Chapter 24
'Shit. I totally forgot he still had that summoning spell up his sleeve,' I thought, wearing a discouraged look on my face.
Itachi and Shisui were paralyzed, and Shisui had just lost one of his eyes.
It seemed that the universe was trying to maintain its original timeline, despite the significant changes I had already made so far.
Now I was alone, fighting Danzou and the ANBU beside him, while Renji...
Renji flew towards me, unconscious.
'Ah, great... Okay, universe, it's me against you then.'
Sugaro returned to Danzou's side, who was extremely serious, despite his victory being only a matter of time.
It was three against one; I needed a strategy fast, or I would soon be facing them all at once.
"Mokuton: Wood Clone."
"Mokuton: Birth of the Tree World!"
I performed two jutsu that would give me time to think. The forest became denser with huge tree trunks growing and temporarily immobilizing Baku, while the clones served as a distraction to delay Danzou and the other ninjas.
'Beating them alone will be impossible. If I don't use my head, this second chance will have been in vain.'
I jumped between the trees, looking for help.
It didn't take long for me to find Kakashi, who had just defeated the last of the ANBU in that place, except for the two fighting alongside Danzou.
"Kakashi, it's just the two of us left. Itachi and Shisui are paralyzed, and Danzou summoned that strange creature. Can you do anything against it?"
"I think I can still handle Danzou."
"I... have a technique that might help. After what happened here, I have no doubt you're right about him," Kakashi replied, removing his mask and revealing his active Mangekyo Sharingan.
'That's what I was waiting for,' I smiled.
We ran back to the battlefield as fast as we could. My clones were still fighting, as they were more resistant than the others.
Kakashi kept his distance, waiting for the right moment to use his Kamui, and I joined the battle again.
"Tired of hiding?" Danzou said, cutting one of my clones with his fūton-infused kunai.
"I'd say I was just recovering my energy, Danzou, but you're right," I said, and with hand seals, I shouted immediately afterward.
"Mokuton: Great Wooden Stakes!"
Giant stakes began to move toward my enemies, some piercing the ground, while others emerged from the trees I had created.
This was no time to measure how much chakra I could spend. Either I ended this right here, or there would be no future for me.
Danzou used his fūton to dodge most of the stakes, which still managed to make a few cuts on him, while the ANBU struggled a bit more.
"Baku, now!" he shouted, and a huge suction was created in the air.
Danzou's summoning began to suck everything in its path, and the ninjas had trouble getting out of the way.
The trees began to be destroyed, clearing part of the battlefield, while I controlled the roots to keep myself from being sucked in until Kakashi could use Kamui.
It took a few seconds for Kakashi to get a clear view of the creature and use his technique, but when the moment came, the reality around Baku began to distort, and little by little, the creature was teleported away until it disappeared completely.
"Kamui," Kakashi said, panting after sending such a large creature into his dimension.
Danzou was paralyzed, watching his greatest asset disappear, and I wasted no time, controlling roots that shot toward Sugaro, who was already wounded and exhausted.
The roots grabbed him and slammed him against one of the walls with enough force to knock the wind out of him, leaving him lying on the ground, unable to get up again.
Kakashi wasted no time and went after the other ninja, leaving only me and Danzou in the battle.
My expression was serious, and I had no intention of letting him get away with Shisui's stolen eye, so I started shooting wooden trunks at him, preventing him from having time to think.
It was getting easier and easier to hit him with the rapid, consecutive blows, thanks to the fatigue he was feeling, but that was also wearing me down little by little.
[Chakra: 87/350]
It was impossible not to breathe heavily at that moment, but Danzou didn't give me time to think either.
"Fūton: Vacuum Sphere!" he fired.
"Mokuton: Defensive Sprout!" I performed the technique, trying to protect myself.
The wooden wall appeared in front of me, but some of the vacuum projectiles passed through it, hitting me.
The impact of that technique was so great that they pierced through parts of my arm and leg.
"Shit..."
[Critical hit received.]
I began to recover from the bleeding and now headed toward him, the stone skin covering my body as I ran.
One of the things I learned during my training is that closing the distance against a target who is inferior to you in hand-to-hand combat can be the key to turning defeat into victory.
My body was relatively heavier, but it wasn't enough to slow me down more than necessary.
Danzou kept trying to get away, firing vacuum spheres at me, while I used the protection of my stone skin along with the Defensive Sprout.
At that moment, my defense was enough to prevent me from suffering serious injuries from the attacks.
When I got close enough, Danzou was breathing heavily, gasping for air with his chakra running out, and I prepared a punch with as much force as I could muster in that moment.
He started to back away, but he tripped over one of the roots and fell to the ground.
"No, no! Wait!" Danzou said in desperation.
But I wasn't interested in listening to his words; I just wanted to end this quickly.)
And then I brought my hand down on his face.
The impact of the punch kicked up dust from the ground, covering the place where we were, and as soon as it settled again, I was standing there breathing heavily, and Danzou was unconscious.
I pinned his body with roots, preventing him from moving in any way, and dragged him with me to where I had left Shisui and Itachi protected.
Taking them out of the wooden domes, they were still recovering from paralysis and could only make minimal movements with their bodies.
"We did it..." I threw Danzou's unconscious body on the ground.
Despite his eye being gouged out, Shisui still managed to smile at the situation.
Itachi remained serious, though confident in our victory.
"I couldn't stop him from taking your eye, Shisui, but I hope you can get it back."
Shisui nodded.
"It wasn't your fault, Riku. There was no way you could have known he would do something like that."
"Heh... that's true..." I said, embarrassed by Shisui's words.
Then I turned Danzou toward Shisui so he could get his Sharingan back.
When Danzou opened his right eye, the Sharingan was active.
Shisui carefully removed the eye and placed it back in its socket.
'I'll never understand how anatomy works in this world... eyes, superpowered cells... confusing,' I thought as I watched Shisui do that.
"We must go. We need to take Danzou to the Hokage and then convince the Uchiha clan of his schemes," Itachi said.
Shisui and I nodded and started toward Renji, who was unconscious on the ground, and Kakashi, who had immobilized and knocked out the ANBU he was fighting.
"By the way, Riku, you really destroyed this place," Itachi said as we walked.
I just smiled awkwardly, looking at the place, which was now a large forest inside the ANBU Root base.
[Combat Ended.]
[Congratulations! You have evolved to level 13!]
....
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