Kotoamatsukami

Meanwhile.

"Itachi, give up. Stop clinging to your delusions. The village isn't as wonderful as you think." Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to flash to the side and land on a branch. The Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes glowed crimson, reflecting Itachi's grim expression below.

But Uchiha Itachi didn't listen. He just kept unleashing techniques, occasionally using Amaterasu, though Shisui dodged every attack.

"Itachi! Why have you become like this?" Shisui was growing angry. He was famous for the Body Flicker Technique, but that didn't mean he was bad at ninjutsu or Taijutsu.

Crimson light flared in Shisui's eyes as his Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

A barrage of fireballs tore through the night, weaving a sea of flames through the forest.

Uchiha Itachi flashed out of sight, then appeared behind Shisui the next second, a Kunai gleaming coldly in his hand.

Shisui reacted instantly, leaning forward almost by instinct. Itachi's Kunai barely grazed the hair at the nape of his neck, slicing off a few strands of black hair.

Shisui used the momentum to flip around, braced both feet against the tree trunk, and launched a fierce roundhouse kick while hanging upside down.

Itachi dodged to the side, the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes spinning violently once more.

"Amaterasu!"

Shisui's pupils contracted sharply. There was no way he could dodge in this situation.

"I have no choice but to use this!" Shisui roared, chakra gushing from him like a tangible force. Pale green light erupted from beneath his feet.

The skeletal frame of Susanoo took shape at a visible pace, its jagged ribs shielding him as a massive Chakra Blade slowly formed on its right arm.

Amaterasu's black flames instantly engulfed Susanoo. The crackle of burning flames and the hum of trembling bones intertwined in a piercing roar.

"Itachi, do you really have to go this far?!" Shisui's roar shook dead leaves from the branches. A ghostly blue light suddenly flashed in Susanoo's left eye.

He endured the agony of straining his ocular powers and poured chakra into the blade.

The green blade swept toward Itachi with enough force to split mountains and shatter stone.

As the green blade bore down on him, chakra surged wildly around Itachi, and orange-red light burst skyward from beneath his feet.

"Susanoo!" Amid a hoarse roar, a gigantic skeleton took shape. Its orange-red ribs shimmered with blazing light, like a towering fortress of fire, standing in stark contrast to Shisui's pale green Susanoo.

The green blade collided with the orange-red Susanoo, unleashing a world-shaking boom.

A powerful shock wave spread outward from the point of impact. Trees were sliced in half wherever it passed, turning into a storm of splinters.

Both Susanoo shook violently from the impact. Fine cracks appeared in Shisui's Chakra Blade, while some of the orange-red light peeled away from the surface of Itachi's skeletal frame.

"Everything I've done has been to protect Konoha! I'm not the one who changed. You are!"

Itachi's voice echoed within Susanoo, filled with unwavering conviction.

His Susanoo slowly raised an arm, forming a massive sword of roaring flames in its hand. "You're the one who's betraying the village!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Itachi's Susanoo swung its sword. Flames swept up in a half-moon arc, tearing through the night sky alongside a gale. Trees vaporized instantly in its wake.

A flash of sorrow crossed the eyes of Shisui's pale green Susanoo. Its Chakra Blade swept out in a defensive arc. "You've been blinded by lies!"

"You're the one who's been blinded!" Itachi roared from within Susanoo.

The Shisui he had once looked up to had become just another person consumed by the clan's interests.

He didn't understand the Will of Fire at all!

Only if the village survived could the clan survive.

That was what you said, Shisui!

Itachi was deeply disappointed.

The people in the clan didn't understand him and thought he had betrayed them. He didn't care.

They're just a bunch of lunatics ruled by their emotions. They have no right to judge me!

But Shisui was different. He had guided Itachi in his childhood, taught him Hand Seals step by step, and solemnly declared beneath the moon that "the Will of Fire will illuminate every Uchiha."

Now, seeing the cracks covering Shisui's Susanoo and the near-despairing grief in his eyes, Itachi felt as though an invisible hand had clenched around his heart.

The orange-red Susanoo suddenly accelerated its assault, its massive flaming sword striking again and again amid waves of scorching air.

Shisui's pale green Susanoo struggled to hold its ground. The cracks in its Chakra Blade spread with every clash, each impact numbing his hand.

"Itachi! Wake up!" Shisui's roar mingled with the thunder of Susanoo. "Konoha as it is now isn't worth protecting!"

His answer was an even fiercer assault.

Itachi's eyes were bloodshot. Amaterasu's flames curled around Susanoo's arm, gathering at the sword's tip into a swirling mass of twisted black fire. "Shut up!" His voice had turned hoarse from overusing his ocular powers. "You have no right to talk to me about protecting anything!"

Shisui gritted his teeth and gathered all his chakra. A dazzling ghostly blue light blazed from Susanoo's left eye.

Pale green chakra coalesced into a shield on the blade, attempting to block the blow.

But the moment the two forces collided, the shield shattered. The orange-red blade pierced straight through Susanoo's chest.

The pale green light receded like a tide, and Shisui's real body fell from the sky.

He barely managed to steady himself by driving a Kunai into the tree trunk. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the Uchiha Clan Crest.

Itachi's Susanoo stared down at him, the tip of its flaming sword almost touching his throat.

"Kill me..." Shisui raised his head. His Mangekyō Sharingan bled from overuse. "If that will make you see the truth..."

The flaming sword trembled as it moved forward an inch. Itachi clenched his teeth, and his surging chakra made Susanoo's flames flare violently.

"Goodbye, Shisui..." Itachi looked into Shisui's eyes and spoke his final words.

Just as the tip of the sword was about to pierce Shisui's throat, his bloodied lips suddenly curled into a strange smile, and the Mangekyō in his eyes spun rapidly.

In his current state, it would be difficult to defeat Itachi in a direct fight.

Having only one arm was simply too great a limitation for a ninja.

The only way to win was to rely on the ocular technique residing in his Mangekyō.

A powerful ocular force erupted from Shisui's Mangekyō.

Kotoamatsukami's power, carrying all his chakra and will, broke through the defenses of Itachi's Susanoo.

Itachi's body jerked. His sword hand began to tremble uncontrollably, and his orange-red Susanoo rocked violently, its flames flickering.

"What is this..." Itachi's voice was filled with disbelief. He could feel something forcibly intruding into his consciousness.

"My Mangekyō ability. Kotoamatsukami..." Shisui offered no further explanation.

"I see..." Itachi's voice was torn apart by a searing headache, and his orange-red Susanoo crumbled piece by piece in the pale golden light.

He hadn't wanted to use Kotoamatsukami on Itachi unless absolutely necessary.

Kotoamatsukami was incredibly powerful. It could forcibly change a person's will.

But in Shisui's eyes, someone whose will had been changed was no longer truly himself.

"Goodbye, Itachi..."