"Haa—"
Inzuki's strike had landed.
But instead of retreating, he bit down hard, suppressing the pain. Without a sound, he tore out his own Yasaka Spear Mangekyō Sharingan from his eye socket.
His face contorted in agony, veins bulging at his temples.
His right eye went black.
His brain throbbed violently.
A pain far beyond human tolerance surged through him—thick, dark blood trickled between his trembling fingers.
Panting heavily, he didn't hesitate.
He stored away his Yasaka Spear Mangekyō, then jammed the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō Sharingan directly into his empty eye socket.
The optic nerves in the socket, maintained by chakra, reconnected with the universal-compatible structure of the implanted eye.
Around him, the Uchiha's mouths hung open, eyes wide in shock.
They could almost feel the searing pain piercing Inzuki's skull.
Izumi's heart clenched.
Even the hardened Root operatives watching from the trees felt their scalps tingle.
This man swapped eyes mid-combat without uttering a single sound.
Even in Root, there were few that ruthless.
Inzuki slowly opened his eye.
His vision was hazy, but gradually became sharp again. The pain lingered, but it was manageable.
The newly implanted Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō rested quietly in his socket, flickering slightly with life, reconnecting with the world.
"…Big Brother."
Tamayo stared at Inzuki's back, watching him bear the pain alone.
The rage on his face deepened.
He turned and kicked Danzō's corpse aside.
Inzuki swept his gaze over the Root members perched in the trees.
He had used up nearly 70% of his Yin-nature chakra in the Yasaka Spear Mangekyō to control all hundred elite Root operatives within this forest.
Even now, having lost that eye, the brand remained.
Unless external interference disrupted it, they could not break free of his control.
Among the Root were eight disguised Uchiha operatives from the Police Force.
Beneath their masks, their faces were pale.
But as they stared at the scene below, their hearts pounded, blood rushing hot.
On the way here—
Inzuki hadn't explained his plan.
He had only said that before leaving Konoha, he would do one last thing for the Uchiha:
Assassinate Shimura Danzō.
Take back what belonged to the Uchiha.
Just moments ago—
Even Izumi hadn't believed him.
Assassinate one of the Hokage's advisors?
Not even the Uchiha elders—those with actual rebellion in their hearts—would dare dream of such a thing.
Not even elite jonin from the other Four Great Shinobi Nations would dare try to take out Konoha's "shadow."
Even with the Mangekyō, Captain Inzuki couldn't possibly do it… right?
But now—
He'd done it.
In the chaos, unnoticed by all, he infiltrated Root's ranks, executed a perfect decapitation strike, and pulled it off flawlessly.
Only Tamayo had believed from the start.
"He… really did it."
Nanami stood frozen in the trees, instinctively drawing his ninja blade from behind.
To his surprise—he could move again.
The others felt it too.
They turned toward the Uchiha district. The screams had finally faded.
There was no going back.
The clan was gone.
Grief, pain, despair surged in their minds—and with that came an explosive surge of ocular power.
"Damn you, Konoha elders!!"
"If Shisui were still alive, none of this would've happened!"
Now that they had lost everything—
They would follow the one who led them to this moment.
They would direct their fury toward the true instigator.
Even Izumi, usually kind and gentle, was gripped by this resolve.
One by one, they drew their blades and silently circled around Inzuki, ready to strike again when the moment came.
Inzuki's gaze returned to Danzō's corpse.
He quickly assessed his own state.
His Yasaka Spear eye had only 10% Yin-nature chakra left.
Of the remaining reserves, 10% had been used to initially mark the nine Uchiha.
Another 10% was with his shadow clone, which had infiltrated the clan head's residence and implanted a mark into Uchiha Mikoto.
Though he now possessed the Kotoamatsukami—
His chakra reserves were nearing depletion.
He had to finish this—fast.
The battle wasn't over.
At that moment—
"Haa—"
Danzō staggered backward, trying to breathe—but no air came.
His left eye trembled.
Life had slipped from him the moment Tamayo's blade pierced his heart.
He was dead.
But just before death took him, Inzuki's Mangekyō saw something.
A faint, twisted smile curled at Danzō's lips.
Then—
Just as everyone thought it was over—
His black robe slipped off, revealing his right arm—
Bandaged fingers locked in an incomplete hand seal.
The wrappings around his arm slowly unraveled.
Under the moonlight, the remaining Uchiha gasped.
Danzō's arm was pale and shriveled—like withered wood.
Embedded in the back of his hand…
was a single three-tomoe Sharingan—its eyelid slowly closing.
It was horrifying.
"Shimura Danzō… actually implanted another Sharingan?"
"And the jutsu he just used… feels disturbingly familiar…"
Glasses fogged, Nanami turned to Inzuki, dread rising in his chest.
Then—
Inzuki's Kotoamatsukami eye vanished without warning.
And Danzō's corpse, propped against a tree—
vanished too.
As if erased—like chalk wiped from a blackboard.
Danzō reappeared five meters away.
From his right socket, the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyō Sharingan still rested in place—
as if it had never been removed.
Before Inzuki made his move,
Danzō had already activated the Uchiha clan's forbidden jutsu—
Izanagi.
He rewrote fate itself—
erasing death, the eye theft, and the seal mark.
Though he had truly died…
Though Inzuki had physically removed the eye…
None of it mattered.
He'd died, yes.
But because he used Izanagi before his death, even Inzuki's "strongest illusion" could no longer affect him.
For the next sixty seconds,
Danzō now controlled reality itself.
This—was the power of Izanagi, the forbidden technique of the Uchiha.
Up in the trees, the Root agents sighed in relief.
The Uchiha, however—went stiff with tension.
"Young man… a piece of advice."
"Next time you try to assassinate someone… don't waste time talking."
With a burst of chakra, Danzō surged forward—
cracking the ground beneath him as a storm of wind erupted toward Tamayo.
Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage!
Whooooosh—!!
The gale screamed.
Dust exploded into the air.
Tamayo was swallowed by the whirlwind.
The cutting winds became dozens of invisible blades, shredding his armor and slicing deep into his skin.
The immense pressure crushed his internal organs.
Spurt—
Tamayo coughed up blood.
He stabbed his blade into the earth, trying to hold his ground—
But the violent wind hurled him back.
He crashed through tree after tree before slamming into the dirt.
Whole sections of forest were shredded by the storm.
Izumi's heart seized.
Activating her three-tomoe Sharingan, she evaded the remaining gusts, leapt to the ground, and dragged Tamayo's battered body away.
The other Uchiha scattered, trying to avoid the massive pressure bearing down on them.
BOOM—
A few Root members, still frozen and unable to move, were caught in the wind at its peak.
They didn't even scream—
their bodies torn apart in a cloud of blood.
The remaining Uchiha turned back toward the decimated forest, eyes wide.
They couldn't breathe.
Danzō had wiped out the weak.
And now—
He reappeared in front of Inzuki.
Without warning, his hand shot toward Inzuki's left eye.
His counterattack was instantaneous—faster than Inzuki and Tamayo's earlier ambush.
Not only did he intend to kill this "inherently evil" Uchiha brat—
He wanted his Mangekyō too.
His subordinates weren't moving.
Clearly, it was this brat's Mangekyō ability.
Such power should belong to Konoha.
And only Konoha can control it.
It would be wasted on a child.
He reached out, grinning—
CLANG—
Danzō's right eye flared with red light.
The shuriken-patterned Kotoamatsukami spun.
A silent wave of Yin-nature chakra surged through his gaze—
and forcibly invaded Inzuki's mind.
The balance instantly flipped.