After devouring a massive number of Bugs, the Flame of the Infested inside you grew even more frenzied. While absorbing blood to recover your energy, you also created several more Shadow Clones.
Root had lost its high-level combatants and was now a headless snake. Your clones emerged from various corners of Root using Earth Style to breach the barriers, each transforming into different appearances and using Wind Style, Earth Style, Fire Style, and other elemental ninjutsu to impersonate various invaders. They attacked from all sides, throwing Root into utter chaos.
If they couldn't find any enemies to fight, the clones would exhaust their chakra destroying Root's underground infrastructure from within.
Under this internal onslaught, Root instantly fell into disarray. No one could stand against you.
At the same time, your real body walked into Root's central control chamber, carrying Danzo's severed head. Using his head and the residual chakra within, you fooled the security seals and activated the barrier system that surrounded Root, completely sealing off the base.
With only a few remaining jōnin-level shinobi inside, there was no way anyone was escaping.
Root, designed to be structurally independent from Konoha, had now become the very mechanism of its own destruction.
Still, though no one inside could leave, that didn't mean no one outside could enter. There was always a risk of your presence being discovered.
But before that... you had to suppress the raging Fire Style energy inside you.
—Perhaps it was a case of like attracting like. After burning Aburame Ryoma and all his Bugs to ash, the Flame of the Infested had absorbed a great deal of their energy. The greater the proportion of that Bug chakra within the flame, the less control you had over it.
Now unshackled from the Four Symbols Seal, the Flame of the Infested was drawing massive amounts of chakra—and even life force—straight from your body.
Fortunately, this loss had a benefit: your entire body became wrapped in vibrant green flames, accelerating the absorption of the fire into your bloodstream using your unnamed dōjutsu.
With corpses constantly brought back by your clones from the outside, you continuously absorbed blood to recover your power, resisting the drain of the flames. At the same time, you captured stray fire particles that slipped into your blood, consuming the unstable flames from within.
As you slaughtered Root's remaining shinobi, researchers, and test subjects, draining them of blood to restore your strength, you gradually gained the upper hand over the rebellious Flame of the Infested.
Eventually, you completely absorbed it, fusing it entirely into your bloodstream. A warm current flooded your whole body, chakra flowing endlessly—you'd never felt so full of power!
Flame-Form Arm!
With a mere thought, a new arm formed from green flame sprouted from your severed shoulder. While it couldn't grasp objects, it could form hand signs—and even catch enemies off guard in close combat.
Whether it was due to fully fusing with the Flame of the Infested or absorbing too much blood, your Strength had clearly broken past some invisible boundary. You'd entered an entirely new realm.
The true slaughter... begins now.
You strolled casually into the storage room, flicked out two sparks with your fingers, and effortlessly killed the guarding shinobi. With ease, you reclaimed your weapons.
Then, you burned your remaining clones and the last Root shinobi to ash, leaving behind only withered husks of skin.
Now fully fused with the Flame of the Infested, using its fire to burn your enemies didn't consume chakra at all—instead, you could convert their chakra into your own!
Combined with your dōjutsu's blood-absorption ability that further enhanced your stats...
In short: the more people around, the stronger you became. Absorbing just a few people was enough to restore health and chakra, and even boost your permanent stats slightly.
You coated your body in the Flame of the Infested, forming a thin chakra cloak. With it, you easily pierced through Root's formidable barrier.
And under this cloak, your chakra was perfectly hidden—completely undetectable, like a true Infested Bug, silent and invisible.
Just like that, you slipped past the watchful eyes of Konoha's barrier team, a ghost moving in plain sight, and entered the sparsely populated Uchiha district.
Uchiha Itachi... it's time to collect the interest on the Night of the Massacre.
You pulled on a thick black cloak you'd conveniently grabbed from Root, hiding the faint glow of the flame armor beneath it.
Using the cover of night, you crept into the heart of the Uchiha compound. With your Three Tomoe Sharingan active, you spotted Sasuke—still up after dinner—as well as two jōnin-level ANBU guarding him closely. Three additional chūnin-level ANBU patrolled the perimeter.
It was tight security. Two jōnin guards, even within the village—that kind of protection was nearly on par with the Hokage.
But to you now... they weren't even qualified to make a sound.
A light breeze blew through.
The three outer sentries all dropped to the ground, their heads cleanly severed.
Two Shadow Clones and your true body caught them before they hit the floor, laying them down gently to avoid noise.
Following your usual principle of "no waste," you absorbed all the blood from their bodies to avoid alerting anyone with a keen nose.
The two jōnin inside were close together. You'd need to use some technique.
You tossed two Wind Style shuriken—one cut a man clean in half, while the other, realizing the attack, rushed forward and ran straight into your advancing body.
The moment he made contact, the green flames devoured him, draining all his chakra and leaving behind a dried corpse.
Your turn, Sasuke. Time to atone for your brother.
You swung your blade at the defenseless Sasuke—
But at that moment, you sensed a mysterious power suddenly surge into his body.
Even you—veteran of countless killings—hesitated for a split second.
Your Uchiha bloodline was instantly and violently suppressed!
If not for the countless people you had absorbed and the power you'd gained from their blood, you would've coughed up blood on the spot.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Sasuke—who had been lying on the bed with eyes closed—suddenly opened them. A strange red glow radiated outward, and in his Sharingan, previously just a single tomoe, a phantom-like image appeared.
Sasuke's Strength and Speed skyrocketed.
A razor-sharp kunai shot straight at your neck!
Only the stinging pain brought you back to your senses.
You twisted your body to dodge, and with your dōjutsu, sealed the bleeding wound at your neck. Then you countered with a blade strike at Sasuke.
Clang!
Your sword clashed with his kunai. You were shocked—he had that much Strength?
But you activated Ultra-Added-Weight Rock Technique. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't handle your attack, now magnified dozens of times.
He blocked the blow, but was sent flying into the wall. Despite the power coiled within his young body, his defense was still human. He hit the ground hard, vomiting blood.
Without moving closer, you aimed the Flame of the Infested directly at Sasuke to forcibly drain his chakra—just to be safe.
But the time the flame took to burn Sasuke far exceeded the limit for a jōnin. That meant—his chakra reserve actually surpassed jōnin-level! And the chakra he fed back into you was incredibly potent.
Could this be... Indra's power?
Suddenly, a roar from deep within his soul surged through the chakra link, slamming into your spirit.
Your legs gave out. You collapsed, spitting up foul blood—your Spirit had taken a heavy hit.
It was Indra's will.
But... I'm still the better one! Hahaha!
You laughed maniacally as you forced yourself back up and walked slowly to Sasuke's side.
You gripped his throat.
"No matter how strong you were in life, in death... you're just a wisp of soul. Now die!"
Crack.
You crushed Sasuke's neck with your grip. Blood poured from his throat and flowed into your body.
The bloodline suppression that had made your body feel frozen finally dissipated.
And this blood... it tasted sweet. So sweet.
Your Ocular Power, long stagnant, now surged forward once again...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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