With a slight flick of her hands, hidden by her cloak, the Membrane Card of the rapid river silently returned to Chizhao's grasp.
Danzo stared at the Akuma before him, who was enveloped in an intense aura of pressure. Fear, like an icy cold, permeated his limbs from all directions, slowing his movements.
"Who… who are you! What is your purpose!"
The tall Akuma's voice was deep and gender-ambiguous, each syllable seemingly entwined with a strange high-pitched tone.
"I am here only to reclaim what does not belong to you."
As the leader of the Root Organization, Danzo's strength was not to be underestimated.
He forcefully suppressed the fear in his heart, vigilantly scrutinizing the Akuma before him.
"What do you mean?"
"I have a profound interest in the Uchiha Clan's power. Therefore, I wish to take them all for my in-depth study. And what you possess here, naturally, is also on my list for retrieval!"
Before he finished speaking, the Akuma's aura suddenly expanded infinitely before Danzo, the oppressive feeling as if it would devour him.
With only his last shred of consciousness, he broke free from the shackles of fear, awakening his limbs to leap backward.
His right arm, which had been kept in his embrace, returned to his sleeve. He formed hand seals, puffed out his cheeks, and a series of sharp Wind Release blades, like a sudden storm, assailed the Akuma.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
The Akuma, showing no sign of panic, merely waved an arm, and a giant ice cone instantly materialized, whistling as it thrust towards Danzo.
The ice cone was instantly cut into fragments by the Wind Release blades, but they re-coalesced in the air into countless ice shards, scattering towards him like falling rain.
In this exchange, Danzo, thinking quickly, drew a Kunai to block the fragments.
Unexpectedly, his right arm was still pierced, and the pain made him gasp sharply.
He looked at his slightly trembling right hand, his heart sinking.
The integration of Hashirama's cells was still in the experimental stage; repeatedly moving his arm would cause irreversible strain.
Just as he found himself in a difficult predicament, a thought flashed through his mind.
Perhaps this was an opportunity to test the power of Kotoamatsukami.
The surrounding murky aura pressed in on him, and seeing himself about to be pushed to the brink, Danzo gritted his teeth.
He resolutely untied the bandage wrapped around his right eye.
He intended to use this move to decide the outcome against the Akuma.
But the moment he unveiled it, he suddenly realized that the Akuma standing in front of him had vanished. He looked down in astonishment.
He found the Akuma staring at him from below, in a bizarre posture.
The sinister smile on the mask seemed to drag him into the abyss of hell.
A muddled and hoarse voice came from beside his ear:
"This eye, I'll take it!"
"Ah ah ah ah ah!"
Pain instantly engulfed all of Danzo's senses. He clutched his profusely bleeding right eye, panting, covered in sweat.
To his horror, the blood constantly oozing from his right eye flowed like water onto the ground, forming a fishy red pool of blood before him.
"This is…"
Chilling sweat drenched his back, and the oppressive atmosphere made it incredibly difficult for him to breathe.
"…Calm down… Calm down…"
"It must be a genjutsu…"
"Damn it!…"
He made a judgment based on his remaining sanity, covering his profusely bleeding right eye, and looked towards the Akuma not far away.
He saw him still with a twisted, sinister smile, staring at him.
"You seem to like the Sharingan very much. Coincidentally, I am also a generous person; I'll give all of these to you…"
Accompanied by the Akuma's sinister laughter, Danzo saw himself kneeling in a pool of blood.
Round objects continuously floated to the surface, and he was enveloped by this strange atmosphere, trembling uncontrollably.
He wanted to close his eyes and block everything out, but his brain seemed to be compelled by some force, making him look uncontrollably.
The dark sky, the viscous blood, and the countless round objects slowly turned, the red Sharingan eyes staring blankly at him.
From single tomoe to double tomoe, and then gradually evolving from double tomoe to Mangekyo, the densely packed eyeballs were like a monster hidden deep in the blood, ready to devour him in the next second.
At this moment, Danzo's mind was completely consumed by fear, and even his last shred of sanity was quietly eroded.
Terror and despair intertwined, gnawing at his flesh like ants.
His legs were too weak to stand; he retreated on all fours, covering his eyes, desperate to escape quickly.
But those eyeballs seemed to have a life of their own, growing numerous blood vessel-like tentacles, and along with the surging blood, they lunged at him.
He fell to the ground, crawling helplessly.
And the eyeballs, as if seizing the opportunity, swarmed him, frantically and eagerly burrowing into his empty right eye, continuously invading his brain, until pain and despair completely submerged him.
"Ugh ah ah ah ah ah!"
.......
Under the dim twilight, Danzo lay on the cold ground, his right eye bloody, having completely lost consciousness.
Chizhao was breathing heavily, her right hand trembling as she held Shisui's eyeball.
Blood dripped from between her fingers, blossoming into enchanting blood flowers on the dark ground.
【Bad Deed Progress +4】
Chizhao stiffly moved her fingers, then took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions.
She turned and walked towards Itachi-nii, who was rushing towards her. Although her heart was still fluctuating violently, she knew she had to endure that emotion.
This was a necessary quality for survival in this world.
Her small hand, stained with blood, was raised, and Shisui's eyeball lay quietly in her palm.
A crow gently picked it up. Behind the spread feathers, Itachi-nii's usually placid expression became vivid at this moment.
Soft white cloth landed on her palm. Itachi-nii stepped forward, grasping her slightly trembling right hand through the white cloth, his eyes full of apology.
His voice, disordered and accompanied by the warmth of his right hand, awakened Chizhao's slightly sluggish mind.
"I'm sorry, it should have been me. You must have been very scared…"
Through the mask, she gazed into Itachi-nii's gentle eyes, and tears unexpectedly welled up in her own.
Huh?
Why was she crying?
The bloodstains on her right hand were subtly wiped away by Itachi-nii.
She swallowed the unknown emotion caught in her throat, slowly adjusted her breathing, and with a relaxed tone, withdrew her hand.
"I'm fine, Itachi-nii. Shisui-nii's eye has been recovered. Let's go back quickly."
The small figure darted past, and Itachi-nii's gaze followed her retreating back, a complex emotion welling up in his heart.
She was the same age as Sasuke…
Recalling his thoughts, he glanced at Danzo, who was frothing at the mouth and rolling his eyes on the ground, then stepped into the light portal at Chizhao's summons.