Aftermath

Not long after Hyuuga Nen departed.

The smoke on the battlefield finally cleared, revealing a scene that resembled the end of the world. Most of the ninja lay scattered across the field, their bodies mangled and bloodied.

A brownish-yellow earth dome slowly dissipated, finally revealing Kitsuchi and a few others beside him.

Looking at the battlefield littered with corpses, Kitsuchi's pale face turned even uglier. He scanned his surroundings, his eyes widening as his lips began to tremble slightly.

"Cough, cough... only a few of us are left. Everyone else is dead!" As he spoke these words, a look of disbelief washed over Kitsuchi's face.

The few ninja beside Kitsuchi also wore expressions of lingering fear. "Except for us, everyone else is dead! They're all dead!"

"Look, what is that?" one of the Iwa ninja pointed toward the distance where the smoke had just cleared, his voice trembling slightly.

"That is Susanoo. It's Shisui Uchiha!" Kitsuchi looked in the direction his companion indicated and spoke in a grave tone.

Kitsuchi saw a green, skeletal, half-body giant enveloping Shisui Uchiha and several other Konoha ninja. Through the translucent skeletal giant, Kitsuchi could see that Shisui Uchiha's complexion was also somewhat pale.

"Shisui Uchiha, I never imagined you had already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. But even so, your mission has failed. It seems the Mangekyo Sharingan cannot help you now."

Kitsuchi watched as Shisui Uchiha deactivated his Susanoo and spoke to him.

At this moment, Kakashi's figure slowly emerged from the ground. As soon as he appeared, Kakashi braced his hands on the earth, panting heavily.

Just as Kakashi surfaced, he heard what Kitsuchi had said and saw the skeletal giant Shisui had summoned.

"Shisui, is what Kitsuchi just said true?" Kakashi looked at Shisui Uchiha with a worried expression.

Shisui Uchiha's expression at this moment was complex, filled with frustration, worry, and a hint of fear.

Hearing Kakashi's words, Shisui Uchiha turned his head to glance at him and nodded.

The Mangekyo Sharingan has been exposed after all, Shisui Uchiha thought to himself.

In truth, Shisui Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan long ago, but he had kept it a secret, telling no one.

The reason Shisui Uchiha did this was that in recent years, the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha had grown increasingly tense; the Uchiha Clan was even plotting a coup d'état to seize power in Konoha by force.

The Uchiha Clan had always believed that Shisui Uchiha was on their side. If they knew he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, they might accelerate their coup, a scenario Shisui Uchiha did not want to see.

In fact, Shisui Uchiha had considered confessing the truth of his awakened Mangekyo Sharingan to the Konoha high command. However, it was a power that inspired fear, so he had always hesitated.

Shisui Uchiha looked toward Itachi Uchiha and saw that he and Nara Suzaku were being tightly shielded by Akimichi Shidou's back.

Akimichi Shidou's back was a mass of mangled flesh, and his breathing had become barely audible.

Itachi Uchiha and Nara Suzaku had each lost an arm, and there was no telling where they had flown off to. After all, the battlefield was littered with severed limbs and debris; it was impossible to distinguish whose arm was whose.

Itachi Uchiha kept his head low, watching Akimichi Shidou. His body shook violently, and his eyes widened as he watched Akimichi Shidou, who was on the verge of death; the tomoe in his eyes spun faster and faster.

When the explosion occurred, Itachi Uchiha had seen Akimichi Shidou swallow a pill, after which his body underwent a massive transformation—his originally bulky frame became lean, and butterfly-like wings sprouted from his back.

At the final moment, Akimichi Shidou had moved at incredible speed to stand before Itachi Uchiha and Nara Suzaku, using his back to shield them and carrying them out of the blast radius.

"Itachi, are you alright?" Nara Suzaku's weak voice reached Itachi Uchiha's ears.

Hearing Nara Suzaku's call, Itachi Uchiha lifted his head and turned to look at him.

In that instant, what Nara Suzaku saw was Itachi Uchiha's numb expression and those blood-red eyes.

"I am fine. Thank you for your concern," Itachi Uchiha replied with a touch of indifference.

At this moment, Itachi Uchiha looked toward Shisui Uchiha again and found him watching him with a look of deep concern.

Itachi Uchiha nodded at Shisui Uchiha and looked in another direction—the place where the Sunagakure ninja had originally been.

The Suna ninja were the ones who had triggered this explosion. However, when the second explosion occurred, they failed to escape in time and had no means to defend against it. Thus, they had all perished in the blast.

Just then, the Root ninja arrived on the battlefield. Because they had been far from the center of the conflict, they had managed to evade the explosion in time, suffering no casualties.

Seeing the Root ninja arrive, Kitsuchi said nothing; he merely gestured to the few survivors and led them in a swift retreat from the scene.

To think that Shisui Uchiha has already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, yet he didn't report it to the Konoha high command. It seems Danzo was right; the Uchiha Clan is truly not to be trusted.

This was the thought running through the Root ninja's mind, though he said nothing of it. Instead, he spoke to Kakashi and the others: "Given your current condition, it seems you cannot continue the pursuit. Return now to report your mission; the Root will handle the rest."

Hearing the Root ninja's words, Kakashi remained silent. He merely looked at the surviving Konoha ninja; everyone was wounded, with only Shisui Uchiha in slightly better condition.

Though he felt deeply unwilling, seeing the state of Akimichi Shidou and the fact that Itachi Uchiha and Nara Suzaku had each lost an arm, Kakashi knew their situation could not be delayed further, so he nodded.

Kakashi had no heart to ponder why the Root was acting this way; his only desire now was to bring his comrades back to Konoha for treatment.

With that thought, Kakashi shouted to Shisui Uchiha: "Shisui, we are taking the wounded and leaving immediately to return to Konoha for treatment. I hope there is still time."

Without waiting for Shisui Uchiha's reply, Kakashi ran toward Akimichi Shidou and the others.

Kakashi and Shisui Uchiha departed the battlefield with the wounded, while the Root ninja took the members of the Hyuga Clan to continue the pursuit of Hyuuga Nen.

Soon, the battlefield was empty.

After a while, the once-calm battlefield seemed to be torn open by a swirling black hole. The hole slowly expanded, and then a person stepped out from within. This person wore a yellow mask with irregular horizontal stripes.

The man first looked in the direction Kakashi and the others had left, then turned his gaze toward the direction Hyuuga Nen had gone.

"To think that Shisui Uchiha has already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. This is somewhat troublesome!"

"The direction he took leads to the Land of Wind. What could he be doing in the Land of Wind?" the masked man said, his voice filled with confusion as he watched the direction Hyuuga Nen had disappeared into.