"Danzo..." Others snapped at Sukuna faster than Minato's flash and asked, with clear venom dripping from their voice.
Izumi didn't care about that; she just bolted from her place straight toward both Sasuke and Kiyomi's location. The Uchiha shinobi who came to report, seeing Izumi going to the old clan head's place, was baffled—the child wasn't there anymore.
Annoyed, he ran after her.
"What do you mean Danzo..." Inabi, indifferent to the girl's actions, asked again.
"Well, if you're not paying attention then let me remind you that Danzo still has one of Shisui's Mangekyo... that still has Kotoamatsukami, remember," Sukuna said with a snark in his tone.
Inabi all but spat blood upon realizing this. Tekka, too, looked pale. If anyone else had this power, they would have felt uneasy—but Danzo?
Anyone else could have it, but not Danzo. That Danzo—the number one hater of the Uchiha in the village after Tobirama Senju. In a certain sense, Tobirama was better than Danzo.
"Fuck..." Tekka seemed unable to take the pressure and broke.
"I'm one of the few people who knew Itachi's real face. However, I doubt even Itachi would take such drastic action before that night.
Now, it could be that Itachi was afraid of Shisui's presence and always hid his intentions... or..." Sukuna trailed off.
He didn't have to say what came after that; both Inabi and Tekka figured it out themselves.
What else could it be but Danzo? That bastard must have used Shisui's Kotoamatsukami on Itachi.
And that's when Inabi's mind clicked.
"Wait, what about Shisui's other Mangekyo..." He snapped at Sukuna.
'Damn old goat, sharp as Madara's sword...' Sukuna cursed.
"I used it..." Sukuna shrugged. Denying he had it would be stupid—they would never believe him, not after the kind of image he had made of himself.
Ironically, that was exactly what made others believe his words so far—because they thought they had him all figured out. A kid who wasn't particularly bad but knew how to look out for his own benefits, and who's hella strong...
"What do you mean you used it...?" Tekka was speechless. This bastard was saying it as if it were a third-grade cheap kunai he borrowed without asking.
That's a Mangekyo, okay... what do you mean you used it, you bastard...
"How do you think I fought Itachi, huh? Do you think I'm Hashi-fucking-Rama Senjutsu to fight off freaking Susanoo alone?" Sukuna retorted, making Tekka and Inabi speechless.
By this point, they both realized one thing—this little bastard was completely shameless.
Gritting their teeth, they spat something incomprehensible, most likely cursing the entire nineteenth generation of Sukuna.
"Whatever, just go handle what happened outside. We'll talk later..." Sukuna didn't care; he had long since learned to have thick skin.
And with that said, in a swirling portal, he vanished—leaving both Uchiha men alone in quiet contemplation.
"Do you believe him?" Tekka finally asked.
"I don't know... however, right now we have no other option but to believe what that little bastard says..." Inabi spat with irritation, thoroughly annoyed with Sukuna by now.
Sukuna, too, didn't leave though; he was worried about both Sasuke and Kiyomi. Ultimately, he considered them his friends, so he wished to know what really happened. So he hung around.
...
Izumi ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart pounded in her chest, each step heavier than the last. She had just learned that both Sasuke and Kiyomi had been attacked. She didn't know the details—only that they were taken. The thought of either of them lying injured, or worse, made her stomach twist. She pushed herself harder.
Before the chunin could catch up to her to tell her she wasn't going in the wrong direction, he arrived at Kiyomi and Sasuke's house, only to find nobody.
Irritated and anxious after learning the truth, she finally reached the location where they had been kept. She stopped in shock. Only Sasuke was there. He lay slumped against the wall, his body bloodied and battered, barely conscious. But Kiyomi… Kiyomi was gone.
A cold dread spread through her.
"Where is Kiyomi..." she asked a Uchiha woman who was taking care of them, only to get a shake of the head in return.
Her heart sank. Her blood ran cold.
'She as gone.' Izumi almost broke down.
A Uchiha shinobi on the side, seeing the situation, immediately came up and said,
"She has been taken away... by that enemy shinobi."
