Uchiha Clan's compound.
Shisui's cold words, "You have disappointed me so much," was like a poisoned kunai, brutally piercing the frozen defenses of Itachi's heart.
Immense shock and self-doubt surged within him like a tidal wave. He tried to construct all the 'reasonable' explanations… unable to stop the rebellion, avoiding the village being plunged into war, protecting Sasuke... However, all words instantly seemed pale and powerless before the look of utter disappointment and alienation in Shisui's eyes, like fragile ice shells melting under the sun.
"I-" Itachi opened his mouth, his voice dry.
He wanted to explain, to speak of that heavy dilemma, but faced with the complete finality in Shisui's eyes, all words stuck in his throat.
Shisui had clearly already concluded that he had chosen the most extreme, most unforgivable path.
He did not wait for Itachi's defense.
At this moment, those Three-Tomoe Sharingan burning with fierce fury were fixed on Itachi, and he posed an even more fatal question.
"Who 'killed' me? Itachi, don't you know?" Shisui's voice was terrifyingly calm.
Itachi's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
Regarding Shisui's 'death', he had long had suspicions, but the truth was too dark, and he subconsciously avoided delving deeper.
Danzo's shadow had always loomed over this matter.
Shisui's voice, cold as ice, struck Itachi's heart word by word: "It was Shimura Danzo. He led Root's elites to ambush me. And… he had transplanted a Three-Tomoe Sharingan and used Izanagi... to alter reality, successfully stealing my right eye."
"Danzo?! Izanagi?!" The combination of these words sketched a truth that sent a bone-chilling cold through Itachi.
A Konoha's elder Advisor, the leader of Root, had used such underhanded, despicable means to steal the Uchiha's power to harm an Uchiha genius!
This clashed violently and tore at the image of the 'village' he knew and wanted to protect.
On the high wall, Menma, wearing the white three-eyed fox mask, coldly observed the tragedy of brothers turning against each other below.
He did not linger much, his voice calm and unwavering as he issued orders: "En, Kimimaro, Haku, proceed according to plan, search for surviving Uchiha Clan's members. Gotta, Yukimi, collect the Sharingan. Be quick."
"Yes!" The named Star Ninja immediately acknowledged.
Oyashiro En's Ketsuryugan swept over the bloody streets. Kimimaro and Haku followed closely behind.
The three scattered swiftly like phantoms, delving deep into the compound. Gotta and Yukimi glanced at each other, their bodies instantly turning into two streams of colorless, odorless mist, drifting towards the Uchiha Clan's Ninjas lying in pools of blood.
On the other side, Fugaku, the clan head, merely watched all this silently, his scarlet Mangekyo Sharingan gazing deeply at Hikari and Shura on the high wall.
He did not stop the Star Ninja's actions, his expression complex and inscrutable.
To him, it was better for his clansmen's eyes to be taken by Hikari than to fall into Danzo's hands.
And all of this was just as Shura had predicted back then...
Just then, intense fighting sounds and Ninjutsu explosions came from the street entrance!
Yashiro, Inabi, and the other seven survivors who had fought their way out of the Konoha's Military Police Force, covered in wounds and filled with towering hatred, had finally fought their way back!
They broke through the Anbu and Root's interception, burst into the main street, only to see a scene even more brutal than at the Police Force.
The ground littered with clansmen's corpses, and in a standoff... Itachi and… the one who should be dead!
"Shi-Shisui?!" Yashiro looked at the familiar figure, his voice filled with disbelief.
But this shock was instantly replaced by even more surging rage. He turned sharply towards Itachi, who stood amidst the corpses holding a blood-stained sword, his eyes nearly bursting with fury as he roared: "Itachi! You beast! Why did you slaughter your own clansmen?!!"
Inabi and the others also glared at Itachi with intense hatred.
Itachi's gaze swept over the blood-soaked figures of Yashiro and the others, understanding dawning.
The mysterious masked man calling himself Uchiha Madara had failed in his operation at the Police Force.
His gaze turned back to Shura and Hikari on the high wall, instantly understanding the reason.
'They must have sent Star Ninja to intercept that person in time.'
'But how did they know the date of the extermination operation?'
