In that instant, Uchiha Shisui felt as if there was a thick, transparent barrier separating him from the monster opposite him, and the entire space seemed to freeze the moment their eyes met.
But then he clearly saw the kaleidoscope pattern reflected in the other person's white pupils.
Upon witnessing this scene, a glimmer of hope, as if seeking survival against all odds, suddenly appeared on Uchiha Shisui's face.
It worked!?
From being defeated in one move to making a desperate gamble, the whole process took only a few seconds.
However, in Uchiha Shisui's perception, it seemed to be longer than his entire life.
Only now did the corners of his lips tremble uncontrollably, before turning upwards, revealing a completely uncontrollable ecstasy.
His Kotoamatsukami successfully controlled this unprecedented monster!
"Lord Third Hokage! Lord Danzo!"
"Did you see that?!"
Uchiha Shisui seemed completely unaware of his injuries as he struggled to his feet and turned to look behind him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura stood there, giving him gentle smiles:
"As expected of you, Shisui-kun."
"You are Konoha's greatest contributor and the true inheritor of the Will of Fire."
"Lord Third Generation, I..."
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's sincere words, Uchiha Shisui couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
He had actually harbored some resentment towards the unfounded accusations made against him by the Third Generation Lord, which was truly inexcusable.
really.
The three generations of masters were merely misled by a few petty villains, which led them to make such absurd judgments.
"Alright, Shisui-kun."
"Now that this monster has been brought under control, please hand over that eye."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's request was as earnest as ever: "This level of power must be kept in the hands of the village."
"...yes!"
Upon hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's request, Shisui Uchiha hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed his heart and made a decision that was better for Konoha.
However, just as he took the glasses from his hands, Shimura Danzo calmly spoke up:
"Sun Slash".
"It's ultimately too dangerous for the Uchiha to have this level of power in their hands."
"If there were only one Uchiha Shisui, that would be fine, but what if another Uchiha appeared who possessed the same eye technique as him?"
"ah?"
Uchiha Shisui, whose eyes were empty, was taken aback upon hearing this and looked up in astonishment at the two people in front of him.
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly, seemingly lost in thought, and looked at him apologetically:
"I'm sorry, Shisui-kun."
"For the peace of the village."
"Please, your Uchiha clan, make some more small contributions."
"Wait... Lord Third Hokage!"
"This is contrary to what we agreed on before..."
Uchiha Shisui's expression was almost blank, but the only means of resistance he originally possessed was now being held in the hand of Sarutobi Hiruzen.
He instinctively wanted to refute, but Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura acted as if they didn't care about his opinion at all, and turned to walk towards the Uchiha clan's territory.
The terrifying, white-haired figure followed closely behind.
His injuries worsened, making it incredibly difficult for him to walk, and his sense of time became increasingly blurred.
When they returned to the Uchiha clan's territory, they found that the clan's territory, which had only recently been stabilized, had been turned into a sea of fire.
The raging flames scorched the charred and twisted corpses of the clansmen, and vast ruins replaced the once prosperous landscape of the Uchiha clan's territory.
At the edge of his single eye's field of vision, only the increasingly distant silhouettes of Hiruzen Sarutobi and the other two remained.
How could they do this?
Uchiha Shisui stood there, stunned, and unconsciously clenched his fists.
However, as if he had thought of something, his tightly clenched fingers gradually loosened.
Yes.
'The three generations of officials have their reasons.'
'At least now, this powerful force is under the control of Konoha.'
'If it's for Konoha...'
Uchiha Shisui seemed to be convincing others, or perhaps he was simply convincing himself.
"Really?"
It was as if I heard the voice deep within his heart.
Suddenly, someone spoke up and asked him a question.
Uchiha Shisui suddenly raised his head.
The next moment.
The white-haired figure who had been quietly following Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura suddenly launched an attack.
At his extreme speed, the unsuspecting Hiruzen Sarutobi had no chance to resist at all. His eye was easily snatched from his hand and crushed into a pulp.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura were both shocked and instinctively tried to resist, but the moment they made a move, their heads were easily severed by a dazzling hand chop.
Blood splattered, and the head fell to the ground.
Uchiha Shisui's body trembled involuntarily.
"don't want!"
He suddenly called out.
The white-haired man turned to look at him, revealing a faint smile, and slowly raised his palm towards the bustling Konoha streets behind him.
"Wait! No!"
Uchiha Shisui took a step forward, attempting to use his body to block any possible attack that might occur at any moment.
However, the sudden roar still echoed in his ears.
He turned his head with difficulty.
Behind them, the entire Leaf Village had been reduced to a massive crater and vanished in the instant of light that had erupted.
The piercing cries, the suppressed screams of pain, and the mournful curses all seemed to ring out in his ears at once.
