"It failed! "
Fugaku Uchiha let out a sigh.
His True Illusion had been shattered, and Might Guy had not landed on Shisui.
With his Mangekyō Sharingan, he had repelled Shisui's Kotoamatsukami.
And Shisui, wielding his own Mangekyō, had broken through Fugaku's True Illusion.
Both of their ocular techniques had been completely neutralized.
The reason Fugaku had immediately opened the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death, was to finish Shisui as quickly as possible.
Even if he couldn't kill Shisui outright because of Izanagi, he had hoped to force Shisui into using it, costing him his sight.
Unfortunately, he had failed.
"Such a realistic illusion… No, it's far more than just an illusion! "
Freshly freed from the True Illusion, Shisui's back was drenched in sweat.
A glance at a cut on his right hand confirmed what he suspected.
Combined with the instant deaths of his six comrades earlier, it was now clear: dying within that illusion likely meant death in reality.
The shallow cut on his right hand, inflicted by his own broken blade, further confirmed it—injuries in that illusory world carried over to reality.
Had he been killed there, he would have had no choice but to invoke Izanagi.
"And that's not all…"
His gaze turned to Fugaku, who stood completely unscathed.
Within the illusion, Fugaku had opened the Gate of Death, unleashing power that normally came at the cost of his own life.
But because it happened inside the illusion, Fugaku suffered no real consequences.
Using a technique in reality that would normally demand an enormous sacrifice—without paying the price… this was another terrifying application of Fugaku's True Illusion.
"Kotoamatsukami has failed. Controlling the clan head is impossible… In that case…"
Shisui's grip tightened on his unbroken sword, killing intent flashing across his youthful face.
For the sake of Konoha's peace, he would have to cut Fugaku down here and now.
"Body Flicker—! "
He blurred from sight, reappearing behind Fugaku, his blade stabbing toward Fugaku's heart.
Clang—
Fugaku's Mangekyō-enhanced perception warned him just in time. He twisted around, parrying with a kunai.
But Shisui flickered again, materializing to Fugaku's side, his sword sweeping across.
Shrimp—
Fugaku barely dodged, his clothing sliced open and a shallow wound appearing across his torso, blood beading from the cut.
Before he could recover, Shisui struck yet again from another angle.
"I can't keep this up! "
Fugaku frowned, glancing at his wound.
Shisui's mastery of the Body Flicker Technique made his taijutsu overwhelming; in pure close-quarters combat, Fugaku was outmatched.
He shifted tactics.
"Ice Release: Frozen Spikes! "
Chilling chakra surged underground, and within an enormous area, massive ice spikes erupted like a forest of blades—each over ten meters long and razor-sharp.
Shisui was caught within their range.
"Body Flicker—! "
At the last instant, he flashed dozens of meters away, escaping the storm of ice.
"Ice Release…? "
Shisui's eyes widened at the countless ice spikes piercing the ground.
Fugaku, head of the Uchiha Clan, had somehow mastered the Ice Release bloodline limit of the Yuki Clan.
"How do you have Ice Release? "
"You don't need to know," Fugaku replied coldly, forming another set of hand seals.
"Ice Release: Hailstorm! "
Countless icicles formed in midair, descending in a deadly rain toward Shisui.
Whoosh—
Again, Shisui flickered away, narrowly avoiding the barrage, and immediately wove his own seals.
"Clone Technique—! "
Several copies of Shisui appeared, spreading out and attacking Fugaku from all directions.
Fugaku's Mangekyō flared as he tried to discern the real Shisui among the clones—but it was futile.
The true Shisui flickered between his duplicates, each one real for an instant and illusory the next.
Whoosh—
All the Shisuis struck simultaneously, their blades descending.
Fugaku's expression hardened. Any one of them could be real.
"Ice Release: Frozen Spikes! "
Chilling chakra flooded the ground once more. Ice spears erupted outward in all directions, blooming like a giant frozen flower.
Since any of the Shisuis could be real, none could be ignored—all were engulfed by the attack.
Shk! Shk! Shk!
One by one, the Shisuis were skewered, all vanishing into puffs of smoke—mere clones.
Suddenly, one Shisui slashed through an ice spike with his blade, charging straight for Fugaku.
Fugaku infused his kunai with Wind-style chakra, lengthening it into a cyan blade, and swung to meet him—only to slice through another clone.
A second Shisui attacked from the flank—another clone.
Several more closed in simultaneously.
"This is what I was waiting for—"
Fugaku smirked coldly, forming a one-handed seal.
"Ice Release: Frozen Prison! "
This time, the prison froze not just his surroundings but even himself within it—a vast sphere of ice.
Crack—
Fugaku and several of the Shisui clones were frozen solid.
But as the jutsu's caster, Fugaku moved freely within the ice, like a fish in water.
The trapped Shisuis, however, could not move—and their vaunted Body Flicker was useless.
This was Fugaku's answer to Shisui's overwhelming speed.