Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!
The piercing cries echoed across the battlefield.
Shisui forced himself to endure the backlash and raised his head.
"Kakashi!"
"Do it!"
Kakashi left behind only two words.
Shisui gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.
His remaining ocular power erupted once more.
Green ribs rapidly rose, followed by a spine, shoulder bones, and arms!
The second stage of Susanoo had barely appeared before it began to tremble continuously from insufficient ocular power.
Shisui's eyes throbbed with agony.
His vision had already become blurred.
Yet he still forced his last remaining strength into Susanoo's palm.
Several green Tomoe slowly took shape.
Yasaka Magatama!
Lie Yang leaned against a shattered stone pillar and raised his head.
His body had no strength left.
His chakra was nearly exhausted as well.
Yet the space behind him began to distort.
A blurry rib slowly emerged.
Next came a shoulder blade, a spine, and an enormous palm that had yet to fully condense.
The embryonic form of Lie Yang's Susanoo!
Kurenai Yuhi's pupils suddenly contracted.
"He's opening Susanoo too!"
Shisui's expression changed drastically.
"We can't let him complete it!"
Lie Yang's Mangekyō Sharingan ocular power had already begun to boil.
As long as he released it completely, his true trump card would descend.
But just before the embryonic Susanoo could solidify, Kakashi had already darted behind Lie Yang!
Lie Yang's body instinctively tried to evade.
But his legs gave no response.
Squelch!
Lightning Cutter pierced through his back.
Violent lightning tore through his muscles, pierced his lungs, and burst out through the front of his chest!
Lie Yang's body jolted violently.
Excruciating pain instantly swept through his entire body.
The strength he had just gathered was completely drained away.
The embryonic Susanoo behind him flickered violently, nearly collapsing on the spot.
Ahead of him, the Mangekyō patterns in Shisui's eyes had already spun to their limit.
Blood streamed from his left eye.
Golden light bloomed from the depths of his pupil.
The strongest Genjutsu!
Kotoamatsukami!
Behind him was Lightning Cutter piercing through his chest.
Before him was a Mangekyō Sharingan ocular technique capable of permanently rewriting one's will.
A double death trap had completely taken shape!
An ordinary person would have long since lost consciousness from such injuries.
Yet Lie Yang did not faint.
His will was nailed deep within the very source of his consciousness.
Lightning scorched his internal organs.
His lungs had been torn apart.
With every breath, blood surged into his throat.
Still, he desperately concentrated his mind, refusing to allow his consciousness to scatter in the slightest.
"Lie Yang!"
Shisui's voice entered the depths of his mind directly.
"It's over!"
The golden light erupted completely!
The three wheat-shaped marks in Lie Yang's right eye spun at the same time.
"Miro!"
The two ocular powers collided head-on the instant their gazes met!
Boom!
An invisible storm of spiritual power swept through their consciousness.
One of the wheat-shaped marks in Lie Yang's right eye instantly lost its color, turning into a lifeless ash gray.
His body abruptly froze.
The golden light of Kotoamatsukami faded away.
On the battlefield, only the Lightning Cutter in Kakashi's right hand continued to hum.
The Mangekyō patterns in Lie Yang's eyes rapidly receded.
The three wheat-shaped marks turned back into three Tomoe.
Those eyes lost their former sharpness, leaving behind only blank confusion.
Kakashi did not withdraw his arm.
He looked at Shisui.
"Did it work?"
Shisui stared at Lie Yang while gasping for breath.
"It should have."
"Give him the command."
Shisui forced his bleeding eyes open, and his voice pressed directly into Lie Yang's consciousness.
"Uchiha Lieyang."
"From this moment onward, you will be permanently loyal to Konoha."
"You will uphold peace, protect the village, and never harm another Konoha ninja."
Lie Yang did not resist.
His gaze remained blank.
Watching this, Kurenai Yuhi finally loosened her clenched hands.
But Might Guy did not relax.
"Is it really over?"
"Don't get close."
Shisui immediately warned them.
"Before he was hit, he had already activated his own Mangekyō Sharingan ocular technique."
Kakashi's right eye darkened slightly.
"What kind of ability was it?"
"I don't know."
Shisui shook his head.
