New Epic-Level Bitter Fruit Entry

"Bastard!"

Shisui charged out of the smoke, his fury uncontainable as he stared at the spot where Orochimaru had vanished.

"Right! Hayato!"

In the next moment, Shisui's anger shifted to concern for Hayato, and he prepared to head back to the location where he had left him.

A figure landed right beside him.

"Shisui."

Shisui turned, his expression brightening the moment he saw Hayato, and he pulled him into a tight embrace.

"You're alright!"

Hayato looked at Shisui's Mangekyo, his own expression remaining unchanged.

He hadn't expected that the belief in his death would actually trigger Shisui to awaken the Mangekyo.

This was years ahead of the original timeline.

"Yeah. At the very last moment, I used a Shadow Clone to surround myself. Although the damage to the clone also transferred to me, it was at least manageable."

Hayato's face was pale; that moment had come too quickly for him to even activate the Body Replacement Technique.

It was the only solution he could think of.

Hearing this, Shisui hurriedly steadied Hayato.

He pulled a Military Ration Pill from his person and fed it to Hayato. While the Uchiha's Military Ration Pills weren't as specialized as those of the Akimichi Clan, they were still effective for rapidly replenishing chakra.

"As long as you're safe. This was my oversight; I should have listened to your advice."

Seeing Hayato swallow the pill, Shisui finally felt at ease, though his face remained etched with the look of someone who had made a grave mistake.

"Between clansmen, there is no need for such things."

Hayato waved a hand, then looked into Shisui's eyes. "It seems you have taken this step faster than I have."

Shisui froze, then reached up to touch his eyes, nodding slowly.

"Yes. These eyes... they are terrifying."

With his chakra reserves, reaction speed, taijutsu, and resistance to genjutsu all comprehensively enhanced, Shisui felt exceptionally powerful at this moment.

Perhaps this power would allow him to help the clan and the village reach a reconciliation.

That was his very first thought.

"Shisui," Hayato said, his voice calm.

"Hm? What is it?" Shisui looked up at Hayato, his expression filled with confusion.

"I hope you will not reveal your eyes for the time being." Hayato watched Shisui calmly; the awakening of the Mangekyo would undoubtedly lead Shisui to form certain ideas.

For now, Hayato did not want Shisui to act on them.

Compared to Itachi, Shisui at least hoped for a reconciliation between the Uchiha and Konoha, rather than a simple massacre of the clan.

That alone was enough for Hayato to classify him as an ally. As for how to make Shisui see through the darkness of the village, further planning was required.

But it shouldn't be too easy; the Orochimaru who had just escaped was a potential breakthrough.

The most pressing matter was to make Shisui restrain his unrealistic ideas.

"Why?" Shisui asked, looking at Hayato with confusion.

Their brief conversation at the Police Force, along with their recent sparring sessions within the clan, had made Shisui aware that Hayato was not like most of the other clansmen.

"Because your eyes are the most powerful Mangekyo in our Uchiha clan. If they were truly revealed—"

Hayato looked at Shisui. "Do you think the clansmen would still be able to sit still?"

There was no help for it; this was the only reason that could persuade Shisui right now.

Shisui was stunned. He was right—if they possessed the Mangekyo, would the clansmen still suppress their radical thoughts?

No, they would only believe their chances of victory were greater.

That was a situation he did not want to see.

"Fine, I promise you." Shisui looked at Hayato and nodded with great sincerity.

"Good. And regarding the village, I hope you won't leak it either, not even to the Third Hokage."

Seeing Shisui agree, Hayato let out a sigh of relief before continuing.

"Why?"

Shisui truly couldn't understand Hayato at this moment. He had to remember that his own heart was deeply influenced by his grandfather's ideals, and he wanted to change the Uchiha clan's predicament through his own efforts.

"Shisui, awakening the Mangekyo is an interrogation of one's own heart, and the ocular technique birthed by the Mangekyo is the answer you provide yourself. What is your ocular technique?"

Hayato looked into Shisui's eyes, a flicker of emotion crossing his face.

He felt that the ocular technique of the Shisui before him shouldn't just be Kotoamatsukami.

Shisui looked at Hayato for a long time before finally speaking slowly: "The right eye is Kotoamatsukami, and the left eye is Tianneili."

As expected!

Hearing about these two distinct ocular techniques, Hayato couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement; it was exactly as he had envisioned.

In the original story, when Shisui awakened his Mangekyo years later, both eyes possessed the same ability, which set him apart from the majority of Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyo.

Even Obito's Kamui, while sharing the same name, functioned differently—more like two sides of the same coin, where the right eye's intangibility represented avoidance, and the left eye's suction represented destruction.

This aligned perfectly with the state of Obito's heart at the moment he awakened his Mangekyo.

Yet, only Shisui had Kotoamatsukami in both eyes, perhaps because of his own deepest, singular obsession.

His obsession was so pure, devoid of any secondary impurities, that the Mangekyo he awakened was equally pure, focused entirely in one direction: Kotoamatsukami.

Two eyes, the same cooldown, yet they allowed him to use one outwardly to rewrite the will of enemies or ambitious schemers, and one inwardly to rewrite the will of his clansmen, thereby preventing civil war.

But now, because of him, the abilities of Shisui's eyes had changed.

Hayato watched Shisui, listening intently to his explanation, and as Shisui described them, he had to admit the truth.

Hayato couldn't help but marvel that Shisui was truly a quintessential self-sacrificing individual.

Kotoamatsukami remained exactly the same as in the original work: it modified the will.

Tianneili, however, was the correction of causality; it could forcibly revert a target (person or object) to the state they were in one minute prior, resetting everything, including death or any other condition.

The price of this reversion was that the damage the target had sustained would be borne in full by Shisui himself.

Simply put, using it once was equivalent to dying in the other person's stead.

"Shisui, you really are a gentle person."

After hearing Shisui's explanation, Hayato couldn't help but sigh; ruthless to the outside world and selfless toward his own, it truly showcased Shisui's character to the fullest.

Hearing this, Shisui's face flushed slightly. He was, after all, only a teenager, and being praised like that left him feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Right, that Anbu from earlier!"

Shisui snapped back to reality, remembering the Anbu from the start. After settling Hayato in a safe spot, he stood up and dashed quickly toward that location.

Hayato watched it all with an expressionless face; he had already dealt with that Anbu the moment he came over to Shisui's side, turning the man's brain into mush.

Shisui's eye awakening must never be discovered by anyone in Konoha.

Closing his eyes, Hayato checked the panel in his mind, where two "Bitter Fruit" entries were currently glowing brilliantly.

The most eye-catching was Shisui's Bitter Fruit entry.

A new Epic-grade Bitter Fruit entry.

[Strong emotional fluctuations detected]

Target: Uchiha Shisui

Triggered Bitter Fruit type: Remorse

Content: Failed to heed the warnings of his clansmen, resulting in their deaths.

Harvesting...

[Harvest successful!]