Chapter 10: Black Zetsu's Eye-Opening Experience
"Your medical ninjutsu... and that Wood Release..."
Shisui recalled Amamiya Rei's earlier confusion and carefully clarified his words:
"The ability you used to heal me — and the power you used just now to break free from my restraint — where did they come from?"
His gaze stayed fixed upon Rei, searching for even the smallest flicker of deception.
Rei still appeared as he had the night they first met. Yet now there was a difference — tears welled in those jewel-like eyes, trembling with fear and raw uncertainty.
Shisui's heart twisted sharply, as though a hand had seized and wrung it; sourness and pain welled up inside him. But outwardly, he remained still, revealing nothing.
"My mother taught me."
Amamiya Rei spoke softly, glancing timidly at Shisui.
"Your mother... could also command vines?"
Shisui's eyes swept over the severed vines littering the floor.
There was no mistaking it. This was Wood Release.
Rei shook his head, lips trembling slightly. "Mother said only I could do it... She told me never to use it carelessly in front of others."
"And I only did it... because you grabbed me by the throat first."
Rei's eyes brimmed with grievance and accusation as they fixed upon Shisui.
Shisui's hand moved of its own accord, thumb brushing away the tears at the corner of Rei's eye. The realization of what he'd done struck him an instant later; he withdrew, pressing damp fingertips against his palm, forcing his voice to steady.
"What was your mother's family name?"
Rei's tear-streaked face lifted, confusion written plainly across it. He shook his head. To Shisui, he seemed like a lost fawn — small, unknowing, far too fragile for the weight of the world pressing down upon them.
Shisui's mind flashed back to what Rei had told him the previous night — that her parents had never allowed Rei outside, and that after their deaths, this was her first time venturing out into the world. It was proof enough that Rei's parents knew about her unusual power. That could only mean one thing: Rei's parents were likely shinobi.
"My mother took my father's family name. I don't know what her maiden name was."
Rei's tone carried an innocent honesty.
Shisui's eyes narrowed slightly, thoughtful. "Do you remember if she wore any symbols? Anything... that might tell us where she came from?"
Shisui pressed further, intent on piecing together the truth.
If Rei's mother had known of her Wood Release, then she was almost certainly connected to the Senju clan.
Rei paused, as if recalling something faint from memory. Hesitantly, he said:
"I only remember that she had one piece of clothing... with this symbol on it."
Leading Shisui into the courtyard, Rei crouched down and drew upon the dirt — a rough depiction of the Senju clan crest.
It was not a perfect likeness, only vaguely similar, but it was enough.
Shisui's breath caught. Even this distorted echo was enough to confirm his suspicion. He loosened his grip on Rei's wrist at once.
In the days after Konohagakure was founded, the First Hokage — Senju Hashirama, one of its creators — had sought to dissolve the barriers between clans and ordinary villagers alike. The Senju clan had been disbanded, scattered throughout the shinobi world, blending into the masses.
It was therefore entirely possible for Rei's mother to have left the village and married an ordinary man.
What was shocking, however, was that Wood Release — a bloodline limit that had lain dormant for decades — had awakened again, and in a child whose bloodline was not even pure.
"Rei... you must come with me."
Shisui's voice carried a quiet resolve.
Whether Rei agreed or not was irrelevant — he had to take her.
The Wood Release bloodline was too significant to be left unattended. No shinobi from Konoha would ever allow such a power to drift beyond the village's grasp.
If shinobi from other villages discovered Rei, the consequences would be disastrous.
"Why... why must I go with you?"
Rei blinked at Shisui, confusion clouding his eyes.
The pace of events felt far too fast — this sudden talk of leaving together felt almost like a runaway elopement.
"Because you are the descendant of the Senju — the heir to a shinobi bloodline." Shisui's hand tightened around Rei's, earnest and unyielding. "You must understand how important this is."
But for someone who had spent over a decade outside the shinobi world, accepting such a truth was nearly impossible.
"I'm not! I'm just an ordinary person!"
Rei struggled desperately to free himself, but his strength could not hope to match that of a trained shinobi.
