Susanoo

Shisui Uchiha darted through the woods, but his speed was no longer what it once had been. The glory of Body Flicker Shisui was gone.

His left hand pressed tightly over his eye socket, but it could not stop the blood streaming down.

The searing pain, his blurred vision, and the panic and confusion deep within him were rapidly draining both his stamina and his judgment.

Why?

There was no need to ponder that question anymore. From the ruthless way Danzo had taken his eye, this could not possibly have been a spur-of-the-moment decision. He had planned it long ago!

What troubled him was that he had caught Danzo in a Genjutsu at that very instant, yet a second later, the man had already stolen his eye!

What happened in between? When did he do it? How? He... no, what matters now is that Danzo never trusted me, an Uchiha, from the very beginning... whether he took my eye to weaken the Uchiha Clan or for some other purpose no longer matters. They've gone mad.

What should I do?

I'll die!

That was the first thought that arose deep in Shisui's heart. His instinctive desire to survive urged him to leave Konoha immediately and flee far away. Losing an eye was certainly a grievous injury, but it was not fatal. Yet if he stayed in Konoha and continued getting entangled with them, his life would truly be in danger.

But almost a second later, another thought within him overpowered his desire to survive—

If I don't stop them now, civil war between the Uchiha Clan and the village will be inevitable. Konoha will never know peace again!

Whoosh!

As if deliberately confirming Shisui's thoughts, two shuriken bearing Explosive Tags shot toward him from behind at vicious angles. But Shisui twisted in midair, slipping between the two shuriken to evade one while catching the other and immediately hurling it back.

Boom!

The shuriken struck its pursuer dead on. The blast of the Explosive Tag drowned out a scream, and Shisui Uchiha kept sprinting without looking back.

Seemingly growing somewhat accustomed to the pain, Shisui stopped pressing his blood-streaming eye socket. His face twitched as his hands rapidly formed hand seals, Chakra surging within him.

But the very next second, a dark figure leaped out of the smoke from the explosion and lunged at Shisui Uchiha, pinning him to the ground!

"Sever the tendons in his wrists and ankles so he can't resist," a companion behind the attacker hurriedly called out. But before the attacker could act, smoke puffed from Shisui's body with a thump, and his body was replaced by a block of wood.

"Substitution Technique? When did he..." The Root Ninja was shocked. Just as he raised his head to search for Shisui, several explosions rang out around him in quick succession. Explosive Tags!

Several Root members who had not been particularly cautious during the pursuit were caught directly in the sudden blasts.

"He cut off our pursuit and erased all the traces he left behind at the same time. Did he make that judgment in a single instant? What a terrifying man."

The Substitution Technique, Clone Technique, and Transformation Technique were known as the Three Basic Techniques. Generally, such basic Ninjutsu were merely low-level tricks in the eyes of powerful Ninja and needed to be replaced with more advanced Ninjutsu.

But Shisui Uchiha had honed the Three Basic Techniques to perfection. Even with something as simple as the Substitution Technique, not one of the pursuing Root members had seen through it.

The Root members exchanged looks, their expressions complicated. Every one of them was stunned by Shisui Uchiha's split-second reaction and judgment, but they still had a mission to carry out. "Split up and search. Notify everyone when you find him. Seal off every route, especially those leading to the Hokage Office and the Uchiha Clan. It doesn't matter even if we lose him. Those are the only places he can go!"

"Hah... hah... hah..." Shisui Uchiha was panting heavily in his hiding place. As an outstanding Ninja, he had already grown somewhat accustomed to the pain of losing an eye, but the injury's toll on both his stamina and mental energy was what limited his movements.

And more fatal still—

He had no intention of leaving.

"I... can't stay here waiting for long either..." Looking up at the hazy sky, Shisui pictured several people in his mind: some he could have trusted, others who should have appeared. In the end, however, the image settled on a youthful face with a mature expression.

It was Uchiha Itachi, with whom he had made an arrangement.

His hand slowly brushed over his only remaining eye. Now that he could calm down a little, he understood Danzo's objective.

"Kotoamatsukami... heh. To think I forgot something as simple as the danger of possessing a coveted treasure..." Shisui laughed at himself. But the next instant, his expression changed, and he vanished from the spot.

"Found him! Here!"

A Summoning Beast capable of tracking the scent of blood appeared at Shisui's former hiding place. When the pursuing Ninja following close behind saw the blood on the ground, they immediately realized he had only just fled. They signaled their companions and promptly resumed the chase.

The hunt would continue, with no one in Konoha aware of it.

Whoosh!

The instant a shuriken flew out, three more followed in quick succession, striking the first. After altering its trajectory three times, they sent it turning back toward Uchiha Itachi himself.

Casually catching the returning shuriken, Itachi stopped training and stared blankly at the weapon in his hand.

Today was the day he had agreed upon with Shisui. Whether to choose the village or the Family—he, too, had to make his decision.

But even now, he still had no answer. That was why he had come to the Training Ground, yet...

"Hm?" Uchiha Itachi raised his head. A pitch-black crow circled above him, but there was something strange about it. Half its body and one wing looked tattered, and it vanished the very instant Uchiha Itachi spotted it.

Uchiha Itachi's initial confusion abruptly turned to panic. That was Shisui Uchiha's...

He immediately left the Training Ground.

"This is as far as you go, Shisui Uchiha."

Shisui was now surrounded by the Root members who had pursued him. His body could no longer sustain another attempt to shake off these enemies, each of whom was at least as strong as a Jonin.

Besides, he could not lead these people to his agreed meeting place with Itachi. If they discovered Itachi...

At that thought, Shisui Uchiha's face grew grim.

His opponents clearly had no intention of giving Shisui Uchiha more time to stall. Almost simultaneously, a dozen of them attacked!

Shisui pushed his remaining Sharingan to its limit. Within his field of vision, he saw three men rushing forward in a triangular formation, while five behind them began forming hand seals. Two more at the sides had already readied shuriken to pin him down from a distance. They would never let him escape again...

There was nowhere to dodge, nowhere to hide.

Then I'll face them head-on!

Boom!

The Root members charging toward him were sent flying backward. Those behind them stared in horror at the figure rising from the ground, momentarily stopping even the hand seals for their ninjutsu.

A godlike green skeletal giant enveloped Shisui Uchiha. Its terrifying green glow seemed to mock the pitiful strength of these Jonin-level Root members.

"Susanoo!" With a wild look on his face, Shisui Uchiha finally unleashed the true power of his Mangekyō Sharingan before the world for the first time!