Chapter 12:
Sasuke used his Rinnegan ability to instantly appear behind Lord Shin Uchiha. With his right hand gripping a long blade, he avoided delivering a fatal blow and instead stabbed Shin in the abdomen. At the same time, Sasuke reached into his ninja pouch with his left hand and flung a shuriken at the white mass of flesh that was in the middle of casting a space-time ninjutsu.
The shuriken arced in an odd trajectory and struck the lone eye on the white flesh mass, causing Shunhi, who was standing nearby, to feel a sharp pang in his heart.
One Sharingan—gone.
Sasuke could've used that same ability to save Sarada, but he didn't dare gamble that these two didn't have any other tricks up their sleeves.
Seeing Sasuke subdue Lord Shin Uchiha in an instant, Shunhi finally felt at ease.
Just one Sharingan—no big deal. He could just copy another one later.
"Let's make the trade."
Shunhi eagerly spoke, and at his signal, Uchiha Itachi led Sarada forward to exchange her for Lord Shin Uchiha.
On the surface, antagonizing Sasuke looked like a major loss, but in reality, it was a huge gain.
Sure, Sasuke was strong—but Shunhi had cheats of his own.
In theory, as long as he had money, Shunhi could keep getting stronger without limit.
Once he tracked down Old Man Shimura Danzō's secret stash, he could mass-produce hundreds or even thousands of Sharingan and sell them off, growing stronger with ease.
Pressed down by Uchiha Itachi, Lord Shin Uchiha growled, "What are you trying to do?"
The safest move now would've been for Shunhi to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to flee with Uchiha Itachi and Lord Shin Uchiha, then interrogate Shin about the Sharingan duplication technique.
But Shunhi was too greedy to abandon the Sharingan still left here.
Sure, selling duplicated Sharingan later would also make money—but that would take time to gather materials, meaning no immediate benefit for Shunhi.
Greed.
He had to be greedy.
One must be greedy.
Be greedy enough, and you'll have everything.
And then—his greed came back to bite him.
"Shin Uchiha, hand over the technique for duplicating the Sharingan, and I'll spare your life."
Shunhi wasn't about to let go of a watermelon just to pick up sesame seeds. He decided to grab what was right in front of him first. As for exposing his true intentions—Shunhi wasn't worried in the slightest.
Or rather, even if he were, it wouldn't help.
That traitor Uchiha Itachi would definitely tell Sasuke that he wanted the Sharingan duplication technique—no doubt about it.
"Sure..."
A shuriken suddenly zipped past Shunhi and flew straight at Lord Shin Uchiha's head.
Uchiha Itachi was focused on Sasuke and didn't notice. As for Sasuke—though he detected the shuriken instantly, he said nothing.
After all, it wasn't aimed at him or Sarada, so he simply didn't care.
Whether it was the death of Flaming Cloud Evil God, the husky, or Lord Shin Uchiha, Sasuke was perfectly fine with any of those outcomes.
Having never experienced the life of a ninja, Shunhi naturally didn't notice the incoming shuriken either.
Watching Lord Shin Uchiha die right in front of him, Shunhi felt a flash of fear and immediately blamed himself for getting cocky after unlocking the system. He resolved to fully embrace a low-profile, cautious lifestyle from now on.
And then—heartache.
The Sharingan duplication technique that was nearly in hand? Gone.
The ready-made research specialist on duplicated Sharingan? Also gone.
"Who did this?!"
Shunhi was furious. The money was right there—and now it was gone. Anyone would be mad. Especially him, with a system obsessed with hoarding cash.
A group of smaller figures emerged from the shadows.
More child versions of Shin Uchiha.
Seeing a whole batch of young Shin Uchiha clones with Sharingan, Shunhi felt a little better.
Sasuke moved protectively in front of Sarada and asked, "Why did you do that?"
"Father's ocular power… has weakened. A useless body… should be discarded. This is what… Father taught us."
"Traitors… must be killed. This too… is what Father taught us."
The group of child clones spoke in unison.
"Susanoo."
"Susanoo."
Faced with the situation, both Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke activated their Susanoo—the go-to flashy technique for crushing weaklings. Not only that, Sasuke also used Amaterasu.
Since the husky wanted the Sharingan duplication technique, his target had to be the Sharingan.
Now that the technique was lost, the husky would likely settle for the Sharingan from these child clones instead.
Though the reason behind his actions wasn't clear, destroying his plan was unquestionably the right move.
Sasuke's Amaterasu didn't even leave ashes behind—it obliterated Shin Uchiha completely.
There was nothing Shunhi could do but curse under his breath.
Because he definitely couldn't win in a fight.
"Sasuke, don't kill the kids!"
Naruto, who had used shadow clones to subdue the child Shin Uchihas outside, rushed over—but it was too late. The last clone had already perished in Sasuke's Amaterasu flames.
"I'll explain later."
Naruto looked at Sasuke. Their years of camaraderie led him to trust his friend.
Sarada stared fearfully at her father, who had just killed a group of children without changing expression. Even if they were clones, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
She instinctively backed away from Sasuke and moved to stand next to Naruto.
"Leader, what do we do now?"
Uchiha Itachi was pleased with Sasuke's decision. As long as they could sabotage Shunhi's plans, it didn't matter how many people had to die—so long as Sasuke and Sarada remained unharmed. Besides, these were just clones.
"Naruto, as the Seventh Hokage, you wouldn't lay a hand on children, would you?"
That's right—Shunhi suddenly remembered that Naruto had subdued a group of child Shin Uchihas outside the cave. And knowing Naruto's personality, he definitely wouldn't kill them.
There weren't many left—but it was better than nothing.
A few were better than none at all.
Hearing Shunhi's voice, Sasuke and Naruto immediately prepared to block him and Uchiha Itachi from escaping.
"Flaming Cloud Evil God, we're leaving."
But Shunhi chose to flee.
After all, facing both Sasuke and Naruto together, he didn't stand a chance. Even if Uchiha Itachi was a monster, and even if he revealed his identity to get Sasuke and Naruto to go easy on them, Shunhi alone couldn't beat Naruto's clones and the surviving Shin Uchiha kids outside.
Besides, Shunhi was confident that Naruto wouldn't kill those kids. He'd probably take them back to the safety of the Hidden Leaf Village and raise them there.
Which meant—for Shunhi, who also lived in the Leaf—those child clones were essentially a savings account. Once he found where Naruto had hidden them, he could cash out at any time.
Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Shunhi teleported with Uchiha Itachi straight to the second branch of Ichiraku Ramen in Konoha.