Chapter 161: Shisui's Eyes
While the Whale Forest stronghold blazed with torchlight and song, three figures moved through the dense jungle beyond the town. Robin, Brook, and Franky—self-appointed "adults" of the crew—had excused themselves from the banquet to conduct a search.
"Do you think Kin'emon and Kanjuro might have been washed off the island entirely?" Robin parted a curtain of vines. "The drainage system does channel the Fire-Rain directly out to sea."
"Very possible." Franky's head had, at some point, reconfigured itself into the shape of a whale. "The current was strong. And neither of them can swim."
"It would have been helpful to bring Itachi," Robin mused. "His mobility and perception exceed everyone else's."
"No." She shook her head, answering her own suggestion. "Let him stay at the banquet. Since learning about Sanji, his mood has been off. He's been blaming himself."
"Exactly." Brook drew his bow across his violin strings, a searching melody floating into the night air. "Let the children enjoy themselves. The word 'samurai' is a forbidden wound here. Matters like this should be handled by us adults."
"Anyway, the person Kin'emon's looking for—Raizo—isn't here. And because of that false lead, this country was nearly destroyed." Brook's voice, usually so light, carried an uncharacteristic weight.
Franky folded his arms. "No matter how many times they call us benefactors, we can't tell them there's actually a samurai on our ship. That would be the ultimate betrayal of their trust."
They reached the edge of the ruined town—the rendezvous point Kin'emon had named before the flood swept him away. Robin suggested they wait by the watchtower for a better vantage point. The three of them settled in, backs against ancient stone, eyes on the dark horizon.
"Both of them are Devil Fruit users. If they were swept out to sea..." Robin didn't finish the thought.
"They're tougher than they look," Franky said. "Probably."
"We watch until dawn. If they haven't appeared by then, we expand the search."
"Agreed."
In the vast clearing before the ruined town, Itachi sat cross-legged on the cold earth. The ground around him was already changing—grass yellowing, shrubs withering, the life force of the land flowing upward through the Spirit of the Tree World's roots and into his chakra network. His breathing was slow. Measured. Each exhale carried the faint luminescence of gathered energy.
Law dropped from a nearby tree, landing silently beside him. "Itachi-ya. I thought I saw Brook, Franky, and Robin passing by earlier. Heading toward the island's edge."
"Kin'emon and Kanjuro," Itachi said without opening his eyes. "They were swept away in the flood. Robin's group must be searching for them."
"That makes sense." Law paused. "Something's been bothering me about this situation. The samurai. The minks. The attack."
Itachi opened his eyes. "I've been thinking the same thing."
"Kin'emon said his companion was here. A ninja." Law ticked off points on his fingers. "The Beast Pirates were absolutely certain there was a ninja hiding on Zou—enough to torture an entire nation for the information. But the minks swore they knew nothing. That no samurai had ever been here."
"Yet both the enemy's intelligence and our allies' testimony point to the same conclusion." Itachi rose to his feet. "Which leaves two possibilities."
"One: the samurai was here, but left before anyone noticed." Law held up a finger. "Two: the minks are hiding something."
"If it's the second possibility, they let their country burn for that secret." Law's voice was grim. "That's either extraordinary loyalty... or extraordinary stupidity."
"That's not for us to judge." Itachi's eyes shifted—the tomoe bleeding into the Mangekyō's complex pattern. "If they chose the second path, they had their reasons. What matters now is what comes next."
Energy surged. The Withered grass around him crumbled to dust as the Spirit of the Tree World drew deeper from the earth. His chakra reserves swelled, pushed past their normal limits by Law's surgical modifications and the ancient power rooted in his chest.
"Itachi-ya. Your eyes..."
The Mangekyō Sharingan was transforming. The familiar pinwheel pattern remained, but something new was bleeding into the design—a strange luminescence, deeper and more complex than the standard form. The chakra flowing from his pupils had changed color, shifting from its usual hue to something richer. More complete.
"Stand back."
Armor began to gather.
It was not the skeletal framework that usually preceded Susanoo's manifestation. This was fuller. More solid. The ribs came first—but they were denser than before, each bone etched with lines that might have been ancient script. Muscle followed, layer upon layer of chakra-flesh weaving itself across the growing frame. The armor plates that materialized next were not the familiar tengu design, but something older. More primal. A warrior's raiment from an era before recorded history.
And then the lower body appeared.
Not just a torso floating above the ground. Legs. Massive, armored legs that planted themselves in the earth and rose. Higher. Higher. The Susanoo stood—truly stood, for the first time since Itachi had awakened the Mangekyō—a complete giant of chakra and will.
"THIS is it!" Law craned his neck, trying to see the top of the construct. "This is—!"
The Susanoo vanished.
Itachi dropped to one knee, chest heaving, sweat pouring down his face. The chakra construct had lasted perhaps three seconds. The drain had been catastrophic.
"Itachi-ya!" Law was at his side in an instant, helping him toward the treeline. "Your energy levels—"
"I know." Itachi's voice was hoarse. He pressed his palm against the nearest tree, and the Spirit of the Tree World activated, drawing sustenance from the living wood. Color returned to his face slowly. His breathing steadied.
"Without breaking through the upper limit of the Mangekyō Sharingan's pupil power... that form cannot be maintained. Not for more than a few seconds."
Law helped him sit against the tree trunk. "Explain. What do you mean by 'upper limit'? If we use the bottle analogy from before—"
"You would say I need a larger bottle." Itachi managed a faint smile. "The Mangekyō can only contain so much ocular chakra. Even with your surgery connecting my networks, even with the Tree Spirit's energy absorption... the vessel itself has a maximum capacity. The complete Susanoo requires more than the Mangekyō can hold."
"Then how do you expand it? Training? Progressive overload?"
"No." Itachi shook his head. "The Mangekyō Sharingan does not grow through training. It has a fixed ceiling."
He deactivated his eyes briefly, then reactivated them in sequence—first the standard three-tomoe Sharingan, then the Mangekyō's intricate pinwheel.
"My clan's eyes have three stages. The Sharingan. The Mangekyō Sharingan. And the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan." The pattern in his eyes flickered. "The Eternal form removes the limitations of the standard Mangekyō. It eliminates the degradation. Removes the upper boundary. Makes the complete Susanoo sustainable."
"And how do you achieve this Eternal form?"
"Through transplantation." Itachi's voice was quiet. "The Mangekyō of a close blood relative—ideally a sibling—must be transplanted into the user. The two sets of eyes merge. The pattern becomes permanent. The blind spots vanish. The limits dissolve."
Law absorbed this in silence. Then: "You had a brother."
"Yes."
"And his eyes?"
"I never took them." Itachi stared at the ground. "That was never my intention."
"Then we find another way." Law's voice was firm. "You said it yourself—this world operates on different principles than yours. Devil Fruits. Haki. Bloodline factors. There may be an alternative. I'm a doctor. Let me research this. Let me find a solution that doesn't require..."
He trailed off.
Itachi had gone very still. His eyes—still in their Mangekyō state—had widened slightly. An expression Law had never seen before crossed his features. Recognition. Realization. The dawning of a possibility that had been hidden in plain sight.
"Wait."
"What? What is it?"
"According to my calculations..."
"ITACHI-YA?"
"Shisui's eyes!"
Before Law could ask a single question, Itachi's body dissolved. A flock of crows erupted from where he had been sitting, scattering in every direction, their dark wings beating against the night sky. Law was left standing alone in the ruined clearing, one hand still outstretched toward empty air.
"...Who the hell is Shisui?!"
(End of Chapter)
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