Chapter 25: Black Zetsu's Mental Breakdown
"Stelle, you've always had the most tricks up your sleeve," Uchiha Izuna said, his voice a strained rasp. "In a moment, I will use the last of my chakra to manifest Susanoo and create an opening for you. Take Kagami and Torifu and retreat. I trust you can complete this task."
"Master!" Uchiha Kagami cried out, his protest sharp with desperation.
"Izuna-sensei!" Akimichi Torifu echoed, his face pale.
Stelle's gaze swept over Izuna, her analytical mind cataloging his state with grim precision. He was at his absolute limit, teetering on the edge of collapse, held upright by nothing more than sheer force of will. A sword wound, barely an inch from his heart, had bled profusely, leaving him perilously weak. A deep gash on his left wrist severely hampered the speed of his hand seals.
Poison coursed through his veins, originating from several seemingly minor abrasions that now burned with a venomous fire, having already spread throughout his entire body. Most critically, his chakra was all but gone. He had lost his ability to fight, and every second he remained standing was a battle against the inevitable. In this state, he was preparing to burn the last flicker of his life force for one final, desperate gambit to cover their retreat.
"This is an order," Izuna declared, his voice gaining a sliver of its former authority, "from me, as an advisor to the Hokage. No one is to disobey."
Stelle cast a subtle, annoyed glance toward a seemingly empty patch of forest. 'Clone, what are you spacing out for?'she thought irritably.'If you keep dawdling, I'll have to go offline myself just to keep from breaking character.'
Just as Uchiha Izuna gathered his resolve for a final, suicidal charge, a presence tore through the distance, approaching at an impossible speed. The gathered shinobi saw only a flash of black light streaking toward them.
Immediately after, a figure dropped from the sky. Before his feet even touched the ground, a ninjutsu was already unleashed from mid-air.
Black flames, like a collapsing curtain of pure darkness, descended with a heavy, oppressive force. The man was so fast that two of the enemy jonin had no time to evade; they were instantly engulfed and scorched by the ebon fire.
As he landed, his hands shot out, grabbing each of their necks. With two sharp, forceful twists, a pair of sickening cracks echoed in the clearing. The two jonin slumped to the ground, lifeless.
The remaining ambushers, startled, scattered in panic. But the most shocked of all was the one no one could see. Hidden deep underground, Black Zetsu nearly let out a shriek.
Aaaah! Sōjin's successor has appeared!
Why?! I searched for so long without a single clue, but the moment I put on this disguise, he shows up? Does this outfit have some kind of built-in attraction feature?!
And another thing, where on earth has this person been hiding all this time? Is he a rat? He really knows how to dig a hole and stay there!
Having casually dispatched two jonin, the figure known as Mie surveyed the scene. His gaze landed on the ninja Black Zetsu was controlling—the one dressed in an identical black robe—and a malicious laugh escaped from behind his mask.
"How interesting. I go out for a stroll and run into another version of myself. Let me test just how strong you are."
Before his words had even faded, he vanished. When he reappeared, he was standing directly behind the imposter.
So fast!
The sheer speed was terrifying. The crowd watched in a blur of panicked motion, but Black Zetsu was so petrified that he immediately relinquished control of his puppet and burrowed deeper into the earth.
With a sharp crack, the imposter, his body just freed from Black Zetsu's control, had his neck snapped without a sound. He didn't even have time to register what had happened before he crumpled to the ground.
Seeing the fallen man, Mie's laughter grew more wicked.
"Sorry about that. I seem to have accidentally snapped your neck. Didn't mean to. I'll try to be more careful next time."
Their commander was killed in a single, effortless encounter. A chill ran down the spines of the remaining attackers. This was different from cornering Uchiha Izuna.
Izuna was their target; there was a bounty on his head. They had worn him down, draining his chakra with wave after wave of shinobi. Now, exhausted and burdened with three others, he was a fish on the chopping block.
