Pain.
An all-consuming agony, sharp and blinding. Uchiha Shisui felt the hope he once held for the world finally shatter.
Whoosh!
A kunai, trailing a ribbon of purple smoke, buried itself in the earth at his feet.
"Ghh!"
Shisui's movements were hesitant, a fraction too slow to dodge. The paper bomb attached to the kunai detonated, and a cloud of thick, poisonous gas erupted around him.
Oh no…
A wave of vertigo crashed over him. The world swam, the edges of his vision blurring into a dark, swirling tunnel.
'Did I inhale… the poison?'
Uchiha Shisui leaped away, landing unsteadily on a high branch and gasping for fresh air. At the same time, several dark, cloaked figures materialized around him, blocking all escape routes.
"Uchiha Shisui, you have nowhere to run. Surrender now!"
The Root ninjas drew their kunai, each one wrapped with a deadly explosive tag. The lead captain issued a cold command.
"Avoid his face! Aim for his legs and cripple him! Do not, under any circumstances, damage his remaining eye!"
"Hah!"
Uchiha Shisui launched a volley of his own kunai, enduring the fire that burned in his muscles. He pushed through the pain, channeling the last dregs of his strength into his most powerful technique.
I still have things I must do. I cannot die here!
"Susanoo!"
BOOM!
The moment the explosive tags detonated, a colossal, glowing green ribcage erupted from the black smoke, a spectral giant shielding its master.
"What… what is that?!"
The Root ninjas stared in shock, none of them having ever witnessed such a terrifying sight.
"Susanoo:Tsukumo!"
Uchiha Shisui opened the chest of his ethereal warrior, and from within, a storm of countless green chakra needles shot forth at an impossible speed, a volley that could not be dodged.
"Ahhhh!"
Screams of pain and terror echoed through the forest. With that single, devastating move, half of the Root ninjas Danzō had dispatched were eliminated, either dead or grievously wounded. This was the overwhelming power of the Susanoo.
"Hah… Hah… Hah…"
The immense power had consumed nearly all of Shisui's remaining energy. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath as the green, spectral form of his Susanoo flickered and dissolved into nothing.
"Now is our chance! The rest of you, attack!"
Only four Root ninjas, including the captain, were still able to fight. They gathered together, preparing to launch a final assault on the weakened Shisui. But with a final, staggering effort, Shisui pushed himself to his feet and vanished in a blur of motion.
"So fast! Where did he go?"
"Find him! He must not escape!"
The remaining ninja frantically scanned the area, but they could find no trace of him. Suddenly, from the darkness of the woods, several small, bright fireballs streaked through the air like vengeful meteors.
"Ghh!"
The fireballs struck the Root ninjas with perfect accuracy. Their bodies convulsed once before falling heavily to the ground, unconscious.
"Hah… Hah…"
After dealing with his pursuers, Shisui finally allowed himself a moment of relief. He raised his head weakly, his one remaining eye gazing at the bright moon. A final resolve seemed to settle over him. In that moment, the last of the light in his eye seemed to fade, leaving only a dark, empty void that could no longer reflect the moonlight.
In the Uchiha compound, within the clan leader's residence, the dark of early morning had not brought sleep. The entire estate was brightly lit, a tense energy hanging in the air. Uchiha Fugaku and a group of high-ranking Uchiha elders stood in the courtyard, their faces etched with anxiety as they waited.
After a long while, several young Uchiha ninja appeared before Fugaku, reporting their findings one by one.
"Lord Fugaku, we have conducted a thorough search of the clan territory. There is no sign of Tekka or Yashiro."
"Sir, I led a team to search the entire village. We found nothing."
"Patriarch, we contacted the families and merchants outside the village allied with our clan. It seems Yashiro and Tekka have not sought refuge with them."
"Sir, our sensory ninja are unable to detect their chakra anywhere."
"Damn it! Did they just vanish into thin air?"
"How could Tekka and Yashiro be so impulsive? This will push the Uchiha clan into an irreparable position!"
"Yes, Tekka I can almost understand. He is young and hot-blooded. But Yashiro is over forty years old! Why would he do something so thoughtless?"
"What is the point of discussing this now? The Uchiha clan… we are finished."
"If news of the assassination attempt gets out, how will we ever hold our heads high in this village again?"
