Chapter 153
2-in-1-chapter
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"Demonic Illusion: Mirror Heaven and Earth Change. This is a genjutsu unique to our Uchiha clan, one that can only be performed through the power of the Sharingan." Before the Two-Tails could respond, Shisui revealed the truth on his own. There was no harm in exposing such a secret, so long as it was a genjutsu of the eye; there were hardly any illusions that Mirror Heaven and Earth Change could not reflect.
Of course, this referred to when Shisui himself used the technique. If it were performed by a clansman with only two tomoe, then against an enemy with overwhelming spiritual force, the reflection could very well fail.
Yugito Nii clenched her teeth. This battlefield was foreign to her, this way of fighting unfamiliar. Strictly speaking she was on home ground, yet everything felt strange, and the strangeness pressed down on her heavily.
"Damn it, what should I do?"
She watched Shisui approach step by step, and she did not know how to respond. To continue using genjutsu? But the failure just now had proven that ordinary illusions were useless against the Uchiha. Without genjutsu… could she still fight with ninjutsu and taijutsu here? She bit down hard and decided to try.
To sit and wait for death was not her nature. To struggle even on the brink was her way.
"Cat Claw."
She stared at the sharp claws extending from her fingers and felt a flicker of reassurance. It seemed she could still use ninjutsu and taijutsu. Watching Shisui advance on her as if there were no one else in the world, she suddenly lashed out, raking his chest and leaving ten deep wounds that cut down to the bone.
Shhh!
Blood spurted forth like a fountain.
It stained Yugito's face, not with joy but with shock. How could such a terrifying enemy be dealt with so easily? Was this another illusion? To conjure something this crude—was he treating her as a fool?
No—when had she fallen into another illusion?
"Damn it, what is going on?" To be caught in genjutsu within the sealed space of the Two-Tails spirit—what kind of joke was that?
Yugito erupted with chakra, straining to shatter the illusion.
It did not work.
Unnoticed, the space that should have been shrouded in endless darkness was stained crimson. Corpses floated on the surface of the water, still bleeding. Within each frail body seemed to hide an ocean of blood, and the ceaseless tide dyed everything in sight a deep, endless red.
Grrrk!
Yugito's clenched teeth ground together, producing a grating sound.
For the first time in her life she felt a helplessness beyond words, a strength with no place to go. It was unbearable. She would rather face two of those things called Susanoo in battle than endure this bewildering struggle.
Just then, a flicker of azure flame pierced through the blood-red haze and appeared before her.
"Yugito, wake up quickly!"
It was as though a massive mirror had been shattered by a flying stone. The world before her eyes cracked with countless fissures. Chunks of crimson peeled away, and the darkness returned. She realized she still stood before the cage, had not taken a step, had not manifested any claws.
The Uchiha shinobi remained where he had been all along, not any closer.
"Yugito, are you all right?"
The Two-Tails asked from within its cage.
"…Matatabi, am I still in a genjutsu?" After a long silence, Yugito voiced the question the beast least wished to hear.
Such was the terror of Uchiha illusions. They were not only difficult to break by one's own strength. The more frightening part was that even if you did break free, the aftereffect would gnaw at you, a shadow of doubt as to whether the world around you was real, a fear that you were still within the illusion.
And the worst of it was that the Two-Tails did not dare to say that this was reality.
If it spoke, and the next moment Yugito was dragged back into illusion, then it would have harmed her instead.
"If this is illusion or reality—you must judge for yourself." The beast thought to itself that all it could do was drag her out, but it left those words unsaid. Its savage eyes swept over the half-seen figure of the Uchiha, and a thousand years of bitter lessons reminded it of the one rule: never look directly into the Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan.
In contrast to the agitation of Yugito and the Two-Tails, Shisui's mood was calm.
This battle had confirmed the truth of Rēn's words. The power of the Mangekyō Sharingan did indeed hold a suppressive force against the tailed beasts. Otherwise, with the massive spiritual energy of the Two-Tails, he would not have been able to intrude into this sealed space so easily.
As for the jinchūriki, Yugito's own mental strength was formidable, even apart from the Two-Tails. But against the Mangekyō Sharingan it was still insufficient to hold. Only by combining with her beast could she barely resist the ordinary level of genjutsu he used.
His eyelids flickered. From outside, his consciousness received a signal.
