Chapter 504: Sōkai's Dōjutsu
Konoha Village. Uchiha Clan Grounds.
Izumi Uchiha stood on a rooftop, watching Sōkai and Itachi Uchiha, who had just exchanged a few blows. A trace of doubt flashed in her eyes.
"You're Sōkai?" she asked.
Sōkai glanced at her, not bothering to reply.
Izumi didn't mind his attitude. It was normal for a clansman who had been away to be a little distant.
She said, "Itachi Uchiha is a genius. He's different from us. Let's attack him together."
Sōkai nodded. This time, he kept his eyes firmly fixed on Itachi, not looking away.
He just said to Izumi, "His right eye's dōjutsu releases a black flame that can burn anything. Be careful. If it touches you, it's over."
Itachi frowned, looking at Sōkai, then at Izumi, and began to think of a counter-strategy.
He had already learned about the drawbacks of the Mangekyo Sharingan from Shisui. So, in his brief exchange with Sōkai, he hadn't immediately used his dōjutsu for a quick victory, but had chosen to use ninjutsu and taijutsu instead.
Unfortunately, although he had the upper hand, he hadn't been able to take down this "talentless" loser from the intel reports.
If it had been the Sōkai who had just awakened his Mangekyo, he would have been defeated in a few moves.
But the current Sōkai had been trained according to Fugaku's methods. Like Izumi, his strength had been rapidly increasing since he awakened his Mangekyo. So, although their combat talent couldn't compare to a genius like Itachi, their raw power was not that far off.
After all, Itachi himself had not yet gone through the rapid growth phase after awakening his Mangekyo.
Izumi analyzed the situation. "Our combat talent is not as good as his. I'll be the main attacker, you provide support."
With that, her eyes quickly changed to the Mangekyo pattern, and the frame of a cyan Susanoo materialized around her. Soon, a half-body skeleton appeared on the field.
Izumi felt that instead of trying to defend against Itachi's Amaterasu, it was better to just use the all-around Susanoo. It was simpler. She couldn't match Itachi's timing on the battlefield; she wouldn't be able to block it anyway.
Seeing her use the chakra-consuming Susanoo right from the start, both Itachi and Sōkai were surprised. They didn't know that Izumi's ocular power could be replenished; she had some capital to squander.
Seeing her get serious, Sōkai didn't hesitate and immediately began to form hand seals for a fire jutsu. The conventional combat techniques he knew were few, basically just Fire Release and genjutsu. But Ishiro had told him that Itachi's genjutsu mastery was far above his, so he chose Fire Release.
Itachi, while dodging the Susanoo's attacks and also having to watch out for Sōkai's fire jutsu, quickly fell into a disadvantage. After all, a wide-area attack like the Susanoo was not so easy to dodge.
Soon, he was also forced to activate his Susanoo.
However, the Susanoo he manifested was very small. Sometimes, it was just a few ribs to protect himself from the fire jutsu. Sometimes, it was just an arm to block Izumi's attack.
It had to be said, combat talent was very important. Even with two against one, Izumi and Sōkai were consuming far more ocular power and chakra than Itachi, yet they still couldn't take him down.
The left hand of the cyan half-body Susanoo swung, but Itachi, who had predicted it, dodged with a leap.
Sōkai seized the opportunity while Itachi was in mid-air and unleashed his signature Great Fireball Technique.
Itachi's first instinct was to counter with his own fire jutsu, but being unstable in the air, he wasn't sure he could do it without completely losing his balance.
So, his three-tomoe Sharingan transformed into the Mangekyo, and a small section of a red Susanoo enveloped him.
The next moment, the Great Fireball hit him, but it had no effect against the Susanoo.
At this moment, the right hand of Izumi's cyan Susanoo had already formed a fist and was rapidly smashing down on him from above.
This was a combo. She had anticipated he would dodge by jumping and had prepared this strike.
Just as Itachi was about to be hit, his body, which should have been immobile in mid-air, shot backward with incredible speed.
BOOM! Izumi's fist hit nothing. She looked closely. It was a steel wire.
Under the cover of the fireball, Itachi had, in her blind spot, shot a kunai with a steel wire attached. He had then used the wire to pull himself out of the way.
Izumi's face was not pleased. Itachi had been able to neutralize her ultimate move with such a simple, low-cost trick.
