Chapter 87: The Time to Act is Now!

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: The Time to Act is Now!

Uchiha Xuan’s indifferent words caused Sarutobi Hiruzen’s pupils to contract sharply. His greatest fear had finally come to pass.

Setting things right... So that was the idea?

"Hah..."

Realizing persuasion was useless, Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, raised his hand, bit his thumb, and began forming hand seals.

"I’ll have to rely on you again, Enma!"

However, as the final seal was completed, there was no change whatsoever before him.

The Summoning Technique... had failed!

"This is a space unfolded through my Ocular Jutsu. Within this space, time, space, and mass are all under my control. This is not a Genjutsu but absolute reality.

Here, without my permission, no one can enter or leave. So... that counterfeit stick of yours cannot come in."

Uchiha Xuan explained softly to Sarutobi Hiruzen, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"Third Hokage! Don’t worry about me! Kill all these rogue ninjas!! Kill them all!! What are you hesitating for?! Have you forgotten the teacher’s instructions when he entrusted the position of Hokage to you?

Hatake Sakumo!! You need to think this through clearly! Assassinating the Hokage alongside Uchiha Xuan—what kind of treason is this?! Aren’t you considering your child who is about to be born?"

Beside them, Koharu Utatane’s hands glowed green as she pressed firmly on the wound pierced by Hatake Sakumo. Her face contorted with rage as she screamed hoarsely at Sarutobi Hiruzen. After speaking, she turned sharply and glared viciously at Hatake Sakumo.

"One must repay kindness for a thousand years. As a retainer of the Uchiha, such matters are not for me to consider."

Upon hearing this, Hatake Sakumo’s expression remained calm. If Uchiha Xuan hadn’t instructed him before the operation to personally deal with these people, this annoying old woman would have been dead long ago.

"Rogue ninjas? Sarutobi Hiruzen, are we rogue ninjas?"

Uchiha Xuan seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world as he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen and asked with a laugh.

Seeing the relaxed and carefree attitude, as if he wasn’t taken seriously at all, Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent for a moment.

Unable to summon Enma, his strength would be greatly diminished. Coupled with the information Uchiha Xuan had just revealed...

He... had no confidence whatsoever in defeating the young man before him.

Moreover...

Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, as well as Hatake Sakumo standing quietly nearby.

His friend was right there. If he were to act...

"Tsk, asking you is pointless. So, I actually somewhat agree with that waste Danzo Shimura’s viewpoint. Someone as indecisive as you is utterly unfit to be Hokage.

Since you won’t answer my question, let me tell you instead. That old woman over there, your name is Koharu Utatane, right?

So ugly, tsk. You just called us rogue ninjas? What a colossal joke. How could the Uchiha clan, as one of the founding Ninja Clans of Konohagakure, ever betray the home we built with our own hands?"

"The ones who truly betrayed Konohagakure are you, Koharu Utatane. You were merely a ninja from a small ninja clan during the Second Hokage’s reign, but look at you now. The Utatane clan has grown quite sizable, hasn’t it?

But it doesn’t matter. Since my Uchiha clan holds judicial and enforcement authority, it is our duty to purge these parasites harming Konohagakure.

So... care to guess what’s happening right now at the Utatane clan’s compound?"

Uchiha Xuan raised his hand with a faint smile, and the surrounding space instantly twisted, connecting to another location within Konohagakure. Through the spatial rift, a scene from outside unfolded before them.

Crimson blood-red eyes flickered in the night.

Blood splattered.

Pleading? Wailing? Curses?

Within the Utatane clan’s grounds, with every pass of an Uchiha ninja, another corpse fell.

"How dare you... How dare you!!"

Witnessing this, Koharu Utatane, who had just stopped her own bleeding, felt her pupils contract violently. In an instant, her eyes became bloodshot, turning completely red—as if she were the one from the Uchiha clan.

"Enough!!! Uchiha Xuan!!! Koharu Utatane was once the Second Hokage’s guard and disciple, and now she is an advisor to the Hokage of Konohagakure!!

Although the Uchiha clan holds enforcement authority, you absolutely cannot pass judgment on a Hokage’s advisor!!! Uchiha Xuan... Madam Mito... ultimately misjudged you.

Awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan has indeed granted you immense power, but that doesn’t mean you are invincible in the Ninja World. Now, I will personally set everything right!

I should have realized it sooner. Someone like you, who awakened the Sharingan at such a young age, has long been completely corrupted by that cursed power.

You... have long been utterly consumed by darkness!! Someone like you no longer qualifies as a member of Konohagakure!"

Seeing Koharu Utatane’s agony, Sarutobi Hiruzen, believing the timing was right, erupted with a surge of powerful chakra.

As Senju Tobirama’s disciple, Hiruzen was well-informed about the Mangekyo Sharingan. In his view, such a formidable ocular jutsu must come with immense chakra consumption.

Several minutes had passed since this spatial barrier was erected.

With Uchiha Xuan’s current Mangekyo Sharingan, his chakra must be severely depleted!

Now!!

Is the time to strike!!

"Ninjutsu—Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!!"

Hiruzen’s hand swept across his waist, and a shuriken shot toward Uchiha Xuan.

As Hiruzen’s hand seals shifted, the shuriken rapidly multiplied mid-flight—one into ten, ten into a hundred. In the blink of an eye, the sky was filled with shuriken.

"Is this all you’ve got? How... disappointing!"

Boom!

Uchiha Xuan tilted his head slightly, his black hair stirring without wind. A sinister crimson glow flickered in his eyes as the Mangekyo Sharingan instantly activated.

Chakra solidified into tangible form, and a massive skeletal structure rose from the ground. With a sweep of its colossal hand, it shattered every shuriken.

Susanoo!!

"Sarutobi Hiruzen, why bother with so many excuses? In this utterly trash Ninja World, killing requires no reason at all.

After all, in the eyes of the strong, there is no seat for the weak. It seems the so-called ’Ninja Hero’s’ capacity is only at this level."

Inside the Susanoo, Uchiha Xuan spread his arms as if embracing the entire world and spoke with unrestrained clarity.