Chapter 142: A Kunai Pierces Susanoo, the Fall of Konoha F4’s Entire Clans, the Curtain Closes

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

Just as Yagyu finished off Hiruzen Sarutobi—erasing his soul from existence—a massive air cannon whooshed in from a distance.

So fast was this blast that except for Yagyu, neither Uchiha Sasuke nor Uchiha Hikari could dodge in time using Body Flicker.

Boom!

Yet the air cannon never struck the trio. It exploded not far from them, transforming into a violent gale. Blocking the blast was none other than Hikari's Susanoo.

Watching Danzo Shimura, who had attempted a sneak attack from afar, Yagyu handed the Kusanagi Blade back to Sasuke and said, "He's the last one. You take care of him."

"Just what I wanted."

Sword in hand, Sasuke stepped out of Susanoo, eyes full of killing intent as he stared at Danzo—who now possessed eleven Sharingan, one of them already sealed shut.

"Hikari, the rest of the survivors are yours." Yagyu then looked at Hikari. "Finish them off quickly."

"Yes, Onii-chan."

Hikari nodded sweetly. At once, her Mangekyō Sharingan flared scarlet.

In the next moment, those who had barely escaped the full-body Susanoo's previous strikes, or who had evaded the flames of Amaterasu, all had a sudden red glint in their eyes; their gazes turned vacant.

Ninja among them pulled out kunai and slashed their own throats.

Non-ninja looked for sharp objects nearby, either slicing open their necks or stabbing themselves in the heart.

In a flash, the remaining one or two hundred survivors—now all under the mental control of Eight Thousand Spears—committed suicide on the spot.

With that, the last few survivors perished. The clans of Konoha F4, plus the Root members Danzo had cultivated for decades, were now utterly annihilated.

Just as Yagyu had said: Hikari gave them a quick end.

Had it not been for their desire to let these people die in fear and despair, Hikari could have forced them all to commit suicide at the very beginning. But that would have been too merciful, since death under total mind-control meant dying without any conscious awareness.

Yagyu's choice to let Hikari grant them a swift end wasn't a sudden act of kindness; it was simply because he didn't want Hikari overexerting herself.

"Hikari, bite here again."

While Hikari cast Eight Thousand Spears to dominate their minds, Yagyu produced another chunk of the Gelel Stone, absorbing its special energy himself.

By the time Hikari deactivated her Mangekyō Sharingan—her eyelids twitching slightly, vision once again blurring—an outstretched forearm appeared before her.

Looking up at Yagyu's gentle smile, Hikari—whose chakra and ocular power were severely drained—felt her fatigue vanish. It was as if honeyed warmth had filled her heart.

"Mm."

She nodded firmly, a bright smile lighting her delicate features. Parting her lips, Hikari bit into the flesh of Yagyu's forearm; a look of contentment flickered in her eyes as she increased the pressure slightly.

Just like moments earlier, a warm current coursed from her mouth and throat throughout her body, absorbed by her 130 trillion cells and releasing a surge of physical and spiritual energy.

Her depleted chakra recovered swiftly; her blurring sight grew clear again.

With the life force and Yang Release chakra Yagyu provided, Hikari soon returned to full strength.

"Onii-chan, thank you," she said, pulling away and flashing Yagyu a sweet smile.

Yagyu patted Hikari's hair, fixing her hairband. He grinned. "I should be thanking you. You really helped out a lot this time."

"Heehee…"

Unable to contain her joy, Hikari dove into his arms and rubbed her face against his abdomen.

Both situations might involve taking "orders," yet being forced by her clan only ever filled Hikari with terror and compulsion, with no reward afterward—just confinement back into a dark cell.

But when she worked for Yagyu, she felt nothing but happiness.

After all, Yagyu would praise her, reward her, even harm himself so she could restore her ocular power.

It gave Hikari endless motivation to grow stronger—to become the sharpest blade in her Onii-chan's hand, sweeping away any obstacles in his path.

If Yagyu had known what she was thinking, his sense of accomplishment would have soared.

As time went on and he "conquered" more and more girls, his "coax-and-control" abilities had only grown more refined.