"Miro and Kotoamatsukami activated simultaneously. My ocular power did enter his spiritual domain, and I did complete the alteration of his will."
"But I have no way to investigate what effect his ocular technique actually produced."
Mangekyō Sharingan abilities varied from person to person.
Some controlled the mind.
Some changed reality.
Some twisted space.
The most dangerous ocular techniques often could not be detected immediately even after they were activated.
What Kakashi feared most was that Lie Yang might also possess a mental ability similar to Kotoamatsukami.
"Keep your distance."
He slowly withdrew his right hand from Lie Yang's chest.
Squelch!
Blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed from the wounds at his front and back simultaneously.
Lightning Cutter went out.
Lie Yang's body swayed once, yet he still did not fall.
Kakashi watched his eyes closely.
"Lie Yang."
There was no response.
"Whom do you serve?"
"Konoha."
Lie Yang's voice was hollow.
"What will you do next?"
"Protect peace."
Upon hearing the answer, Shisui's taut shoulders relaxed slightly.
But his left eye had completely dimmed.
The whites of his eye were filled with blood vessels, while the Mangekyō pattern in his pupil was badly damaged, no longer able to gather even a trace of ocular power.
The price of forcibly activating Kotoamatsukami was even more severe than maintaining Susanoo.
This eye had completely exhausted its power.
For the next ten years, it would be impossible to use that will-altering ocular technique again.
Only his right eye still retained one more use of Kotoamatsukami.
Yet Kakashi grew increasingly uneasy.
Lie Yang was too calm.
He showed no pain despite having his chest pierced through.
Nor did he show any struggle after having his will altered.
That calmness should have proved that Kotoamatsukami had succeeded.
But whenever he thought of the ocular technique called Miro, he could not truly relax.
Just then, an entirely new power suddenly surged from within Lie Yang's body.
It was not chakra.
Nor was it Mangekyō Sharingan ocular power.
His severely wounded, depleted body seemed to be immersed in warm energy.
His torn muscles tightened once more.
Feeling returned to his numb hands.
His failing organs began to throb again.
Every inch of flesh was forcibly awakened.
That illusory warm current, tempered for so long, finally solidified completely!
Deep within Lie Yang's consciousness, the Fortune Balance appeared once more.
The weights on his own tray were suddenly all pulled away.
The tray lost its weight and rose high into the air.
The other end swiftly sank.
Immediately afterward, an invisible shackle peeled away from the deepest part of Lie Yang's body.
The shackle turned from intangible into solid form.
It fell heavily.
Boom!
It landed firmly on Lie Yang's side of the tray.
The tray that had been raised high suddenly sank.
The other end rose at the same time.
After shaking violently several times, the Fortune Balance returned completely to equilibrium.
The instant the balance was restored, a roar that only Lie Yang could hear sounded from the deepest part of his body.
Crack!
The second genetic shackle shattered completely!
No longer just a mental touch.
No longer just a vague perception.
The shackles that restricted the body's potential and protected life from collapsing under excessive bursts of power were forcibly stripped away by the Fortune Balance, becoming Lie Yang's own weight.
An unprecedented power surged from the depths of every inch of flesh and blood.
His heart contracted heavily.
Thump!
A steady heartbeat pierced through his chest.
Kakashi was the closest.
The instant the sound reached his ears, the unease on his face turned to shock.
Lie Yang's lungs had already been pierced through by the Lightning Cutter.
Blood was still pouring from the wounds at the front and back of his chest.
In this state, his heartbeat should have rapidly weakened.
But what he heard was not the heartbeat of a dying man.
It was a heavy, powerful roar, like a war drum!
Thump!
The second beat rang out.
Lie Yang's right arm suddenly swelled.
The muscle fibers that had originally ruptured from the backlash of Wind Release: Rasenshuriken rearranged themselves under the control of genetic instinct.
His shoulders, chest, waist, abdomen, and legs changed in succession.
His muscles were not simply becoming bulkier.
Every fiber was compressing, reorganizing, and growing anew!
Beneath his skin, blood vessels bulged like gnarled tree roots. His bones let out a rapid series of cracks, and his height shot upward within a few breaths.
One meter.
Two meters.
The ground beneath Lie Yang's feet suddenly sank!
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