This newcomer, however, was an unknown variable of terrifying power. He wasn't their target, and there was no benefit in fighting him to the death. Several of the attackers were already weighing the odds and considering a retreat.
They weren't given the choice. The man in black moved again. His hand opened, and a longsword of pure, condensed black chakra materialized in his palm.
The next second, he charged into their midst.
He moved through the crowd like a demon of slaughter. With exquisite, deadly swordsmanship, every thrust of his blade claimed a life. His movements were accompanied by an overwhelming barrage of ninjutsu, each one perfectly timed and brutally effective.
The ten ninja who had emerged moments ago, dreaming of the glory of finishing off Uchiha Izuna, were now all dead. They lay scattered on the ground, expressions of disbelief still frozen on their faces.
Mie retracted the chakra sword, letting it dissipate into nothing. He stood amidst the carnage, his voice laced with an even deeper malice.
"Mere trash, daring to try and kill my target. I suppose I'll just have to send you all to see your ancestors."
He turned slowly, his masked face fixing on Uchiha Izuna, and gave a casual wave.
"Long time no see!"
Izuna had just managed to swallow a soldier pill, restoring a sliver of chakra—a pitifully small amount, but enough to stand. He moved protectively in front of the other three.
"Are you... a member of the Destruction Organization?"
"Wrong," the man sneered. "How could those disposable pawns compare to me? I am the successor of Lord Sōjin."
The gloomy voice was thick with an arrogance that looked down on all creation.
Izuna's expression turned grave, his heart sinking like a stone. Against the ten jonin, he might have had a chance to buy Kagami and the others an escape by sacrificing himself. But against this man, he had no confidence at all. Dragging this out was meaningless.
He took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to negotiate. "Your target is me. I can stay, but how about you let the three of them leave?"
Mie's gaze fell upon the three people behind Izuna. His face was hidden by the mask, his expression unreadable, but a low chuckle seemed to escape him.
"It's not impossible to let them go. But first, we have to play a game. They can only leave after the game is over."
As soon as he finished speaking, two chains shot from his hands with a metallic whoosh, snaking through the air toward the three huddled together.
Seeing the attack, Stelle reacted instantly. She shoved Uchiha Kagami and Akimichi Torifu aside, placing herself directly in the chains' path.
The chains wrapped around her, and she immediately attempted to transform into fire to phase through them. But these were no ordinary iron chains. The moment her body ignited, the sealing formulas etched into the metal flared to life.
A searing, burning sensation coursed through her. To her shock, her Flame Transformation Technique failed. In the next instant, dense, glowing runes spread from the chains at her neck, instantly covering her entire body in a restrictive web of light.
Forced back into her physical form, she was yanked off her feet. The chains tightened, binding her securely, and she was thrown unceremoniously to the ground.
"Your chakra has been sealed," Mie taunted, making an exaggerated pulling motion with his hands. "You'd better not move around. Otherwise, with one little tug of my chains—you'll be in a piece here, and a piece there."
Seeing the complex, familiar pattern of the sealing runes, Uchiha Izuna's face changed drastically. A horrifying realization seemed to dawn on him. He pointed a trembling finger at the man in black, his voice cracking into a higher pitch.
"It's you? It was you back then?"
Recognizing that fūinjutsu, Izuna's body began to shake with an uncontrollable, volcanic rage. It was this very ninjutsu that had bound his chakra all those years ago, leaving him helpless and nearly allowing Senju Tobirama to kill him. It was because of this that Senju Stelle had died saving his life.
For years, he and Tobirama had relentlessly investigated that incident, never finding a single clue.
And now, to his utter disbelief, the culprit had appeared before him, brazen and unrepentant. In that moment, Izuna wished for nothing more than to tear the man in black limb from limb and swallow him whole.
[Ding! Mood value from Uchiha Izuna +50,000]
[Ding! Mood value from Uchiha Izuna +50,000]
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