Kotoamatsukami

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Several Root Jonin closed in instantly, the kunai in their hands weaving an impenetrable net. Having lost one eye, even Shisui's strength had been greatly diminished!

As he turned, several attacks struck him.

"Shisui, you will die here today."

Shimura Danzō said indifferently, "You should have felt it, shouldn't you? Their kunai were all coated with Poison. Rather than struggle, why not give me your Sharingan?"

His expression was cold.

It was as if he were looking at a dead man.

Shisui's expression changed slightly. His body swayed, and his vision blurred. He understood that this was a sign that the Poison was taking effect!

"Danzo, I will never let my eyes fall into your hands!"

Uchiha Shisui's heart had turned to ashes. Why had it come to this? They were all from the village, and Danzo was even part of the Konoha High Command. Could it be... that everything he had stood for all this time had been wrong?

Hiss!

Powerful Dojutsu Power surged into his eyes, and the Green Giant rose from the ground.

"W-What is that?!"

Everyone stared in shock. Even the well-trained Root members could not help but freeze.

Danzo reacted faster. He coldly ordered, "Shisui has already been poisoned. Kill him now!"

Yet countless Green Chakra Rain Arrows shot from the Green Giant's abdomen, pouring down like a torrential storm. They had nowhere to run and could only retreat desperately. In that brief evasion, Uchiha Shisui vanished without a trace.

"Hmph, Shisui, you cannot escape."

Danzo's expression remained indifferent as he said coldly, "Find him. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find Uchiha Shisui!"

He had to get both Mangekyō Sharingan into his hands!

The Mangekyō Sharingan in his hand flickered with an eerie glow, as gorgeous as a priceless treasure. Danzo could not help but reveal an intoxicated expression.

"Only in my hands can this power protect Konoha's peace!"

But in the next instant—

A vine shot out like lightning, snatching away the Mangekyō Sharingan in his hand before burrowing underground and disappearing without a trace.

"Who was that?!"

Danzo was both shocked and enraged, no longer able to remain calm. "Wood Release? Could it be Yamato?! Stay right there!"

His hands rapidly formed seals as he bombarded the ground where the vine had vanished!

Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!

Wind Release: Vacuum Great Ball!

Wind Release: Vacuum Ball!

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Vast Chakra transformed into powerful Wind Release ninjutsu. The ground exploded and collapsed inch by inch, leaving a crater dozens of meters wide. Dust swept in every direction, and when it finally settled, there was nothing inside the semicircular crater.

No vine.

And certainly not the Mangekyō Sharingan he had just lost.

"Hiruzen, you planned for this day all along, didn't you?!"

Danzo's face was as dark as water, his eyes as cold and fierce as hellfire. He laughed in fury. "Good, good, good, Hiruzen! You were unwilling to do this dirty work yourself, yet you took the Mangekyō Sharingan from my hands. You are no more righteous than I am!"

In the entire village—

Only one person could use Wood Release. Now that the Mangekyō Sharingan had been taken, he immediately assumed it was Hiruzen's warning.

In the end—

He had drawn water with a bamboo basket and come up empty-handed!

"Hiruzen, I will never let this matter rest!"

Elsewhere.

The Mountain Waterfall carried a fresh mist. Shisui had once loved the atmosphere here, but now the moisture felt icy and piercing, chilling him to the marrow.

"So everything I believed in was just a joke?"

Shisui hunched over, leaning against a boulder as he panted. His entire body radiated decay and defeat.

"Shisui, your convictions were not wrong. What was wrong was that you had no mind of your own and always placed your hopes on others. If you could not accomplish something yourself, how could you possibly entrust it to someone else?"

A calm voice rang out. Uchiha Akira walked over step by step, his eyes dark and deep.

Betrayal had broken the youth in him, leaving only a bent back and a bitter smile.

Where was the high-spirited Shisui of the past, with a back straight as a spear?

"Akira... you came..."

Shisui's voice was hoarse. His black eyes were dim and vacant, as though coated in the gray dust of time. He gave a bitter laugh.

"Sorry. This time, I really cannot keep going. I have been poisoned deeply and will not survive another half hour. From now on, the Uchiha Clan will depend on you and Itachi."

"Please don't."

Uchiha Akira waved a hand and refused without mercy. "I am not dealing with this kind of crap. You should handle this yourself."

"There are powerful medical ninja in the village. Your injuries can be healed."

As he spoke—

He helped Shisui up, intending to head back to the village.

"No, don't go back to the village."

Shisui forcefully broke free and fell to the ground, his face ashen.

"I... I do not want to live anymore. I... I cannot do it, Akira. I really cannot!"

He was like a white flower in a storm—fragile, battered by wind and rain, already withered. Tears unconsciously streamed from his eyes, and it took him a long while to realize it.

His voice carried a sob. "Danzo... Danzo is part of the Konoha High Command. How could he strike at me so ruthlessly? How could he?!"

The pressure accumulated over many years.

His efforts to move between the Uchiha and Konoha.

His trust in Konoha.

His loyalty to the Uchiha all collapsed at this moment, crushed into a massive stone upon his confused, fallen body as he spiraled endlessly into the abyss.

"Shisui, even if your eye is returned to you, do you still not want to live?"

Uchiha Akira sighed. A scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan appeared in his hand. By the time he had arrived, the battle was already over. He had used Wood Release to take the eye from Danzo's hand.

He asked in a deep voice:

"Shisui, do you not want the Uchiha Clan and Konoha to reconcile?"

Shisui looked at that scarlet eye, but there was not the slightest ripple in his own. They were like an ancient well, lifeless and stagnant.

He forced out a smile and murmured softly.

"Akira, I will leave these two eyes to you. Right now... I do not want to do anything. I do not want to do anything at all."

He dug out his remaining eye and held it out. His life was like a candle flame in the wind.

Just like his will to survive.

[Ding! Lord Hashirama has discovered the severely injured Uchiha Shisui. This is the perfect opportunity to display Lord Hashirama's Hokage spirit. Please save Uchiha Shisui!]

[Mission Reward: Indra Chakra!]

Hmm?

Uchiha Akira curled his lip. Heh, System, you called yourself a Hashirama System, but you were even giving out Indra Chakra.

You really have a strange specialty.

"Shisui, as your friend, since you have already made your decision, I will not force you."

He sighed, took the eye, and activated it without mercy. The Three Tomoe Sharingan in his hand instantly transformed into a Mangekyō Sharingan. "Kotoamatsukami!"

"Akira, you—"

Before Shisui could finish speaking, the dejection, confusion, and melodramatic desire for death on his face vanished completely.

With lightning-fast movements, Akira put both eyes back into their sockets.

A true USB port.

Plug and play!

"Akira, you are amazing."

Shisui's eyes moved and refocused. A brilliant smile spread across his face. "Thanks to you, otherwise I would have gone to die like an idiot."