'I had only been forced to accept Danzo's order yesterday, only finally resolved to carry out this hellish task today...' A chill ran down his spine, 'Was the Land of Stars' intelligence capability really this terrifying?
As for Yashiro and the others' questions, Itachi's face showed no expression, only a deathly, icy stillness.
When he chose to shoulder the sin of slaughtering his clan, he had already exiled himself beyond humanity.
He didn't need to explain to anyone, nor did he care to.
Only, this chaotic situation far beyond his expectations had caused his desperate 'sacrifice' plan to spiral completely out of control, heading towards an unknown abyss.
At the street's entrance.
Almost simultaneously with Yashiro and the others' charge, Hiruzen and Danzo, leading over sixty elite Anbu and Root's members, surged forward like a tide, converging with Shinsuke's squad, which had been responsible for surveillance and blockade.
"Report, Hokage-sama! Intense rebellion at the Uchiha Police Force! The rebels have broken through and escaped back to the compound!" Shinsuke quickly reported in a low voice. He naturally wouldn't publicly disclose his squad's role in blockading the Police Force perimeter, only emphasizing the 'facts' of the Uchiha's Rebellion and 'collaboration with Star Ninja'.
"Shura?!" Hiruzen's face was livid. His gaze swept over the chaotic battlefield. When he saw the figure on the high wall wearing the white three-eyed fox mask and emanating an unfathomable aura, his pupils contracted sharply.
What made his heart pound even more was the cold-faced Uchiha Ninja next to Shura, who had activated her Mangekyo Sharingan!
'The one mentioned in Shisui's report… Uchiha Hikari!'
Danzo stared fixedly at the 'resurrected' Shisui, his single eye flashing with shock, suspicion, and ruthlessness.
He instantly understood the truth behind Shisui's disappearance!
Shisui's disappearance back then must have been after his own attack, only to be rescued by Shura!
"Hiruzen!" he immediately barked sharply. "You see! Fugaku colluded with the Star Ninja as expected! He has let the wolf in through the door!"
Danzo immediately defined the situation: "Uchiha Shisui was sent by him to contact the Land of Stars! This is all their carefully planned rebellion! Shura's appearance is the proof! Shisui is the contact!"
Hiruzen looked at Fugaku confronting his son on the street, then at the corpses littering the ground, and Shura and Hikari on the wall. His face was filled with pain and weariness.
He also guessed that Shisui's disappearance was likely related to Danzo. As for what role Shura played behind the scenes, it no longer mattered.
But things had come to this. Konoha and he had no way back.
They had to nail the Uchiha to the pillar of shame as traitors to maintain the village's 'stability' and 'justice'.
Hiruzen closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, only the authority a Hokage must maintain and a cold resolve remained.
He took a deep breath, raised the Adamantine Staff, his voice sorrowful yet carrying an unquestionable authority that echoed throughout the compound: "All Konoha's Ninja, hear my command! The Uchiha Clan, in collusion with Hoshigakure's leader Shura, has brazenly launched a rebellion! The evidence is conclusive! Anbu! Root! Suppress the rebellion with full force! Show no mercy!"
"Yes!" A thunderous response rang out. Over sixty of Konoha's most elite assassination squad members instantly erupted with intense killing intent.
"Nonsense!" Yashiro trembled with rage, his hair seemingly standing on end, "It's you! It's the Konoha's higher-ups who ordered our massacre! It's you who want to exterminate our Uchiha Clan!!"
"Fight them to the death! Avenge our dead clansmen!" Inabi and the other surviving Police Force's Ninjas let out grief-stricken roars.
The battle instantly escalated!
Yashiro, Inabi, and the other seven wounded but furious Uchiha Jonin, like moths to a flame, with the resolve of those facing death, fiercely charged towards the vastly outnumbering Anbu and Root's forces!
Simultaneously, from deep within the compound, some Uchiha Clan's members who had previously avoided the slaughter or been saved by Star Ninja were also stirred by the roaring battle cries. They rushed out with angry shouts and joined the fray!
