Chapter 116: A Mysterious Ability

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: A Mysterious Ability

Crack...

After crushing the throat of the last ANBU ninja, Uchiha Shinichi cast a cold glance in the direction of the village.

This time, he had acted entirely on his own, without anyone’s assistance.

Because of that, when he stormed into Root’s base, he had been unable to find any trace of Danzo. Left with no other choice, he had wreaked havoc throughout the Root base before fighting his way out under the encirclement of the pursuing forces, retreating battle by battle until he finally escaped the village.

Lowering his hand, Shinichi casually tossed the ANBU ninja’s corpse aside.

At this moment, four ANBU corpses lay scattered around him.

Of those four ANBU ninja, aside from the last one whose throat Shinichi had crushed with his bare hand, every single one of the others had died the exact same way—

Their throats had been cut with a single slash!

There were hardly any traces of an actual struggle anywhere on the battlefield.

From the looks of it, the entire fight had been nothing more than a one-sided massacre.

Suddenly, Uchiha Shinichi turned his head toward a certain direction.

Then, his brows furrowed slightly.

After awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Shinichi’s sensory abilities had undergone an earth-shattering transformation. Just moments ago, he had sensed yet another large group of pursuers rapidly approaching his position.

Moreover, among them were several individuals with exceptionally powerful chakra.

He had originally intended to turn around and leave, but after taking only a couple of steps, Uchiha Shinichi suddenly stopped.

He drew the short blade at his waist and stood there silently, waiting for his pursuers to arrive.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid a rapid succession of sounds tearing through the air, figure after figure descended around Uchiha Shinichi, surrounding him from all sides.

At that moment, one of the ANBU ninja wearing a fox-faced mask spoke.

"Uchiha Shinichi, come back to the village with us. You’ll receive a fair trial!"

Hearing the man’s voice, Uchiha Shinichi coldly said, "Hatake Kakashi?"

To the Uchiha Clan, Kakashi was hardly a stranger.

After all, he was the only Konoha ninja outside the Uchiha Clan who possessed a Sharingan. Because of this, the vast majority of the Uchiha jonin knew who he was.

The ANBU ninja removed the fox-faced mask, revealing his true appearance.

It was none other than the captain of ANBU Team Eleven—

Hatake Kakashi!

Putting away his mask and fastening his Konoha forehead protector in its place, Kakashi said, "Shinichi, things haven’t reached the point of no return yet. There’s still time for you to turn back."

Uchiha Shinichi swept his gaze across the other ANBU surrounding him before asking with an intrigued expression,

"Did you come alone? Where are Hyuga Kagami and Shisui?"

Because of Shisui, the composition of ANBU Team Eleven wasn’t much of a secret within the Uchiha Clan. Generally speaking, once an Uchiha reached the rank of Special Jonin, the clan would inform them of such intelligence.

And in the eyes of the current Uchiha Shinichi, a mere Kakashi was no longer worth much consideration.

The people he truly wanted to defeat were Uchiha Shisui, the pride of the Uchiha Clan, and Hyuga Kagami, the man who had once defeated him.

As for Guy, Shinichi had never taken him seriously from beginning to end.

Kakashi shook his head. "They have other missions."

Kakashi was lying.

The Third Hokage hadn’t summoned Team Eleven at all. He had only summoned Kakashi alone.

Therefore, Kakashi knew perfectly well that whether it was Shisui or Hyuga Kagami, both of them were probably sitting idle at home right now.

Uchiha Shinichi curled his lips in disappointment.

"What a shame. I thought I’d finally get to enjoy a satisfying battle."

Seeing that Uchiha Shinichi had absolutely no intention of turning back, Kakashi’s brows knitted tightly together.

He knew exactly what the Mangekyo Sharingan represented, so he continued trying to persuade him.

"Shinichi, defecting won’t just ruin your own life. You’ll drag the entire Uchiha Clan into this as well. You need to think this through carefully."

