Drenched in a cold sweat, Uchiha Shisui felt a crushing pressure as "Nanashi" slowly closed the distance.
He had faced countless enemies during the Third Great Ninja War. He had stood before the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku. Yet, never in his life had he felt an oppression this absolute.
It wasn't just the sheer gap in strength—it was a primal dread radiating from the very depths of his bloodline. It was as if his ancestors were screaming through his DNA, terrified of this specific power. If the figure before him weren't a young girl, Shisui would have sworn that Uchiha Madara, the "Shinobi God of War," had returned to the living.
"Now, stay here quietly," Hikari's voice was icy.
She walked toward the wounded Shisui, intending to take him captive. As an Uchiha who had awakened the Mangekyo, Shisui was undeniably a Kage-level powerhouse. Hikari's sharp intuition told her that his ocular abilities likely extended far beyond the single illusionary space she had just shattered.
In that brief clash within the Kotoamatsukami realm, she had sensed a potent ocular energy—one that rivaled even her own Yachihoko or Marked Tsukuyomi.
He cannot be allowed to return to the village, she decided.
Seeing the killing intent flaring around the girl, Shisui knew his time was running out. If he didn't find a way to retreat now, he would spend the rest of his life as a prisoner in the Land of Bears.
But his opponent was a fellow Uchiha who had already dismantled his Afterimage Body Flicker and possessed combat prowess far exceeding his own.
How do I get out of this?
As blood began to cloud his vision, his remaining right eye caught a glimpse of a red-haired silhouette in the distance.
There... Suppressing the white-hot agony of his lost eye, Shisui's hands blurred through a sequence of seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Two plumes of white smoke erupted at his sides. The moment the clones appeared, they ignored Hikari entirely and sprinted toward the perimeter.
Their target wasn't the girl in front of them—it was Uzumaki Vanilla, who was still busy maintaining the Adamantine Sealing Chains on the three Iwa ninja.
"You bastard!"
Hikari let out a sharp, angry laugh. She saw through his "besiege Wei to rescue Zhao" tactic instantly. Shisui was gambling that she wouldn't let her comrade get hurt.
He was right.
Vanilla's overall strength was only at the Chunin level. She had relied on the surprise of her clan's secret techniques to bind the Iwa shinobi, but maintaining three chakra chains was her limit. If a Shinobi of Shisui's caliber reached her, she was defenseless.
Hikari didn't hesitate. She abandoned her pursuit of the real Shisui and flickered away to intercept the clones.
Taking advantage of the diversion, Shisui reached into his pouch and slammed several smoke bombs into the ground.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A thick, grey shroud instantly swallowed the battlefield. By the time Hikari cut down the clones and turned back, the dense forest was silent. Shisui had vanished.
"Nanashi, are you okay?"
Vanilla approached, dragging the three unconscious Iwa ninja behind her with her chains. Her face was pale with guilt. "I'm sorry... my weakness allowed him to..."
"It's not your fault," Hikari interrupted, raising a hand. "He is an Uchiha of exceptional talent, not some common Jonin."
Hikari turned her attention to the three prisoners. She reached out, her fingers hovering over them as she applied the Marked Tsukuyomi. A faint Sharingan pattern flickered onto the backs of their hands before sinking beneath their skin, turning them into living batteries.
This technique allowed her to manipulate targets regardless of distance and drain their chakra for her own use. In the grand design of the Yachihoko network, she could act as a central hub, transferring chakra from one person to another, creating a massive, interconnected web of power that could bring the entire shinobi world to its knees.
"Shouldn't we chase him?" Vanilla asked, looking worriedly at the settling smoke. "If he gets that intel back... it might bring trouble for Lord Menma."
"It doesn't matter," Hikari replied, crossing her arms over her chest with supreme arrogance. "With Menma and I working together, we are enough to crush this entire world."
Besides, she mused, that boy Shisui was likely the pinnacle of the Uchiha in this era. An Uchiha who awakens the Mangekyo is destined for a tragic fate—especially one who has already lost an eye to her.
East of the Valley of Hell.
Hyuga Tokuma sprinted through the forest, the unconscious Hayama heavy on his back. He crossed the chasm using the grappling hooks they had set earlier and collapsed briefly under the shade of a tree.
Sweat poured down his face, mixing with the blood from the graze on his cheek. His Byakugan remained active, veins bulging as he stared desperately back across the valley.
"That girl... she was an Uchiha... and she was terrifying..."
The memory of the encounter made his skin crawl. He hadn't even been able to trade a single blow before being forced into a retreat. He couldn't comprehend how an Uchiha of that level existed outside the village.
Even Shisui, the genius of their clan, had been overwhelmed. Tokuma thought back to the split-second glimpse he'd caught while fleeing—the sight of those two spectral titans clashing amidst the trees. The sheer scale of the power had left his soul trembling.
The Sharingan holds such monstrous power... he thought, his hand tightening. And my Byakugan...
Suddenly, Tokuma's head snapped up. A familiar chakra signature appeared at the edge of his vision.
Seconds later, a blood-soaked Uchiha Shisui burst from the trees. He stumbled across the rope bridge, his movement frantic.
"Shisui!" Tokuma cried out in relief, which quickly turned to horror.
Shisui was covered in wounds, but the most jarring sight was the hollow, bleeding socket where his left eye had been.
"Move! Now!" Shisui rasped, his voice thick with urgency. He looked over his shoulder as if the devils of hell were at his heels.
Tokuma didn't ask questions. He hauled Hayama up, and the two survivors fled into the eastern woods, disappearing like shadows in the brush.