Still hugging Hikari in her playful embrace, Yagyu took her along in a Body Flicker to a rooftop. From there, they watched the battle between Uchiha Sasuke and Danzo Shimura below.

Just as in the original story, Danzo—having activated Izanagi—attacked without defending, letting Sasuke's attacks strike him at will.

The ten Sharingan on his arm allowed him to maintain Izanagi for ten minutes, reviving from any fatal wound for that duration.

Having never before encountered someone who couldn't die, Sasuke found himself at a temporary disadvantage—especially after using Amaterasu and Kagutsuchi multiple times. Yet he did have better training now, thanks to "Hundred Faces," and wielded an extensive arsenal of ninjutsu and genjutsu.

Realizing that pure ninjutsu or combined ninjutsu was wasted on an enemy who didn't fear death, and that he couldn't keep spamming Amaterasu at the moment, Sasuke decisively employed his Mangekyō Sharingan to cast a seamless genjutsu—no hand signs required.

Through Yagyu and Hikari's eyes, Danzo would occasionally freeze in place mid-fight.

However, these moments of paralysis were short-lived; Danzo broke free quickly.

After all, Danzo possessed not just Shisui's right eye but also a Hashirama-cell-based arm capable of releasing a special chakra interference. Without a top-tier, dojutsu-level illusion, completely restraining him was nearly impossible.

Sasuke didn't expect a genjutsu to finish Danzo off. His aim was to exhaust the Sharingan on Danzo's arm, and indeed Sasuke soon noticed that every minute or so Danzo glanced down at his arm. Another eye would then close.

Clearly, his immortality trick came from those eyes. Once every single Sharingan on his arm had shut, Danzo would lose the ability to stave off death.

And so Sasuke hung back, making Danzo waste more and more of his Sharingan.

Sure enough, as one eye after another closed, Danzo grew frantic. His attacks became more reckless.

"Summoning Technique: Baku!"

Yet another one of Sasuke's attacks was dodged. Danzo suddenly made hand seals, summoning a giant elephant-like beast with crimson fur. It unleashed a terrifying suction force toward Sasuke.

Trapped by the Baku's immense suction, Sasuke couldn't move freely or use Body Flicker to escape. Seizing the moment, Danzo charged forward, kunai in hand, cloaked in Wind Release chakra.

He was essentially betting that Sasuke would have to choose: cast a jutsu or use Amaterasu, and if so, who would he target—Danzo himself or the Baku? Either way, Danzo felt he had the advantage:

If Sasuke attacked the Baku, the beast would vanish from the battlefield, effectively wasting Sasuke's chakra and Mangekyō power.

If Sasuke targeted Danzo, all the better, for Danzo wasn't afraid of dying right now anyway.

As the wind-infused kunai streaked toward him, Sasuke dug his feet into the ground, channeling chakra to hold his position against the Baku's mighty pull. The six-pointed Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes flashed scarlet.

Crack—

A fractured noise resounded.

Sasuke's ocular power flared out, yet the result wasn't the black flames Danzo anticipated. Instead, a translucent violet barrier materialized in front of Sasuke.

Danzo's kunai—enhanced with Wind Release so it could easily slice through rock or steel—shattered the instant it collided with that barrier.

The violet barrier rapidly took shape, its meridians and skeletal structure forming. In the blink of an eye, a half-body giant clad in a crow-billed Tengu suit of armor emerged.

"Oh?"

Seeing this, Yagyu raised a brow, impressed. Indeed, the reincarnation of Indra was on another level—Sasuke had awakened his Mangekyō only a few days ago and was already capable of using Susanoo, skipping right ahead to its third form. Truly the feats of a chosen one.

Squelch—

The newly formed Susanoo immediately conjured a massive spear-like arrow in its hand, driving it straight through Danzo's torso.

A second later, Danzo's body slowly faded away.

Unperturbed by Danzo's figure reappearing some distance away, the half-body Susanoo raised its other hand, forming a longbow of purple chakra. Nocking an arrow onto it, Sasuke loosed the projectile at the Baku, which was still blowing with fierce suction.

