"Mm—"
Uchiha Fugaku's consciousness suddenly turned hazy.
There was no eye contact, yet the power of Kotoamatsukami had already begun invading his mind, attempting to alter his will.
His resolve wavered, and a voice whispered in his head, urging him to submit to the Third Hokage…
Whoosh—
In the face of danger, his Mangekyō Sharingan instinctively flared to life. A surge of immense ocular power erupted, clashing head-on with the invading Kotoamatsukami.
Boom—
It was as if an invisible impact had shaken the air.
Fugaku's overwhelming ocular force collided with the power of Kotoamatsukami already embedded in his mind, producing a resounding blast.
Then, like boulders swept away by a flood, the alien energy was slowly pushed out of his consciousness.
After all, Kotoamatsukami was a genjutsu born of ocular power. When faced with greater ocular might, only the stronger force could prevail.
Shisui Uchiha wielded one Mangekyō Sharingan and one three-tomoe Sharingan.
Fugaku, however, possessed both Mangekyō Sharingan eyes. Moreover, by assimilating the power of several fallen Uchiha, his ocular force had grown far beyond the usual Mangekyō limits.
Naturally, the clash ended in Fugaku's favor.
"Mangekyō Sharingan… you have it too! "
Shisui, stunned that his Kotoamatsukami had been repelled, stared in disbelief at Fugaku's eyes.
There, unmistakably, was the distinct pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"You… even you have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan! As clan head, did you think I wouldn't? " Fugaku said coldly.
Though his tone was calm, inwardly he exhaled in relief.
His theory had been correct—Kotoamatsukami was, in the end, a genjutsu powered by ocular force, and another Mangekyō user like himself could resist it.
Had he failed, he would have been forced to resort to his final trump card: Izanagi.
Izanagi could rewrite any unfavorable reality, even death itself. Naturally, control from Kotoamatsukami was no exception.
But he avoided using it unless absolutely necessary—it would cost him an eye.
Fortunately, that dire situation hadn't come to pass. His superior ocular power had shielded him from Shisui's genjutsu.
It also helped that he had planned this: by maneuvering Shisui into losing one eye in battle against Obito, Kotoamatsukami's strength had been greatly diminished.
"Why have you kept this hidden all along? "
Shisui, realizing the situation was slipping beyond his control, regarded Fugaku warily.
"If I'd shown my hand, do you think I'd still be alive? " Fugaku scoffed.
Given the Third Hokage faction's fear of the Mangekyō Sharingan, they would have schemed to eliminate him the moment they found out—just like Sunagakure's hero Pakura, betrayed and slain by her own village elders.
On this point at least, his predecessor had chosen wisely: to conceal the Mangekyō was to survive.
"Clan Head, you gravely misunderstand Lord Hokage. He would never target you simply because you awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan! " Shisui protested.
"Even with the Mangekyō in your eyes, you remain blind. Fool. Today, you die here."
Fugaku's voice turned icy, like frost cutting through the air.
This was a man utterly brainwashed by the Third Hokage—beyond redemption.
"Another Mangekyō Sharingan, aside from Shisui's?! "
Elsewhere, Uchiha Wei and Uchiha Hiro had been subdued by six ANBU operatives.
Though the pair were strong, their six opponents were highly skilled and had numbers on their side. After only a brief exchange, both Uchiha were captured.
With their captives secured, the ANBU turned toward Fugaku and Shisui, only to see Fugaku's eyes blazing with the Mangekyō pattern.
"Not good—Fugaku Uchiha has the Mangekyō Sharingan! "
"Our intel was wrong—Fugaku's a Mangekyō user! "
Faces drained of color, the ANBU realized the battle had shifted far beyond their expectations. Fugaku had been hiding a devastating trump card.
"Fugaku Uchiha, surrender now or they die! "
One senior ANBU quickly pressed a kunai against Wei's throat, its edge nicking her skin—blood welled up.
"True Illusion."
Fugaku was unmoved by the threat.
His cold gaze locked onto the six ANBU, the pattern in his right eye spinning.
In the next instant—
Thud. Thud. Thud!
All six ANBU collapsed almost simultaneously—some charred to blackened husks, some with pierced hearts, others with slit throats.
Their lives vanished in an instant.
In that brief moment, all six had been dragged into Fugaku's True Illusion—a genjutsu realm where he slaughtered them one by one.
Why had it taken mere seconds? Because within the illusionary domain, time itself was his to command.
He couldn't stretch a second into 24 hours like Itachi's Tsukuyomi, but extending it into several minutes was trivial. And for Fugaku, a minute was more than enough to kill six men.
"Clan Head…"
With the ANBU dead, Wei and Hiro were freed, though both were gravely injured.
They hesitated, torn between aiding Fugaku and fearing they'd hinder him.
"Fall back. This fight is beyond you! " Fugaku ordered. Wei and Hiro immediately retreated to a safe distance.
"What… what kind of ocular jutsu is that? "
Seeing his comrades slain in an instant, Shisui's fury was tempered by a growing sense of dread.
Fugaku's Mangekyō had awakened a mysterious technique, one that could annihilate six skilled operatives in a heartbeat—and he hadn't even seen how they died.
"A jutsu that will kill you," Fugaku said, his right eye whirling as he unleashed True Illusion again.
"Not good! "
Whoosh—
Alarm bells ringing in his mind, Shisui flickered away with the Body Flicker Technique, leaving behind only an afterimage.
Most Uchiha eye techniques required direct eye contact, though some, like his Kotoamatsukami, did not.
To counter Fugaku's unknown ocular power, Shisui chose to evade it altogether.