"I have to admit — Danzō really is that old snake. This is completely outrageous!"
With this many Sharingan, no wonder he doesn't even flinch when he uses Izanagi. There's no need to worry about "running out" — he could burn through them all day and still have spares to spare. And these eyes might not even be the full stockpile. As the saying goes, a crafty rabbit has three burrows; someone as dark, cautious, and calculating as Danzō would never put every egg in one basket.
Just like Orochimaru, Danzō definitely has other hidden bases.
"Fine. I'll wipe this place out first."
Mizuki had come to Konoha for two reasons. One was Sakumo. The other was revenge.
Smashing the Hokage Building and looting Root's base was his way of sending a warning — both to Orochimaru and to Danzō.
As for killing them? He had no such intention. Orochimaru was notoriously difficult to kill, and even if he died, he could crawl back to life — so there was little point wasting effort. Danzō, on the other hand… Mizuki was saving him for Sasuke. That was a promise he'd made to the boy.
Before long, Mizuki finished collecting every Sharingan in the chamber. Along with the eyes, he also found a ninjutsu training scroll — an Uchiha forbidden art, the ultimate dōjutsu: Izanagi. Danzō had stored it in the same room as the Sharingan, which said everything about how much he valued it.
"Originally, I planned to use Sasuke's one remaining Return chance this month to give him Shukaku — the One-Tail. Now… it looks like there's a better option."
That's right. Mizuki changed his mind. He would give Izanagi to Sasuke first.
It wasn't because he feared death. After acquiring Earth Grudge Fear, he'd become absurdly hard to kill. He simply wanted to see what Izanagi would become after the system's multiplied Return.
"That's enough. I've stripped Root clean. Time to erase it."
Just then, with a loud bang, the secret chamber's door slammed shut by itself.
From outside came four furious shouts:
Shishienjin ▻ Four Violet Flames Formation
Mizuki lifted an eyebrow, then let out a quiet chuckle.
"You still want to make a move on me? Danzō… Danzō… do you really think you can trap me? Do you know I promised Sasuke I wouldn't kill you?"
He didn't care. With his current strength and the bizarre techniques at his disposal, even prime Hashirama wouldn't be able to do much to him.
And even if he couldn't win outright, if Mizuki wanted to leave, Hashirama couldn't stop him.
In the next moment, pale-yellow smoke poured from vents at the four corners of the chamber, flooding the room in an instant.
Once inhaled, the smoke attacked his body on a cellular level, crazily destroying tissue.
Poison.
An ordinary person wouldn't last more than a few seconds.
"Heh. Child's play." Mizuki laughed.
His cells were being damaged, yes — but the massive life force he'd devoured through Earth Grudge Fear was no joke. His regeneration was no slower than the poison's destruction. Aside from consuming a tiny bit of the stored vitality within him, it had no real effect.
In fact, as his cells were repeatedly destroyed and restored, his body rapidly developed resistance. Not long after, the smoke became completely useless.
Outside the sealed chamber, Torune had been shaken out of Mizuki's genjutsu. He directed his Rinkaichū to probe the situation within.
"He's not dead. My insects can sense vigorous life force — the poison smoke can't effectively harm him. Plan A failed. Execute Plan B!"
As he spoke, Torune removed his glove. A dense swarm of nano-scale poisonous insects burst out and slipped into the chamber through the vents.
These insects devoured chakra and excreted toxins that damaged the victim's cells. Once inside the body, they multiplied at terrifying speed until the target died. Being touched by them was essentially a death sentence.
The instant the swarm entered, Mizuki felt the danger.
"Insects again…"
Even he didn't dare let those things touch him. The idea of something multiplying endlessly inside his body — something he couldn't simply purge — made his scalp crawl.
Earth Grudge Fear could let him liquefy, but some things were still nearly impossible to shake off… like bacteria. Like viruses.
Torune's insects were nano-scale — too small, like viruses… no, worse than viruses. If he was contaminated, the consequences would be unpredictable. Better to keep his distance.
"Time to end this."
He raised both arms outward as if embracing the ceiling — an elegant motion, yet tyrannical in its dominance.
Shinra Tensei: Seiatsu ▻ Almighty Push: Subjugating Pressure!!
With him at the center, a spherical wave of repulsive force exploded outward. Wherever it swept, everything was obliterated.
Konoha's earth shook again. This tremor wasn't as violent as the Rasenshuriken's earlier explosion, but it lasted far longer, rumbling like a continuous quake.
"What happened? Is the village under attack again? First the Hokage Building — now what?"
"The shaking is coming from outside the village, but I don't see any explosions!"
The villagers were terrified.
