This was...
The Third Raikage's eyes widened. With a face full of disbelief and incredulity, he slowly looked downward, his gaze gradually falling upon his own chest—and the hand slowly withdrawing from it.
"Cough... cough..."
The moment his gaze touched that thick, blood-soaked hand, he spat out two mouthfuls of blood. Amid several soft coughs, blood splattered and dripped onto the stone platform beneath his feet, bursting into tiny crimson blossoms. At the same time, it splashed across that slowly withdrawing arm.
Then, his lowered gaze met the eyes looking up at him from below.
And the face that abruptly widened its eyes and froze the instant their gazes met—a somewhat aged face, yet one that was stern and unyielding, possessing an imposing dignity without anger.
A face exactly like his own.
At this moment, he had twisted around and pierced himself with one hand! Genjutsu!
This was genjutsu!
Sharingan genjutsu!
There was no mistake! The instant the Third Raikage saw himself being pierced through and saw that the person who had pierced him was himself, he immediately confirmed it in his heart. He had fallen under genjutsu.
He had fallen under the genjutsu of that Uchiha Clan brat—Sharingan genjutsu!
But... when? When had he fallen under the genjutsu? The Third Raikage stared at the self he had pierced through and the self who had pierced him, uncertainty flashing in his eyes.
Throughout his battle with that Uchiha Clan brat, he had been extremely wary of the other party's Sharingan. There should have been no chance of falling under genjutsu.
That brat... when had he...
"Crack!"
Just as the Third Raikage slightly clenched his teeth and that thought passed through his mind, the scene of himself piercing himself suddenly shattered, scattering like crushed glass.
The next second, the crushing sensation