Chapter 122: Perfect Jinchūriki

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Perfect Jinchūriki

Zetsu slowly rose from beneath the ground, revealing his head nestled between the two halves of his Venus flytrap. With a puzzled expression, he asked, "Why are we helping that brat?"

The reason Danzo and his men had failed to catch up with Uchiha Shinichi last night wasn’t solely because of Shinichi’s exceptional counter-tracking skills. Zetsu and Obito had also done quite a bit behind the scenes to help him.

Otherwise, with Shinichi alone, he might not have been able to completely shake Danzo’s pursuit in just a single night.

Standing silently with his arms hanging at his sides, Obito gazed into the distance and murmured, "He’s a useful pawn."

Zetsu didn’t seem particularly convinced.

"But we’ve already lost control of him."

"No."

Obito shook his head and said calmly, "As long as he stays alive, that’s enough."

Obito understood perfectly well where the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village lay.

So long as Uchiha Shinichi—an Uchiha who had openly rebelled against the village—remained alive somewhere in the world, neither the Uchiha Clan nor the village would ever be able to forget the rift between them!

Zetsu said, "Konoha sent out more than one pursuit force. Whether he can successfully defect is still hard to say."

Obito glanced at Zetsu.

"Didn’t I tell you to have one of your clones keep an eye on him?"

Zetsu shrugged. "His sensory abilities are too strong. My clones can’t get close to him."

After awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Uchiha Shinichi’s sensory abilities had improved tremendously, even surpassing those of many sensory-type shinobi, making it extremely difficult for Zetsu to keep him under surveillance.

"Keep a close eye on him. It’s not time for him to die yet!"

As he spoke, Obito suddenly recalled the mysterious man he had encountered at the Root base, and his expression darkened.

Noticing the fluctuation in Obito’s mood, Zetsu asked curiously, "What’s wrong?"

Obito replied, "Last night, I encountered a mysterious man at the Root base. He was very strong. I exchanged several moves with him and couldn’t gain the upper hand!"

"Konoha still has an expert like that?"

Zetsu was rather surprised to hear this.

Obito said, "As far as I know, aside from those old men and Jiraiya, there shouldn’t be anyone in the village at that level. But for some reason, that man gave me a very familiar feeling."

"Familiar?!" After a brief pause, Zetsu asked, "You know him?"

Obito shook his head.

"Among the people I know, there shouldn’t be anyone that strong."

When he left the Root base, Obito had already carefully gone through his memories.

Among all the people Obito knew, aside from the Fourth Hokage, none possessed strength comparable to that mysterious man.

Even Kakashi, who possessed his left eye, was no exception.

But what made Obito most wary was the faint sense of confidence that mysterious man exuded.

That kind of confidence...

He had only ever seen it in the Fourth Hokage!

Zetsu chuckled. "If he’s capable of making even you wary, then I’m starting to get curious about his identity too!"

......

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sounds of explosions continued to echo from the distance without pause.

Judging from the commotion alone, Hyuga Kagami could tell that his teammates from Team Eleven were locked in a fierce battle over there.

Across from him, Uchiha Shinichi drew the short blade at his waist and casually twirled it through an elegant flourish.

"Hyuga Kagami, truthfully, I don’t hate you. It’s just that... I could never let go of the regret of losing to you."

Kagami replied indifferently, "We all underestimated you."

For such a large shinobi force to infiltrate this deeply into the Land of Fire, the identity of the other party had practically revealed itself the moment the fighting began.

And from the fact that Kumogakure had dispatched an elite shinobi force to cooperate with Uchiha Shinichi in ambushing Team Eleven, Kagami arrived at a conclusion.

Before Shinichi had even defected, he had already established contact with Kumogakure.

Otherwise, there simply wouldn’t have been enough time for Kumogakure to dispatch an elite force to receive Uchiha Shinichi.

Kagami secretly speculated, "It was probably a Kumogakure spy hidden inside the village who turned Uchiha Shinichi against Konoha."

This Kumogakure spy not only understood Shinichi’s resentment toward the village, but had also been able to approach him without arousing anyone’s suspicion and successfully persuade him to defect.

Whatever identity that spy was using as a cover, it definitely wasn’t an ordinary one.

Suppressing the jumble of thoughts running through his mind, Kagami slowly drew Kusanagimaru from his waist.

"Let’s fight somewhere else. There isn’t enough room here to go all out!"

Uchiha Shinichi froze for a moment before breaking into a grin.

"There’s no need. The current me won’t need much time to deal with you."

Kagami ignored him completely. Picking a direction where no one else was present, he sped away.

"Heh. Running away in such a pathetic state... Aren’t you embarrassed?"

With a light chuckle, Uchiha Shinichi chased after him.

Whether it was Hyuga Kagami or Uchiha Shinichi, both of them were extraordinarily fast. Before long, the two—one fleeing and the other pursuing—had traveled far away from Kumogakure’s ambush point.

The rumbling explosions could no longer be heard.

Growing impatient, Uchiha Shinichi shouted, "Hey! How long are you planning to run?"

Without even looking back, Kagami replied, "I’m not trying to run. I just wanted to find somewhere deserted so I can finish you off!"

Uchiha Shinichi snorted.

"Fool! You have no idea what the Mangekyo Sharingan represents. Your Hyuga Clan’s Byakugan isn’t even worthy of being mentioned alongside the Sharingan!"

Kagami turned his head and gave Uchiha Shinichi a cold glance.

Then, he stopped.

Uchiha Shinichi stopped as well. Twirling the short blade in his hand, he sighed with emotion.

"The moment I awakened these cursed eyes, I became different from the rest of you!"

Seeing Uchiha Shinichi completely intoxicated with his newfound power, Kagami didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Still, it wasn’t as though he couldn’t understand Shinichi at all.

After all, he was an Uchiha who had only just awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. And after slaughtering Root and ANBU shinobi as effortlessly as killing chickens and dogs, it was only natural for his confidence to swell.

"This is an opportunity!"

Kagami didn’t let the opening slip by.

While secretly activating Wheel of Will to drag Uchiha Shinichi toward himself, he lunged forward with the poisoned Kusanagimaru in hand!

The ocular abilities of the Mangekyo Sharingan were simply far too bizarre and unpredictable.

If there was an opportunity for a sneak attack, then naturally, it was better to take it!

Whoosh!

In an instant, Uchiha Shinichi was pulled forward with a look of utter shock—

And Kagami’s blade pierced straight through his heart!

Lowering his head, Shinichi stared at Kusanagimaru buried in his chest before asking in confusion,

"What... was that move just now?"

Despite landing a successful blow, Kagami felt not the slightest bit of joy.

Instead, he immediately pulled back and retreated.

Sure enough, just as Kakashi had described, the wound on Uchiha Shinichi’s chest began healing at an astonishing speed.

If not for the sword tear left behind in Shinichi’s clothing, Kagami might have even doubted whether he had truly stabbed him just now!

"Could it be genjutsu?! No... Even if my Tenseigan couldn’t resist it, the Dragon Vein would wake me up."

The current Hyuga Kagami was already the Dragon Vein Jinchūriki.

And because the Dragon Vein Source was still innocent and ignorant, almost like a newborn, Kagami could mobilize practically all of its power.

In that sense, he could just barely be considered a Perfect Jinchūriki.

As a result, the vast majority of genjutsu were completely ineffective against him...