Orochimaru and the others turned toward the direction of Root's base. As shinobi, their senses were sharp — they already knew something had happened.
Danzō's expression twisted, teeth clenched. Furious… and helpless.
In the next instant, everyone saw it: an enormous chunk of land — over a hundred meters across — rose into the air, cracking apart as it ascended.
Beneath it was a colossal crater: narrow at the opening, wider within, the hollow shaped like a sphere.
Fortunately, Danzō had built Root outside the village to avoid attention. Otherwise, Konoha might have collapsed.
And fortunately, Mizuki had unleashed this technique underground. The earth absorbed a large portion of the force — if he'd fired it from the sky like Pain, the destruction would have been far worse.
Danzō's eyes turned bloodshot. His Root base — built painstakingly day and night, decades of accumulation — had been destroyed in a single day.
The Root shinobi stationed there made up eighty percent of all Root members. Now, they were all dead.
"Damn you, Mizuki! I'll kill you! I'll take my revenge! Damn it — my Root!"
He screamed until his voice broke, tears streaming down his face.
Beside him, Orochimaru looked at the pitiful Danzō and couldn't help curling his lips into a smile.
Hah. Trash like you still wants to covet my seat as Hokage? What a joke. With Root destroyed and your forces mostly dead, what exactly do you think you can use to compete with me?
Hashirama and Tobirama watched Mizuki wreak havoc on the village, unable to stop him, and their anger steadily rose.
Especially Tobirama — hot-blooded as he was, he couldn't hold back any longer.
"Orochimaru. Tell me everything you know about this Mizuki. I need to understand his abilities, then devise countermeasures."
He intended to return to his old ways. An evil man like Mizuki — someone who could attack Konoha so brazenly — had to be punished.
This time, Hashirama didn't stop him.
"Tobirama… do what you must. For Konoha, I permit it."
At the same time, four wood clones split off from Hashirama's body and shot to four directions, taking positions at the village's corners.
Shisekiyōjin ▻ Four Red Yang Formation
Four crimson barriers rose, enclosing the entire village. Hashirama meant to prevent Mizuki from entering again and causing further destruction.
What he didn't know was that after using the enhanced Shinra Tensei, Mizuki's chakra was almost depleted. He had no intention of continuing the rampage.
Gazing at the Four Red Yang Formation, Mizuki smiled faintly. It could block many things — yet it couldn't block space–time traversal.
It was time to go find Kakashi.
Just as he was about to use Body Swap to slip through the barrier, Hashirama and Tobirama snapped their heads toward his location.
"Damn… I forgot those two cheaters have sensory abilities."
After a brief pause, Mizuki chose to retreat for now.
No choice. That last move had drained his chakra and ocular power; for the moment, his Rinnegan couldn't use any dōjutsu at all.
His chakra was recovering, but he couldn't unleash another high-powered technique anytime soon. If he got surrounded, it would become troublesome. And with two sensor-types nearby, there was no way he could approach Kakashi smoothly.
"Forget it. Next time. Sakumo is already in hand — Kakashi will become part of my Fushigakure sooner or later."
He turned and flew toward the Land of Birds.
"I need a way to bring Konoha's talented prospects to the Land of Birds as soon as possible. Otherwise, every time I act in Konoha, I end up holding back — afraid I'll kill those geniuses by accident."
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Flying also consumed chakra: 0.01 units per second, which was 0.6 per minute. But after eating Super Food Pills several times, his chakra recovery rate had reached 2.5 per minute. So as he flew, his chakra not only didn't decrease — it steadily climbed.
By the time he neared the borders of the Land of Rain, his chakra had recovered to 200 units.
As he prepared to cross the Land of Rain, he climbed to several thousand meters, planning to pass overhead and avoid alerting Nagato of Amegakure — no need to invite unnecessary trouble.
Just then, he spotted a familiar white clay bird ahead. Two figures sat on its back: Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand.
The bird's tail feathers curled upward, and someone was trapped there as well.
"Isn't that Fū — the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki of Takigakure? Those two 'art' guys are really persistent."
A few days ago, because Mizuki interfered, they had failed to capture the Seven-Tails. He hadn't expected them to return so quickly — and succeed.
"Since I've run into them… the Seven-Tails will belong to my Fushigakure too."
His chakra was only half recovered, but it was enough.
Ichi Kōtai no Jutsu ▻ Body Swap Technique
In an instant, Mizuki switched places with Sasori. He appeared on the bird's back, while Sasori found himself suspended in empty air a thousand meters above the ground.
Sasori: "…"
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T/N: Comment, give me Power Stones, like and favorite, it all supports me and makes me go foward with this. Appreciate my other stories as well, I guarantee the good work!
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