The boulder collapsed, crashing heavily toward Kagami Uchiha and his team.
Without hesitation, Kagami fought through the intense discomfort in his body, reaching out to grab the nearest teammate. Activating the Body Flicker Technique, he attempted to escape.
The next second, the boulder came crashing down.
Kagami and his teammate tumbled through the air, landing heavily on the ground.
The Body Flicker Technique had failed, but at least they managed to escape the boulder's impact zone.
However, the other two teammates weren't so lucky. They were instantly crushed, their blood splattering everywhere.
Seeing this, a surge of inexplicable rage ignited within Kagami.
Even though this was a life-or-death battlefield and he was already prepared to die, witnessing such a scene made it impossible for him to suppress his anger.
Weakly, his trembling hands formed seals, moving at a speed ten times slower than usual.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
A pitiful, man-height fireball sputtered out, its trajectory so off-target it seemed to aim for oblivion.
The surrounding Iwagakure shinobi, observing Kagami's pitiful state, refrained from outright laughter, but their smirking lips silently mocked the once-legendary strongest Uchiha.
Suddenly, a round of applause echoed from the forest, accompanied by a sarcastic voice.
"Great Fireball Technique, huh~"
Hearing this, Kagami frowned deeply, struggling to turn his head toward the source of the voice. His pupils widened in shock.
"Shimura... Danzo! You... why are you... here?!"
At Kagami's gritted words, Danzo's dry lips curled upward slightly, his eyes flashing with a cold glint. He sneered:
"Why am I here?
Kagami, my dear friend, you're as naive as ever!
Why else would I be here? Of course, it's to kill you!"
"You!"
Kagami's blood surged, his vision growing even blurrier.
"Why? Why are you doing this to me? What have I done wrong?
Killing comrades from the village—was that what Tobirama-sensei taught you?!"
At the mention of Tobirama, Danzo immediately reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He jumped in anger, shouting:
"They sacrificed themselves for the village! And you, the inherently malevolent Uchiha, should never have been sheltered by the village in the first place!
Look at what your Uchiha clan has done!
Given the authority of the Konoha Police Force, yet you still covet higher positions, craving more power!
Failing your fundamental duties, leaving the villagers full of complaints!
You Uchiha are too extreme! Living in the village only brings harm to it!"
Danzo's tirade echoed through the forest.
High up in the trees, Rinjin crouched on a branch, calmly observing the scene below.
Clearly, this was all about coveting the man's eyes, yet Danzo made it sound so righteous.
But then again, Rinjin also coveted something—though in his case, it wasn't eyes, but the person.
From Rinjin's perception, Kagami hadn't given up. Chakra from various parts of his body was flowing into his eyes like a trickling stream.
It seemed he was preparing to do something.
At that moment, Danzo took a step back and gave a cold command:
"Finish him!"
Hearing this, the surrounding shinobi hurled their shuriken, determined to turn Kagami into a pincushion.
Seeing this, Rinjin was about to intervene but suddenly paused.
He sensed that the chakra, which had been flowing into just one eye, was now evenly distributed between both eyes.
The next second, a dark green skeletal structure appeared—a basic Susano'o emerged, firmly encasing Kagami and his remaining teammate in a 360-degree shield.
"Go!"
With a low growl, the skeletal hand of Susano'o grabbed the kneeling, gasping teammate and hurled him toward the border.
At this point, Kagami had squeezed out every bit of chakra he could muster, leaving him with no energy to break through the encirclement.
But if his teammate could be rescued by someone else, they might still deliver the information, however slim the chances.
The Susano'o arm swung, launching the teammate.
Just then, a cold, commanding voice rang out.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
The next second, a massive stone wall rose, blocking the trajectory of the flying teammate.
Splat.
With a soft sound, the flying teammate crashed headfirst into the stone wall, their blood and brains splattering everywhere.
Seeing this, Kagami was utterly devastated.
Damn it, he had just accidentally killed a comrade himself.
Up in the tree, Rinjin covered his face, unable to bear the sight. He kept telling himself internally:
Don't laugh. Don't you dare laugh. Laughing now would undo years of accumulated goodwill!
Below, the enraged Kagami unleashed a surge of power, activating his Susano'o and wreaking havoc.
But his opponents kept their distance, wearing him down with ranged attacks, giving him no chance to close in.
This only deepened Kagami's despair, already poisoned by some unknown substance.
It was clear now—the supplies distributed by the logistics team must have been tampered with by Danzo.
Soon, Kagami's chakra was nearly depleted, and his Susano'o vanished.
Gradually, his vision blurred further. The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes regressed to a three-tomoe Sharingan, and then to ordinary black pupils. His body, unable to support him, collapsed backward.
Seeing this, Danzo squinted and raised a hand to stop his subordinates from attacking further. He slowly approached Kagami.
Lying on the ground, looking at Danzo's blurred face, Kagami sighed weakly, his heart utterly broken.
What a cruel irony.
Once comrades-in-arms, fighting side by side, now sought his death.
"Why, Danzo? Why?"
In truth, Kagami already had a vague idea of the answer, but he still wanted Danzo to say it himself.
Hearing Kagami's question, Danzo's face was cold and merciless.
"Kagami, your mistake was being born into the Uchiha clan."
With that, he reached out to grab Kagami's Sharingan.
At that moment, a burning sheet of paper floated down from the sky.
If an explosive tag falls at a speed of 5 centimeters per second, how long does it take to kill someone?
Danzo didn't know before, but now he knew.
If he continued to reach out, both he and Kagami's Sharingan would be caught in the explosion.
If he withdrew and retreated, only Kagami would be caught in the blast.
Faced with this dilemma, Danzo chose to risk it.
After all, he had five hearts; he wouldn't die so easily!
However, reality always has a thin veil separating it from ideals, making it all the more absurd.
Earth Release: Head Hunter Jutsu.
A low murmur came from beneath his feet. Two hands reached out from the ground, grabbing Kagami's head and pulling him into the earth.
Simultaneously, Danzo's hand grasped nothing but air.
At that moment, the falling explosive tag emitted a blinding white light.
The explosion echoed across the land.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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