Within seconds, the Four Violet Flames Formation fully materialized in the Forest of Death. A massive, transparent cube of intensely burning purple chakra now isolated the battlefield.
Standing safely on the outside, Danzo Shimura allowed a cruel smirk to twist his scarred face. He watched Jin Uchiha, who was now trapped in the center of the kill zone.
"Jin Uchiha," Danzo gloated, his voice amplified by chakra to penetrate the barrier. "Your arrogance is your downfall. I admit, I could not understand why you never attempted to raid Root to secure your parents. But it is irrelevant now. Shisui and Itachi's absence suggested you knew of the ambush, yet you walked into the cage anyway."
Danzo raised his hand. "Execute him."
Inside the barrier, the vanguard consisted of over two hundred rogue ninja and mercenaries—men driven entirely by the promise of wealth. However, these men were not fools. As the Root and Anbu operatives behind them drew their blades to force them forward, the mercenaries quickly realized the reality of their situation.
"They're using us as fodder!" a scarred rogue ninja yelled. "They want us to drain his chakra!"
"I'm not dying for this payout!" another screamed. "Retreat!"
Panic spread instantly. The mercenaries turned and bolted toward the perimeter, desperate to escape.
However, they had fundamentally misunderstood the nature of the trap. The Root operatives did not pursue them; they merely watched with cold indifference.
The fleeing mercenaries slammed into the walls of the Four Violet Flames Formation. The reaction was instantaneous and absolute. The moment their flesh touched the barrier, the highly combustible chakra ignited. Screams of pure agony echoed through the forest as dozens of men were instantly reduced to piles of ash.
The remaining mercenaries skidded to a halt, staring in horror at the smoldering remains of their comrades.
"Your mission is to kill Jin Uchiha!" Danzo's voice boomed from the outside. "He is the only obstacle between you and freedom. Kill him, and you receive the bounty. Refuse, and you die in the flames. Choose!"
Trapped between the incinerating walls and the cold steel of the Konoha operatives behind them, the mercenaries had only one option left. They turned back toward Jin, their eyes filled with the desperate, cornered aggression of doomed men.
Through the entire ordeal, Jin remained perfectly still, his arms crossed, observing the panic with absolute apathy.
He waited until the mercenaries finally focused their killing intent on him. Only then did he uncross his arms, rolling his shoulders to loosen his muscles.
"Do you plan to dance?" Jin asked softly.
The calm facade vanished. A terrifying, bloodthirsty grin stretched across his face.
Jin's Internal Monologue: The village administration only knows me as a politician. They believe my strength stems solely from the sudden awakening of the Mangekyo Sharingan. They are ignorant of my history. I survived the Third Great Ninja War while Danzo continuously sabotaged Uchiha squads. I survived because I left no witnesses. Not enemy combatants. Not even my own compromised teammates.
"Kill him!" a mercenary roared.
The horde charged.
Jin moved.
He didn't use the Mangekyo. He didn't even weave signs for a ninjutsu. His standard three-tomoe Sharingan activated, spinning lazily in his eyes.
System Explanation: The three-tomoe Sharingan grants the user kinetic vision, allowing them to perfectly perceive high-speed movements, predict enemy attacks based on subtle muscle twitches, and visualize the flow of chakra.
Jin vanished, leaving behind an afterimage. His mastery of the Body Flicker Technique (Shunshin) was absolute.
Crack!
He reappeared amidst the vanguard. He swept his left arm forward, his chakra-enhanced strike shattering three steel broadswords instantly. The concussive force launched the three mercenaries backward like broken dolls.
Without pausing, Jin pivoted, his heel driving into the ground and spider-webbing the earth. He launched himself forward, delivering a devastating kick to the chest of a rogue ninja who was mid-way through hand signs. The man's ribcage caved in with a sickening crunch.
Jin flowed through the chaotic battlefield like a phantom. His Sharingan tracked every trajectory, every shifting center of gravity. He moved with brutal, terrifying efficiency. He didn't waste energy on flashy jutsu; he simply exploited every opening with lethal precision. A crushed trachea here, a snapped neck there. He was a flawless engine of close-quarters slaughter.
In less than three minutes, over a hundred mercenaries lay dead. Jin hadn't shed a single drop of blood, nor had a single weapon managed to graze his clothing.
"He's a monster!" a surviving mercenary shrieked, dropping his weapon. "Run!"
The remaining vanguard broke completely. The psychological terror of watching Jin dismantle their forces with casual, inhuman ease was too much. They scattered, blindly throwing themselves at the purple flames or charging the Konoha lines, only to be executed by Root operatives.
Jin ignored the fleeing cowards. His Sharingan locked onto the real threat: the masked Anbu and Root forces. He accelerated toward them without hesitation.
***
Danzo's Miscalculation
Outside the barrier, Danzo Shimura's smirk had vanished, replaced by profound shock.
"Torune," Danzo demanded, his voice strained. "Why is his physical combat capability this high?"
The entire purpose of the mercenary vanguard was to force Jin to exhaust his Mangekyo Sharingan's visual prowess (Dojutsu) early in the fight. But Jin had butchered two hundred men using only basic taijutsu and a standard Sharingan.
Torune Aburame, Danzo's top lieutenant, frowned behind his mask.
"Lord Danzo, our intelligence was flawed," Torune assessed clinically. "Jin participated in the Third War, yet he possessed no moniker. Men like Minato Namikaze (The Yellow Flash) and Sakumo Hatake (The White Fang) earned their titles because witnesses survived to tell the tale. Jin Uchiha has no title because he ensured there were never any survivors to report his combat capabilities."
Danzo's single eye widened as the implication set in. Jin hadn't suddenly become powerful; he had been meticulously hiding his true, monstrous lethality for years.
"Damn him," Danzo cursed, realizing the trap he set was rapidly turning into a meat grinder for his own forces. "Torune! Order the main forces to engage! Overwhelm him!"