Kai darted across rooftops, leaving the lantern-lit Uchiha compound behind as silence folded into urgency. The chakra surged within him—his body reinforced, his strength undeniable. But in the chaos of movement, his mind was far from calm.
"What kind of system gives me a 'newbie pack' that includes something I already earned years ago?" he thought bitterly. "Sharingan at seven. Three tomoe before fourteen. That wasn't a gift. That was earned in blood, solitude, and damnation."
He exhaled sharply, pulse accelerating as the system continued to blink faintly in the corner of his vision. His eyes scanned the treetops. The scent of damp wood and danger lingered. Somewhere nearby, Shisui's chakra signature flickered—erratic and dim.
"Fifteen years in this cursed world. All I got was memories of a place that doesn't exist anymore... no companions, no allies, just this damned countdown to the massacre." Kai gritted his teeth. "And now I'm supposed to be grateful for upgrades? The Mangekyō should've come standard, not be dangled like a treat for rescuing a friend who shouldn't need saving."
The bitterness wasn't aimed at Shisui. It was at fate. At a system that seemed to understand power, but not sacrifice. At a world where knowing what's coming didn't guarantee you could stop it.
And yet..... "Even if I don't care for the clan, I care enough to act. I know Shisui. He's the only deterrent we have against what's coming. If his Mangekyō remains in play, the Third Hokage and Danzo will have to think twice. Also, today is the only day when Itachi's will would falter at what has occurred."
He leapt toward the cliffs spotting Shishui and Itachi in a verbal conversation. "Mangekyō for saving a life? Fine. But I'd trade it in a heartbeat to stop the slaughter."
Kai skidded to a halt. The team following behind him. The cliff's edge loomed ahead—a jagged wound in the forest canopy, bathed in twilight. Below, the mist swirled like whispers of forgotten promises.
And there… Shisui. Shisui lay crumpled at its edge, his eyes gouged out, his chakra barely a flicker. Kneeling. Chest rising faintly. Blood trickling at his temple like time escaping its bounds.
The chakra signature was weaker than he'd expected. Too weak. "Damn it, I'm late." Kai's fists clenched as he gritted his teeth in anger. "The system knew. It knew I wouldn't make it in time without the Mangekyō. This wasn't a mission—it was a manipulation."
Kai turned, his gaze sharp yet steady. "Mei. Stabilize him. Now."
Uchiha Mei did not need orders to take the next steps and start saving Uchiha Shishui's life. She was already moving forward before the order was given. "Understood," she said, voice clear, hands already glowing with pale green chakra as she knelt beside Shisui. The Jonins that followed formed a protective ring around Mei and the two medical ninja, flanking and protecting them.
Blood soaked the moss beneath him, staining the forest's memory. And standing beside the dying flame of one of the clan's brightest—
Itachi. Silent. Still. Watching.
Kai turned, his gaze locking with Uchiha Itachi's. Mei continued her delicate work nearby. Her fingers hovered above Shisui's gouged sockets, then shifted with clinical precision to his neck and chest, where blood still pooled. A faint hum began—chakra pulses blooming in rhythmic waves. Micro-clots dissolved. Cell regeneration sparked.
Shisui's breathing leveled—faint, but stable. Kai knew this was the moment. The silence between them wasn't empty—it was fragile. Raw. The kind of stillness that could break worlds.
Meanwhile, Kai did not stop standing before Itachi and staring at him. Kai was tense, silent, contained - his chakra began to surge. Not wildly, but with precision. Like a blade unsheathed but not swung.
His breathing remained steady, yet the air around him vibrated with latent force. Leaves trembled at his feet. A crow nearby croaked once and vanished into the shadows, as if sensing the shift.
Then -
🌑 Timeline Fractured
✅ Mission Complete: Shisui Saved
⚠️ Canonical Continuity Diverged
🌀 Reward Activated — Mangekyo Sharingan
The activation was more than visual. It was primal. Kai's Mangekyō began to bloom—like ink spilling in slow motion across the whites of his eye. Spirals of black and crimson twisted inwards as pain pierced through his skull, not from injury—but from memory. From resolve. From consequence.
