Gaze Beyond the Abyss

The Shadow Clone fell silent for a moment.

"Acting too conspicuously might draw the attention of eyes that shouldn't be watching."

"You mean those ancient wills lurking within the shinobi world?"

"Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki never completely vanished."

The Shadow Clone's tone was grave.

"That old toad on Mount Myōboku has lived for over a thousand years as well. The shinobi world appears to be ruled by the Five Great Shinobi Villages, but far too much is hidden in the shadows."

"If we actively expand our influence now, and end up disturbing them..."

"We won't."

Lie Yang cut him off.

"As I am now, I'm not qualified to alarm beings of that level."

Every few decades, a new batch of powerful figures emerged in the shinobi world.

The White Fang.

The Legendary Sannin.

The Third Raikage.

The demigod, Ibuse Hanzō.

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

All of them had once shaken the shinobi world with their names, yet none had drawn direct intervention from the lingering will of the Sage of Six Paths.

The power Lie Yang had displayed so far would at most make the Five Great Shinobi Villages take him seriously.

The Mangekyō Sharingan was indeed special, but not special enough to alter the foundations of the shinobi world.

At least until he truly reached the level of the Sage of Six Paths, those beings would not personally act over a single Uchiha rogue ninja.

The Shadow Clone considered it.

"The target should be arriving soon."

"Kakashi?"

"Who else could it be?"

The two exchanged a look.

Under the life-or-death pressure of the Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu, Kakashi's left eye had already begun to change.

That Sharingan had originally belonged to Uchiha Obito.

Obito had long since awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, so his other eye naturally possessed the same potential.

As long as Kakashi endured the mental trauma, Kamui would inevitably awaken ahead of time.

The Shadow Clone said, "In the shinobi world, only a Mangekyō Sharingan can counter a Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Konoha will reach the same conclusion."

Konoha Hospital.

Kakashi had been unconscious for three days.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura had all gathered in the hospital room.

The medical ninja had just finished his examination.

"His body is fine."

"The mental trauma is recovering as well."

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked heavily, "Then why hasn't he woken up?"

The medical ninja hesitated for a moment.

"His Sharingan is changing on its own."

"His ocular power keeps battering his mind, only to be suppressed again by his will. Only Kakashi himself can complete this process. No outsider can interfere."

Danzo looked toward the bed.

Before losing consciousness, Kakashi had left behind only three words.

"Mangekyō Sharingan."

Those three words were enough to explain everything.

Uchiha Lie Yang had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.

An ordinary Sharingan stood no chance against ocular power of that level.

Utatane Koharu spoke first. "We must send Shisui Uchiha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.

Danzo immediately followed. "I agree."

"Shisui also possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan, and his Body Flicker Technique is renowned throughout the shinobi world. Only he can confront Lie Yang head-on."

Mitokado Homura slowly nodded.

"Even if Kakashi wakes up, he may not be able to immediately master his new ocular technique."

"Shisui is the safer choice."

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not agree.

Shisui's Mangekyō ocular technique was far too dangerous.

Kotoamatsukami could alter a target's will without them noticing in the slightest.

Once that power left Konoha's sight, no one could guarantee what might happen.

Danzo saw his hesitation.

"Hiruzen, Lie Yang is already an enemy."

"Have Shisui control him with Kotoamatsukami. It will end the pursuit and turn a Kage-level powerhouse back into an asset of the village."

That was merely the surface reason.

After Kotoamatsukami was used, it required an extremely long recovery period.

Shisui would lose his most dangerous ocular technique for years to come.

If they could seize Lie Yang's Mangekyō Sharingan in the process, Root might obtain two entirely new ocular techniques at once.

They could weaken Shisui while reclaiming Lie Yang's eyes.

Two birds with one stone.

The two elders had clearly thought of that as well.

No one in the hospital room spoke again, but all eyes fell on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Just then, Kakashi's finger on the bed twitched slightly.

Then, he slowly opened his right eye.

"Kakashi."

Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately walked to the bedside.

Kakashi raised a hand to touch his left eye.

That eye had returned to its three-tomoe state, but deep within it lay an entirely different kind of ocular power.

Space became unnaturally clear within his vision.

The cup by the bed, the window frame, the corner of the wall—every point seemed as though that eye could forcefully twist it.