"Patriarch, things have come to this! Why don't we just commit to it and—"
"Silence!" Uchiha Fugaku roared, his voice cutting through the rising panic. "What nonsense are you speaking? Do you not think things are chaotic enough?"
"Let's go! To the meeting hall!" As he spoke, Fugaku gave a subtle look to the others, signaling them to follow him quietly and say nothing more.
"Father, it's so late. Are you still going to the hall for a meeting?" Uchiha Itachi asked, running out of the house.
"Itachi, do not worry about me. This is a matter of life and death for the Uchiha clan. As its head, I must take responsibility."
"Go back inside and get some sleep. Take care of your mother and Sasuke."
Uchiha Fugaku left with the grim-faced elders. Itachi watched his father's retreating back, his own expression a storm of conflicting emotions.
Is it true… is rebellion the only path left?
He could feel it in the air, the rebellious sentiment that had been simmering within the clan for years, now boiling over. If they rebelled, there would be a bloody war between the Uchiha and the rest of Konoha. Other nations might even take advantage of their internal strife to invade.
If that happens, how much innocent blood will be shed? How many families will be destroyed? Itachi muttered to himself, his face a mask of lonely despair. Having witnessed war firsthand, he knew its horrors all too well. On the battlefield, human life was worth less than nothing.
"Sigh…"
Uchiha Itachi sighed deeply and prepared to go back inside. At that moment, Shisui's crow appeared once more, landing silently on his shoulder. For some reason, Itachi sensed that the crow was different this time. Its cry was not a call, but a wail. He knew Shisui was summoning him. A terrible feeling washed over him, but he calmed his racing heart and followed the crow's guidance into the darkness.
Beside the Naka River, Uchiha Shisui turned with a faint, tragic smile. "You're here, Itachi."
Seeing the state of his friend, Itachi was horrified. "Shisui! Your eye… what happened?!"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me…" Uchiha Shisui's smile was one of complete release, as if he had let go of everything. "I'm dying, Itachi."
"Before I go, I want to give you my left eye. You are my only true friend, the only person I can trust."
"Danzō took my right eye. As an Uchiha, he never believed in me. In the end… I was too naive."
"I used to think I could change everything with these eyes, that I could see through anyone's heart. But in the end… I couldn't even see through Danzō's true nature."
"He revealed his true intentions to me today. I thought his persecution of the Uchiha was simply his own twisted way of protecting the village. But his real goal was always the position of Hokage!"
"Danzō wanted me to use my Kotoamatsukami to help him seize power!"
"I refused, and we fought."
"I won the initial exchange, but I never expected… the eye under his bandages was a Sharingan. He could even use our clan's forbidden technique, Izanagi!"
"Itachi, you must not follow the same path as me. If the village falls into Danzō's hands, it will be utterly destroyed."
"I am done with it all. I'm so very tired."
"No matter how perceptive your eyes are, they can never truly defeat the darkness in a human heart."
Pluck.
Before Itachi could speak, Shisui reached up and dug his own left eye from its socket.
"This is my suicide note. My eyes hold a special power and could cause more conflict. I've written that I destroyed them. Please, keep this a secret."
"Itachi, do not trust Danzō. He does not act for the village; he acts only for himself, for his ambition to become Hokage. And his ambition may be greater than that… it may be for the entire world."
After explaining everything, Uchiha Shisui slowly walked to the edge of the cliff overlooking the river, preparing to jump. Itachi wanted to stop him, to scream, but he understood. This was Shisui's own choice. Perhaps he was truly tired of it all.
Splash!
With one last, fleeting smile, Uchiha Shisui leaped from the cliff, his body disappearing into the dark, churning water below.
Pain.
A profound, soul-tearing agony lanced through Uchiha Itachi's eyes. In that moment of absolute loss, he felt them change.
"Hehe… watching your best friend die before your very eyes. Has your Mangekyō Sharingan awakened?"
"It seems I was right to wait. One of my clansmen has unexpectedly unlocked a new power."
A voice Itachi had never heard before echoed from behind him.
"Who's there?"
Uchiha Itachi spun around, his newly awakened eyes locking onto the mysterious masked man who had emerged from a swirling vortex of space.
"My name is… Uchiha Madara."
__________________________
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