Sister Izumi's sly smile still lingered before his eyes. Uchiha Ao practically stumbled back to his room, then slid down the door and sat on the floor.
He braced himself against the door and panted, grumbling inwardly about how Sister Izumi could be such a tease.
Just as he was getting flustered, the memories that came with his Shadow Clone's dispelling flooded into his mind.
"The clan meeting, huh..." Uchiha Ao's thoughts were the same as his Shadow Clone's.
He was determined to get involved in this clan meeting.
The next day.
Uchiha Ao got up without the slightest hesitation about leaving Sister Izumi's embrace, got dressed, and ate...
Then Sister Izumi dragged him back to bed...
"Sister Izumi, I have something urgent to do today!" Uchiha Ao blushed bright red as he struggled while Sister Izumi held him like a body pillow.
But Sister Izumi only hugged him tighter, her hair brushing his hot ear. "What could be more important than keeping your big sister company?"
Damn it, today I have to resist Sister Izumi for once and show her what Otsutsuki Aoshiki can do!
With that thought, chakra surged throughout Uchiha Ao's body. Of course, he knew his limits and had no intention of hurting Sister Izumi.
However, just as Uchiha Ao was about to act, he met Sister Izumi's Mangekyō gaze.
Oh, crap.
The chakra throughout Uchiha Ao's body instantly fell silent, like someone had doused it with cold water.
The Mangekyō Sharingan swirling in Sister Izumi's eyes looked somewhat like Sasuke's.
Her Mangekyō Sharingan's pattern resembled a burning red spider lily, with six crimson petals radiating outward from the pupil.
Each petal had jagged edges wrapped in dark flames, as if an undying blaze flowed through its veins.
"Little brother~ What are you trying to do?" Sister Izumi's fingertips traced his tense jaw.
The fiery spider lilies in her Mangekyō Sharingan slowly revolved. Uchiha Ao felt invisible threads winding around his thoughts, tearing every rebellious impulse to shreds.
[Eight-Headed Soul Entanglement]: The ability of Uchiha Izumi's right eye.
Once activated, it gradually devours a person's memories and emotions, eroding their reason. The target's mind is controlled amid the resulting confusion, turning them into a puppet who carries out the caster's will, as if the Eight-Headed Serpent had swallowed their soul whole.
It was similar to Kotoamatsukami, yet far beyond it.
It had no cooldown. As long as the caster had enough ocular power, it could be used continuously.
This was a Mangekyō ability born from Uchiha Izumi's wish for her little brother to stay by her side forever.
Of course, she would never actually use such a cruel technique on him.
What she had used was an infinitely weakened version.
"Ugh." Realizing there was something wrong with his mind, Uchiha Ao decided not to resist.
Combining this technique with Sister Izumi's inexplicable awakening of the Mangekyō Sharingan,
Uchiha Ao could more or less guess what Sister Izumi had done.
But the more he understood, the more it pained him.
"Forget it. The real me will spend more time with Sister Izumi for the next few days. I'll use Shadow Clones to handle everything else."
Uchiha Ao deliberately relaxed his tense body and looked up at the crimson patterns swirling in Sister Izumi's eyes. "Sister Izumi, isn't it enough that I admit defeat?"
Sister Izumi's Mangekyō slowly faded, replaced by her familiar, bright smile. "That's a good boy."
Satisfied, Sister Izumi pulled him into her arms, the sweet scent of her hair filling his nose.
The moment she closed her eyes and hummed a little tune, Uchiha Ao formed a Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone slipped out of the room as soon as it appeared.
Although he and the original were essentially one and the same, he still didn't want to be subjected to their lovey-dovey behavior.
Uchiha Izumi naturally noticed what her little brother had done, but she said nothing and only hugged him tighter.
After leaving the room and pinpointing the direction of Shisui's home, the Shadow Clone broke into a run.
The Shadow Clone crossed the dim alleyways and stopped at Shisui's door. He pushed open the door, which had been left ajar, but the house was empty and silent.
"Where is he?" The Shadow Clone frowned and searched the house, but found nothing.
Standing outside Shisui's home, the Shadow Clone thought about where Shisui might have gone.
After thinking of a few places, the Shadow Clone went to check them one by one.
Meanwhile, in a grove within the clan grounds.
Meanwhile, in a grove within the clan grounds. Shisui leaned against an old oak tree that would have taken three people to wrap their arms around.
The bark still bore the uneven cuts he had made while teaching Itachi shuriken years ago, now stained with dark red blood.
The midday sun filtered through layers of leaves, scattering specks of light across his pale face,
and in his ears, he seemed to hear young Itachi's earnest question again: "Shisui, what is the true power of the Sharingan meant to protect?"
Shisui's fingers absently brushed the old marks on the bark, dried blood crusted in its rough grooves.
Itachi had always followed him around asking questions. His clear black eyes brimmed with admiration for power and justice. Shisui would smile and carve marks into the trunk with a shuriken, saying, "To protect the village and the clan."
But now, when he thought of those eyes, all he could see was Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
The boy who had once followed him around to learn shuriken had become the blade Konoha plunged into the Uchiha Clan.
"Protect..." Shisui let out a bitter laugh, his voice trembling with a breathy rasp.
He gazed at the treetops glistening in the sunlight, the patches of light blurring into golden specks before his eyes. "So the answer you found was to destroy everything with your own hands?"
As the wind rustled through the leaves, he suddenly couldn't tell whether what pierced his heart was the loss of his arm or the transformation of the boy in his memories.
"Shisui, so this is where you are." Shisui jerked his head up. Sunlight filtering through the leaves happened to stab into his sore, bloodshot eyes.
For a moment, the Shadow Clone's outline overlapped with a memory. He seemed to see young Itachi again, his Forehead Protector tied on and a wooden training sword taller than himself strapped to his back, running toward him with his round little face tilted upward.
The moment passed, and Shisui came back to himself.
"Ao-kun, what brings you here?" Shisui blinked and looked at him.
The Shadow Clone stepped out from behind the tree and walked up to Shisui.
"Do you know about the clan meeting in a few days?" the Shadow Clone asked.
"I do," Shisui replied.
In his original plan, he would have joined forces with Itachi to seize control at the clan meeting.
He just hadn't expected things to change so quickly.
"Yeah. I have an idea about the clan meeting in a few days." The Shadow Clone used the Body Flicker Technique to reach a sturdy branch and sat down, swinging his legs as he beckoned to Shisui. "Shisui, come up and talk."
Shisui raised an eyebrow, then used the Body Flicker Technique to join him.
The old bark creaked faintly beneath their weight, mingling with the distant chirps of birds.
The Shadow Clone reached out and plucked a maple leaf, twirling it between his fingers. "You can see farther from up high."
"Not bad." Shisui leaned against the trunk. From here, he could see the entire Uchiha Clan Compound. "Tell me what you have in mind."
Before you continue