"A trap set for me? "
Uchiha Shisui's face turned grim. He hadn't expected that this whole situation was a trap designed specifically for him.
The mission to seize control of the daimyo's mansion was merely a diversion. The clan head's true target was none other than him—the Uchiha traitor.
This was an operation launched by the Uchiha Clan to lure him out and eliminate him.
"Susanoo—Third Form! "
Channeling even more ocular power and chakra, Shisui pushed his Susanoo to its third form. A hardened armor encased its body, further amplifying its power.
He commanded Susanoo's massive spiral sword to spin violently and stab at the barrier, attempting to break through and escape.
Boom!
The rotating blade clashed against the barrier with a deafening roar.
Air churned violently inside, transforming into howling winds.
Flames erupted where the spiral sword struck, yet the barrier held firm.
The Uchiha Fire Flame Formation was a defensive barrier of extraordinary strength, woven by over fifty elite Uchiha shinobi. Even the destructive might of Shisui's third-form Susanoo struggled to break it in a short time.
Shisui's expression darkened. He recalled Susanoo's spiral sword and rammed it against the barrier again.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Early Fern! "
Uchiha Fugaku wasn't about to let Shisui continue his assault.
He formed hand seals and slammed his palms onto the ground.
Bone—dense and razor-sharp—erupted from beneath, piercing upward.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Massive, spear-like bones burst from the earth, aiming for Shisui's Susanoo.
Shisui swung Susanoo's spiral sword in a sweeping arc, shattering the incoming spikes with a flurry of sharp cracks.
But then—
Bones erupted from beneath Susanoo itself, lunging for Shisui through the unprotected underside.
He barely dodged, evading the deadly spikes, only for more to spear toward his new position.
Within moments, the inner space of his Susanoo was nearly consumed by a forest of massive, lethal bones.
Squelch—
Running out of room to dodge, Shisui was impaled, his body skewered and lifted high into the air.
Buzz—
Izanagi, fueled by the sacrifice of his right eye's sight, took effect. Shisui revived a short distance away, gasping for breath.
As a pure-blooded Uchiha, his Izanagi lasted far longer than Shimura Danzō's—up to five full minutes.
But Fugaku's Dance of the Early Fern, powered by a Kage-level mastery of Shikotsumyaku, was relentless.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
In an instant, the barrier-trapped battlefield became a dense forest of towering, deadly bone spikes.
Shisui's safe zones to maneuver were rapidly shrinking.
"I must stop this jutsu! "
He locked his gaze on Fugaku, Mangekyō eyes blazing.
Kotoamatsukami—the ultimate genjutsu—ignored the wall of bones and bore down on Fugaku's mind.
"Nn—"
A sudden fog clouded Fugaku's consciousness. He instantly realized Shisui had unleashed Kotoamatsukami and forcefully countered with his own ocular power, neutralizing it.
But the attack disrupted his jutsu, granting Shisui a fleeting moment to breathe.
"Shisui-ryū: Body Flicker Technique! "
In a blur, Shisui split into countless shadowy afterimages, all surging toward Fugaku like lightning.
The deadly Shikotsumyaku in this confined space posed too great a threat; Fugaku had to be stopped before he could unleash another forest of bones.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Dancing through the bone "trees," Shisui and his clones closed in from all directions, each wielding a gleaming blade aimed at Fugaku.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Camellia! "
Fugaku responded instantly.
Bone spikes sprouted from every inch of his body, turning him into a human pincushion—an unapproachable hedgehog bristling with meter-long spikes.
Every clone was shredded and vanished; only the real Shisui managed to leap back in time, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
"I can't get close! "
Fugaku's impenetrable defense nullified Shisui's famed speed and assassination techniques.
"Susanoo!"
Acting without hesitation, Shisui poured the last of his dwindling ocular power into Susanoo once more, driving its massive spiral sword straight at Fugaku's bone-covered form.
"Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Early Fern! "
Fugaku sealed and slammed his palms to the ground.
A forest of towering, needle-sharp bones erupted, each spike over ten meters long.
They stopped Susanoo's spiral sword cold and pierced inward and outward, shredding the armored titan.
Inside, Shisui dodged frantically. Outside, Susanoo's shell cracked under the relentless assault.
Squelch—
A single, extra-long spike—driven by Fugaku's will—punched clean through Susanoo, impaling Shisui's body once more.
Buzz—
A short distance away, Shisui revived again, drenched in sweat, hair plastered to his face, utterly bedraggled.
On a tree overlooking the battlefield, a White Zetsu clone silently observed.
Dispatched to spy on Fugaku, it had been monitoring Konoha shinobi across the Land of Fire when it sensed the immense chakra clash and came to investigate.
"Uchiha Obito was right—Fugaku has awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan! "
Shock rippled through it.
Beyond Obito and Shisui, now a third had awakened this power.
Each Mangekyō user wielded strength surpassing most Kage—and the Uchiha Clan boasted three at once. Truly, their bloodline was unrivaled, a legacy worthy of the Sage of Six Paths himself.
"And it's not just the Mangekyō—he's somehow obtained Ice Release and Shikotsumyaku as well."
Watching Fugaku press Shisui into submission inside the blazing Uchiha Fire Formation, the clone was deeply unsettled.
Shisui, who had once battled Obito to a standstill and escaped, was now utterly overwhelmed.
Fugaku, empowered by his Mangekyō Sharingan and two additional kekkei genkai, had decisively suppressed him.
If not for Izanagi, Shisui would already be dead.