The dust storm kicked up by the Eight-Tails' collapse obscured the view on that side of the battlefield.
Ren Uchiha withdrew his gaze, his eyes still filled with a trace of astonishment. There was no doubt—the only thing in the world capable of making a Tailed Beast show such an undignified state was the Sharingan.
However, he still couldn't quite wrap his head around how Setsuna Uchiha had pulled it off. How did he... how did he manage to forcibly control the Eight-Tails with only a single Three-Tomoe Sharingan?
Based on the original series, even Mangekyō users like Sasuke, Obito, and Madara—whose specific eye abilities weren't even focused on Genjutsu—could easily manipulate the Nine-Tails. But at the very least, they possessed the Mangekyō.
While Tailed Beasts notoriously have poor resistance to Genjutsu, their massive chakra reserves act as a natural buffer. According to Ren's logic, controlling such a creature required two conditions:
The massive boost in ocular power provided by the Mangekyō Sharingan.
A vast amount of chakra to maintain that control.
Take Obito during the Nine-Tails' Attack: Minato realized that controlling the beast carried a risk and that the masked man wanted to end the fight quickly. If someone with low chakra reserves like Itachi tried to control the Nine-Tails, he might drop dead from exhaustion in fifteen minutes. Meanwhile, Madara—whose chakra was on par with Hashirama's—could maintain Susanoo while controlling the Nine-Tails, all while screaming "Hashirama!" and fighting for three days and nights.
The only instance of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan getting the better of a Tailed Beast was a young Sasuke at Orochimaru's hideout, where he suppressed Naruto's leaked Nine-Tails chakra. But even then, Sasuke had the Heaven's Cursed Seal to bolster his chakra, and Naruto was already weakened from a prior fight.
Ren vaguely felt that something fundamental had changed within Setsuna Uchiha.
Just then, a few startled shouts snapped Ren back to reality.
"Dammit!"
"Quick, stop him!"
"His target is Ren Uchiha!"
Ren snapped his head up and saw a figure he knew all too well charging toward him like a bolt of lightning!
While Ren had been battling Killer Bee, the Konoha side—led by Shikuro Aburame, Shinnosuke Sarutobi, and Hizashi Hyuga—had been locked in combat with the elite squads brought by the Kumo ninja, Ramii.
Because Kakuzu was an unexpected addition, Shinnosuke and Ryoma Aburame had teamed up to barely restrain him. But due to the sheer gap in strength, they were now panting and bloodied, pushed to their limits.
Kakuzu, meanwhile, hadn't expected such a windfall! He had been hired by Chiyo of the Sand to work with Kumo to kill Ren Uchiha. However, working with Kumo meant the bounty would be split. He had originally planned to take the head of the Hokage's son, Shinnosuke, to make up the difference.
But Shinnosuke and Ryoma were no pushovers. While he had the upper hand, killing them would take time.
And now? The primary target—the "Fat Sheep"—had been blown right to his feet by a Tailed Beast Bomb, so wounded he could barely walk. To Kakuzu, this was literal money falling from the sky! Who cared about Shinnosuke when this brat's head was worth so much more?
Kakuzu broke away from his pursuers and lunged at Ren. In an instant, he was before the boy. Looking at the prize he was about to claim, Kakuzu's lips curled into a greedy grin.
"You penniless brat!" he roared excitedly. "I'll be taking your head now!!"
As he reached Ren, he thrust his hand forward, fingers spread like a golden guillotine aimed at Ren's throat! This strike, reinforced by Earth Style: Earth Spear, was as sharp as a blade. One hit would take Ren's head clean off!
Ren's brow twitched. He instinctively opened his Sharingan, his two tomoe spinning as he tried to cast a Genjutsu to buy even a second of time.
But the strike was too fast! Ren's body was at its breaking point, and he barely had enough chakra to fuel an illusion. The wind of the palm strike cut across his face as the cold, death-like hand tore through the air!
"—!!"
Ren's eyes widened.
But just as he expected his head to be severed and carried off to some woods to be processed into cash, Kakuzu's hand suddenly froze. It stopped exactly 0.01 centimeters from his neck, unmoving.
Ren swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing and brushing against the cold, dead skin of Kakuzu's palm. He trembled involuntarily.
"Did... did the Genjutsu work?" he whispered.
He let out a long breath of relief and moved his neck away from the hand. But as he prepared to step back, a serious, stern voice answered his question from behind him.
"No! Genjutsu has limited effect on this man."
As the voice fell, twenty pairs of crimson Sharingan suddenly ignited in the deep darkness of the night!
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
Hearing that familiar voice and the sound of multiple cloaks snapping in the wind, Ren turned his head. He saw twenty figures leap from the shadows, their Three-Tomoe Sharingan glowing like beacons! Each wore the dark, high-collared robe with the Uchiha crest and a grey leather belt.
"Seiichiro?!" Ren's eyes widened, and a smile broke across his face.
The man leading this group of Uchiha elites was none other than his long-lost comrade, Seiichiro Uchiha!
"Ren, we'll catch up later," Seiichiro said, his gaze turning icy as he looked at Kakuzu. The bounty hunter had just used a heart-clone to break the Genjutsu, only to find himself surrounded by Uchiha.
"To lay such heavy hands on a twelve-year-old child..." Seiichiro's voice was like a blade of frost. "You—"
"Do you think there is no one left in the Uchiha clan to protect our own?"
As his cold words landed, twenty pairs of Sharingan focused their gaze on a single point.
Stare...
The very air seemed to freeze in place.
Kakuzu, who hadn't even had time to breathe a sigh of relief after breaking the illusion, felt the grin on his face stiffen. He looked warily at his surroundings—every escape route was perfectly sealed by a master of the Uchiha clan.
His heart skipped a beat. He suddenly realized... this situation seemed very, very wrong.
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