In this way, although Itachi was in a precarious situation, every time things got critical, he was able to easily resolve the danger with some small trick—sometimes a kunai with an explosive tag, sometimes a steel wire, sometimes his unique Crow Clone Technique.
He was barely maintaining a stalemate with his combat skills.
But the longer they fought, the deeper Itachi's frown became. It's been so long, and Izumi can still maintain a half-body Susanoo?
He was still young, and his patience was wearing thin.
He didn't want to wait any longer. From the blue flashes he saw from a distance, he judged that Ishiro was not being suppressed by the Hokage and the others. On the contrary, he saw an unfamiliar Susanoo appear in the direction of his own home. That must be his father's. He had to get rid of these two quickly and go and stop his father from continuing down this stubborn path.
So, he quickly changed tactics. He no longer used small pieces of Susanoo for defense but manifested a full half-body Susanoo of his own.
His timing was perfect. The moment his red half-body Susanoo appeared, it sent Izumi's Susanoo crashing to the ground with a single punch.
Then, he suddenly looked at Sōkai, who was startled by this move.
The moment their eyes met, a line of blood trickled from Itachi's left eye: "Tsukuyomi."
The next moment, Sōkai was pulled into the genjutsu space.
Seeing his situation, he was first shocked and was about to activate his own Mangekyo ability, but after a moment's hesitation, he held back.
Then, Itachi began to torture him.
Sōkai lasted for an "hour" in the genjutsu space before he couldn't take it anymore. In Tsukuyomi, time was an illusion. The endless pain was the greatest test of the victim's mind.
Unable to bear it any longer, Sōkai activated his Mangekyo dōjutsu.
His two dōjutsu were: Left Eye: Damage Sharing.
Sōkai was different from Izumi. Izumi's greatest hatred was for Shisui, so her ability was mainly targeted at the traitor of her clan. But Sōkai, guided by Ishiro from a young age, hated Konoha's high command more.
On the day he was stimulated by Shisui, his most urgent desire was to make Konoha's leadership feel the same pain they had inflicted on the Uchiha. This pain included having his own clansmen brainwashed, willingly becoming their dogs, and betraying their family.
So, one of the abilities he awakened was Damage Sharing: to make the ninja who caused him harm suffer the same damage.
Right Eye: Genjutsu. To envelop the victim in endless shame and pain, a genjutsu where they watch the thing they cherish most be destroyed before their eyes.
The right eye was targeted at both Konoha's leadership and Shisui. Sōkai hated that they did not take the Uchiha's honor seriously and trampled on their reputation. So, the second ability he awakened was a genjutsu that made the victim watch their most cherished thing be destroyed. It was an enhanced version of the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.
When Ishiro first heard of this, he thought it was particularly suitable for use on the Uchiha themselves. If used well, it was a Mangekyo mass-production dōjutsu. Of course, that was just a thought. Awakening the Mangekyo required talent. Most Uchiha would likely just suffer a mental breakdown.
In Itachi's genjutsu space, having been tortured for a long time, Sōkai directly used his left eye's dōjutsu.
The next moment, Itachi, who was "torturing" him, also let out a scream. He instantly suffered the pain Sōkai had endured for an "hour," and the impact on him was even greater.
Hit by this sudden blow, Itachi could no longer maintain Tsukuyomi. He dispelled the genjutsu and the Susanoo, and fell to one knee, gasping for breath.
Sōkai's tolerance was even worse. He was already on his knees, clutching his head and coughing continuously.
Although it had been a long time in the genjutsu, in reality, only a moment had passed.
At this time, Izumi, who had been knocked down by Itachi's Susanoo, had just been forced to dispel her own and hadn't even stood up yet. If it weren't for Sōkai's special dōjutsu causing Itachi's Susanoo to also dispel, Itachi could have killed her with a single slap.
However, she was not injured. She quickly got up, and just as she was about to dodge Itachi's follow-up attack, she saw both him and Sōkai collapse.
She was stunned for a moment, then realized they must have had a dōjutsu duel that she hadn't seen.
A thought flashed in her mind. She roared, "Itachi Uchiha, you traitor! Die!"
With that, she threw several shuriken at him.
Itachi subconsciously looked in her direction and gathered chakra to retreat.
But the next moment, he saw her Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Not good! It's a trap!" He remembered what Shisui had said. Shisui had suffered a huge loss of ocular power just by looking at her Mangekyo.