Boom—!

The arrow, streaking like a purple meteor, obliterated the Baku in a burst of white smoke. A towering mushroom-cloud impact shook the ground.

Empowered by the divine might of the Mangekyō, Sasuke seemed to reach a new level of strength. He went from being pressed into a corner to dominating the battle.

No matter what ninjutsu Danzo tried, he couldn't breach the armor of Sasuke's Tengu-armored Susanoo. By contrast, every casual move of Susanoo caused massive destruction.

Before long, the Sharingan on Danzo's arm all closed.

At that point, he finally showed panic and regret.

He had believed he was sure to win… believed that as soon as Hiruzen Sarutobi broke free of the Edo Tensei's control, with an immortal body and infinite chakra, he could easily handle Orochimaru and those two "Uchiha brats."

He never imagined that the true mastermind this time wasn't Orochimaru or Sasuke, but rather Yagyu and that impossibly powerful young Uchiha girl.

Had he known, he would never have wasted the precious Kotoamatsukami in Shisui's right eye on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Now the Sharingan on his arm were fully sealed, and the right eye with Kotoamatsukami couldn't be used. With three overwhelmingly strong opponents still standing, Danzo no longer had any chance.

Wait… there was still one last option to turn the tables!

Something occurred to him. Danzo's gaze turned resolute and ruthless.

If there was no hope of victory or flight, he would drag them all down with him!

Swiftly, he formed hand signs: "Shadow Clone Technique!"

And then… nothing happened.

The next instant, Danzo looked dumbfounded.

He clearly still had chakra left. His hand seals had been correct. But he couldn't cast any jutsu.

Whoosh—

Squelch!

Oblivious to Danzo's predicament, Sasuke had Susanoo fire another arrow. It struck Danzo dead-on, pinning him to the ground.

"D-damn… you…"

With his chest run clean through by the arrow, Danzo spat blood. Eyes brimming with hatred, he fell silent as life left him.

Thus, the "Pot King" whom Yagyu had once regarded warily for years died in utterly humiliating fashion.

"What a fool."

Yagyu shook his head at the sight of Danzo's corpse. It was obvious to him what Danzo had been trying to do.

Just like in the original story, Danzo had hoped to create a shadow clone and then unleash Reverse Four Symbols Sealing with his real body, locking down both Yagyu and Sasuke in the process.

Unfortunately for Danzo, Yagyu never gave him the chance—he had simply stripped Danzo of the ability to perform jutsu.

As a once-in-several-generations prodigy of the Kurama clan, Yakumo Kurama's kekkei genkai allowed her to forge terrifying illusions in which injuries and healing became reality. It could also rob enemies of the capacity to use ninjutsu.

In the original series, had Yakumo not personally slain the entity known as "ID," only a Nine-Tails-powered Naruto could possibly stand up to it. Even Kurenai couldn't have won otherwise.

Falling into Yagyu's hands, that same kekkei genkai became even more formidable. After all, only a handful of people in the entire world possessed Yin Release chakra stronger than his—and most were either sealed away or dead, on the level of Six Paths–tier powers.

Moreover, the illusions Yagyu created couldn't be broken merely by shutting down the five senses. They were as absolute as Hikari's Eight Thousand Spears: Tsukuyomi—like a virtual alternate dimension.

"Hikari, burn all the bodies to ashes."

Glancing at Sasuke—who had just deactivated Susanoo and was hunched over, gasping for breath—Yagyu gently patted Hikari's head and instructed her.

"Yes, Onii-chan!"

Obediently, Hikari nodded and once more activated her Mangekyō Sharingan. Using Kagutsuchi, she guided the undying black flames that had engulfed half of Konoha to incinerate the corpses of those who had committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Yagyu moved instantly to Danzo's side, gouging out the man's right eye—the one containing Kotoamatsukami—and slicing away a chunk of Danzo's flesh, then storing it in a sealing scroll.

After returning to Hikari's side, she promptly directed the black flames to consume Danzo's body as well.

When Danzo's corpse finally turned to ash, Yagyu lifted his illusory technique.

Chaos soon overtook Konoha.