Chapter 171 What's in the Land of Stars? Kaguya Clan, Uchiha?!
Asura seemed quite pleased with Shisui's current state of disarray.
He fell silent, standing there quietly, his white fox face reflecting an inorganic sheen under the pale light of the ward, like an observer from hell watching the seeds of despair he had sown take root and sprout.
Time flowed slowly in a suffocating silence, each second feeling like an eternity.
Finally, Asura spoke again, breaking the frozen despair.
His tone returned to its usual indifferent, all-encompassing manner, as if his previous scathing remarks were merely a speck of dust brushed away.
"Feel the power of your new life, Shisui Uchiha. These Three-Tomoe Sharingan, forged from despair and betrayal, will be your only means of seeing the truth in the future."
He turned slightly to the side, his gaze seemingly fixed on the endless darkness outside the window.
"Judging by the timeline, there's still about a year until that 'script' officially begins."
Asura turned back to Shisui, his gaze behind the mask carrying a hint of cruel expectation. "Then, use your eyes to see for yourself. Go and see how Konoha tolls its final death knell for your Uchiha Clan."
"Oh, by the way, don't even think about escaping. You certainly don't want to see Susanoo split the Hokage Office Building in two, do you?"
After the warning words fell, Asura did not linger.
He turned around, his black robes brushing silently across the cold ground like wings of night, and walked straight towards the door of the ward.
The metal door hinges groaned softly as the heavy iron door slowly closed behind him, blocking out the light from the corridor and also the figure that had brought the prophecy of despair.
Click.
The slight click of the lock clicking shut sounded particularly jarring in the deathly silent hospital room.
On the hospital bed, Shisui Uchiha remained in that tense and stiff posture.
The Sharingan with Three-Tomoe Sharingan under the gauze stopped spinning wildly, but the cold, violent power in his eyes did not subside. Like a lurking venomous snake, it slowly coiled and settled in his eyes.
With each heartbeat, a burning pain still lingering deep within his eyes, along with the desperate gazes and mournful cries of his clansmen before their deaths in his hallucinations, repeatedly tore at his nerves.
He slowly and with great difficulty raised one hand, trembling, and touched the two cold, sticky wads of gauze soaked in blood and tears in front of him. His fingertips touched a bone-chilling coldness and a sense of despair that penetrated to the marrow of his bones.
The image of the Fugaku chief calmly tilting his head back.
Aunt Mikoto's tears fell silently.
The empty, numb look in his eyes as he swung the knife.
The cold, icy surveillance posture of those in the Anbu outside the wall.
Asura's curse-like words echoed repeatedly in his ears, "What you hoped for was nothing but a beautiful Utakata— "
A chilling despair, like a deep-sea current, completely overwhelmed him.
There were no angry roars, no resentful howls, only a deathly, suffocating void.
He lay there stiffly like a puppet whose bones had been removed, except for his hand, which was pressed against the blood-stained gauze. His fingers clenched tightly, gripping the white sheet beneath him with such force that his knuckles turned white, as if he wanted to crush the fabric along with this cruel reality.
The next day, Shisui quickly adjusted to his new eyes.
They were placed in a newly built but desolate stone courtyard not far from the Uchiha Hikari residence.
The gauze over his eyes had been removed, and on his slightly pale face, a pair of three- Tomoe slowly rotated in his newly formed dark pupils, silently telling the story of the unforgettable transformation and pain brought about by that illusion.
Although it's not as useful as his original Mangekyo, it at least allows him to regain the strength of Elite Jonin.
With each breath, the icy sting of the genjutsu's Night of the Massacre lingered deep in his eye sockets, along with the strange, throbbing heat of his new eyes greedily absorbing chakra and struggling to solidify their existence.
Shisui stood on the cold stone steps of his small courtyard, trying to let the autumn breeze cool the churning illusions of annihilation and the chilling warnings of the Asura churning in his mind.
He knew that after Danzo's sneak attack, returning to the village now would only exacerbate the conflict between his clan and Konoha.
Moreover, since Asura used this Cloned Sharingan transplant technology on him, he certainly wouldn't let him leave freely.
He didn't want to bring two mysterious enemies to Konoha, nor did he want to deepen the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan.
It seems that staying in the Land of Stars for now is the only option.
"It's a good opportunity to check out the situation in the Land of Stars and gather information about the Hoshigakure," Shisui Uchiha thought to himself.
The cheerful laughter of children coming from next door caught Shisui's attention.
His gaze unconsciously swept across the neighboring courtyards, when a splash of bright red suddenly assaulted his still-unaccustomed vision.
It was a swirling family crest, cast from some tough red metal, firmly nailed to the dark wooden door of the adjacent courtyard, which was tightly shut.
Its style is simple and elegant, with smooth lines, carrying a sense of solemnity unique to an ancient family.
The Uzumaki Clan?