His eyes bled tears—thin threads of chakra seeping as his vision sharpened beyond the material.
A pulse echoed through the clearing.
⚡ Ability Unlocked: Susanoo - First Stage
🔁 Emotion Trigger: Loyalty + Betrayal + Defiance
🎖️ "Those who protect without permission bear the heaviest wings."
Itachi's expression didn't change—but something in him did. He felt it. Not just power—but something from his soul.
Mei's hands trembled slightly as she retracted her healing chakra, eyes exhausted but steady. Her voice broke the silent tension between Kai and Itachi. "Vitals stabilized. He's out of danger… for now."
Kai broke the silence between Kai and Itachi — not with accusation, but with a truth too sharp to ignore. "You know Shishui was loyal. Loyal beyond the clan. Loyal to the ideal of Konoha that wasn't festering in shadows." His voice was low, deliberate. Kai's eyes bore into Itachi's, coldly deliberate. A gust of wind stirred crimson leaves at their feet, foreshadowing the storm in his words. "So tell me, Itachi. Was this justice? Sacrificing the only soldier who fought for peace?"
Itachi's voice emerged—soft, hesitant. "The village didn't strike Shisui," he replied quietly. "The decisions… weren't made by the will of Konoha. They were made by fear."
Kai's lips curved into a sardonic smile. He stepped closer, shadows dancing around his form. "What Will of Konoha, Itachi?" he asked, voice low. "Isn't it the will of Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi—to preserve stability and security above all else?"
He laughed, a sound like steel clashing. "So tell me: was Shishui's death supposed to be 'stability' in action? He fought to quell unrest, to heal the rifts you now defend." His hand swept toward the distant silhouette of the Hokage Monument. "Where was Hiruzen when Shisui needed protection?"
Itachi's jaw tightened. He swallowed. "It wasn't Sandaime-sama," he said finally, tone hollow. "It was Danzo."
Kai's eyes flashed with conviction. "The Hokage and Danzo have walked side by side since childhood, haven't they? If Danzo—the Darkness of Konoha—strikes first, it is because the Light has sanctioned action but refuses to be stained by its consequences."
Itachi wavered, struck silent by the accusation. Kai advanced, each word a blade: "Konoha was founded so the next generation need never taste war. Yet in the Third Great Ninja War, children—ourselves, Kakashi, Obito, Rin, Gai, Kurenai, Shisui—were sent into battle while Hiruzen never left his seat. During the Nine-Tails attack, Danzo barred the Uchiha from aiding the Fourth Hokage, choosing suspicion over unity. The Fourth sacrificed himself with sealing jutsu — while the elders watched from safety."
He paused, letting the weight of history hang between them. "When the clans first joined, the Sarutobi and Shimura numbered barely two hundred and fifty shinobi each. Today the Sarutobi field over two thousand five hundred, yet the Uchiha—our blood—barely a thousand. Why, Itachi? You're smarter than most. Start thinking."
Kai's gaze hardened, unyielding. "We will not leave this place until an accord is forged—between you, me, and Shisui, the Uchiha clan's truest protector in this fractured age."
A final gust of wind swept the clearing, carrying away loose petals… and leaving only the heavy silence of two destinies on the brink.
Kai lifted his hand in a steady gesture—no hostility, no flare of chakra. "No jutsu. No fighting," he announced, voice firm yet calm. "We're not here to shed more blood. We're here to speak."
Shisui, propped against a moss-covered boulder, exchanged a tired glance with Itachi. Shisui's breaths were shallow but even; Itachi's shoulders sagged from exhaustion. Both understood: until consensus was reached, no one would draw a weapon.
Around them, Yoshiro and Kotaro—each an elite jōnin—stood at ease, chakra suppressed. Mei knelt beside Shisui, her healing aura fading but still protective. The other jōnin formed a loose circle, watching, listening.