"Surprised?" The white-robed man looked at him provocatively. "Sorry, I'm just that invincible."
Uchiha Tsukifu panicked for only a heartbeat before forcing himself to calm down. The scarlet three-tomoe Sharingan spun quietly.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
For an instant, the grip around his neck loosened. Tsukifu had just drawn a breath when the pressure returned even more violently, crushing the air from his lungs.
"Why…?!" he demanded through clenched teeth.
The white-robed man didn't bother answering. He lifted Tsukifu's body slightly, his tone cold and flat.
"I'll ask. You answer. Otherwise… you die."
A chilling gaze locked onto him. Tsukifu felt as if he'd been dropped into an ice cellar—his scalp prickled, goosebumps spreading across his skin.
"You're from Kara, right?" the man in white asked.
"Yes," Tsukifu answered without hesitation.
That decisiveness surprised the white-robed man. Judging from Tsukifu's combat sense and calm reasoning, he'd expected far more resistance.
"Then where's Kara's headquarters?" he pressed.
Tsukifu fell silent, as if weighing something in his mind.
The man in white wasn't in a hurry. He simply waited.
"In…" Tsukifu hesitated, then forced the words out, "in a place you'll never reach."
The grip tightened abruptly, pain flaring up his neck and chest.
Tsukifu twisted instinctively, his Sharingan flashing. He slashed viciously toward the wrist holding him, the blade screaming through the air—aimed to cut his own throat if necessary.
Closer.
Closer.
The white-robed man clicked his tongue inwardly. This one really was a lunatic—calm under threat, already planning his escape while answering questions.
So be it.
His hand slipped into the gap of time. The blade grazed past, missing flesh, yet Tsukifu's own strike carried on toward his neck, impossible to stop mid-swing.
"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
Tsukifu instantly trapped himself in an illusion, then shattered it at once. In that infinitesimal delay, he tore free.
He landed lightly, stomped back, and flipped several times in succession, forcing distance between them.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Nice reaction," the white-robed man said lazily. "But do you really think I care about losing a hand?"
He swung his arm casually, his masked expression unreadable.
"But you let go in the end," Tsukifu replied evenly. "Which means my gamble was right. No one gives up part of their body unless they're forced to."
"For example, cutting away poisoned flesh to survive."
"But you held my life in your hands. With that kind of advantage, abandoning your own power would be foolish unless it was truly life or death."
The man in white suddenly asked, "How do you know I wasn't facing a life-or-death crisis?"
"?" Tsukifu froze. Crisis? What crisis? There was no way he could hurt him.
"Heh." The white-robed man sneered. "I let go because I don't want my hostage to die like that. You still have value."
"So you won't kill me, no matter what?" Tsukifu shot back.
"Try me."
Both men took their stances again, tension snapping tight.
Tsukifu felt cornered. Against someone who could defend absolutely yet remain untouchable, continuing the fight made no sense.
Just as the air thickened, he spoke instead.
"What's your purpose in capturing the tailed beasts?"
"…"
Seeing no response, he continued, "We don't care that much about the tailed beasts. If possible, we don't need to be enemies."
"If you can't beat them, join them?" The white-robed man chuckled.
"Your losses weren't heavy," Tsukifu said calmly. "One of our intelligence teams died by your hand—and I took your hostage's life."
"We're even."
The man in white shook his head.
"The scales aren't balanced. Your people mean nothing to me. But my hostage was tied to our next plan. Killing her forces us to suspend progress."
Tsukifu realized it then—the other man wasn't negotiating out of kindness. He was fishing for an advantage.
"I don't know Kara's headquarters," Tsukifu said quietly. "I was only sent to the ninja world by Kara's upper ranks for basic intelligence work."
The white-robed man ignored that and asked instead, "Are you a Uchiha?"
"Yes… and no," Tsukifu answered vaguely.
In truth, he didn't know his own origins. He only remembered a father who cared for him, who took him for physical examinations every month without fail.
"I see," the man in white said.
If someone awakened the Sharingan without true Uchiha blood, then they were likely an artificial human—just like himself.
A tool, brainwashed, precise. Amado's handiwork.
"What do you mean?" Tsukifu asked warily.
"One last question," the man in white said. "Answer honestly, and we'll part ways. Moon and Kara won't interfere with each other."
Tsukifu's breathing quickened. This wasn't just his life anymore—this could spark a conflict between two massive forces.
The pressure was deliberate.
"Victor," the man in white asked softly, "do you know him?"
Tsukifu's expression shattered.
His eyes widened, his body trembling as he stumbled back half a step, shock freezing him in place.
Judging from that reaction, the man in white sighed, satisfied.
"Don't be surprised. We dabble in other fields, too. Maybe… our goals aren't that different."
Tsukifu looked up, meeting the man's calm gaze.
Only now did he truly understand. This wasn't some frontline enforcer—this was a core member of Moon.
And he was nothing more than an expendable outsider, a collector of scraps.
The idea that his comrades had nearly killed this man… was nothing but his own illusion.
They had likely died for nothing.
"…You want eternal life too?" Tsukifu asked hoarsely.
"More or less," the white-robed man smiled. "Our leader wants to create a god. Cooperation isn't impossible."
"That decision isn't mine," Tsukifu replied, forcing steadiness into his voice. "But I'll relay everything you said."
"Oh?" The man in white teased. "Already planning to leave?"
Tsukifu's chest rose and fell rapidly. He'd thought the other man wouldn't let him go—after all, he'd given nothing useful.
"Send a message to Victor," the man in white said. "Tell him this: Moon has a way to cultivate the Divine Tree."
"Alright!" Tsukifu agreed without hesitation.
---
A/N: A New Fanfic Is Out "Bleach: Reborn As Ishida Uryuu"
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San