"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
After narrowly evading Byakuya's strike, Danzo Shimura quickly formed hand seals.
Compressed wind gathered in his throat before being expelled in a flurry of high-speed projectiles aimed directly at Byakuya.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Byakuya didn't hesitate. He countered with a massive fireball, the flames roaring as they collided with Danzo's wind bullets.
Boom!
A violent explosion lit up the field. The flames overpowered Danzo's jutsu, burning through and forcing him to leap back in a panic to avoid being engulfed.
"Tch… this power…" Danzo growled, landing unsteadily.
"To overwhelm me so easily… even with Wind Release…?"
Danzo, once the trusted right hand of the Second Hokage, was a formidable shinobi. His Wind Release techniques were among the most refined in Konoha.
Yet in two successive clashes, he had been outmatched.
Byakuya wasn't just another Uchiha. He had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
With its enhanced perception and chakra output, even standard jutsu took on devastating strength.
His fire-style jutsu weren't merely stronger—they were lethal.
"Thinking too much, old man?"
Byakuya's voice came from behind Danzo.
"Tch—!"
Danzo spun just in time to block a powerful kick, but the force sent him crashing across the ground, tumbling through the dirt.
"Lord Danzo!"
"Protect him!"
Two Root operatives charged in with chakra-forged ninjatō.
"You're in the way."
With a flicker of movement, Byakuya evaded their strikes. A kunai flashed in his hand—
Slash!
One Root ninja crumpled, gurgling blood from a slashed throat.
"You bastard!"
The other Root member screamed and raised his blade—
But he never swung.
He was caught—frozen by genjutsu from Byakuya's Mangekyō.
"Too slow."
A kunai pierced his heart, and he fell without a sound.
"Uchiha Byakuya! You dare kill operatives of Root?!"
"Are you declaring yourself a traitor to Konoha!?" Danzo roared, rage boiling over.
[Ding! Danzo's fury has generated +300 negative energy. Acquired: Wind Release – Vacuum Sphere]
Byakuya looked at him coldly.
"Root? Never heard of it."
"I only know that you attacked the Uchiha Clan Police Force first… That makes you the traitor."
"In the name of the Will of Fire, I will eliminate every last one of you."
He launched at Danzo once again.
"Damn it!"
Danzo tried to hold his ground. He still had his Izanagi—a secret weapon. But using it would expose secrets he didn't want seen.
He had expected Byakuya to be cautious, perhaps to fall for political traps and hesitation.
But Byakuya gave no room for schemes. He chose war over games.
He knew that when it came to manipulation, Danzo and Hiruzen were unbeatable.
So he denied them the chance. He attacked. Swiftly. Decisively.
"Uchiha clan! Move in! Purge the traitors!"
"For Konoha! For the true Will of Fire!"
"Yes, sir!"
The Uchiha surged forward, crimson eyes glowing.
The Root forces fought back—but the power of the Sharingan overwhelmed them.
Genjutsu, taijutsu, ninjutsu—the Uchiha were masters of all.
Root operatives fell one by one, unable to counter the coordination and precision of the elite Uchiha fighters.
Danzo was injured, bleeding, and outnumbered.
The battle he had planned to crush Uchiha dissent was collapsing.
And Byakuya stood at the center of it all—like a crimson star of vengeance.
"Damn it... how could this happen…?"
Danzo Shimura's expression twisted as more of his Root operatives fell in battle. His heart ached—not out of sentimentality, but frustration.
These Root members were elite assets, cultivated through years of ruthless training and conditioning. They were meant to be his shadow army, Konoha's unseen blade.
Now, one by one, they were being cut down like fodder.
"Old relic…"
"You're actually distracted mid-fight?"
Byakuya's mocking voice echoed through the battlefield. In a flash, the blade in his hand swung toward Danzo's head with lethal precision.
"Tch—Not good!"
Danzo's body reacted on instinct, tilting his head back to evade, but he wasn't fast enough.
The blade carved through the side of his face, slicing open his right eye.
"Argh!" Danzo clutched his eye, blood streaming down his cheek.
"You bastard… You destroyed one of my Sharingan!"
[Ding! Sensed Shimura Danzo's pain – Negative Energy +1000, Ninjutsu Proficiency +30]
Byakuya narrowed his eyes as he flicked the blood from his blade.
"What a shame… But let's see if you can dodge this next one."
With no time to recover, Byakuya launched forward again, blade glinting with chakra.
Danzo, now missing one of his prized Sharingan—likely part of the Uchiha eyes embedded in his arm or in his right socket—was significantly weakened.
Though Danzo possessed the forbidden power of Izanagi, he was clearly overwhelmed. He lacked both the time to properly activate the technique and the mobility to outmaneuver Byakuya's relentless assault.
Desperation mounted as Danzo fell back, barely dodging blow after blow.
Each step was a retreat. Each breath, a struggle.
He had underestimated him—this Uchiha, this Byakuya. And now, he was paying the price.