"Rei... ordinary people do not wield Wood Release."
Shisui's voice was firm yet pleading, desperate to persuade him.
"I don't know anything about Wood Release! I only know I can't go with you! I'm not a shinobi! I hate war! I don't want to kill anyone!"
Tears streamed down Rei's face once more.
In Shisui's Sharingan, he could see Rei's terror — and his own reflection in those frightened eyes.
"It won't happen! I won't let you step onto a battlefield! I won't let you kill anyone!"
"Rei — I will protect you."
Shisui's hands clutched Rei's tightly, his voice overflowing with promises.
But Rei only shook his head, terrified and unconvinced.
"I don't believe you! You're not my friend anymore!"
The words struck like a blade to Shisui's chest, stealing the breath from his lungs.
His heart clenched painfully, yet he forced himself to act.
Binding Rei firmly, he lifted him into his arms. His own voice, when it emerged, was cold even to his own ears:
"...Forgive me, Rei. But I must take you back — whether you are willing or not."
"I'm not going!"
"My home is here!"
"Let me go!"
This was the opening Rei had been waiting for.
Hunting moment — awakened.
Twisting and struggling like a worm in Shisui's grip, Rei lunged forward and sank his teeth into Shisui's shoulder.
Heh.
Caught you.
Opportunity always belongs to those prepared to seize it.
A low groan escaped Shisui's throat as searing pain radiated from his shoulder.
Yet he did not loosen his hold — he simply continued leaping from branch to branch, carrying Rei toward Konoha.
"I hate you!"
"I despise you!"
"Shisui!"
In Shisui's eyes, the three tomoe spun rapidly, merging into a single swirling pattern.
At the same moment, Rei tore away a mouthful of flesh from Shisui's shoulder.
A wet, visceral sound — shluk — accompanied the meat sliding down his throat.
Shisui's expression remained solemn as he carried Rei through the treetops, silently enduring the boy's onslaught.
Even so, Rei maintained restraint: one bite to vent his anger; a second would have been pure gluttony.
[Ding!]
[Scanning...]
[Scan complete.]
[Congratulations, Host has obtained "Uchiha Shisui Flesh Chunk" ×1.]
[Analyzing...]
[Analysis complete.]
[Contained abilities: Fire Release: Fire Release — Great Fireball Technique; Fire Release — Dragon Fire Technique; Phantom Body Flicker; Sharingan; Mangekyō Sharingan: Kotoamatsukami; Mangekyō Sharingan: Susanoo; Mangekyō Sharingan: Complete Susanoo.]
[Converting...]
[Conversion complete.]
[Uchiha Shisui Flesh Chunk x1= Mangekyō Sharingan — Susanoo + 2000 minutes Sunlight Value + 20,000 Chakra]]
[High-quality meat detected — bonus awakened ability: Breath of Thunder, Seventh Form (Zenitsu Agatsuma's Technique).]
[Host, please strive to obtain more high‑quality flesh chunks!]
Rei fell silent for a beat.
So last time's misfortune... was only paving the way for this windfall.
What absurd luck.
Still, a question gnawed at him: now that he possessed this technique, would his own eyes transform into the Mangekyō Sharingan?
[No.]
[Note: Converted skills include only the techniques themselves, not the required medium.]
Rei understood instantly.
So the Mangekyō Sharingan itself counted as the medium.
He could wield Susanoo... but his eyes would remain unchanged.
That wasn't bad.
Truth be told, if his eyes did turn into Mangekyō, he would probably worry about going blind.
Halfway up the mountain, in the abandoned wooden house...
Silence settled in the wake of their departure.
Shisui had only just carried Amamiya Rei away when a figure surfaced from the earth — a black, pitch-dark head rising soundlessly through the soil.
Black Zetsu gazed at the retreating silhouettes, wordless.
He had never truly anticipated that the monster could possess such cunning.
He had underestimated it.
Monsters might be dull-witted... but when they chose to seduce, they were terrifying beyond measure.
Truly Terrifying.
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