Susanoo

Shisui Uchiha appeared on this land that had once been so familiar, but was now filled with smoke and the stench of blood.

Bloodstained mud lay beneath his feet, while the lingering smell of rust and burning scorched his senses.

The sight before him made his usually gentle eyes tremble violently. He could scarcely believe it.

Familiar faces he had once seen day and night, faces bound to him by blood, were now facing one another with weapons drawn, slaughtering each other.

He had heard of the previous clash from Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze. Though there had been injuries that time, no one had died.

But now, vibrant lives and the blood of his own clan were vanishing and being extinguished before his eyes, one after another.

"You're back."

Fugaku Uchiha's low, hoarse voice sounded beside him, heavy with exhaustion and inescapable weariness.

The Uchiha Clan head seemed to be bearing an enormous burden.

Shisui Uchiha glanced over at Fugaku Uchiha's pain-filled yet desperately restrained face, and for a moment, words felt pale and powerless.

Having witnessed and experienced this brutal internal conflict firsthand, he was probably the one suffering the most right now, wasn't he?

But duty called, and there was no time to waste.

Shisui Uchiha took a deep breath, suppressed his surging emotions, and quickly laid out the entire plan he had discussed with the Fourth Hokage.

Fugaku Uchiha's pupils suddenly contracted, and a sharp light erupted from the depths of his previously lifeless eyes.

He slowly nodded, his voice carrying a desperate resolve.

"Good. I've already had Itachi lead a team of elites to escort all the elderly, children, and women in the clan who can't fight into the village."

Then Fugaku Uchiha turned his gaze toward the heart of the battlefield, his expression filled with