Chapter 47: Shisui Arrives
Clang!
A powerful shockwave struck Gōenji's forehead protector. The metal plate slowly slipped loose, while his Sharingan reflected the figures of his enemies.
Blood spurted from his mouth.
Gōenji dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes gradually faded, returning to ordinary black irises.
"Ha... Is this really as far as I can go?"
Despite his exhaustion, Gōenji immediately took the action most likely to ensure his survival.
A military ration pill appeared in his hand.
He quickly swallowed it.
This wasn't his first time using one.
He could feel the energy within his cells being squeezed almost completely dry. He had reached the point where he might even be shortening his lifespan. Just this battle alone might have cost him at least ten years of his life—and even then, he might not survive.
If I'd awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan after my comrades died, activating Susanoo would definitely have allowed me to defeat these people.
Unfortunately, I couldn't do it...
"That's the end of the road, Uchiha brat."
Hōzuki Ōrō pointed a finger at him.
"Your Sharingan will belong to the Hidden Mist Village. First we obtained the Byakugan, and now we're about to obtain the Sharingan as well. Konoha really is a treasure trove."
He didn't waste any more words.
His hands formed seals, and a droplet of water appeared at his fingertip.
"Water Release: Water Gun Technique."
Whoosh!
The droplet suddenly exploded with tremendous force.
It tore through the air like a cannon shell and shot straight toward Gōenji's forehead.
Cruel smiles appeared on the faces of Ōrō and Munashi Jinpachi.
They were finally going to kill this Uchiha brat.
And they would even be able to take his Sharingan.
Their mission was finally about to be completed.
The moment Gōenji saw his opponent begin forming seals, he squeezed the remaining energy from his cells with the help of the military ration pill and refined another burst of chakra.
His Sharingan reappeared.
He forced himself to track the trajectory of the Water Gun.
With his exceptional kinetic vision, the projectile seemed to move in slow motion, its path clearly visible to him.
But his body had already reached its limit.
When the Water Gun entered a range of less than three meters, Gōenji forcibly twisted his body.
The sound of his muscle fibers tearing was clearly audible.
Rip!
Boom!
He narrowly avoided the attack.
The Water Gun instead pierced straight through the massive tree behind him. The section of the trunk it struck was completely pulverized, causing the enormous tree to lose its support and crash to the ground.
"You're pretty tenacious, brat."
A gigantic blade suddenly entered the field of Gōenji's Sharingan.
Shibuki.
Damn it. Too late!
At the same time, Munashi Jinpachi's mocking face appeared directly before him.
Gōenji had no time to retaliate.
The explosive blade was already descending toward his waist, ready to cleave him in half.
Then—
A jade-green blade flashed through the mist.
Uchiha Shisui's Body Flicker Technique was so fast that it left behind not even an afterimage.
He seemed to emerge directly from empty space.
Clang!
His right hand held a short sword in a reverse grip.
Suiran.
Chakra wrapped around its blade as it swept across the path of Shibuki, knocking the explosive blade aside.
At the same time, Shisui threw eight shuriken with his left hand.
The shuriken collided with one another in midair, changing their trajectories.
Three pierced through Hōzuki Ōrō's liquefied arm, while the other five precisely interrupted Munashi Jinpachi's opening movement with Shibuki.
"Gōenji-nii!"
Shisui grabbed Gōenji by the collar and leaped into the air.
"Hold on!"
Whoosh!
As the two retreated together, Suiran slashed downward.
Flames erupted into the sky.
"Flame Blade Dance!"
The Fire Release technique struck Munashi Jinpachi.
Damn it! You bastard! Konoha's reinforcements have arrived!
Munashi Jinpachi immediately changed Shibuki's trajectory and shifted into a defensive stance, blocking the incoming shuriken.
As the flames approached, explosive tags burst from Shibuki.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions dispersed the incoming Fire Release.
Hōzuki Ōrō's liquefied arm quickly returned to normal. He stared at Shisui with an ugly expression.
"Another Uchiha. This is going to be troublesome."
"Let's go."
Shirō Fubuki, who had recovered some strength after swallowing a military ration pill, spoke to his two teammates.
"Now that Uchiha Shisui has arrived, Konoha's follow-up reinforcements will definitely be coming as well. We've lost our opportunity."
Munashi Jinpachi understood that the mission could no longer be completed.
"He's lucky. The Mizukage's mission seems impossible now. At least we killed one of Konoha's skilled fighters."
Ōrō frowned.
"Even if we're leaving, we can't simply let them go. If they have a larger force behind them, they won't let us escape easily either. Use one final attack to stop Shisui from pursuing us."
"All right. Let's do it."
"Water Release: Water Gun Barrage!"
"Shibuki: Thousand Explosive Rounds!"
Water bullets erupted like machine-gun fire, pouring toward Shisui and Gōenji without restraint.
At the same time, Munashi Jinpachi threw Shibuki high into the air and rapidly formed seals.
The scroll attached to Shibuki unfurled at tremendous speed.
Black shapes poured from it like a torrential rainstorm, rushing toward Shisui.
A closer look revealed that every one of those black shapes was an explosive tag.
The two Mist shinobi didn't care about the outcome.
Together, they supported the weakened Fubuki and fled.
Even while retreating, Ōrō repeatedly looked back, wanting to see whether their ultimate attack had succeeded.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Endless explosions and roaring shockwaves filled the battlefield.
...
"Things are bad. Shisui is already fighting the enemy."
The sensory-nin accompanying Nara Akira's unit suddenly detected the clash and reported it.
Nara Akira frowned.
"You don't need to tell us. We can see it ourselves."
He stared ahead.
"This attack is both spectacular and dangerous."
They had already reached the edge of the battlefield.
The area where ice and fire had previously clashed was now engulfed by a massive explosion. Shockwaves even reached their position.
Everyone raised their arms to shield themselves from the violent wind.
The roar of the explosions merged into a continuous series of thunderous blasts.
They could only advance through the chaos, hoping that Shisui and Gōenji were safe.
This was clearly the enemy's doing.
Neither Shisui nor Gōenji's team possessed this kind of firepower.
"Captain, the enemy is retreating. It seems they only launched one attack before running."
The sensory-nin continued reporting.
"Go and rescue them. Forget about the enemy for now."
Nara Akira's expression was grim.
"Those two Uchiha are among Konoha's most valuable battlefield geniuses. We can't afford to lose either of them."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
...
Rumble!
The explosion compressed the air into transparent ripples.
Wherever those ripples passed, birds dropped from the sky and beasts were sent tumbling across the ground.
Black smoke enveloped the battlefield, completely obscuring the previous clash between ice and fire.
Slowly...
The black smoke began to disperse in the gentle breeze.
A gigantic green Susanoo emerged from within the smoke.
Its skeletal upper body stood tall and imposing.
Inside the skeletal frame, Shisui held Gōenji in his arms.
The Mangekyō Sharingan in Shisui's eyes slowly reverted to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Then the tomoe gradually disappeared as his eyes returned to normal.
As the transformation ended, the Susanoo's bones began to fade as well.
Blood tears flowed from Shisui's left eye.
So this is Susanoo—the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Just as the legends say... the ultimate defense.
The moment Shisui arrived, Gōenji finally let out a breath of relief.
Even after witnessing Shisui manifest the Susanoo with the Mangekyō Sharingan and withstand the enemy's ultimate attack, he was still deeply shocked.
The defense was practically flawless.
Even the skeletal upper body alone possessed such terrifying defensive power.
It was difficult to imagine how powerful the third stage of Susanoo would be, both offensively and defensively.
Regardless...
He had survived.