There was no sky above nor earth below—only swirling blood-red clouds and black smoke all around.
Shimura Hidetree instantly realized he had fallen into an illusion. He tried to form hand seals to dispel it, but found his body completely immobile.
Rusty nails continuously pierced through his limbs. Shimura could feel the pain as real as anything, yet couldn't separate himself from the environment.
He understood now—it wasn't a genjutsu, but rather a Dojutsu.
A Dojutsu could only be broken by someone else disrupting the flow of chakra.
Fortunately, whoever trapped him had also limited themselves in place. Unless he got defeated within this illusionary world, everything would come down to who could have their teammates arrive first.
Suddenly, he recalled the kunai that crossed paths back in reality.
Was he trying to take me with him?
Just for eight million ryo?
Pu!
Pu! Pu!
Three sharp "pops!" rang out as the kunai pierced flesh.
Awakening from the genjutsu space, the pain in Shimura's limbs had vanished, but a deep, penetrating pain remained.
Clutching the kunai embedded in his chest, blood continued flowing despite his efforts to stop it. With confusion in his eyes, he questioned Aozora, "Why?"
Tsunade saw the blood streaming from Shimura's chest and her pupils immediately widened—her eyes filled with terror. Although she quickly looked away, her legs weakened beneath her, barely standing thanks to sheer willpower alone.
Memories of Dan's heart bleeding nonstop flooded back into Tsunade's mind. If not for her iron resolve holding her up, she might have collapsed by now.
Despite herself, her eyes were drawn irresistibly to Aozora across the room.
Although she barely knew Aozora—he had fought for her after meeting just once—but now she needed to know if he was alive or dead.
Her eyes immediately landed on Aozora's bulging chest, where two kunai were buried. Surprisingly, despite being pierced by two kunai, not much blood flowed from his left chest, only staining the surrounding clothes.
Aozora casually yanked the two kunai from his chest and, catching sight of Tsunade's worried expression, gave his chest three hard thumps with his right fist.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
More blood began seeping from his left chest, yet he smiled at Tsunade casually, saying, "Mine might not be as big as yours, but I guarantee they're harder."
Seeing Aozora's actions, Shimura's eyes nearly popped from their sockets. He choked, gasped, then fell over, convulsed briefly, and finally died.
As for Tsunade, although her hands still trembled, her fear had momentarily disappeared.
Orochimaru paused briefly at the trembling Tsunade, then shifted his attention to Shisui and Danzo's battlefield, not sparing even a glance for Aozora.
Though Tsunade's hemophobia had lessened somewhat, it still existed. Therefore, she posed no real threat.
Currently, inside the gambling den, the only ones worth Orochimaru's concern were Danzo and Shisui.
The way Shisui effortlessly flickered through phantoms made Orochimaru narrow his eyes. His yellowish-brown vertical pupils revealed traces of apprehension.
"Shisui the Teleporting Flash, huh? Now you truly deserve that name!"
Back when Shisui first gained fame, it was more because of his youth and the Uchiha clan's hype. At that time, his Phantom Clone technique still had flaws.
Now, in Orochimaru's eyes, Shisui's Phantom Clone Technique had nearly reached perfection. In close combat, even he himself would find it extremely difficult to deal with.
Tsunade steeled herself mentally, while Aozora quickly wrapped his wounds before shifting his gaze to watch Shisui.
Just as Aozora looked over, it was precisely the moment when Shisui stabbed Danzo from behind.
Seeing Danzo attempting to exchange injuries, Aozora couldn't help but shout, "Watch out!"
At this point, however, neither Danzo nor Shisui were affected—they had already focused their entire beings upon each other.
Without hesitation, Shisui swung his blade.
A flash of sword light passed through, severing Danzo's right hand before continuing toward his neck.
Meanwhile, Danzo's left hand struck Shisui's chest with a heavy punch, and suddenly extended a sharp chakra blade that pierced through Shisui's body.
Caw caw—
Among the cries of Corpse Crows, Shisui's body instantly shattered into pieces, transforming into countless black crows.
And after Danzo's head fell to the ground, his corpse instantly turned into [Intangibility].
Beside a tree created by Wood Release, Danzo reappeared unscathed, declaring, "All your attacks are in vain. Give up!"
On the other side, the black crows gathered together, reforming into Shisui. Wiping away the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, Shisui first glanced at Danzo's severed right arm. He saw that only six of the Sharingan eyes on Danzo's grotesque right arm remained open—two had permanently shut forever.
"So I was right!"
Shisui coldly stated, "Danzo, you not only murdered my clansmen, but also stole the Uchiha clan's secret techniques!"
Hearing this, Danzo's eyes briefly flashed with surprise before darkening with anger. "Fugaku Uchiha actually dared spread knowledge of such a secret technique like Izanagi! Are you Uchiha really determined to relive your past mistakes?"
According to his intel, only Higher-ups within the Uchiha clan possessed knowledge of Izanagi.
Shisui shook his head—he had no interest in arguing about Danzo's warped beliefs.
Although his heart burned with fury at Danzo's words, Shisui's eyes remained as calm as a frozen lake.
He flicked non-existent blood from his blade and glared at Danzo's remaining eye and severed right hand. "Still seven Sharingan left? Then I'll make you die seven more times!"
Before his voice faded, the surrounding phantom clones once again charged toward Danzo as Shisui instantly merged into the phantoms.
"Arrogant!"
Danzo roared furiously, then plunged his right hand into the earth and activated his [Bao Qiang Shu] once again.
Hundreds upon thousands of vine-like tendrils erupted from beneath the ground, covering and attacking both Shisui and his clones.
Yet among the illusions, Shisui maneuvered left and right, narrowly dodging every vine attack at the last possible second.
Now that he'd died once, Danzo was extra thorough with his attacks, covering every angle until Shisui could not get close.
Though he had dozens of clones, Shisui couldn't afford to stray too far from them.
That made large-scale ninjutsu deadly traps for him.
After forcing Shisui back yet again with Wood Release, Danzo stared confidently at Shisui, saying, "Give up! You won't be able to hold on much longer!"
At 58 years old, his physical strength and chakra reserves should've started declining. However, after implanting Hashirama's cells, his chakra reserves had not only failed to decrease, but had actually become even greater than during his prime.
In contrast, Shisui was still a minor who hadn't yet reached his peak, and having just gone through a battle earlier, his remaining chakra was nearly depleted.
Shisui was already panting hard from exhaustion, but his tone was sharp: "Killing you is all I need!"
As Danzo tried to break Shisui's will, suddenly he noticed that everything around him had turned pitch black, with only pairs of Sharingan eyes bearing three tomoe floating in the air, staring fixedly at him.
Not far away, Shisui softly whispered: "Did you really think my Phantom Clone Technique was just a guidance marker for movement?"
If it were merely for using the Body Flicker Technique, then there would be no need for those extra Sharingan eyes.
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