Amenotokotachi and Kunitokotachi

Shinji's Mangekyo Sharingan spun as his gaze swept over Izumi's face.

"Origin Mark..."

Shinji half-covered his right eye with his fingers. His Mangekyo Sharingan turned, and his Dōjutsu activated.

"Kunitokotachi!!!"

Bzzz—!

Even space and time seemed to fall still for a moment. Shisui's expression went blank. When he looked at the girl before him again, his eyes widened in disbelief.

He rubbed his eyes and opened them again...

Color had returned to Izumi's face. The wound through her Chest had completely undergone Healing. It was as if... she'd only taken a nap!

It was as though none of it had happened!

"What... did you do?"

Shisui's pupils trembled. "Was that a Dōjutsu? How could a human possibly do something like that? This..."

Shinji Uchiha felt that he could no longer use his right-eye Dōjutsu for three months. He also sensed the reset of his left eye's Eternal Mark...

He rubbed his dry, aching eye sockets, drained by the excessive loss of Ocular Power.

Then he sighed.

"You've thrown all my plans into chaos..."

"Shinji?"

Shisui didn't press him for answers. He sensed that something was wrong with Shinji. In the past seventeen years, Shinji had never suffered a loss of Ocular Power!

But now...

"You okay?"

Shinji glared at Shisui's panicked, concerned face.

"Weren't you blaming me just now? What, I stake the clan's fate on playing along with you, and you're all concern when you need me, but when you don't, you're no different from Danzo?"

"You think I'm not here? You got angry with me over a madman!"

"Shinji..."

Guilt filled Shisui's eyes. "I... I was just too angry. I should've known. No matter what goes wrong with a plan, you always foresee it and take precautions. I didn't trust you enough. It won't happen again."

"Spare me!"

Shinji pulled up a chair and sat down, glancing at the peacefully sleeping Uchiha Izumi. "I'm only a month older than you. Stop calling me your big brother all the time. I'm your brother when you need me, but when you don't, who knows what you call me in your head!"

"I don't!"

Shisui's eyes widened, and he immediately protested. "Never! You're the head of the Uchiha clan. Who would dare curse you?"

"Enough. Let me rest for a while."

Shisui hesitated, then asked, "Shinji, your Dōjutsu..."

"I'm not telling you."

"..."

Rebuffed, Shisui sat down to one side. He watched Izumi breathe steadily, his brow furrowed.

He truly hadn't expected that polite boy, Itachi, to go this far. Ruthless. Resolute. Without a shred of mercy!

Even for the Uchiha, who were dangerous enough themselves...

He was dangerous!

Shinji closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. Silence settled over the office.

This was the first time in Shinji's seventeen years that he'd suffered a deficit of Ocular Power. It had lasted only an instant before his powerful SS-rank Yin Release replenished it.

But...

The slight damage that deficit had done to his eyes couldn't be undone!

It wasn't supposed to happen this way!

Shinji's left-eye Dōjutsu was called Amenotokotachi!

When activated, the Dōjutsu could inscribe an Eternal Mark on an enemy or on himself!

Against an enemy, placing an Eternal Mark on someone wounded would preserve their current condition indefinitely.

The Dōjutsu required no eye contact. Once placed, the mark worked at any distance and couldn't be removed. Only its caster could release it!

Under an Eternal Mark, an enemy's wounds couldn't heal, their stamina couldn't recover, and their life remained locked in that state!

Even eating couldn't ease their hunger!

The price was that the caster had to constantly expend Ocular Power. The amount depended on the target's strength.

That strength was judged by only two measures: vitality, or Yang Release, and mental energy, or Yin Release.

Placing an Eternal Mark on himself...

That was entirely different.

Effect: it preserved his current state as "eternal." For the next five minutes, no matter what harm he suffered—even death—his timeline would automatically jump back to the moment the mark was placed when the five-minute countdown ended.

Everything would return to its state at that moment, except for any ocular power he'd spent!

He could also activate the mark early and jump back before the countdown ended.

Cooldown: five minutes!

By all rights, a Dōjutsu this powerful, one that touched on some kind of fundamental "rule," should consume enormous Ocular Power and couldn't be used lightly.

But...

As it happened, Shinji's right-eye Dōjutsu was called Kunitokotachi!

It had one ability, and only one.

It placed an Origin Mark on himself or someone else, recording every aspect of their living state at a particular moment.

Activating the Origin Mark again returned them to the state recorded at that moment.

They would be restored to their peak, Ocular Power included!

But when he used the Origin Mark on someone else, the ocular power he spent couldn't be restored.

And—using it on himself gave the Dōjutsu a one-month cooldown. Using it on someone else made the cooldown three whole months!

At the same time...

Activating his right eye's Origin Mark...

Would refresh and reset any Eternal Mark currently maintained by his left eye.

Yesterday, after cutting off Danzo's arm, he'd placed an Eternal Mark on him. That had prevented Izanagi from activating and stopped his wound, stamina, and chakra from recovering...

But...

He'd used his first Origin Mark on Uchiha Izumi, resetting the Eternal Mark.

Danzo was no longer half-dead.

And, of course, he could no longer recover the ocular power he'd spent using Kunitokotachi on Izumi or Amenotokotachi on Danzo.

Not only had it damaged his eyes, but his Dōjutsu was now on a three-month cooldown!

Shinji opened his eyes, killing intent spilling from them. "I've fucking had enough. Uchiha Itachi, you really deserve to die!!!"

"?!!"

Shisui jumped. "Shinji, what are you saying?!"

He glanced at Uchiha Izumi. Only when he saw she was still asleep did he breathe a sigh of relief. "Izumi just went through all that. Don't upset her."

Shinji slapped a hand to his forehead, utterly speechless. "Could you save that kindness for the right person? I'm the one who's falling apart here, okay?!"

"I never told him to kill anyone! I'd already prepared the bodies of those bastards who sided with Konoha. The stage was set. All he had to do was start a few Fire Release techniques, make some noise, and get the hell out of Konoha! But he just had to go off script..."

"Forget it!"

Shinji let out a long breath and glanced at Uchiha Izumi, whose fists had clenched at some point as she lay on the bed.

"At the end of the day, he's still an Uchiha. He's practically a little brother to me, too. What am I going to do, chase him down and actually kill him?"

Shisui had no answer.

This was a family matter between Shinji Uchiha and Fugaku's household. It really wasn't his place to comment.

"Why can't you kill him? Why?!"

"Uchiha Itachi—!!!"

A piercing roar rang out. In the office, Shisui and Shinji went pale and turned to look at each other. We're finished. Izumi heard everything!

Izumi shot upright. Her once-gentle face was twisted with murderous rage. Blood tears streamed from her eyes as three pitch-black Tomoe spun within them.

Bzzz—

They stopped completely!

Forming a pitch-black pattern!

Shaped like a three-leaf clover!

Shisui and Shinji stared in shock. Shisui was simply stunned. Shinji... almost failed to keep the corners of his mouth from rising!

He swore!

He and Uchiha Itachi had only made the best of a bad situation, deceiving someone right under their nose. Along the way, they'd had no choice but to conduct one tiny experiment.

Uchiha Izumi actually awakening her eyes...

That was a surprise he hadn't expected at all!