he had been vigilant enough, but he hadn't expected to fall for Danzo's trap anyway. Sure enough, this old bastard was cunning and ruthless enough—even to himself.
The moment Danzo appeared, Jie figured out exactly how he had done it. From the very beginning, the one Jie had stabbed was Danzo's main body. He just didn't know what method Danzo had used—perhaps a Body Replacement Technique or a Transformation Technique—to make that tiny noise underground and cause Jie to misjudge the situation. The shadow clone that appeared in mid-air was the real decoy meant to draw his attention.
Actually, calling it a decoy wasn't quite accurate, considering the black light flickering in the shadow clone's hand. If Jie's guess was correct, that was also the Self-Cursing Seal. Whether it was the shadow clone or the main body, as long as one of them fooled Jie and planted the seal on him, Danzo's goal would be achieved.
"After you die, I will put your Sharingan to good use." Danzo reached out, his hand slowly approaching Jie's eyes. He spoke softly, in a voice only the two of them could hear. "I will use your eyes to witness the day the Uchiha clan is destroyed."
Hearing Danzo's words, a flash of mockery crossed Jie's mind. 'To think a simple curse mark could kill me... Danzo really is too naive.'
The tomoe in Jie's eyes began to spin wildly, rapidly merging until two exquisite triangles formed in his pupils.
"You actually awakened the Mangekyo as well?" Seeing this transformation, an ominous premonition swelled in Danzo's heart. He immediately sped up his movements.
"Bansho!"
An invisible domain expanded outward from Jie's left eye. In the next second, the domain was fully deployed. Jie instantly felt that with a single thought, everything within this domain would bend to his will. That included Danzo.
Watching the hand inching closer to his eye, Jie's gaze hardened.
'Hm?'
'What's going on? Why can't I move?'
'A Genjutsu? Or a curse mark?'
Suddenly, Danzo found that his hand couldn't advance even a single millimeter. He had completely lost control of his own body. It didn't feel like a Genjutsu where he lost all sensation. Instead, it felt exactly like his own Self-Cursing Seal. An absolutely unrivaled power had seized control and restricted his every movement.
"Kamui!"
Having bound Danzo's movements, Jie focused his mind, and the second visual Jutsu residing in his left eye immediately activated. A spatial vortex instantly formed in front of Danzo, and a terrifying suction force began to distort his body.
The agonizing pain of his body being torn apart ruthlessly stimulated Danzo's nerves.
However, completely immobilized, he couldn't even let out a scream. He was forced to endure it all in silence. In just a few moments, Danzo's entire body was shredded by the vortex and swallowed into the alternate dimension.
"Lord Danzo!"
Seeing the scene unfold, Shisui Uchiha couldn't help but cry out. Everything had happened so fast that he didn't even have time to react or intervene. By the time he realized what was happening, Danzo had already been devoured by the spatial distortion.
Under the eruption of such immense visual prowess, the power of the Self-Cursing Seal rapidly dissipated. Jie quickly regained control of his body. However, sensing the situation inside the alternate dimension, Jie couldn't help but furrow his brow.
'Why did the ancestors of the Uchiha clan have to develop such a troublesome Jutsu!' Jie cursed internally.
Though, he supposed the ancestors of the Uchiha clan never could have imagined that someone would be insane enough to transplant so many Sharingan onto their own body.
Glancing around the empty surroundings, Jie spoke calmly.
"That's twice."
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