As dusk settled, branches crisscrossed through the dense forest. Uchiha Shisui raced between the trees with the unconscious Pakura slung over his shoulder.
His steps were light and swift, the rush of wind they stirred especially clear in the quiet forest.
Not far behind him, Jiraiya kept close with the Body Flicker Technique, his robe snapping in the wind.
In the middle of their hurried journey, Uchiha Shisui suddenly shuddered. A scorching heat had flared in his eyes, as if it had burst forth from deep within his eyeballs.
The next instant, his once-pure black eyes changed. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared, and, to his even greater shock, the tomoe seemed to come alive, slowly beginning to connect.
"Could this be the sign that my Mangekyō Sharingan is awakening?"
Uchiha Shisui stopped abruptly and nearly lost his balance. He quickly raised a hand to cover his eyes, his voice filled with shock and disbelief.
When Jiraiya saw Uchiha Shisui stop without warning, he immediately grew alert and hurried to his side to check on him.
"What's wrong, Shisui?"
Jiraiya furrowed his brows and asked with concern and confusion.
Uchiha Shisui took a deep breath, slowly lowered his left hand from his eyes, and tried to regain his composure. He shook his head and said, "It's nothing."
But he knew this would be a major turning point in his plan to unite the Shinobi World. For now, though, he didn't want Jiraiya to learn the secret of the Sharingan.
After a brief rest, Jiraiya offered to help Uchiha Shisui by carrying Pakura over his shoulder.
Just as the two were about to continue on, a rustling sound came from the forest behind them.
Not long after the sound faded, more than a dozen Sand shinobi appeared in Uchiha Shisui and Jiraiya's line of sight.
"Shisui, get out of here! I'll hold them off."
Seeing the Sand shinobi bearing down on them, Jiraiya knew that if they both fled, someone might get hurt. If one of them stayed behind to cover the other's retreat, they could escape safely. As one of the Sannin, he was more than capable of getting away.
"No. You should go first. I'll deal with this rabble."
Shisui slowly shook his head, determination in his eyes. Each word seemed forced out through gritted teeth, carrying an unquestionable resolve.
With that, he lowered the hand covering his eyes. In the moonlight, two trails of blood slowly ran from his eye sockets, winding down his cheeks before dripping onto the ground.
At that moment, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun wildly. The tomoe, once separate, were nearly joined, and a dangerous, powerful aura faintly radiated from him.
"What is that!?" Seeing the chakra surging around Uchiha Shisui, Jiraiya knew the Sand shinobi were in for trouble.
"Finish this and catch up. I'll wait for you at the Land of Rivers border!"
With that, Jiraiya hoisted Pakura onto his shoulder and used the Body Flicker Technique to head toward the Land of Fire.
Baki stepped out from the crowd and watched Jiraiya disappear into the distance. Then he turned to Uchiha Shisui and said, "One of them got away, and he even took that wretched woman with him. But she was just something Lord Kazekage had discarded. You can have her."
Uchiha Shisui looked at Baki. His usually impassive face suddenly twitched, and then he burst into laughter, like a puppet controlled by his emotions.
"Hahahaha! Hahahahaha! Under these eyes, none of your weaknesses will escape me!"
Uchiha Shisui slowly opened his eyes. His scarlet pupils looked especially eerie in the moonlight.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly spun and fused until a complex pattern appeared in his eyes. (I can't be bothered to explain it; I'll put a picture in the comments.)
"What is that?"
The Sand shinobi held Kunai and stared at the laughing Uchiha Shisui, utterly baffled.
"Looks like he's scared out of his mind! Attack! Take him down!"
Baki's initial wariness ebbed away. Seeing the man suddenly laugh, he had thought Konoha had ambushed them.
At his command, the Sand shinobi threw all their long-range weapons at once. Shuriken and Kunai filled the air, surrounding Uchiha Shisui from every direction.
"Heh. Is that all you've got?"
Uchiha Shisui leaped forward, a purple-black Susanoo skeleton forming around him. The once-deadly Kunai and Shuriken scraped harmlessly against it, unable to do more than scratch the surface.
After breaking through the screen of Shuriken, Uchiha Shisui drew the Ninja Blade from his back. Its gleaming edge was like the scythe of the Grim Reaper.
In only a few exchanges, several Sand shinobi closest to him had lost their lives.
"So this is Taijutsu enhanced by Lord Madara's ocular power? It really is formidable."
After taking down several Chunin, Uchiha Shisui flicked the blood from his Ninja Blade and analyzed the power he had just used.
"Kid, don't get cocky with me!"
Baki spun two blades of wind in his hands and slashed them horizontally at Uchiha Shisui.
But when the wind blades struck the purple-black skeleton, they didn't leave so much as a white mark.
"Impossible! My technique can cut through solid granite!"
Baki looked incredulous, but he had plenty of combat experience. After his attack failed, he quickly put some distance between them and began using long-range ninjutsu.
"Everyone! Use ninjutsu together!"
"Wind Style: Great Sickle Weasel!"
The Sand shinobi worked together seamlessly. They quickly formed hand seals, puffed out their cheeks, and unleashed a vast barrage of wind blades at Uchiha Shisui.
"Fools! Behold the Third Power—Susanoo!"
Blood tears slowly streamed from Uchiha Shisui's eyes. The skeleton swiftly grew into a half-body frame, then gained muscles and rudimentary armor. In its hand, it held a spinning purple-black Yasakani Magatama.
The Great Kamaitachi crashed into the Susanoo, devastating an area dozens of meters wide and leaving it almost unrecognizable.
When the dust settled, the Sand shinobi were completely stunned. Beneath the purple-black Susanoo, they were no more than ants. Their combined ninjutsu hadn't even budged it.
"What is that thing...?"
The Sand shinobi's fear was plain to see. The next moment, they turned and fled.
Uchiha Shisui covered his eyes, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling upward.
The Susanoo's arm swung, sending the Yasakani Magatama hurtling toward the fleeing Sand shinobi like a meteor.
"Boom!"
Amid the blazing light and shock wave, a vast clearing appeared before Uchiha Shisui. Strange, icy Karma Flame still burned within it.
"It's over."
Uchiha Shisui dropped to one knee, gasping for breath as the Susanoo behind him slowly dissolved.
"Whew... that was pushing it. The chakra stored in the Yin Seal is almost completely drained. And my emotions were hard to control when I first awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Uchiha Shisui covered his eyes, sensed the chakra within him, and murmured to himself.
Uchiha Shisui surveyed the battlefield. Seeing no movement, he headed toward the Land of Fire.
Not long after Uchiha Shisui left, a chunk of earth was violently thrown aside, and Baki crawled out in a sorry state. He stared at the flattened area before him, shock, fear, and relief flickering across his face.
"What... was that? It was on par with a Tailed Beast!"
Baki stood stunned for a moment before realizing he was still on the battlefield. He hurried to his feet and fled toward Sunagakure. He had to get the information back there as soon as possible.