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
Several Root's Ninjas formed hand seals first, sharp wind blades cutting through the air like razors, sweeping towards the charging Yashiro and the others.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Inabi slammed his hands on the ground, a massive earthen wall rising to block the wind blades.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Yashiro roared angrily, a giant fire dragon roaring out, charging towards the Anbu crowd with an aura intent on incinerating everything.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
An Anbu Captain reacted swiftly, a water barrier rising to collide violently with the fire dragon, producing a sizzling roar and billowing steam.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!" A Nara Anbu's member attempted control, but was interrupted by precise kunai throws from a nearby Uchiha Ninja.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Nail Crimson!" Several Uchiha Chunin coordinated, fireballs enveloping shuriken, creating a rain of fire.
The entire Uchiha Clan's compound was completely transformed into a bloody battlefield!
Great Fire Dragons of Fire Release clashed and exploded against the Anbu's Wind Release Vacuum Waves.
The roar of explosive tags was unceasing. Kunai and shuriken flew like locusts. The light of the Sharingan and various secret techniques flashed wildly in the night.
Screams, roars, the sounds of ninjutsu collisions intertwined into a symphony of destruction.
Hiruzen and Danzo stood on a relatively high rooftop, vigilantly watching Shura and Hikari on the opposite high wall.
Danzo's single eye flickered with greed and apprehension. The other party's unfathomable aura made him feel greatly threatened, not daring to act rashly.
Especially Hikari's presence was completely different from any Uchiha Ninja he had seen before, reminding him of Madara!
Hiruzen gripped his staff tightly, his heart heavy.
Although Konoha had the advantage in numbers, with elites like Kakashi and Shinsuke, the threat posed by Shura and Hikari, and the chaos of the battlefield itself, made the situation unclear.
In the center of the chaotic battlefield, the area where Shisui and Itachi confronted each other seemed to form an invisible vortex.
"You and I… are now strangers." Shisui's voice was cold, without a trace of warmth. He slowly drew the sword from his back, the blade glinting coldly under the bloody moon.
Looking at this once most trusted best friend, now the executioner who slaughtered his own clansmen, the last shred of affection in Shisui's heart was completely severed.
Itachi, witnessing the battlefield that had spiraled completely out of control due to his choice, becoming even more brutal and likely to engulf all of Konoha, seeing the blade of his former best friend turned against him in final severance, his mental state finally completely collapsed.
He found he had become a complete clown… a butcher stained with his kin's blood in Konoha's eyes, an unforgivable traitor in his clansmen's eyes… and even in the face of the 'peace' he wanted to protect, he had become a fuse that invited greater disaster.
The Star Ninja's intervention, the Uchiha Clan's desperate resistance, Konoha's brutal suppression... all of this started because of him, yet had gone in the worst direction.
'No! That's not right! Shura and Uchiha Hikari must have some design on the Uchiha Clan!'
The appearance of Shura and the Star Ninja, Hikari's 'recruitment' of Konoha's Uchiha... all of this, in his eyes, became a grand scheme against Konoha.
'I must not let Konoha be destroyed before my eyes!'
Even if it means bearing the stigma of a traitor, even if it means severing the last bond with his best friend with his own hands!
"This is… my resolve!" Itachi's voice was low and hoarse, carrying a near-desperate madness.
His Mangekyo Sharingan spun wildly, powerful Ocular Power erupting forth.
His figure vanished instantly as he used Body Flicker Technique!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Clear, sharp sounds of clashing metal exploded!
Itachi's sword and Shisui's sword collided violently, sparks flying!
Their figures weaved, so fast they were almost mere afterimages.
Itachi, relying on the Mangekyo's dynamic vision and greater strength, struck blow after blow, his assault like a storm.
Shisui, relying on his transplanted Three-Tomoe Sharingan and experience, barely defended, but was slightly inferior in strength, forced to retreat step by step.
Itachi feinted, tricking Shisui's defense, and delivered a powerful kick squarely to Shisui's chest, sending him flying several meters.
Shisui stabilized his posture, spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes growing colder.
He no longer fought head-on, instead using Body Flicker Technique and exquisite sword skills to maneuver around Itachi.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Technique!" Shisui quickly formed hand seals while evading, several fireballs shooting dispersedly towards Itachi.
Itachi snorted coldly, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A fierce gale scattered the fireballs, while his body closed in again.
The two engaged in close combat once more, swords becoming streaks of silver light, each collision accompanied by a grating sound.
In one fierce exchange of blades, Itachi's blade tip narrowly grazed the Konoha's forehead protector on Shisui's brow, leaving a deep scratch!
