"Only something eternal can truly be called art. A being like me is completely immortal."
Hearing Ash's calm remark, Sasori replied indifferently. For someone who possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, Sasori's disguise was indeed meaningless.
Not to mention that Ash possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Moreover, his relationship with most members of Akatsuki was fairly stable—excluding Zetsu and the masked man.
"I found them! Over there—get them!"
While Ash and Sasori spoke atop the rooftop, an Uchiha clan member finally noticed them and shouted.
At once, nearby Uchiha rushed forward.
Unfortunately, charging head-on into Sasori's puppet army was no different from throwing themselves onto a meat grinder.
As mentioned before, the Uchiha clan numbered roughly three thousand in total. Each district held only a little over seven hundred people—and that included the elderly, the wounded, and non-combatants. After the earlier firestorm, fewer than three hundred remained capable of fighting in District D.
Numbers alone meant nothing.
Among the Uchiha, there were very few truly elite shinobi. Having two or three Kage-level fighters would already be generous. Most elders were merely quasi–Kage level at best.
"Water Release: Hard Vortex—Water Blade."
Ash's hands formed seals.
The ground suddenly surged as massive amounts of water erupted upward, splitting into five powerful water whips that lashed out and bound a large group of Uchiha in place.
Ash leapt into the air.
Chakra rapidly condensed in his hand, compressing the water into a sharp, javelin-like form. With a cold gaze, he hurled it downward.
"What—?!"
"Ahhh!!"
The screams rang out instantly.
The moment the water blades struck, those bound by the water whips were torn apart. Water Release: Hard Vortex—Water Blade was an S-rank ninjutsu, not something to be treated lightly.
"This is—" Sasori's pupils shrank. "The Second Hokage's Water Release techniques… Since when did Ash master something like this?"
District D was rapidly wiped out under the combined assault of Ash and Sasori.
Ash's large-scale ninjutsu possessed terrifying coverage, and Sasori's puppet army had once been used to annihilate an entire small nation. Compared to the other districts, their progress was overwhelmingly fast.
Once it was clear that District D had been completely purged, Ash formed another seal.
With a puff of smoke, several Shadow Clones appeared and scattered across the battlefield, moving among the corpses.
They began collecting Sharingan.
"Sharingan?" Sasori asked, watching with some confusion. "Didn't you already have them? Why bother collecting these?"
With an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, there was no reason for Ash to care about ordinary eyes.
"They're not for me," Ash replied calmly. "They're for experimentation."
His shadow clones continued their work. Only three-tomoe Sharingan were collected—anything below that didn't interest him in the slightest.
After gathering seven pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan, Ash turned back to Sasori.
"I'll leave this place to you. I'll check on the other districts."
Many corpses had already lost their eyes due to the sheer destructiveness of their attacks, but Ash didn't care. With his own methods—and the existence of his system—this was nothing more than a whim to pass the time.
"Understood," Sasori replied, glancing at his damaged puppets. "I just need a few more materials. This operation cost me quite a bit."
Meanwhile, in District C.
Kisame and Zetsu were fighting separately when the masked man appeared.
"Tobi," White Zetsu said immediately, "according to my clone, Ash is collecting Sharingan as well. What should we do?"
"He's collecting Sharingan?" The masked man narrowed his eye. "That doesn't make sense. With an Eternal Mangekyō, there's no reason for him to care about three-tomoe eyes…"
Unless—
"…unless," he continued darkly, "he's planning something far more troublesome."
"Izanagi."
At that moment, Black Zetsu voiced the masked man's unspoken suspicion—then immediately shook his head.
"Impossible. That guy's Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was awakened under entirely different circumstances. Even after evolving it, there's no reason for him to know the Uchiha clan's forbidden dōjutsu, Izanagi."
"That's not necessarily true," the masked man replied calmly.
"We're not the only ones who know Izanagi exists. Danzo knows as well."
Black Zetsu frowned slightly.
"But Danzo doesn't possess Uchiha chakra. Even if he transplanted a Sharingan, he shouldn't be able to use Izanagi—unless…"
"Unless he transplanted Hashirama Senju's cells at the same time," the masked man finished.
He spoke in a low, measured voice.
"Izanagi requires Uchiha chakra to function properly. Outsiders can only activate it by compensating through other means. Hashirama's cells possess an abnormal vitality—Senju chakra can forcibly stabilize the technique."
Unlike the Uchiha, whose power was innate, the Senju clan's chakra could achieve extraordinary results through artificial means. Hashirama's Wood Release (Mokuton) was the ultimate proof of that—chakra extracted from his cells carried overwhelming life force.
"Then what do we do now?" Black Zetsu asked.
"Besides Ash, many of Danzo's Root operatives are also collecting Sharingan. Is this part of the original deal?"
The masked man let out a quiet chuckle.
"Since Danzo knows Izanagi exists, how could he possibly give up the Sharingan? The original agreement was only ten pairs of three-tomoe Sharingan—but it's obvious now that the old fox has no intention of honoring it."
His tone darkened.
"Have all your clones collect the eyes. Every single one."
He paused briefly, then added coldly:
"I'd rather let the Sharingan rot in our hands than allow Ash to gain any further advantage."
Thinking of Ash's strength—and the way it rivaled even his own Kamui—the masked man felt an irritation like a thorn lodged deep in his heart.
"…Understood," Black Zetsu replied.
In the next instant, his body split apart.
One half turned chalk-white—White Zetsu.
The other remained pitch-black—Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu retained access to fragments of Hashirama's Wood Release, while White Zetsu possessed the ability to create countless specialized clones.
The silent harvest had begun.
...
TN:
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