The battlefield was stained with silence, broken only by the sound of ragged breaths and the faint buzzing of insects still lingering in the air.
Dust swirled like a suffocating haze, hanging heavy as if even the earth itself was watching the clash of monsters.
Fu Yamanaka and Torune Aburame stood side by side, their cloaks torn, their masks cracked, yet their posture remained unyielding.
Both had faced Indra once already, both had tasted the sharpness of his sword, both had glimpsed the abyss hidden in his golden eyes. They were battered but not broken, wounded but far from defeated.
And opposite them stood Indra Uchiha—his Kusanagi sword gripped tightly in his right hand, its silver edge catching the moonlight like a shard of pure death.
His expression was unreadable, a cold mask that betrayed no exhaustion, no mercy, no hesitation.
His hair clung to his blood-smeared face, his cloak fluttering in the faint night breeze, and his aura—an abyss of darkness—seemed to grow thicker, heavier, pressing down upon everything around him.
They had already fought him once, clashed with his sword and survived his unrelenting fury. Yet, here they were again, ready to face him once more.
Fu exhaled slowly, his eyes narrowing. "Torune, second round. This time, we don't hold back."
Torune gave a single nod, his voice low but firm. "Understood. If we hesitate, even for a breath, we die."
Indra tilted his head, his lips curling into a faint, chilling smirk. His voice carried an echo of disdain, but also of anticipation.
"So, you still stand? Interesting. Show me, then—show me what Root's strongest can truly do."
His grip tightened on the hilt of Kusanagi, his stance lowering, his eyes locked on theirs.
The second round began.
Without warning, Fu Yamanaka leapt forward, his hands flashing into seals faster than the eye could follow. His chakra surged, sharp and refined, and his voice rang out with practiced precision.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" – the Mind Body Switch Technique.
In an instant, his consciousness shot forward like an invisible spear, aiming directly at Indra's mind.
The world blurred for Indra as a wave of foreign presence crashed against his consciousness, a force trying to push inside, trying to take control of his body, his movements, his very will.
But Indra's Sharingan flared, golden tomoe spinning violently within the crimson abyss of his eyes.
His mental defenses surged like a storm, his willpower sharpened into an unbreakable blade. He snarled under his breath.
"Do you think you can invade my mind?"
Fu gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his brow as his spirit clashed with Indra's. His specialty was domination, control, manipulation. Countless enemies had fallen victim to his mind techniques, reduced to helpless puppets under his command.
But Indra… Indra's mind was like an endless abyss, a void filled with rage, hatred, and cold calculation. It wasn't just resistance—his mental presence was suffocating, like staring into an ocean of shadows with no end.
Fu strained, his spirit trembling under the crushing weight. "Tch… his will is… monstrous…"
While Fu battled within the mindscape, Torune made his move. His gloved hands tore free the wrappings covering his arms, revealing pale skin crawling with black specks—the nano-sized poisonous insects that lived within his body.
They writhed like a living shadow, spilling forth with a soundless hunger.
Torune dashed forward, each step calculated, his movements perfectly synchronized with Fu's attempt to control Indra.
He knew Fu's techniques rarely worked fully on monsters like Indra, but even a flicker of distraction, even a single moment of hesitation, would be enough for him to strike.
He lunged, hand outstretched, aiming to graze Indra's skin, to let his nano-insects invade his body.
Indra's Sharingan caught the movement instantly, reading the trajectory, predicting the strike. His sword flashed upward in a blur of silver, intercepting the hand.
Sparks flew as steel clashed against Torune's kunai, the two pressing against each other with raw strength.
But as their weapons locked, the insects spread. Torune's nano-creatures began crawling onto the blade, racing toward Indra's hand. The sword was merely steel, no defense against organisms too small to see, too deadly to touch.
Indra felt the faint prickling along the hilt and immediately reacted. Chakra surged through his arm, flowing into the Kusanagi. With a sudden flare, his chakra erupted like a barrier, incinerating the crawling insects in a burst of golden sparks.