He looked up at the Two-Tails and its host, both avoiding his gaze, and said, "A pity. It seems we can only stop here today. Next time, we will fight in earnest."
As his voice faded, his figure vanished.
And just as when he had come, Yugito had no idea how he had disappeared. The Two-Tails did sense the surge of Mangekyō power, but fearing manipulation, it dared not probe deeper.
When Nii Yugito finally regained her senses and her twin pupils once again reflected the real world, the emerald-green Susanoo had already vanished. All that remained before her eyes was the wreckage of a devastated forest and the distant figures of her fellow Kumogakure shinobi.
The battle seemed to be over. Had the Konoha shinobi already withdrawn? She released her tailed beast form and returned to her human shape.
"This… this shouldn't be a genjutsu anymore, right?"
Gazing at the ruined landscape, Yugito's eyes still carried traces of wariness and confusion. Shisui's genjutsu had truly left her shaken; even when working in tandem with Matatabi, she had been helpless before it. The thought still left her heart unsettled. If Shisui had not voluntarily withdrawn, the conclusion of today's battle would have been entirely uncertain.
"Matatabi, our luck wasn't the worst after all."
Standing alone on fractured stone, she muttered to herself like one talking in delirium.
Within the sealing cage of her inner world, the Two-Tails narrowed its eyes. What Yugito said was true. Though their misfortune had been to encounter such a formidable Uchiha, fortune was still with them—Shisui had chosen to depart before they were defeated, proof that their fate was not as dire as it could have been.
"Yugito, your comrades are on their way. Best not to take any missions for a couple of days—rest well."
The Two-Tails voice reverberated through her mind.
She turned toward the direction it indicated, and moments later Darui appeared in her line of sight, sprinting to meet her. Drawing in a deep breath, she stepped forward to greet him and asked at once, "Darui, what is the situation now? Has the battle ended? Did the Konoha shinobi retreat?"
The string of questions altered Darui's expression. The irritation that had been etched between his brows subsided, replaced with a flicker of realization. From her questions and demeanor, he sensed something was off.
He had originally come to reprimand her.
Because of Yugito's uncharacteristic lapse, the Konoha shinobi had managed to escape intact. Even Darui had been forced to abandon his attempt to seize the Byakugan, left to watch as that thick-browed Leaf shinobi carried Hyūga Hiashi away. The frustration weighed heavily on him.
"…Yugito-senpai, after you transformed into the Two-Tails you suddenly stopped moving. That gave the green giant free rein to attack, and the Konoha shinobi took the opportunity to retreat. We couldn't stop them and could only watch them go. It was only after they had left that you changed back."
Darui gave a concise account of what had transpired.
Though his tone was restrained, his dissatisfaction still seeped through. Losing the Byakugan was one thing—it had not been guaranteed—but he had intended to use this battle to inflict as many casualties as possible upon Konoha's forces, gradually tilting the war in their favor. Because of Yugito's mistake, that plan had collapsed.
"I see."
Yugito inclined her head slightly, as though she had not heard the reproach hidden in his words. The outcome was as she had expected. Not a good result, but not the worst either.
"That power is called Susanoo."
"What?"
Darui froze, then realized she must be speaking of the towering green giant. He repeated the strange name under his breath. "Susanoo? What exactly is that? A forbidden technique, or something else?"
His question received no answer.
"Darui, prepare yourself—we're heading back," Yugito said firmly.
"Heading back?"
Darui's brows drew together. "Yugito-senpai, have you forgotten our mission? Seizing control of the Kusatsu Mountains was only the beginning. We still need to guard against Konoha's counterattack…"
"I have more important matters to report directly to the Raikage."
Her reply left Darui wide-eyed.
"Darui, don't let our earlier success blind you. Konoha is not easy to deal with. We caught them off guard only because their main forces were away. Now that their reinforcements have arrived, the difficult days are only beginning."
Leaving those words behind, Yugito turned and departed.
Darui stood there in a daze, staring at her retreating back, unable to speak. Was this really the same proud, battle-hungry Yugito-senpai he had known? To hear such words—it was completely unlike her.
What on earth had happened?
Darui's thick eyebrows nearly knotted together. If not for the unmistakable chakra of the Two-Tails, he might have suspected that Yugito-senpai had been replaced by someone else.
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