That ninja clan, long since vanished in the flames of war, leaving only a few legends and its cold name inscribed on the Konoha Memorial Stone?
He couldn't help but recall the first time he fought Uchiha Hikari, when he used the Adamantine Sealing Chains to bind three red-haired Iwa ninja.
It felt as if an invisible hand was tightening around her heart, and her Shisui body began to move.
He jumped up silently, landing lightly and quietly on the courtyard wall like a falling leaf.
"... The flow of chakra should penetrate deeper into the meridians, Kimimaro." A gentle female voice rang out in the courtyard. A red-haired woman of about twenty years old was instructing a white-haired boy on his training.
"When the power of Yang Release is excessive, it's like a flood. Without a dam to guide it, it will eventually break through the riverbed. The Yin Release power brought by the Byakugan is that dam. You must learn to feel its stillness and use it to restrain the excessive 'movement' in your blood."
In the center of the courtyard, Kaguya Kimimaro stood shirtless, her posture upright like a pine tree.
He closed his eyes and concentrated, and beneath his exposed skin, pale bones could be faintly seen protruding and then flattening, like breathing.
Beside him, the gentle-faced Uzumaki Fuka placed her hand lightly on Kimimaro's shoulder, a soft green chakra aura enveloping him.
Further away, Yuki Haku to one side, her fingertips shrouded in a visible, cold white mist.
Another girl with brown hair, a few freckles on her face, and wisps of smoke swirling around her, watched Kimimaro's practice with curiosity.
Shisui's breathing almost stopped.
The remnants of the vortex!
The Kaguya Clan!
And an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai!
A Kekkei Genkai ninja whom even he had never seen before!
This small courtyard actually houses the descendants of four bloodline families that were already considered by the world to be either extinct or extremely rare.
This is no coincidence!
What kind of vast network is that Asura weaving in the Land of Stars?
What is the purpose of collecting these lost powers?
Shock, like a cold tide, instantly overwhelmed his thoughts, and his eyes began to ache slightly.
"Who?" Uzumaki Fuka's voice suddenly turned cold, the gentle chakra aura instantly receded, and her sharp gaze looked up at the figure on the courtyard wall.
Shisui landed gently in the courtyard. "Excuse me, I apologize for disturbing you. I am Shisui Uchiha, currently recuperating next door. I happened to see the Uzumaki Clan crest and became curious."
" Shisui Uchiha?" Uzumaki Fuka's scrutinizing gaze lingered on his newly formed eyes for a moment, and the keen insight of a medical ninja made her instantly understand.
Her tense expression relaxed, and a knowing smile appeared on her face, "I see. Asura Shura mentioned your situation. Please come in and sit for a while, there's no need to be so formal."
She turned to the boys and girls in the courtyard. "Kimimaro, Haku, Yukimi, and this is Shisui of the Uchiha clan, the strongest ninja of the Uchiha clan in Konoha."
As the strongest graduates of this year's Hoshinin Academy, the three are taught by Uzumaki Fuka, who has already been promoted to Jonin, Uchiha Hikari will also train them.
"I've long heard of the name Body Flicker Shisui." Kimimaro opened his eyes, his recently transplanted Byakugan at Shisui. His gaze was calm and unwavering, and he nodded slightly. "I am Kimimaro of the Kaguya Clan."
"Hello, I am Yuki Haku of the Yuki Clan." Haku returned the greeting gently, his tender smile even making Shisui feel a sense of warmth.
"Wow! A Konoha Ninja! Hello, hello! My name is Yukimi, and I'm from the Iburi Clan!" Yukimi greeted them warmly with the curiosity of a young girl.
The issue of their clan's Kekkei Genkai has been resolved, and they can now live normally in the sunlight. As the most talented child of the Iburi Clan, Yukimi is naturally given special attention and training.
"Survivors of the Uzumaki Clan and the Kaguya Clan," Shisui's voice was slightly hoarse as he glanced at Kimimaro's Byakugan.
He recalled the four Byakugan that Asura had stolen during his second attack on the Hyuga Compound. Had they been transplanted into this kid?
There's also the Yuki Clan and the Iburi Clan I've never heard of before.
They are all ninja clans with Kekkei Genkai.
" The Kaguya Clan, I remember it happened as early as two years ago—" Shisui recalled the Kaguya Clan rebellion that the Fugaku clan chief had mentioned before.
"Extermination of the race?" Uzumaki Fuka chimed in, her tone as calm as if recounting a distant past event.
"Life Mujo; some seeds will always struggle to survive from the ashes."
"Just like our Uzumaki Clan, the Land of Eddies has long been history, but haven't our scattered bloodlines taken root here again?" She pointed to the ground beneath her feet, then to herself.
Shisui's heart sank heavily.
The Uzumaki Clan, the Uchiha Clan, the Kaguya Clan, the Yuki Clan, and the Iburi Clan ninja clan I'd never heard of before, and those Byakugan...