Uchiha Shisui froze, his legs went weak, and he couldn't help but kneel on the ground with a dull thud.
As if trying to shut out the countless piercing sounds, he slowly climbed his hands up to his ears, covering them tightly, longing to escape it all.
Everything he pursued, everything he protected, everything he trusted...
If, if they all just disappeared so easily.
So, what is the point of his existence?
This intensely negative emotion, like cancer cells, spread at an incredible speed along his soul and spirit to every corner of his mind.
This plunged him into the deepest despair.
Finally, he saw the white-haired man in a loose robe slowly walk up to him.
Even with his hands covering his mouth, it seemed unable to block out his voice:
"So-called illusion."
"It's about tearing open the deepest part of a person's heart, the scene they least want to see."
"You don't understand people's hearts."
As Uchiha Shisui listened to his words, he subconsciously raised his head.
What met my eyes, however, was a gentle smile.
Under the cover of night in the forest.
He knelt before the man as if in supplication, tears streaming down his face, mingling with dust and blood.
The man opposite him leaned slightly forward, his palm resting on the top of his head.
Warm and soft.
However, when he withdrew his hand, Uchiha Shisui clearly saw a familiar eye being held in his palm.
Everything presented in the blurred vision seemed so unreal.
Uchiha Shisui's heart was shaken like never before.
The other gods did not work.
The one who was truly under the illusion's spell... was I?
"Stop the water!"
Almost the instant he finally realized all of this, a furious roar suddenly came from behind him.
Wielding the Vajra Staff, Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped out, displaying unparalleled bravery.
However, he was struck squarely in the torso by a kick fired mid-air, sending him flying backward at an even faster speed than he had come, crashing into the ground with a bang and carving a trench tens of meters long.
Danzo Shimura, who was acting in sync with the opponent, attempted to use Wood Release to bind the opponent's body, but the countless branches missed their target the moment they emerged from the ground.
When that figure appeared, it was already behind Shimura Danzo. With a flick of its fingers, it sliced him in two at the waist as easily as wielding a sword.
Jiraiya, who had just summoned a giant toad from the sky, threw another punch, which, through the air vibrations, smashed both the summoned beast and himself into a cloud of dust.
Uchiha Shisui knelt firmly on the spot, quietly taking in everything that was happening before him with his single eye.
He clearly realized one thing.
The seemingly evenly matched situation that had just begun was nothing more than a prank by the man in front of him.
From the very beginning, they had no chance of winning.
"roar--!"
A familiar roar came from behind, and the earth shook.
Although the Nine-Tailed Fox, who is essentially a chakra being, still has a dented hole in its chest, it is able to get up from the ground with strong willpower and struggle to gather a full-force Tailed Beast Ball towards the direction of the Otsutsuki clone.
"boom!"
The earth-shattering roar caused the entire land to tremble violently.
The Tailed Beast Ball, almost as large as the entire body of the Nine-Tails, moved like a moving mountain, seemingly slow but actually fast, advancing towards the direction of the Otsutsuki clone, easily crushing everything in its path.
However, the man opposite him seemed completely oblivious to the overwhelming and violent attack. His expression and movements remained as calm and composed as ever.
He raised his hand, facing the ground where everyone was scattered, his smile utterly contemptuous:
"The game should end here."
After his voice fell, Uchiha Shisui, who was kneeling on the ground like a walking corpse, was the first to notice something was wrong.
Snap, snap...
The insects crawling underfoot and the small lizards darting through the ruins suddenly stopped in their tracks and, under some indescribable pressure, exploded into a series of fragments.
The pitch-black barriers that emerged from the void on all four sides stretched upwards along the edge of his vision.
In this indescribable sense of intense oppression, the ground beneath everyone's feet cracked like a mirror, with thick darkness seeping from the cracks, wriggling upwards as if alive.
The clouds solidified, the dust settled, and tiny lives turned to dust one after another. Even broken trees burst open and scattered into fragments under this indescribable pressure.
As the black tomb wall rose higher, the deepest terror in Uchiha Shisui's heart intensified, and tiny goosebumps rose from his skin, making him feel cold all over.
Until the very last moment, when even breathing paused.
Everything on the entire battlefield.
Whether it's Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Jiraiya, the giant Tailed Beast Ball that's gradually moving in this direction, or the Nine-Tails' true form.
They were all enveloped in this pitch-black cage.
Everyone trapped inside could only watch helplessly as this scene unfolded.
Four coffin lids covered the sky.
The Otsutsuki clone in the distance quietly watched this scene.
The fine cracks that were already creeping across his cheeks now covered his entire body—a sign that his body could no longer bear the pressure from his soul and was about to collapse completely.
However, when he spoke, he did not hesitate for a moment, his voice indifferent:
"Hado 90".
"The black coffin."
At that moment, the world fell silent.