Immediately after, Shisui's blade also swept past Itachi's forehead protector, leaving a similar mark!
The Konoha's forehead protectors symbolizing their once-shared belief were now personally scarred by each other!
Itachi's attacks grew fiercer, his Mangekyo's Dojutsu ready to be unleashed.
Shisui, in one block, had his arm numbed by the tremendous force, his sword nearly knocked from his grasp. He staggered back, chest heaving, breathing rapidly.
Shisui, having lost his Mangekyo Sharingan, was gradually becoming overwhelmed before Itachi going all out. The difference in power was beginning to show!
Shisui looked at Itachi's cold, mad Mangekyo Sharingan, his heart filled with sorrow.
He knew that the person before him was no longer the youth who had talked about ideals with him by the Naka River, wanting to change the relationship between the village and the clan, nor the best friend to whom he could once entrust his back.
Just then, a figure floated silently before Shisui.
It was Shura!
He hovered in the air, his black robe stirring slightly in the night wind, the white three-eyed fox mask looking down from above like a descending god.
Under the shocked gazes of all, Shura slowly raised his right hand.
In his palm, a sealed glass tube had appeared at some point.
Inside the tube was a light green liquid, and floating within it was unmistakably an eyeball with three black tomoes in its pupil!
It was Shisui's left eye!
The one taken by Hikari years ago, kept by Menma all this time.
"Now," Shura's calm, indifferent voice came through the mask, "It is time to return it to its owner."
Shisui's body jolted violently, his gaze fixed on the eye in the glass tube that belonged to him.
He understood perfectly what this meant.
Accepting this eye meant completely severing his past with Konoha, handing over his very soul and power entirely to the one before him, and the Land of Stars he represented.
Shisui raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the chaotic battlefield: Konoha's Anbu and Root's Ninjas were frenziedly slaughtering his clansmen.
The Uchiha Clan's members, once Konoha's Ninjas themselves, were now fighting alongside the Star Ninjas under Shura against the Konoha's Anbu and Root.
The cold gazes of Hiruzen and Danzo, and before him, this person once considered a brother, now utterly fallen into darkness, Uchiha Itachi...
His illusions about the village, his trust in the higher-ups, his bond with his best friend...
Everything, everything, was completely shattered on this bloody night.
He hesitated no longer!
Swoosh!
Shisui's hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the glass tube!
His fingers tightened!
Crack!
The glass tube shattered, green liquid splattering over his hand.
The warm, seemingly still pulsating Sharingan fell into his palm.
Without the slightest pause, under the stunned gazes of all, Shisui unhesitatingly dug out his transplanted left eye and pressed this eye that originally belonged to him fiercely into the bloody, empty eye socket!
Intense pain made him grunt, but his movements were exceptionally resolute!
Versatile Chakra connected to this Sharingan that had been dormant for over a year!
After a brief silence… Whoosh!
A massive, heart-palpitating Chakra erupted violently from Shisui!
An invisible shockwave centered on him blasted outwards, sending dust and debris on the ground flying!
His eyes opened again. The Three-Tomoe pattern slowly appeared in his left eye, then the three tomoes began to spin rapidly, distort, and merge!
On the crimson background, the three tomoes finally transformed into a complex, mysterious windmill shuriken form!
A vast, blazing pupil power erupted from his left eye like a volcano!
"Susanoo!!!"
With a roar from Shisui, suppressing endless rage, mighty emerald green Chakra surged from his body like a volcanic eruption, instantly condensing and taking shape in the sky above the Uchiha Clan's compound!
A colossal, ancient samurai-armor-clad green giant, as if stepped out of myth!
Susanoo!
Arose from the ground!
Its enormous skeletal form, emitting a faint green light and an awe-inspiring aura, instantly enveloped large sections of the streets. The terrifying pressure it exuded caused all sounds of battle on the battlefield to momentarily halt! It instantly stunned the entire battlefield!
Shisui stood within the crystal of the Susanoo, his left Mangekyo Sharingan emitting a cold, resolute light, looking down upon this land that had raised him yet ruthlessly betrayed and destroyed him.
At this moment, Konoha's [Shisui of Body Flicker] was dead.
Standing here was the Land of Stars's Uchiha Shisui!