Torune's eyes widened behind his glasses. "He… burned them with raw chakra output?!"
Indra pushed him back violently, his sword slashing in a deadly arc, forcing Torune to retreat.
The ground trembled as Indra advanced, his sword movements fluid, elegant, but each swing carried lethal intent. His strikes weren't wild—they were precise, every cut designed to kill, every thrust aimed at vital points.
Torune barely kept up, his kunai spinning, parrying, deflecting. But every time their weapons met, Indra's overwhelming strength forced him back, his arms trembling under the pressure.
Sparks littered the battlefield like shooting stars, steel screaming against steel.
Fu reappeared beside him, breathing heavily, having been forced out of Indra's mind. His voice was urgent. "His mental defenses are unbreakable. He's not just strong physically—his will is like iron."
Torune hissed, never taking his eyes off Indra. "Then we kill him with our bodies, not our minds."
"Agreed."
Indra's smirk widened, his sword spinning in his hand as he advanced again. "Good. You understand now. Then fight me properly."
He lunged, the Kusanagi's edge gleaming as it whistled through the air. Fu barely dodged, rolling to the side as the blade carved into the earth, leaving a deep scar in the ground.
Torune countered, his insects bursting from his sleeve in a black wave, swarming toward Indra's legs.
But Indra was already moving, his body twisting, his sword slicing in a wide arc that cut through the swarm, dispersing them with a blast of chakra-infused steel.
His foot lashed out, catching Torune square in the chest, sending him skidding back across the dirt.
Fu tried again, hands flashing. "Mind Puppet Switch Curse Technique!"
This time, his spirit latched onto Indra's movements, tugging, pulling, trying to disrupt his flow of battle. Indra felt the invisible strings tugging at his muscles, slowing him, twisting his stance. For a moment, his slash faltered.
Torune seized the opening, lunging again, hand reaching for Indra's exposed side.
But Indra roared, his chakra exploding outward in a violent burst. The pressure shattered Fu's mental grip, sending a backlash that made Fu stumble, clutching his head in agony.
At the same instant, Indra's sword spun, slicing upward in a deadly counter.
Torune barely avoided being cut in half, his coat shredded as the blade grazed across his chest. A line of blood blossomed, staining the white fabric crimson. He hissed, stumbling back, but his insects surged forward in retaliation, covering the wound, eating away at the damaged cells, preventing the poison of blood loss.
Indra lowered his blade, his golden Sharingan gleaming. "You're strong. Both of you. But strength without freedom is meaningless."
His words echoed coldly, carrying the weight of someone who understood what it meant to be bound, to be forced, to be caged.
The battle continued with renewed ferocity. Fu circled wide, looking for another opening to strike with his mind techniques, while Torune pressed forward, his deadly insects spreading with every movement.
Indra moved like a storm, his sword flashing, his body twisting with lethal precision.
Every clash shook the battlefield. Every strike echoed like thunder.
Fu's voice cut through the chaos. "Torune—pattern six!"
Torune nodded, his insects swarming in a sudden pattern, spreading across the ground, cutting off Indra's path of retreat. Fu launched another mental assault, aiming not to control Indra, but to distract, to delay his reactions.
Indra's Sharingan spun, reading their intent, predicting their coordination. His sword blurred, his body moving faster, sharper. He cut through the insects, parried Torune's kunai, and still had enough precision to slash toward Fu, forcing him to retreat.
Their teamwork was flawless, their synergy deadly. But Indra was still overwhelming, still untouchable, still pressing forward like an unstoppable force.
And yet, for the first time, his breathing deepened slightly, his muscles tensing harder. They were forcing him—not into desperation, but into effort.
His smirk widened. "Good. Very good."
The second round was far from over.
The second round had escalated to a point of no return.
The ground shook with every clash as Indra's kusanagi sword moved in blinding arcs, cutting down every desperate attempt of Fū and Torune to press the attack.