Before Kakashi had even finished speaking—

Whoosh!

Two ANBU launched a sudden assault on Uchiha Shinichi from opposite directions, one from the front and one from behind!

One before him.

One behind him.

Their two long blades thrust toward each other—

piercing straight through Uchiha Shinichi’s body!

Drip...

Blood ran down the blades and dripped onto the ground.

Having succeeded in his surprise attack, one of the ANBU ninja coldly said, "Why waste so many words on him? Those who betray the village die!"

"It’s not a genjutsu, and it’s... it’s not a Shadow Clone either!"

Kakashi stared in astonishment.

He hadn’t expected the others to suddenly make a move, and he certainly hadn’t expected them to actually succeed.

The other ANBU ninja, the one who had attacked Uchiha Shinichi from behind, laughed.

"So this is all the Mangekyo Sharingan amounts to? Lord Hokage didn’t need to send this many ANBU squads after him at all!"

"Is that so...?"

Despite having two blades piercing straight through his body, Uchiha Shinichi let out a soft chuckle.

Then—

He swung his arm.

In an instant, the short blade in his hand flashed across the throats of the two ANBU standing in front of and behind him!

Slash!

The two ANBU, their throats severed in a single stroke, clutched desperately at their necks. With their arteries ruptured, all that escaped their mouths were incoherent—

"Gurgle... gurgle..."

They stared at Uchiha Shinichi in utter disbelief before slowly collapsing to the ground.

No one had expected that Uchiha Shinichi, whose vital points had just been pierced through by two blades, would still move with such agility—

as though he hadn’t been injured at all!

Kakashi’s expression turned grave.

Slowly, he pushed the forehead protector covering his left eye up onto his forehead, revealing his Sharingan.

With it, he carefully examined Uchiha Shinichi’s wounds.

Yet the longer Kakashi observed them...

the more confused he became.

Because the wounds were undeniably real.

The blood flowing from them was real as well.

That was precisely why Kakashi couldn’t understand it.

How could Uchiha Shinichi suffer such grievous injuries and yet act as though absolutely nothing had happened?

Clang...

At that moment, Uchiha Shinichi calmly pulled the two long blades out of his body and casually tossed them onto the ground.

Immediately afterward, the wounds on his body vanished in an instant, returning completely to normal!

The recovery was so fast that it seemed to have skipped the entire process of "healing" altogether.

Kakashi asked, "That’s the ability of your Mangekyo Sharingan, isn’t it?"

Uchiha Shinichi merely smiled without confirming or denying it.

Then he said,

"Today, I’ll show you the true power of the Sharingan!"

Realizing that further negotiation was pointless, Kakashi no longer hesitated. He immediately warned the surrounding ANBU,

"Everyone, watch out for his genjutsu! Don’t look directly into his eyes!"

The surrounding ANBU acknowledged his warning and immediately launched their attack on Uchiha Shinichi.

In an instant—

The sharp whistles of shuriken tearing through the air,

the thunderous explosions of explosive tags,

and the roaring of ninjutsu—

all intertwined together, resounding throughout the forest!

Meanwhile, Kakashi had withdrawn to the side.

As he carefully observed Uchiha Shinichi, he continuously analyzed the ability of Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan.

In Kakashi’s view, only by deciphering the ability of Uchiha Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan would they have any chance of defeating him.

Otherwise, they would simply end up like before—

even attacks that clearly landed would ultimately amount to nothing!

"What happened just now definitely wasn’t a genjutsu. He really was hit. But why was he completely unaffected after suffering injuries that should have been fatal? And why did his wounds recover instantaneously?"

Kakashi’s expression grew increasingly solemn.

"If this is the ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan... then how exactly am I supposed to counter it?"

Although Kakashi wasn’t a member of the Uchiha Clan, there was one belief he strongly agreed with—

Only the Sharingan could contend with the Sharingan.

And because of that, Kakashi believed that the only person here capable of dealing with Uchiha Shinichi...

was himself.