Rakuya's eyes shifted without ritual or strain. Their change answered only to his will.
In that instant the world sharpened a hundredfold. He could feel the surge of ocular power pooling in his gaze.
The Mangekyo Sharingan.
Those eerie black-and-crimson tomoe carried a chill that made hearts falter. To meet them was to feel one's mind pulled in, unable to climb free.
"Hmph."
The Five Elder's eyes gleamed coldly. He stood his ground and stared straight into that blood-red gaze.
"Sharp tongue, little brat. When you are dead, those eyes will belong to me." His tone was hoarse and strange, his glance like a knife.
"To you? Laughable."
Rakuya's voice was cool. The old fool dared to match eyes with the Sharingan. He was begging for it.
"Tsukuyomi."
Tsukuyomi was genjutsu at its zenith, a visual illusion cast the moment one's eyes met the target's.
How convenient.
The Elder had walked right into the barrel of the gun.
In a blink, the world went black before the Elder's eyes.
His field of vision filled with the Mangekyo's whirling pattern, expanding and expanding until the pupil became a pale, round moon.
Everything lurched.
When awareness returned, he found himself lashed to a weathered timber stained dark with blood.
The Marines' clamor, the crash of battle, all were gone.
Heaven and earth had changed color.
Before him the entire world was red. Even the moon hanging in the sky bled scarlet.
"Damn it. What is this?" He tried to resist and found he could not move at all, as if nailed in place. Fear surged up his spine. In eight hundred years, this had never happened.
The red moon hung over a void of crimson.
Rakuya stood against that sky, gaze indifferent, watching him alone.
"What power is this?"
The Elder could not help asking, stunned.
Rakuya did not answer. He flickered and appeared before the Elder, a blade condensing into his hand.
"Trying to kill me?" The Elder's eyes bulged. He sneered. "Do not waste your effort. My body is invincible. Even a Saijo O Wazamono, one of the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades, cannot scratch me."
He laughed, high with arrogance, as if he were looking at an idiot.
"They cannot hurt you," Rakuya said softly. "But I can."
The blade slid in under the Elder's scornful stare, sinking into his chest as easily as cutting bean curd.
Rakuya wanted him to feel it, slowly.
"Urgh."
The Elder grunted. Agony like his heart being ripped open rippled through him as the point pressed deeper.
"Impossible. My body is invincible."
For the first time, true fear twisted his face.
"Invincible? You sound ridiculous."
Rakuya smiled without warmth. Another blade formed in his hand. He pushed its point, unhurried, toward the Elder's right eye.
The scream that followed tore the air. The eyeball burst wetly, a spray of blood painting his cheek. The right socket went dark.
"Now? Do you still think yourself untouchable?"
The Elder bellowed, straining until cords stood out on his neck, but he could not break the bindings.
The sky was no longer blue. It was a sea of blood. The air itself felt wrong, heavy and cold.
He was fixed to a wooden frame, utterly unable to move.
"Release me. What have you done to me!"
Rakuya's reply was a thin, cold smile.
Another sword took shape in his palm. Under the Elder's horrified stare, it drifted downward.
The howl that followed shook the red world. Pain twisted his features beyond recognition.
There was a wet snap. The thing he had not used in eight hundred years dropped away.
"Old fossil. Useless anyway. Better gone than in the way."
"Wretch. If I get free I will carve you into a thousand pieces." The Elder's teeth chattered with rage. His body trembled uncontrollably.
"Such devotion. Let me show my gratitude. Here is another blade, as a reward."
The point sank toward his heart. Blood jetted in crimson ropes, soaking his robe within seconds.
"Kill me, brat. If you have any courage, kill me!"
"Kill you? Have you never heard the phrase, 'worse than death'?"
"Demon. You are a demon!"
Rakuya's grin sharpened. Another blade formed. Under eyes full of terror, hatred, and dread, he pressed it to the Elder's throat.
Up close, he could see the Elder's lips trembling. The fear had finally reached the bone.
A single thrust. Blood gushed, hot and bright, pattering to the ground.
The robe that had been stained red became wholly one color.
In the end, the Elder could only glare with eyes filled by poison and spite.
"Did you ever imagine," Rakuya asked lightly, "that one day you would be like this?"
The Elder could not answer.
The blade gleamed again as it slid toward the other eye.
Darkness fell. He could no longer speak. Only his ears remained, keenly hearing Rakuya's faint laughter and the soft, ruthless sound of steel passing through flesh.
His breath thinned. At last, it stopped.
"So it ends. At last, I am freed from this demon," he thought, hatred burning even as the dark closed in. "Rakuya, when I revive, I will carve you into a thousand pieces to cool my rage."
He died with venom in his heart.
He opened his eyes.
Peace did not come.
He had indeed died. Yet when his vision cleared after revival, he was back in the same nightmare world, lashed to the same wooden frame.
"What is happening?"
He stared at the figure before him.
Terror flooded him anew. His scalp crawled.
Cold sweat poured down his back unbidden.
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