Chapter 87: Descending from the Heavens, Uchiha Akira with the Eight Gates

The ANBU, the elite assassination squad, was a special forces unit created by the Second Hokage. This organization answered only to the Hokage.

After the Second Hokage established the ANBU, other villages quickly followed suit.

Although in the original anime, the ANBU often seemed like mere tools without much flair, it was mainly because they faced key plot characters.

Overall, the ANBU were still a formidable force. In many people's minds, ANBU members were equivalent to elite ninja.

This was evident from the fact that those who could join the ANBU were at least at the level of elite Chūnin. After all, Chūnin were capable of leading a small team.

The Root, created by Danzo as a counterpart to the ANBU, was no less powerful and even more loyal and thorough in their operations.

Now, with the Uchiha clan being targeted, all the ANBU and Root operatives had been deployed. On the battlefield within the Uchiha district, lives were being lost one after another.

The battle between Uchiha Fugaku and Itachi was still ongoing.

Uchiha Obito moved through the battlefield, collecting Sharingan from fallen Uchiha ninjas whenever possible.

However, the Uchiha's defensive fighting style meant that while the battle was fierce, there were few casualties. This left Obito somewhat dissatisfied with the situation.

As he collected the Sharingan, Obito also kept an ear out for any commotion in the distance.

As Might Guy opened the seventh gate, the sounds of battle intensified even further.

Similarly, Fugaku and the elders, hearing the massive commotion, knew that the battle on Akira's side had reached a critical point.

They steeled themselves, continuing to delay and hold back the ANBU and Root ninja.

The battle had already been raging for over half an hour.

In that time, only about twenty to thirty percent of the Uchiha ninjas had fallen.

Thanks to Fugaku and the elders' efforts to calm the Uchiha clan's desperate mentality, the losses were minimized. Without their intervention, half of the Uchiha would likely have perished in the half-hour of intense fighting.

As the intense battle dragged on, the thunderous noises from the distant fight gradually began to subside.

At this point, Fugaku and the elders felt a wave of tension.

Had the battle ended? Did young Akira succeed in his assassination plan? Or did he fail?

If he failed, they could only hope he managed to escape with his life.

"It seems the fight in the distance has ended. I wonder what the outcome is," Obito murmured to himself, noting the silence that followed the earlier chaos.

At this point, many Uchiha had fallen in battle, but Obito had only managed to collect a dozen or so three-tomoe Sharingan, leaving him somewhat dissatisfied.

"It looks like Itachi is extremely exhausted now," whispered Orochimaru, who had been observing the battlefield, his cold snake eyes fixed on Uchiha Itachi.

More than anything, Orochimaru was focused on Itachi, coveting his body above all else.

Now, after such a long and intense battle between the two Mangekyō Sharingan users, Itachi appeared incredibly weakened. Orochimaru's anticipation grew.

He wondered if, when the battle ended, he would have the opportunity to seize Itachi's body.

Orochimaru's heart was filled with expectation, his patience unwavering. After all, opportunity favors the prepared.

Whoosh!

But just as the battle in the Uchiha district continued, with no end in sight, a blood-red figure shot toward the Uchiha district like a flash of lightning.

The village of Konoha was enormous. Though it was called a village, it felt more like a small nation.

Even with the Eight Gates fully opened, allowing Uchiha Akira's speed to soar to its peak, he still felt as though time was passing agonizingly slowly.

The duration of the Eight Gates was far too short.

As Akira continued his high-speed run, his body felt like a machine, with screws nearly coming loose, ready to fall off.

Even worse, many of his components were rapidly deteriorating.

Bright fissures began to appear on Akira's skin, with blood flowing through them like molten lava.

Grit your teeth, hold on a little longer... just a bit more...

Akira had opened the Eight Gates, quickly killed the Third Hokage, and destroyed Danzo's body without saying a word to Might Guy. He had then immediately rushed back to the Uchiha district.

If he couldn't hold out during this sprint, it would feel like a waste to have opened the Eight Gates. The practical benefits were minimal.

At that moment, Akira felt a pang of regret.

If only he had a space-time ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God to transfer quickly...

Almost there, almost there.

From a distance, Akira's Sharingan could already see the Uchiha district.

Akira's high-speed movement wasn't on the ground or jumping between buildings; he was running straight through the air!

Yes, Uchiha Akira was now running in mid-air.

In the state of the Eight Gates, he could use the principle of compressed air blasts to run through the air.

In a sense, this was a flying-like ability, an additional effect of opening the Eight Gates.

At this moment, Akira's mind was almost entirely focused on stabilizing his body's condition.

It felt like he was a bicycle on a highway, speeding at 300 kilometers per hour!

This extreme overload made it seem as if the tires were about to catch fire and the bike might fall apart at any moment!

When all of one's mental energy is concentrated on a single task, time seems to lose its meaning, and one cannot perceive its passage.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Akira saw the Uchiha district.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of ninjas were locked in combat.

The Uchiha, being a clan of fire-wielders, mainly used Fire Release, so the Uchiha district was ablaze with fire, spreading wildly in the dark night.

Countless ninjas lay dead on the ground—some from the ANBU, some from the Root, and, of course, some Uchiha.

As Akira sprinted through the sky, many of the combatants on the battlefield felt a sense of something approaching and looked up.

Like a blood-red meteor, a streak of crimson light shot toward the Uchiha district.

"What... What is that?" one of the ninjas couldn't help but ask as they saw the rapidly approaching blood-red light.

"Is that... a person?" Obito, watching the approaching light from behind his mask, sounded shocked.

"Blood-red light... Could it be Akira?" Fugaku, who had his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, had the best vision on the field. Seeing the light from afar, Fugaku recognized it as a person.

Recalling the legend of the Eight Gates, Fugaku was about 70-80% sure that this figure was Uchiha Akira.

"Is that... a person!?" Itachi, who also had his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, saw the true form of the light as a human figure.

But someone running at such high speed through the air? What was going on? Who could it be?

As the ninjas on the battlefield in the Uchiha district noticed the blood-red figure in the sky, Akira arrived within seconds.

Boom!

Like a massive meteor crashing down from the night sky, Uchiha Akira landed, creating a terrifyingly large crater upon impact.

At the same time, the immense chakra pressure, like a hurricane, oppressed everyone on the field.

With his arrival, Uchiha Akira immediately drew everyone's attention.

Even the duel between Fugaku and Itachi came to a halt as both turned their gaze toward Akira.

Akira's skin had begun to char, a sign of his body beginning to carbonize.

Deep fissures ran across his body like cracks, with blood flowing through them like lava, while blood-red steam continued to billow out.

His scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan quickly scanned the entire battlefield.

"Danzo is dead. The Third Hokage is as good as dead!" Akira announced loudly.

Boom!

Akira's words hit the battlefield like a thunderclap, leaving everyone in shock.

Danzo's death wasn't much of a surprise to anyone other than the Root ninja, who had already assumed he was dead.

But the Third Hokage too?

Looking at Akira's current state, his chakra radiating a suffocating intensity, had he been the one to kill the Third Hokage? Did he actually take down the Third Hokage?

After making his declaration, Akira's three-tomoe Sharingan searched the battlefield, finally spotting Obito.

In a flash, Akira moved like lightning, almost as fast as the Flying Thunder God, appearing before Obito and throwing a punch at him...

While his Eight Gates could still hold out for a little while longer, Akira was determined to take down Obito.

*****

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