Combining that with the fact that Izumi had just maintained her Susanoo for so long, the answer was obvious. Her dōjutsu was to plunder ocular power and then make it her own.
But he knew it too late. In a flash, he lost a large amount of ocular power again.
He stabbed himself with a kunai to break free from her gaze.
However, because he had been hit hard several times in a row, his control over his body was no longer as smooth as before. And at this moment, Izumi's shuriken were about to arrive.
He was suddenly in a life-or-death crisis.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
An unusually thick staff extended from a distance and blocked the attack for him.
The newcomer was Hiruzen Sarutobi. After receiving Shikaku's notice, he had left the ordinary Uchiha clansmen to go and replace Tsunade. But halfway there, Shikaku, realizing Itachi was at a disadvantage, had called him over.
He quickly arrived in front of Itachi. Seeing him, Izumi also took a step to protect Sōkai.
Itachi was almost out of combat power; at least, he couldn't use his Mangekyo abilities for a short time. But Izumi had just absorbed Itachi's ocular power and hadn't had time to digest it, so she also couldn't use her dōjutsu.
Fortunately, with this buffer, Sōkai had recovered somewhat.
He reactivated his Mangekyo and looked at Hiruzen.
Seeing this, Hiruzen, who had been about to move, immediately chose to retreat.
He was experienced. He did not act rashly like Itachi had, unleashing an ultimate move without knowing his opponent's dōjutsu. He knew very well how terrifying an unknown Mangekyo ability could be. He didn't want to risk his life to gather intelligence.
So, although he could see that both Izumi and Sōkai were in a bad state, he still didn't act.
He took Itachi and quickly left. Sōkai and Izumi both sighed in relief.
Sōkai, who had just struggled to his feet, immediately fell to the ground again, only managing to avoid embarrassment because Izumi caught him.
He caught his breath. "Sister Izumi, we can't stay in Konoha anymore. Come with me to Iwagakure."
She shook her head. "I still have to save my clansmen. They're being slaughtered."
He grabbed her arm. "Sister Izumi, do you have the strength to fight anymore?"
She sensed the ocular power in her eyes. "I absorbed Itachi's power. I need time to digest it. I can't use my Mangekyo right now."
"So," he said, "if you go now, you'll just be throwing your life away. Let's leave Konoha first. Don't go to the battle. Let's look and see if there are any children still alive. We'll ask to take a few with us."
Izumi was still conflicted, but he forcibly pulled her away.
They hadn't gone far when Ishiro flew down in front of them.
He looked at Sōkai. "How are you now?"
Sōkai gave a wry smile. "Teacher, I was caught in Itachi's genjutsu. My head is splitting. But he's not much better. I reflected all the damage he caused me back onto him. Sister Izumi also absorbed his ocular power. He's suffered a great loss and can't use his Mangekyo for now. But she also needs time to digest the power and can't fight either."
Ishiro nodded. "I see. Let's retreat."
He created a porcelain platform, took the two of them, and quickly left Konoha Village.
On the other side, Itachi was quickly reporting the intelligence he had gathered to Hiruzen.
"Lord Third, one of Izumi Uchiha's dōjutsu is to absorb ocular power. She can convert it into her own. Last time, she absorbed Brother Shisui's. Her Mangekyo has a very strong endurance. This time, she absorbed mine. She should be able to largely make up for her consumption in this battle."
Hearing this, Hiruzen's heart sank. He had nurtured Shisui and Itachi largely because he knew the drawback of the Mangekyo. These two blades would eventually dull themselves and would not pose a threat to Konoha's leadership.
But Izumi Uchiha could recover her consumption by absorbing others' power. That was too terrifying.
"One of Uchiha Sōkai's dōjutsu is to make the victim share the damage he receives. I was hit by this, so the injuries I inflicted on him were also inflicted on myself."
After a moment, he continued, "Lord Third, the ocular power Izumi absorbed may need time to be converted. She didn't press the attack to kill me. She should be temporarily unable to use her dōjutsu. Sōkai's soul is injured. It's hard to say if he can use his Mangekyo. Now might be the best time to eliminate them."
Hiruzen shook his head. "When I saved you, there was already a lot of porcelain mud around. The Tsuchikage has been watching this side. Tsunade and the others couldn't hold him. He can fly over to rescue them at any time."
