The furious voice echoing from the village was so familiar that it left Shisui utterly horrified.
That was his younger brother!
Hiromi!
He hurriedly pressed his left eye back into its socket.
"Shisui..." Itachi's voice was filled with uncertain concern.
"He is my brother." Shisui said firmly.
He had already caused Hiromi's parents to disappear, he couldn't let anything happen to Hiromi too. Even if it meant Hiromi became a rogue ninja, he wouldn't hesitate.
Conflict appeared in Itachi's eyes. For some reason, images of the clan members, his father, his mother, or the villagers didn't appear in his mind, only his best friend Shisui and his younger brother Sasuke did.
The two were placed on a scale, leaving him momentarily unsure of how to choose, his heart filled with painful struggle.
"Don't be impulsive, wait for me here." Shisui said before rushing off.
Itachi was left standing alone at the edge of the cliff, silent. The aura around him was oppressive, carrying a sense of struggle and helplessness.
Within his eyes, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun continuously. His ocular power surged and billowed and eventually, it settled down.
—
Root Base.
"Useless!" Danzo let out a roar.
Out of the entire Root of over seventy people, a fifth of their combat power had been sent out, and not a single one had returned. Shisui's strength far exceeded his imagination.
But the main cause was only one thing—the Sharingan!
He looked at the eye in the nutrient tube in his hand, his gaze flickering obscurely, his thoughts unknown.
At that moment, a violent explosion sounded from above his head. Cracks actually appeared in the supposedly indestructible rock ceiling.
Danzo was horrified.
"This is..."
—
Village Center.
An unknown Jonin stared blankly at the red skeletal half-body giant before him, which was wreathed in wild flames and radiating intense heat that left one's mouth dry.
Initially, he had seen a young boy with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan walking toward the center of the village and instinctively sensed something was wrong.
But thinking that a mere five-year-old Uchiha brat had actually awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he immediately wanted to capture him to claim credit before Hiruzen.
He never expected that as soon as he opened his mouth to say "Brat," that Uchiha would unleash his ultimate move.
A red skeletal half-body giant appeared and began smashing the ground without a word.
Nearby houses creaked and groaned as villagers ran out of their homes in terrified screams.
In no time, the buildings collapsed.
The ground cracked, forming fissures over half a meter long that would be dangerous to fall into.
Yet, this Uchiha brat was still dissatisfied. From those abyssal, demon-like eyes, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed his heart. A mass of orange flame was pulled out by the hands, as if in a sacrifice.
(Hiromi sacrificed his Fire Release Chakra Mode)
The next second, scorching orange flames appeared on the red skeletal giant. The red skeletal giant's destructive power increased immensely.
Houses collapsed and shattered as villagers fled in terror. The fissures in the ground reached a terrifying depth of three to four meters and were still deepening.
Fortunately, that furious flaming figure paid him no attention. But the ground felt as if it were about to crumble away entirely.
Other ninjas who had just arrived were stunned by the sight.
"Stop at once!" Hiruzen rushed over in a hurry.
Hiromi didn't stop at all.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Finally...
Boom!
The scorching red skeletal fist fell, and everything within a thousand meters collapsed.
[Mission "I'll Show You What Roots Are!" completed. You have obtained Fire Release Chakra Mode: Flame Emperor Form.]
[Prerequisite Fire Release Chakra Mode not detected. Fire Release Chakra Mode: Flame Emperor Form is temporarily unavailable.]
Hiromi's expression was cold and stern.
Danzo wasn't dead yet!
Meanwhile, Hiruzen's face was deathly pale. He knew that the Root was hidden hundreds of meters beneath the ground of Konoha.
"Danzo..."
He couldn't believe Danzo might have been buried alive just like that.
At that moment, a figure appeared, absolutely furious.
"Are you Uchiha planning to betray the village?!"
"Danzo..." Hiruzen breathed a sigh of relief.
Many Jonin also sighed in relief, all wondering how this Uchiha brat would be dealt with.
But Hiromi ignored them, staring intently at Danzo as if looking at a mortal enemy, and charged forward with the scorching red skeletal giant.
"Danzo! Give me back my brother's eye!!!"
The people around were shocked to their core.
In an instant, the scene fell into chaos.
"Protect Hokage-sama!"
The ninjas hurried to rush in front of Hiruzen, but some were even faster than them.
"Protect Danzo-sama!"
Root ninjas jumped out hurriedly, even leading some ninjas to shift their positions.
Danzo watched the charging Hiromi with a grim face, not expecting this brat to be so reckless.
Does he really not care about the consequences?
'No, the Uchiha wouldn't dare.'
Although his logic told him this, seeing Hiromi's complete lack of hesitation, he still quietly chose to activate Izanagi. Even if it was a waste, it was better than losing his life.
"Stop!"
Hiruzen knew Hiromi was Shisui's brother, so he didn't want to take action against him yet. Or perhaps, he held onto the naive idea that because he was the Hokage, everyone in Konoha would obey his orders.
But as it turned out, the more beautiful his thoughts were, the more wrong he was.
The scorching red fist descended.
The Root ninjas quickly formed hand seals and spat out in unison.
Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"l
Dozens of small pools of water surged together, forming a massive water impact like a lake, with an impressive momentum. But before Susanoo, it was completely useless. Even those scorching flames were only slightly affected.
Amidst the massive mist generated by the collision of fire and water, the red fist smashed through, crushing Danzo and the others who couldn't dodge in time into meat paste.
Boom!
"Danzo!!!"
Hiruzen's eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
In his agony, he didn't blindly rush forward. Instead, he gave orders to the surrounding ninjas.
"Capture him! Dead or alive!"
"Yes!"
While the surrounding ninjas hurled Kunai, various Ninjutsu erupted towards Hiromi.
Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning!
Earth Release: Earth Spear!
Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Various elemental Chakra attacks landed on the red skeletal giant, causing the orange flames attached to it to flicker slightly, as if its energy was nearly depleted.
But Hiromi ignored everyone else, looking around with extreme irritability.
"Danzo!"
"Did you think I wouldn't notice you using the Uchiha's Izanagi?!"
"Come out!"
"Give me back my brother's eye!!!"