Izumi's heart restarted. Her glare could have melted ice as she turned to that woman.
'Can't you be a little more clear with your signs, you old hag...' she almost shouted.
However, being kidnapped was still bad. Izumi's mind swirled with questions and fear. Where had they taken her? Was she still alive?
She quickly knelt beside Sasuke. His breathing was shallow, but when she called his name, his eyes fluttered open. The boy looked exhausted, his voice weak, but there was determination in his gaze.
"I… I know where… he took her…" Sasuke whispered, wincing as he tried to speak. His words were faint but clear enough for Izumi to hear.
Before she could ask more, footsteps echoed through the ruined hallway. Everyone present turned sharply toward the sound. A figure appeared, wearing a plain mask that covered his face completely. His presence was strange—like a kid playing shinobi. As for why—because of his height. He was still a halfling at best.
However, another halfling only slightly taller than this one had cut the clan in half recently; they weren't taking chances. Weapons were half-raised, bodies tensed, eyes locked on him.
Even Izumi felt herself tense. She didn't know what he was doing here, but the annoying boy with the mask had never been hostile toward them.
The masked figure raised a hand calmly. "I'm not here to harm anyone," he said, mostly to other Uchihas who weren't seeing him for the first time. His voice was level. Something in the way he spoke seemed to lower the tension, though the suspicion didn't fade completely.
Izumi stepped forward. "Then why are you here?" she asked, more annoyed than anything. This wasn't the time for him to make trouble.
The figure didn't answer her right away. Instead, he looked past her—straight at Sasuke. "I can heal him," he said.
There was an uneasy murmur among the shinobi. Some glanced at each other in doubt; others frowned at the idea of letting a stranger touch Sasuke.
There weren't many people inside—this was still a nursery after all—however, those who were here were on edge.
Izumi herself felt wary. But she also knew they didn't have time to waste. Sasuke's wounds weren't fatal by any means; clearly, the enemy who attacked him had done it with the intent for Sasuke to pass on his message to them.
However, Sasuke was still a kid. Any more blood loss could cause permanent damage or even cost him his life.
And if he really knew where Kiyomi was, they needed him conscious and stable.
She nodded slightly. "Do it," she said, though her eyes stayed sharp on him.
The masked boy crouched beside Sasuke. Sasuke himself was reluctant, seeing how similar the mask this guy wore was to those who attacked him; however, he had no energy to voice his protest.
Not to mention, Izumi clearly trusted this guy.
Sukuna placed his hand over the worst of the wounds. A strange, warm energy spread from his palm. Izumi could only watch as the torn flesh seemed to knit itself together, the bleeding slowing, then stopping altogether.
It wasn't just simple healing. She herself knew medical jutsu to some degree—not much, but a little. So she knew.
The masked boy seemed to be doing two things at once—using some kind of energy to reverse the damage while also manipulating the cuts directly, sealing and stitching them from the inside. The process was so quick and precise it felt almost unreal.
And Izumi's judgment regarding Sukuna's healing wasn't that far off. He wasn't just using his basic reverse curse technique here for healing; he was also running that RCT into his own curse technique.
Just like Gojo's Red, he was creating the opposite effect of cutting—stitching and attaching together—quickly closing up the wound.
It had been mind-blowing even to him when he figured out how one of the most offensive techniques in the show could become one of the best life-saving techniques in a matter of minutes by just running RCT through it.
The only reason we never saw this before was because Ryomen Sukuna would never use this on others.
In just moments, Sasuke's breathing evened out, the pain in his face fading. His colour returned slightly, and he opened his eyes fully. Almost as good as new—only the blood loss remained, but that was minor compared to everything else.
The shinobi around them whispered in disbelief. Healing like this was rare—miraculous even—and to see it done so quickly by someone who looked no older than Sasuke himself was shocking.
Izumi glanced at the masked boy. He was already standing, as if it were nothing. His identity was becoming more and more mysterious to her.
However, now wasn't the time to think about it—they needed to go after Kiyomi as soon as possible.
xxx
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