The pressure on her throat loosened slightly.
Uzuki Yugao finally managed to breathe. The moment her feet touched the ground, she instinctively retreated, forcing herself to calm down and assess her surroundings.
Before she could even raise her head, a familiar voice reached her ears.
"Elder Danzō."
"So ugly~"
At this moment, the right eye of Kaito's clone had transformed into Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.
He stepped forward, flexed his right arm slightly, then casually picked up that so-called "revival-coin arm" and pressed it into place—
Bzzz—
"Not bad."
"So this is your power, Danzō?"
Watching Kaito mock him again and again—and even install the eye and arm he was most proud of—
Danzō completely lost it.
"You—you—!"
"Elder Danzō, Mr. Kaito!"
"What… what are you trying to do?!"
Yugao forced herself to steady her nerves. Faced with such a worldview-shattering scene, she couldn't help but draw her blade, gripping the hilt tightly.
Kaito turned his head, his gaze indifferent.
The instant she saw the Sharingan above his eye, Yugao immediately lowered her head to avoid eye contact.
"Sharingan…"
"Uchiha power…"
"No—wait."
She suddenly remembered what she had seen earlier:
Danzō's right eye turning blue, his right arm disappearing.
That meant—
Kaito's eye and arm… were Danzō's.
"You… what exactly happened here?!"
"Perfect timing," Kaito said calmly.
"Let's use you to test this Mangekyō's power."
Ignoring the wailing Root members, he walked straight toward Yugao.
At that moment, she felt an overwhelming pressure radiating from him.
A pressure so intense she couldn't move.
Like a young Kakashi facing middle-aged Orochimaru—
or Sakura in the Fourth War confronting Kaguya.
"I want to ask you something."
"To you… what kind of person was Hayate?"
Kaito knew some people were trapped in endless pain after losing a lover.
Simply editing memories might leave flaws.
But what if—
instead of erasing someone, he replaced them?
"…Hayate."
A trace of nostalgia flickered through Yugao's eyes, quickly swallowed by grief.
"He's dead."
"He was… my former lover."
"I see." Kaito smiled faintly.
He grabbed her hair with one hand, forcing her to look up—eyes meeting his.
"But soon."
"You won't feel pain anymore."
"Kotoamatsukami."
He converted his chakra into a massive amount of Yin Release, pouring it into his right eye.
Using the eye as a focal point, the dōjutsu activated, transforming into pure Yin chakra—
Injected directly through Yugao's eyes, flooding her central nervous system, targeting the hippocampus where memories were stored.
The shape of the hippocampus subtly shifted.
Extremely subtle.
Almost imperceptible.
The jutsu was complete.
"Kaito… Kaito, you…"
Completely replacing one person's image with himself consumed an enormous amount of chakra.
Even Kaito felt a dull ache in his right eye—but with his reserves, a quick flush was enough to stabilize it.
"So this is Kotoamatsukami."
"This eye is essentially a memory-editing switch."
"As long as you have enough chakra, you can alter a person's mental energy—and overwrite their memories."
"But…"
"It has obvious flaws."
"If the chakra gap between caster and target is too large, the jutsu may fail—or only alter limited concepts."
Modifying Yugao's memories of Hayate alone consumed chakra equivalent to five Kakashi-level shinobi.
And that was only possible because Kaito mastered it instantly.
If Danzō had tried this, at best he could only implant vague concepts like:
"Acknowledge me as the alliance leader."
"Believe I'm qualified."
Honestly—weak.
From Mifune's reaction back then, if Kotoamatsukami were absolute, there would've been no hesitation at all.
Even Itachi, after triggering Shisui's eye, still acted according to his own will.
Protecting Konoha ≠ protecting the world.
And Killer B wasn't even a Konoha ninja—yet Itachi spared him.
This alone proved Mangekyō dōjutsu was not absolute.
"Now then…"
"What should I do next…"
"Wood Release · Silent Strangle Bind!"
From the surrounding darkness, a thick wooden pillar burst forth.
Kaito glanced sideways—its target was Yugao in his arms.
The wood wrapped around her and retracted swiftly.
Kaito ignored Yamato, walking straight toward Danzō.
"Yugao! Yugao!"
Yamato rushed out from the brush, trying to wake her.
"Haruno, please!"
"Got it!"
Sakura immediately began examining Yugao, green medical chakra glowing in her hands.
After a moment, the light faded.
"Captain Yamato."
"She's fine. Just under genjutsu. She needs rest."
Kotoamatsukami's effects were like erasing pencil marks on the mind—then rewriting them in ink.
Detectable.
But not reversible.
And with time, the traces would fade even further.
That was its true horror.
Kaito observed Sakura's diagnosis through chakra vision.
So only real combat tests reveal the truth—not text descriptions.
"Danzō."
"Regret it?"
"This is where you killed Shisui, isn't it?"
He glanced around the shrine-like structure.
"You… what do you know…?"
Then realization struck.
"You're not from the past!"
"Interesting topic," Kaito said noncommittally.
He lifted Danzō by the throat with the very arm that once belonged to him.
Watching the struggle calmly.
Even so, Danzō's expression shifted—from fear to eerie calm.
"Even so… I won't let you have your way!"
"A man like you will become a disaster to the shinobi world!"
At that moment, black fluid erupted from Danzō's body—
Not ink, but black blood infused with Yin sealing chakra.
"Not good! Reverse Four Symbols Seal!" Yamato shouted, reaching out.
Danzō's body relaxed.
"Hi, Hiruzen."
"Looks like it's my turn."
The black markings spread, preparing to drag everything within range into the land of the dead.
"So that's it."
"That's your trump card?"
Kaito opened his eyes.
The sealing formation froze.
Danzō's pupils shrank.
"What—what is this?!"
"Forgot to tell you."
"This space belongs to me."
"Other than resurrection—there's almost nothing I can't do."
His voice echoed coldly.
Nearby, Sakura and Yamato fell silent.
Above, Sai and Naruto watched from an ink bird.
"Danzō-sama…" Sai murmured.
"But… it stopped."
"Did the jutsu fail?" Naruto asked nervously.
Sai nodded slowly.
"As expected of the man once called the All-Powerful God."
"To completely suppress Danzō and elite Root forces… without resistance."
Kaito dropped the blood-drained Danzō to the ground, wiping his hands in disgust.
Then he cupped his hands and shouted:
"Hey! Quick question!"
"Danzō secretly implanted Hashirama cells and Sharingan—should I kill him?"
From the bushes, Yamato froze.
"Why are you asking me?!"
"In short," Kaito said casually,
"He planned to use Kotoamatsukami to turn the Fifth Hokage into his personal puppet, then sit in the Hokage seat."
Danzō, still conscious: "?!"
"You slander me!!"
"…Kotoamatsukami," Yamato murmured.
Looking at Kaito's eye and arm, he honestly couldn't tell who the real villain was.
"Should I report this to Lady Tsunade first?" Yamato asked carefully.
Later that night, Tsunade crushed the report in her fist.
She didn't kill Danzō—but she stripped him of his position.
Root was disbanded.
The next morning, Tsunade personally apologized to Kaito.
"It's fine," he said lightly.
"I didn't lose anything."
Shisui's Mangekyō.
Five three-tomoe Sharingan.
Hashirama cells.
He had never looted such a rich battlefield.
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