Kotoamatsukami

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!

Several Root jonin closed in an instant, their kunai dancing in an impenetrable web. With one eye lost, even Shisui's strength was greatly diminished!

In a turn, he was struck by several attacks.

"Shisui, you're bound to die here today."

Shimura Danzō said indifferently: "You must have felt it by now—their kunai are all coated with poison. Instead of struggling, hand over your Sharingan to me."

His expression was cold.

As if looking at a dead man.

Shisui's face shifted slightly; his body swayed, and his vision blurred. He understood this was a sign of the poison taking effect!

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

Uchiha Shisui's heart was ashen. Why had it come to this? They were all people of the village, and Danzō was even a village elder. Could it be... that everything he had always believed in was wrong?

Chi—!

A surge of dojutsu power flooded into his eyes, and a green giant rose from the ground.

"Th-that thing?!"

The onlookers stared in shock, their eyes wide. Even the disciplined Root members were stunned for a moment.

Danzō reacted faster, coldly commanding: "Shisui is already poisoned. Kill him now!"

But in his line of sight, countless Green Chakra Rain Arrows burst from the green giant's abdomen, pouring down like a torrential storm. They had no way to dodge, only to retreat desperately. And in that moment of evasion, Uchiha Shisui's figure vanished without a trace.

"Hmph, Shisui, you won't escape."

Danzō's expression was grim as he coldly ordered: "Find him. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, drag Uchiha Shisui out!"

He was determined to get both Mangekyo Sharingan into his hands!

The Mangekyo Sharingan in his hand flickered with an eerie light, as dazzling as a treasure. Danzō's face couldn't help but show a look of obsession.

"This power—only in my hands can it protect the peace of Konoha!"

But the next instant.

A vine shot out like lightning, snatching the Mangekyo Sharingan from his hand in an instant, burrowing into the ground, and vanishing without a trace.

"Who goes there?!"

Danzō was both shocked and enraged, unable to maintain his composure: "Wood Release—could it be Yamato?! Leave it behind!"

He formed hand seals rapidly, bombarding the ground where the vine had disappeared with relentless fury!

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Ball!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Ball!"

Boom—!

Boom—!

Boom—!

Vast chakra transformed into powerful Wind Release techniques. The ground shattered inch by inch, caved in, forming a crater dozens of meters deep, kicking up a storm of dust that swept in all directions. When the dust settled, the semicircular pit was empty.

No vine.

No trace of the Mangekyo Sharingan that had just been lost.

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

Danzō's face was as dark as water, his eyes as cold as hellfire. He laughed in fury: "Fine, fine, fine. Hiruzen, you wouldn't do this dirty work yourself, yet you snatch the Mangekyo Sharingan from my hands. You're no more righteous than I am!"

In the entire village.

Only one person could use Wood Release. Now that the Mangekyo Sharingan had been stolen, he had no doubt it was Hiruzen's warning.

In the end.

He had fished for the moon in the water—nothing but empty hands!

"Hiruzen, I will not let this matter rest!"

On the other side.

A mountain waterfall carried fresh mist. Shisui had always loved the atmosphere here, but now, he felt the mist biting cold, the chill seeping into his very marrow.

"So, everything I've held onto has just been a joke?"

Shisui's back hunched as he leaned against the rocks, gasping for breath, his whole body radiating an air of decay.

"Shisui, your conviction isn't wrong. What's wrong is that you lack your own resolve, always placing your hopes on others. How can you entrust to others what you cannot accomplish yourself?"

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

Betrayal had broken the spirit of youth; a hunched back remained, with only a bitter smile.

The Shisui before him no longer bore any trace of his former spirited self, his back once straight as a spear now slumped.

"Siming... you've come..."

Shisui's voice was hoarse, his black eyes dim and hollow, as if coated in the gray of passing years. He let out a bitter laugh.

"Sorry, this time, I truly can't go on. I've been heavily poisoned, with less than half an hour to live. From now on, the Uchiha Clan will have to rely on you and Itachi."

"Don't count on it."

Uchiha Siming waved a hand, refusing without mercy: "I won't meddle in such a mess. That's something you'd better handle yourself."

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

As he spoke, he helped Shisui up, intending to head toward the village.

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

Shisui struggled free, collapsing to the ground, his face ashen.

"I... I don't want to live anymore. I can't do it, Siming, I really can't!"

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

His voice cracked with sobs: "Danzo, Danzo is a Konoha elder! How could he strike me so viciously? How could he!"

The pressure accumulated over years—

his efforts shuttling between the Uchiha and Konoha, his trust in the village, his loyalty to the clan—all collapsed in that moment, crushed into a boulder of confusion that dragged him spiraling into an abyss.

"Shisui, even if your eyes were returned, would you still not want to live?"

Uchiha Siming sighed, a crimson Three Tomoe Sharingan appearing in his hand. When he had arrived, the battle was already over, and he had used Wood Release to snatch the eye from Danzo's grasp.

He pressed on in a low voice:

"Shisui, don't you want to mend the rift between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha?"

Shisui stared at the crimson eye, but his gaze held no ripple, like a stagnant ancient well, lifeless and dead.

He forced a faint smile and murmured softly.

"Siming, I'll leave both eyes to you. Right now... I don't want to do anything. Anything at all."

He dug out his remaining eye and held it forward, his life flickering like a candle in the wind.

Just like his will to live.

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

[Task Reward: Indra Chakra!]

Oh?

Uchiha Siming curled the corner of his mouth. Hah, system, you call yourself the Hashirama System, yet you're handing out Indra Chakra too.

You're a bit off-topic, aren't you?

"Shisui, as a friend, since you've made your decision, I won't force you."

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

"Siming, you—!"

Before Shisui could finish, the dejection, confusion, and melodramatic despair on his face vanished without a trace.

Siming moved with lightning speed, reinserting both eyes back into their sockets.

Like a USB port—

plug and play!

"Siming, you're amazing."

Shisui's eyes shifted, focusing, and a bright smile spread across his lips: "Thanks to you, or I'd have gone off to die like a fool."