Then I'll Leave It to You

In a dense forest, Shin'yu and Madara raced toward the northwest of the Land of Fire.

Their objective was clear. They had evidently learned where Uchiha Hikari had been sealed.

Madara held a red scroll—the Warring States Sealing History that Shin'yu had gone to great lengths to acquire.

"It seems that aside from Nanashi, Senju and Whirlpool really sealed away quite a few things..." He read through the scroll as he traveled.

Shin'yu spoke from beside him, the breeze sweeping his black hair back. "I wonder what Lord Madara thinks? I think that Box of Ultimate Bliss is quite promising. According to the records, it was a ninja tool of the legendary Sage of Six Paths."

"They are merely trivial paths. True strength lies in oneself." Madara put away the scroll and snorted softly. "Forget a mere ninja tool—even the Sage of Six Paths' power may not be impossible to obtain."

"The Sage of Six Paths' power..." Shin'yu murmured, deep in thought.

Of course, he knew what Madara meant. Senju and Uchiha—when the two became one, they formed the power of their Otsutsuki Clan ancestor.

"There is an ancient Stone Tablet in the Underground Chamber of Naka Shrine. It is a token passed down through my clan for generations. It records the method of obtaining the Sage of Six Paths' power, but the inscription was altered by a secret technique. The higher the Sharingan's level, the more it can decipher."

Madara glanced at him. "You know about this, don't you?"

Shin'yu nodded. "After awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, I was fortunate enough to study the inscription."

"Then it seems you already know how to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Let me remind you: although the effects of your ocular techniques are special, your eyes are not eternal. There is still a risk of blindness from using them, along with a series of side effects." Madara's words carried a deeper meaning.

"I understand, Lord Madara," Shin'yu said softly. "When the time is right, I will act."

"Forget it... I needn't say more." Madara smiled and casually asked, "How long have you had the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

"Counting the time, it has been over three years..." Shin'yu replied, his eyes filled with reminiscence.

After witnessing the death of his childhood playmate, he had accidentally awakened his eyes at the age of four. It was a time of war, and he was soon conscripted by his clan.

They gave him a sword, put armor on him, and forcibly dragged him onto the battlefield.

What fighting ability could a four-year-old child possibly have? Thanks to his Sharingan, he was at most a little more agile. Simply staying alive was already difficult enough.

Even now, he still remembered his first time on the battlefield.

It was the second time he had encountered death, yet it felt entirely different from the first. Disease had taken his playmate's life, but on the battlefield, it was blades and swords that took lives.

Corpses and blood painted the earth. The wind was thick with the stench of gore, while battle cries and screams blended together, each sound tearing at the heart.

One of the clansmen traveling with him even gave him a thumbs-up, praising him for remaining so calm before mountains of corpses and seas of blood at such a young age.

Only Shin'yu himself knew that he had simply been scared witless.

Yet that clansman would never learn the truth, because the next day, he too became a corpse.

If he wanted to survive, he could only grow stronger.

War was a meat grinder. Surrounded by slaughter and death, his eyes quickly evolved into the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

His Parents were kind-hearted. Though they lacked talent as ninja, they knew some medical arts. To pray for their son, they opened a clinic and treated injured clansmen without charge.

Before long, their home had become a temporary place for Uchiha ninja to recover from their wounds.

This practice made Shin'yu deeply wary. More than once, he warned them that it was easy to be dragged into the war this way.

But they were stubborn, and word of the treatment center had already spread. Faced with an endless stream of wounded people, they could not bring themselves to refuse.

A year later, while Shin'yu was fighting on the battlefield, his heart suddenly trembled. He vaguely sensed that something major had happened. He immediately unleashed his full strength and swiftly ended the battle, but when he reached home, all he found were his lifeless parents and his Younger Brother lying in a pool of blood.

At That Moment, his negative emotions surged to their peak. Endless rage and regret erupted from within him. He threw back his head and howled, his grief-stricken cries piercing the sky, feeling as if his chest were about to explode.

Blood vessels spread across his Eyes, and an icy chill seeped from his very bones. His Mangekyo Sharingan awakened at That Moment!

The Sharingan was known as the "eye that reflects the heart." The instant the Mangekyo awakened, it would give rise to ocular techniques based on its owner's strongest wishes and desires.

Mahoraga and Ame no Tokotachi, corresponding to his hatred and regret respectively, were born from this.