Their teamwork, refined under Root's merciless training, was precise and disciplined — Fū constantly probing for an opening with his Yamanaka mind techniques, while Torune relentlessly pressed forward with his deadly nano-sized venomous insects.
But against Indra Uchiha, their strategies were reduced to nothing more than desperate survival.
"Move!" Fū shouted as he launched a kunai tagged with an explosive note toward Indra, only to see it sliced midair by a single sweep of the kusanagi.
The resulting explosion only illuminated the Uchiha's silhouette — calm, unfaltering, advancing one deliberate step at a time.
Torune moved in close, his hands coated with writhing clouds of poisonous nano-insects. He aimed to brush against Indra's flesh even once, enough to melt away skin and muscle. But every strike was turned aside by precise kenjutsu — Indra's sword flowed like an extension of his body, cutting at angles that intercepted Torune's hands before they could ever touch him.
Fū gritted his teeth and tried again, pouring chakra into his clan's jutsu. "Mind Body Switch Technique!" he cried, his consciousness surging outward, rushing toward Indra like an invisible strike.
But the crimson glow of the three-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly. Indra tilted his head, instantly recognizing the attempt.
His sword flashed once, forcing Torune back, and in the same motion he countered the mental invasion with sheer ocular power, flooding Fū's consciousness with resistance.
Fū staggered, clutching his head, sweat dripping down his face.
"You rely too much on borrowed techniques," Indra said coldly, his voice steady as his sword gleamed. "Your bodies were trained by Root. Your wills were broken by Root. But against me… that is not enough."
Torune lunged again, even knowing he was steps away from death. His loyalty demanded nothing less. He weaved, ducked, and let his insects swarm outward, clouding the battlefield in a haze of lethal black specks.
For a moment, it seemed the swarm might overwhelm Indra.
But Indra did not flinch. His body blurred forward, his sword carving a relentless path. The kusanagi cut through the black haze, dispersing the swarm with sheer precision. With a single decisive slash, he cut through Torune's torso.
Blood sprayed outward as the Aburame warrior staggered, falling to one knee, his insects scattering in disarray.
"Torune!" Fū screamed, his eyes wide with horror. He tried once more, throwing everything into his Yamanaka technique, desperate to bind Indra even for a second. His chakra surged violently, his body trembling under the strain.
But Indra's Sharingan spun with merciless clarity. He sidestepped the attempt and appeared before Fū in a blink. His kusanagi sword pierced forward with finality, plunging straight through Fū's chest.
The Yamanaka coughed blood, his eyes wide in shock as the light of life drained from them.
Torune collapsed soon after, clutching his fatal wound, his breathing shallow before ceasing altogether.
The battlefield grew silent.
Indra pulled his blade free, shaking off the blood, his expression calm but not without thought.
He looked down at the fallen Root operatives — men who had been molded into weapons since birth, men who had no real choice in their fates.
"You two…" Indra muttered quietly, his Sharingan dimming as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. "…were worthy opponents. Forced into chains, but still willing to fight until your last breath. I will remember that."
He sheathed his kusanagi and let out a laugh, low and sharp, echoing in the broken clearing. Not a laugh of mockery, but of finality — a sound that declared his dominance, his victory, and his disdain for the path Root had carved for such men.
From the shadows, unseen by Indra, Danzo watched. His single visible eye narrowed, his expression grim. The deaths of Fū Yamanaka and Torune Aburame — two of his most trusted Root operatives — weighed heavily not in grief, but in calculation.
"This one…" Danzo muttered under his breath, his voice cold. "…this Indra Uchiha… cannot be allowed to live. If he is not eliminated immediately, he will become a storm that swallows everything."
Indra, standing tall amidst the corpses of his foes, glanced toward the distance. His Sharingan glowed faintly again, as if he sensed the gaze upon him. But he only smirked, tilting his head slightly, before turning away.
The chapter closed with the battlefield silent, two Root elites lying lifeless, Indra victorious, and Danzo's murderous intent solidified into a deadly resolve.
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End of Chapter
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