To Take an Arm

Akuta looked at the swirl of red dust snaking around him like a rough bodysuit. Its characteristics allowed him to separate himself from the surrounding Genjutsu battlefield.

It was like walking between what was real and what was fake.

Looking elsewhere, he watched as the various participants of the battle moved around, weaving hand signs and swinging their swords at empty air. Although their jutsus were clearly activated, and the consequent actions were performed, no bursts of fire nor waves of water were shot out.

Everything occurred in an eerie, illusory silence.

"Interesting, no?"

A chuckle occurred from beside Akuta, mischievous and filled with sadistic delight.

"Fugaku-sama's Mangekyou Sharingan is capable of a Genjutsu so real that it changes the world itself. The Wicked Eye which could alter the terrain and revert all traces of damage."

Suguru mused, seemingly talking to himself while Akuta marveled at the sights around him.

"Even from the perspective of those beyond the battlefield, nothing seemed to make sense. Trees appearing out of thin air. Crevices filled themselves back up. Rivers returning to their calm states. Who wouldn't doubt such transcendent abilities?"

Akuta's gaze fell on the boy who spoke with nonchalance. 

"It turns out that no one did — they all attributed it to the wonders of the Sharingan and Genjutsu."

Suguru's gaze, in the meantime, lay elsewhere.

"The moment the Wicked Eyes are activated, the world already falls under an imperceptible illusion, irrespective of friend or foe, including even the caster itself."

A small smile appeared on Suguru's lips as he watched the rampaging jinchuriki of the Nibi.

"So, what happens when one interferes with this god-like gaze?"

Akuta opened his lips to speak. His eyes shone with understanding. "Then we can move, wholly undetected by everything that's happening in the Genjutsu world."

A wry smile appeared on Akuta's face.

"So?" Akuta asked Suguru, his mind flitting across several thoughts. "Why are you telling me these things, boy?"

Hiruzen's tone of voice leaked through. Even beyond Suguru's ability to observe, Hiruzen had shed his disguise.

"I was wondering if killing Danzo here would be a suitable bonus to my earlier proposition," Suguru replied.

Thus, Hiruzen raised a brow. "Ho? How do you plan to do that?"

Suguru grinned.

This question was an answer that served as an affirmation. The Third Hokage — a God of Shinobi had agreed to help him tear someone down from their throne.

Suguru's answer was thus exceedingly eerie in its simplicity. As if this single action would dictate Danzo's fate.

"By taking an arm." 

***

Danzo waged war on his Genjutsu battlefield. The Tailed Beast Bombs that wreaked havoc in all directions, culling the lives of his shinobi army, were all but lies. Given the sheer threat of such a jutsu, he had been devoting all of his attention to reinforcing his Genjutsu.

Thus, he could not do much else with the fires that raged, burning through his subordinates.

A certain someone was firing balls of fire that shattered the earth, creating molten lava on the surface due to the sheer temperatures.

And, on some occasions, white-hot explosions would nearly engulf him.

Thankfully, these explosions were still under the influence of Bishamonten — serving no greater threat than a gust of wind and a little burn on his chakra reserves.

However, it was growing absurd.

'How can that brat use so many jutsus of this caliber?'

Surely, Hiryu Suguru would've been consuming chakra at a much greater rate. The magnitude of his endless barrage of attacks was nonsensical.

'Something feels... off,'

That's what Danzo's instincts whispered to him with every explosion. The cracks on his Susanoo were growing in number like a crystal slowly losing its beauty.

—Boom!

Another white-hot ball of flame exploded in front of him. With his Susanoo's sword, he had to block. Otherwise, his armor would shatter.

And yet the light that burst out in an instant had no counter.

For a moment, Danzo was blinded, and his Mangekyou Sharingan lost its dominance over the world. With his eyes shut due to the pain, he felt his surroundings waver in integrity.

'Damn brat!'

His illusions were being chipped away in a manner that he never thought possible.

Yet Danzo would still be left unaware by the threat hidden within a Genjutsu more hidden than anything he could have thought.

***

Hiruzen and Suguru stood before Danzo's unmoving body. With arms crossed in arrogance while watching the Genjutsu Battlefield, Danzo looked silly in the world where the pair now stood.

No illusions clouded the pair's sight. They saw the world for all that it was.

A lie.

One so elaborate that the division between what was real and what wasn't was a line finer than a strand of hair.

Who would've thought that all forms of jutsu used within Bishamonten's influence would be nothing but a fake? All the chakra spent on concocting such jutsus just went to reinforce the Genjutsu world.

It was absurd — an ability befitting of the Mangekyou Sharingan of Wicked Eye Fugaku.

"Interesting,"

Suguru, with his eyes still glowing a vibrant crimson, glanced at his clones, running around, shrouded in handfuls of red sand. Through his Shinrakugan, he created a Genjutsu that interfered with Bishamonten as if it were reality.

'My clones are likely throwing Plasma Rasengans left and right...'

Judging from the frown on Danzo's face, Suguru knew that his clones were letting loose without a care for anything else. The chakra they spent all went into creating illusions so real that Danzo would feel threatened despite it all.

'It's the blindness that he's most wary of, most likely.'

Had Suguru's jutsu been purely physical, then Danzo would have shrugged it all off in an instant. However, the natural explosion of light created by the Plasma Rasengan was an odd counter that even Suguru had not expected.

Shaking his head, Suguru placed his gaze back on Danzo. The Fifth Hokage was standing only a few meters away from him.

Just a little bit more, and Suguru would have access to Hashirama's Cells.

'Oh, my excitement. To think you'd overpower even my Dark Release hunger...'

Licking his lips, Suguru pulled out a sword.

"It's time to take an arm!"

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