The Second Shackle Shatters

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 only two words.

Shisui clenched 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 only just appeared when it began to tremble from insufficient ocular power.

A searing pain filled Shisui's eyes.

His vision had already blurred.

Yet he still forced his final strength into Susanoo's palm.

Several green magatama slowly took shape.

Yasaka Magatama!

Lie Yang leaned against a broken 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.

Then came a shoulder blade, a spine, and an enormous hand that had yet to fully form.

The nascent form of Lie Yang's Susanoo!

Kurenai Yuhi's pupils suddenly contracted.

"He's opening Susanoo too!"

Shisui's expression changed dramatically.

"We can't let him complete it!"

Lie Yang's Mangekyō Sharingan power had already begun to boil.

So long as he released it completely, his true trump card would descend.

But in the instant before the nascent 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 muscle, pierced his lungs, and burst out through his chest!

Lie Yang's body jolted violently.

Agonizing pain instantly swept through his entire body.

The strength he had just gathered was completely drained away.

The nascent Susanoo behind him flickered violently, nearly collapsing on the spot.

Ahead, the Mangekyō Sharingan patterns in Shisui's eyes had spun to their utmost 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 technique capable of permanently rewriting one's will.

A double deathtrap had completely taken shape!

An ordinary person would have long since lost consciousness from wounds like these.

Yet Lie Yang did not faint.

His will seemed nailed to the deepest part of his spiritual core.

Lightning scorched his organs.

His lungs had been torn apart.

With every breath, blood flooded into his throat.

Still, he desperately gathered his mind, refusing to let his consciousness 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-stalk patterns in Lie Yang's right eye spun at once.

"Miro!"

The two forces of ocular power collided head-on the instant their gazes met!

Boom!

An invisible spiritual storm swept through their consciousness.

One wheat-stalk pattern in Lie Yang's right eye instantly lost its color, becoming a lifeless grayish white.

His body suddenly froze.

Kotoamatsukami's golden light faded away.

On the battlefield, only the hum of Lightning Cutter in Kakashi's right hand remained.

The Mangekyō Sharingan pattern in Lie Yang's eyes rapidly receded.

The three wheat-stalk patterns became three tomoe once more.

Those eyes had lost their former sharpness, leaving behind only blank confusion.

Kakashi did not pull out his arm.

He looked at Shisui.

"Did it work?"

Shisui stared at Lie Yang as he panted.

"It should have."

"Give him the command."

Shisui forcibly opened his bleeding eyes and pressed his voice directly into Lie Yang's consciousness.

"Uchiha Lieyang."

"From this moment on, you will be eternally 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 tightly clenched hands.

Might Guy, however, 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 technique."

Kakashi's right eye darkened.

"What ability was that?"

"I don't know."

Shisui shook his head.

"Miro and Kotoamatsukami activated at the same time. My ocular power did enter his spiritual domain, and I did complete the alteration of his will."

"But I can't investigate what effect his eye technique actually produced."

Mangekyō Sharingan abilities varied from person to person.

Some controlled the mind.

Some altered reality.

Some twisted space.

The most dangerous eye techniques often could not be noticed immediately even after activation.

What Kakashi feared most was that Lie Yang possessed 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 organs gushed from the wounds in both his front and back.

Lightning Cutter went out.

Lie Yang's body swayed, but he still did not fall.

Kakashi stared intently at his eyes.

"Lie Yang."

There was no response.

"Who are you loyal to?"

"Konoha."

Lie Yang's voice was hollow.

"What will you do next?"

"Protect peace."

Hearing the answer, Shisui's tense shoulders relaxed slightly.

But his left eye had completely dimmed.

The white of his eye was filled with bloodshot veins, while the Mangekyō Sharingan pattern in his pupil was badly damaged. It could no longer gather even a trace of ocular power.

The cost of forcibly using Kotoamatsukami was even greater than maintaining Susanoo.

This eye had completely exhausted its strength.

For the next ten years, he would be unable to use that will-rewriting eye 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 his chest being pierced through.

Nor did he show any struggle from having his will altered.

Such calm should have proven that Kotoamatsukami had succeeded.

But whenever Kakashi thought of the eye technique called Miro, he could not truly relax.

Just then, an entirely new power suddenly surged from within Lie Yang.

It was not chakra.

Nor was it Mangekyō Sharingan power.

His gravely wounded, depleted body seemed to sink into warm energy.

His torn muscles tightened once more.

Sensation returned to his numb hands.

His failing organs began to beat again.

Every inch of flesh was forcibly awakened.

That illusory current of heat, tempered for so long, finally solidified completely!

Deep within Lie Yang's consciousness, the Fortune Balance appeared once more.

The weights on his own pan were suddenly all removed.

Deprived of its weight, the pan rose high.

The other side rapidly sank.

Then, an invisible shackle peeled away from the deepest part of Lie Yang's body.

The shackle turned from illusion into reality.

It crashed down heavily.

Boom!

It landed steadily upon the pan on Lie Yang's side.

The pan that had risen high suddenly sank.

The other side rose at the same time.

After shaking violently several times, the Fortune Balance finally returned 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 vague perception.

That shackle that restrained the body's potential and protected life from collapsing under excessive outbursts was forcibly stripped away by the Fortune Balance, becoming weight that belonged to Lie Yang himself.

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 moment the sound reached his ears, the unease on his face instantly turned to horror.

Lie Yang's lung had already been pierced through by Lightning Cutter.

The two wounds at the front and back of his chest were still gushing blood.

In this state, his heartbeat should have been rapidly weakening.

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.

Muscle fibers that had been torn apart by the backlash of Wind Release: Rasenshuriken rearranged themselves under the control of genetic instinct.

His shoulders, chest, waist, abdomen, and legs changed in rapid succession.

His muscles did not simply become bloated.

Every fiber compressed, reassembled, and grew anew!

Beneath his skin, blood vessels bulged like gnarled tree roots. His bones let out a rapid series of sharp cracks, and his height shot upward within just a few breaths.

One meter.

Two meters.

The ground beneath Lie Yang's feet suddenly sank!