Kakashi fixed his gaze on a tiny scrap of paper on the table.

The ocular power in his left eye activated.

The space around the scrap of paper slowly twisted.

The next moment, it vanished without a sound.

Everyone present changed expression at once.

"A space-time ocular technique!"

Kakashi deactivated his Sharingan. There was no sweat on his forehead, nor did his body show any obvious discomfort.

Instead, the heaviness that had weighed on his heart for years seemed to have been torn apart along with that genjutsu.

Obito's death.

Rin's death.

His father's death.

Those memories he had once feared facing still remained, but they no longer crushed his breathing at every moment as they once had.

Kakashi sat up.

"This technique is called Kamui."

After confirming his condition, Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly made a decision.

"The pursuit mission will continue."

"Kakashi will remain the team captain."

"Shisui Uchiha will join the team as a core member."

At the mention of Shisui's name, Kakashi's gaze paused.

Konoha's strongest Body Flicker user.

The Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō Sharingan wielder.

With power like that being assigned to the team, the higher-ups were clearly preparing for a true decisive battle.

He pulled up his forehead protector, covering his left eye.

"Understood."

"I'll take the mission."

After receiving the S-rank pursuit order, Shisui immediately returned to the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Fugaku read the mission document and remained silent for a long time.

Shisui asked, "Fugaku, why did the higher-ups suddenly have me join the pursuit?"

"Because I recommended you."

Shisui's expression shifted slightly.

Fugaku set down the mission document.

"Lie Yang possesses the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Kakashi has also awakened a new Mangekyō ocular technique."

"The higher-ups will not allow Lie Yang to continue living, nor will they feel at ease with two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan within the clan standing on the same side."

Shisui understood.

"So they want us to kill each other."

Fugaku closed his eyes.

"I couldn't refuse the terms they offered."

If the Uchiha Clan refused to send someone, they would be deemed to be sheltering a rogue ninja.

If Shisui went into battle, then no matter who won or lost, the Uchiha Clan would lose a top-tier combatant.

It was coercion laid bare in plain sight.

Shisui put away the mission document.

"I'll bring Lie Yang back."

Fugaku watched him leave. Only after the door had fully closed did he mutter softly to himself.

"This is why I hid my Mangekyō Sharingan."

Once it was exposed, the clan's strongest combat power would no longer belong solely to the Uchiha Clan.

It would become a tool for Konoha's higher-ups to use in balancing one another.

Beneath the Land of Fire.

White Zetsu emerged from a tree trunk, his tone cheerful.

"I found out."

"The person Konoha is hunting is named Uchiha Lie Yang. He's twenty years old, has already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, and has been listed as an S-rank rogue ninja."

Obito stood in the shadows, the Sharingan behind his mask slowly turning.

"A twenty-year-old Mangekyō Sharingan wielder?"

Black Zetsu's voice was low.

"And the speed at which his strength has grown is highly abnormal."

White Zetsu smiled. "Isn't that even better?"

"He's exceptionally talented, he defected from Konoha, and his relationship with the Uchiha Clan has broken down."

"He's practically the perfect pawn."

Obito looked at Lie Yang's wanted poster.

"Find him."

"Invite him to join Akatsuki."

The wanted poster quickly spread across the Five Great Nations.

Within Sunagakure, several higher-ups finished reading the intelligence and openly mocked it.

"Konoha truly produces Uchiha geniuses in abundance."

"What a pity. They have to guard against every one of them, and they dare not use any of them."

"The more talent they have, the fiercer their internal strife becomes."

In Kumogakure, the Fourth Raikage A slammed the wanted poster onto the table.

"Two pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan."

"If such power had appeared in Kumogakure, it would have become the village's core long ago."

"Konoha drove one of them to defect, then sent the other to hunt him down."

A studied the casualty reports, his expression growing increasingly grave.

"Forcing their own people to this point... Konoha's internal struggles are crueler than the battlefield."

In Iwagakure, Ōnoki hovered behind his desk and let out a cold laugh after finishing the intelligence report.

"First Konoha's White Fang, then the Legendary Sannin, and now Uchiha."

"What Konoha does best is break its own arms with its own hands."

When the laughter faded, his fingers still rested on the words "Mangekyō Sharingan," unmoving.

Only Kirigakure gave no response.

Silent.