Chapter 4: Greed
All the remaining energy in Uchiha Itachi was completely absorbed by Uchiha Raizen. His once-proud body, now nothing more than a husk, collapsed to the ground like a deflated bag of skin. The life that once blazed within one of the Uchiha clan's brightest stars had been extinguished, devoured by a power that defied the natural order.
Raizen stood tall within the colossal frame of his blackened Susanoo, whose sinister chakra pulsed in sync with his own. The air shimmered with heat and the overwhelming scent of ozone and blood. The moon, high above, cast a ghostly glow over the scorched earth, making the battlefield look like a painting from a war-torn nightmare.
From afar, Uchiha Obito—his arm freshly severed and bleeding—watched with a grim expression. This was not how things were supposed to go. His plan to eliminate the Uchiha clan had accounted for every variable—or so he thought. He had placed all his trust in Itachi, used him as a pawn to eliminate the threat of rebellion. And yet, here was Raizen, not only alive but transformed into something monstrous.
"This guy... How could he..." Obito gritted his teeth, fury and confusion mixing in his blood.
Raizen's crimson eyes, like twin moons filled with malice, locked onto Obito's gaze. "Obito," Raizen said, his voice distorted through Susanoo's chakra field, "it's your turn."
The towering, dark blue spectral warrior turned with a ground-shaking step. Its gaze was suffused with murderous intent as it lifted its massive blade and began to charge. The earth cracked beneath each footfall, dust and debris swirling in its wake.
Obito didn't hesitate. "It doesn't matter who you are," he sneered, trying to mask his rising panic. He activated Kamui. The space around him distorted, spiraling like water down a drain. His body flickered and phased into another dimension, disappearing just as Susanoo's colossal blade came crashing down.
The sword struck the ground with cataclysmic force, carving a massive handprint-shaped crater into the earth. Debris exploded outward, shaking nearby buildings to their foundations.
Raizen narrowed his eyes, then suddenly twisted his body and struck his side with his own hand.
A sickening squelch echoed, followed by a faint scream. When Raizen opened his palm, it revealed a gory smear of meat and cloth. Amid the mangled mess, he spotted a faint chakra thread, evidence of a spy or scout that had approached too closely.
"So weak..." Raizen muttered. "You thought you could approach me unnoticed? Pathetic."
He conjured a black flame with a single thought—Amaterasu's cursed fire—and incinerated the remains into nothing but ash.
The silence that followed was short-lived. A chilling presence swept through the air, and without warning, a group of ANBU-like shinobi appeared from the shadows—emotionless, silent, and heavily armed. Root operatives.
From behind them emerged a hunched figure clad in robes, his face wrapped in bandages. Shimura Danzo.
"The Uchiha clan has fallen..." Danzo muttered, eyeing Raizen with greed glimmering in his visible eye. "And yet, one rises from the ashes, more powerful than any of them."
Raizen's gaze drifted to Danzo, recognizing him instantly. "You... you're the leech who fed off our clan from the shadows."
Danzo ignored the insult. "Itachi was supposed to be the key. Yet, he failed... You killed him, didn't you? What a shame."
Raizen smirked. "He was a stepping stone. You'll be fertilizer."
Danzo's brow twitched. "Kill him! Gouge out his eyes!" he barked to the Root operatives.
The elite ninjas moved in unison, weaving hand signs at blinding speed. Flames, lightning, wind blades, and earthen spears surged toward Raizen's Susanoo.
But it was futile.
The attacks hit the chakra behemoth and were absorbed upon contact. Its armor pulsed, growing darker and more complex. Raizen's Susanoo fed on their chakra like a starving beast. With every strike, it grew more powerful.
"Do you fools not understand?" Raizen's voice echoed like thunder. "I am no longer bound by the rules of your reality!"
Boom!
He raised Susanoo's arm and brought it down like a judge's gavel. One strike, and the front line of Root was reduced to red mist. Blood splattered the ground like abstract art.
The remaining Root ninjas faltered. Their chakra drained without even being touched, pulled into the ever-growing vacuum of Raizen's presence. The surrounding air thinned as the heat and life were absorbed by his chakra field.
Panic set in. They retreated, but it was already too late.
"Run all you want," Raizen said. "I'll feed on your fear, your hopelessness."
Root after Root operative fell, their techniques crumbling, their bodies collapsing. In under a minute, over twenty were dead.
Danzo's expression twisted. He hadn't expected this. "Enough!" he roared, stepping forward. "I'll test your strength myself."
He launched forward with a surprising burst of speed, a kunai in hand. He aimed straight for Susanoo's chest.
Clang!
The blade shattered on impact. Danzo's eyes widened. He jumped back, but a massive hand clipped his legs, breaking them like twigs. He crashed to the ground, coughing blood.
"This... this is Susanoo?" Danzo gasped, wheezing. "How can it be this strong...?"
Raizen descended, stepping slowly toward the crippled war hawk. His eyes glowed with eerie light.
Danzo's fingers twitched. "Now!" he whispered, quickly unwrapping the bandages on his face to reveal a stolen Sharingan.
Kotoamatsukami.
The genjutsu surged forth. A jutsu so powerful it could rewrite a person's will without them even realizing it.
Inside the chest of Susanoo, Raizen's body jerked slightly. His head lowered. He froze like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
Danzo grinned. "Yes... got you..." he whispered.
He took a deep breath, ready to command Raizen like a puppet.
But then, Raizen raised his head.
And smiled.
"That's a nice trick," Raizen said calmly. "But your eye… is already mine."
Danzo's expression turned to horror. "W-what?!"
Raizen's own eye glowed with strange power. "Perpetual Izanagi. My body resets before your genjutsu can take root. You never stood a chance."
He extended a hand. Susanoo mirrored him.
Danzo tried to leap away—too slow.
Crack!
Susanoo's palm slammed down. When the dust cleared, there was only a pool of blood and Danzo's crushed remains.
Raizen stood amidst the ruin, surrounded by silence. The moonlight bathed him in silver, but his form—dark, powerful, and monstrous—was anything but heavenly.
The Uchiha were gone. But Raizen was still here.
And the world would soon learn to fear that fact.