He desperately poured Eye Power into his eyes, trying to turn back time. His Parents had already been dead for too long, but his Younger Brother, Uchiha Kagami, had happened to be within the five-minute limit. Under the effects of time and space reversal, he miraculously awakened, and every wound on his body was restored.

His Thoughts returned to the present. Shin'yu shook his head, trying to cast aside the chaotic thoughts.

Soon, the two stopped beside a low rocky hill. Two ninja stood guard there, and the Clan Emblem of the Senju Clan was carved into the stone wall behind them.

"Looks like this is the place."

Madara walked straight over without any intention of concealing himself, leaving Shin'yu no choice but to follow.

"Stop! This is a vital sealing site. Unrelated persons, leave at once!"

Shin'yu narrowed his eyes slightly. These two had fierce gazes, and a faint murderous aura lingered around them. They had clearly been tempered by plenty of bloodshed.

"Senju and Sarutobi..." He noticed the emblems on them and sneered. "So they sent the ninja who took part in that battle here?"

"He... he's... Uchiha Madara!" The two Hidden Leaf Village ninja recognized Lord Madara's identity and became As if facing a great enemy.

"Lord Madara, these two slaughtered many of our clansmen back then," Shin'yu said in a low voice. "They cannot be spared."

"Is that so? Then I'll leave them to you." Madara seemed to have no intention of acting. He found a boulder and calmly sat down on it.

Without another word, Shin'yu stomped the ground and shot forward like an arrow.

"You little brat, how dare you look down on us!" the Senju Ninja at the front roared, drawing his long sword with a swish.

However, Shin'yu instantly revealed his Sharingan. Three Tomoe turned into a swirling vortex, seeming to possess a soul-stealing allure. The ninja took only one glance before falling deeply under its sway, unable to break free.

Autumn Dew on Leaves!

Chakra gathered in Shin'yu's right hand and swiftly formed an icy blue Light Blade, leaving a brilliant trail through the air.

"Idiot, don't look into his eyes!"

At the crucial moment, his Sarutobi Clan Comrade violently yanked him behind himself. The Light Blade flashed past with a hiss, instantly tearing open the man's clothing and cutting a straight bloody gash across his skin.

Having missed, Shin'yu immediately rushed at the other man, thrusting the cicada-wing-thin Light Blade toward his face.

The Sarutobi ninja clearly possessed extensive combat experience. Facing an Uchiha's Sharingan, he skillfully avoided meeting Shin'yu's gaze. Even without looking at Shin'yu's face, he could calmly handle the attacks.

But the Sharingan did more than cast Illusion Techniques; it also enhanced Taijutsu.

After only two exchanges, Shin'yu predicted his movement path, and the Chakra Blade severed his Kunai in a single stroke!

Shin'yu spun with the momentum and landed a vicious airborne back kick squarely in the Sarutobi ninja's abdomen.

Bang!

The Sarutobi ninja took the kick head-on, yet used the chance to widen the distance. While his body flew backward, he completed his Hand Seals.

Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!

Crimson flames rushed toward him, turning his entire vision red. Shin'yu did not even have time to swing his Chakra Blade before being swallowed by the fire.

"I got him!" Excitement flashed through the Sarutobi ninja's eyes.

Just as he was about to release his Comrade from the Illusion Technique, a figure suddenly burst from the flames, moving so fast it was staggering.

"Not good! He wants to take me down with him!" The Sarutobi ninja was horrified. He wanted to dodge, but it was already too late.

Shin'yu was engulfed in flames. Fire and thick smoke curled around his black clothes and hair, and his cheeks had been burned, exposing bright red Tender meat. Yet his eyes shone with spirit, his Pupils now transformed into a beautifully patterned Mangekyo!

He seemed not to care about his injuries at all. With the Body Flicker Technique and the blue-glowing Autumn Dew on Leaves, even the air was torn apart as he instantly cleaved the horrified Sarutobi ninja in two at the waist!

The ninja let out a scream of utter terror. The last sight he saw was Shin'yu's completely unscathed body.

"How... is that possible..." Unable to understand, he died with profound unwillingness.

Shin'yu walked over to the Senju Ninja, swung his Light Blade, and cleanly severed his head. A spray of scalding blood scattered into the wind.

From the moment he had been immobilized by the Illusion Technique, his defeat and death had already been inevitable.