Hearing this, Itachi was surprised. "Lord Third, then why didn't he kill me? And that time he saved Brother Shisui, he didn't kill me either, but I clearly felt his undisguised killing intent."
Hiruzen was also at a loss. When he had saved Itachi, there had been porcelain mud around. Logically, Itachi shouldn't have had a chance to survive.
"Could the Tsuchikage have reached some agreement with Fugaku?" he wondered.
But after analyzing it, he felt it was impossible. What great benefit could Fugaku offer to make Ishiro give up a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan that were right in his grasp? And even if he had, with Ishiro's personality, his first move would be: "I'll take both."
Soon, the baffled Hiruzen brought Itachi to Tsunade.
Only Orochimaru was still in a fierce battle with Fugaku. Manda versus Susanoo, it was quite a spectacle.
Tsunade and the other two were idle.
Before, they had faced Ishiro, but he had beaten them back with his relentless Light Release ninjutsu. Although they weren't injured, and besides Rasa, had not consumed much chakra, the frustration was unbearable.
Seeing Hiruzen and the injured Itachi, Tsunade said, "Sensei, I've disappointed you. Not only did I fail to capture the Tsuchikage, I couldn't even hold him."
Hiruzen shook his head. "It's not your fault. No one expected the Tsuchikage's application of a Kekkei Tōta to have reached such a level. A Kekkei Tōta is, after all, a higher-level Kekkei Genkai. Before, Ōnoki and the Tsuchikage could only use it simply. Dust Release and Light Release were at most an ultimate move. But the Tsuchikage has actually integrated a Kekkei Tōta into ordinary ninjutsu, like Ice Release or Scorch Release. It's normal that you couldn't find a way to counter it at first."
At this moment, Shikaku Nara's voice suddenly sounded in their ears.
"Lady Hokage, we just received intel. Our ninja at Iwa's Land of Snow branch have discovered that more than half of the Iwa ninja inside have disappeared. I've sent people to verify the other branches."
Hearing this, Rasa and the Raikage tensed. Rasa immediately asked, "Is there any movement at Iwa's Land of Bears branch?"
"Lord Kazekage, please wait. We are investigating."
A few seconds later, Shikaku continued, "Lord Kazekage, we have lost contact with our ninja in the Land of Bears."
Rasa was struck as if by lightning and almost fell from the sky.
Tsunade immediately said, "Kazekage, rest assured. I will immediately send troops to the Land of Waterfalls and do my best to hold back Iwa."
This was the duty of an ally. Although this wouldn't directly help Suna, it would at least put pressure on Iwa.
Rasa nodded, not speaking.
Once it was confirmed that Iwa was attacking Sunagakure, even if Konoha sent an army and took the Land of Waterfalls, it wouldn't change anything. The choice between Sunagakure and a branch base was an easy one for Iwa to make.
A while later, Shikaku reported on Iwa's other branches, including the movements of Ikura and Kawakita.
After hearing this, Rasa, without another word, flew away. He first went to his original position, picked up his guards, and then flew toward Sunagakure at top speed.
Seeing this, Tsunade didn't think anything was wrong, just that she had fallen for Ishiro's trick. But Hiruzen was thoughtful.
Of course, he would not expose Shikaku. On the contrary, he felt Shikaku had done the right thing.
Better to sacrifice a friend than oneself. Suna suffering was better than Konoha suffering.
Tsunade hesitated, then said to Hiruzen, "Sensei, you should make a trip to Sunagakure. Suna is our ally, after all."
Hearing this, he nodded, handed Itachi to Tsunade, and then took a few guards and followed Rasa.
After he left, the Raikage's sullen expression softened slightly. While the Wind Country had been in danger by aiding Konoha, at least Konoha had shown its sincerity. In this respect, Tsunade's courage was indeed greater than Hiruzen's.
"Hokage," the Raikage said, "I must also return to my village."
Tsunade nodded. After all, they still didn't know Iwa's exact target. What if their real target was Kumo? The Raikage had to be on guard.
Returning to his village was much easier for him than for Rasa. He went to the pre-prepared Heavenly Transfer Technique location and, through teleportation, was back in Kumo in an instant.
At this time, Tsunade once again turned her gaze to the direction where Orochimaru and Fugaku were fighting.
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