"AAAHHH!!"
Shisui's anguished roar reverberated through the air, so primal and filled with grief that it momentarily stunned the Kirigakure ANBU surrounding him.
The eye-patched commander stared in disbelief. He had never expected a Konoha shinobi would willingly end his own life to protect a comrade. In his mind—in the minds of all Kirigakure ninja present—such an act was simply inconceivable.
In the Land of the Bloody Mist, survival meant killing, eliminating those who stood in your path. Self-sacrifice for another was an alien concept, a weakness to be purged.
Behind her tree, Mei Terumi's slender fingers clenched into tight fists as she witnessed Kimura's final act. She dug her nails so deeply into her palms that bright crimson blood trickled between her fingers, but she barely noticed the pain.
Memories flashed through her mind—how years ago she had helped release Kakashi and Rin because of Minato's influence. And yet, according to what Shisui had told her, one of them had still perished in some shadowy conspiracy.
These Konoha shinobi, with their unwavering loyalty... they all strove to protect their village and their companions, even at the cost of their own lives. If Minato hadn't touched her heart during her childhood, Mei realized, she too might have been molded into nothing more than a killing machine by the brutal training system established under the Mizukage's regime.
"Ha! So Konoha ninja are capable of this after all."
Ringo Ameyuri's grim laughter cut through the momentary silence. She saw not nobility in Kimura's sacrifice, but opportunity. With Shisui clearly devastated by his companion's death, his guard would be down—the perfect chance to strike.
Lightning crackled along the twin blades of Kiba as she lunged forward with lethal intent. Shisui of the Body Flicker had long been a significant threat to Kirigakure and ANBU operatives throughout the nations. This was their chance to eliminate him once and for all.
HISS!
The Thunder Fangs sliced through the air, electricity trailing in their wake as they descended toward Shisui's seemingly vulnerable form.
BOOM!
In a blur of motion, a flame-wreathed blade intercepted her attack. Lightning and fire collided in a spectacular display, the resulting shockwave sending ripples across the water's surface.
Without pausing, Shisui attacked with his second sword, this one enveloped in swirling wind chakra. Ringo Ameyuri responded instantly, bringing her second Kiba blade to bear against the incoming strike.
CLANG!
Metal struck metal, but this time, Shisui's wind-enhanced blade shattered through Ameyuri's lightning. The impact sent violent tremors up her arm, nearly causing her to lose grip on her prized weapon.
Seizing the opening, Shisui brought his wind-enhanced sword down in what would have been a decisive strike—
BOOM!
Just as victory seemed within reach, the massive form of Hiramekarei swept in from the side. Shisui was forced to redirect his attack, his wind-enhanced blade colliding with the legendary sword.
"Don't be careless!" the Hiramekarei wielder barked at his fellow Swordsman. "He's deliberately drawing you in!"
The sharpened wind chakra surrounding Shisui's blade sliced through the azure energy flowing from Hiramekarei, causing the Swordsman's eyes to widen in surprise.
Ringo Ameyuri fell back, suddenly alert to her near-fatal error. Both Swordsmen now faced Shisui directly, believing that together they could overcome any genjutsu his Sharingan might cast.
Yet as they met Shisui's gaze, they found something unexpected. Though his crimson eyes brimmed with profound sorrow, they also reflected a calm determination beyond ordinary comprehension. His grief for Kimura ran deep, but Shisui understood that surrendering completely to that sorrow would dishonor his comrade's sacrifice.
SWISH!
The three tomoe within Shisui's Sharingan began to rotate more rapidly, accelerating until they blurred. Then, gradually, the spinning tomoe merged together, forming an entirely new pattern—a four-pointed windmill design that seemed to pulse with hidden power.
Mangekyō Sharingan!
The moment the Swordsmen looked into Shisui's transformed eyes, their bodies froze. All motion ceased, as though time itself had stopped for them.
Is this the power of the Mangekyo? Shisui wondered, marveling inwardly at the sudden surge of energy flowing through his visual prowess. His Sharingan, which had seemed to reach its limit with the three tomoe pattern, now resonated with unprecedented strength.
Having participated in conflicts against Kirigakure more than a decade ago, Shisui immediately recognized what had occurred. He had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan—the legendary evolution of his clan's dōjutsu.
With this enhanced ocular power, he had completely immobilized two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen with nothing more than a glance. While Shisui had always possessed considerable talent with genjutsu, its effectiveness typically diminished against opponents of a certain caliber. But the Mangekyō changed everything.
"Have they fallen to his genjutsu?" The eye-patched commander's heart raced with sudden fear. With just a single look, Shisui had entrapped both Swordsmen in his illusion? According to all intelligence reports, his genjutsu abilities had never been this formidable!
After a moment of stunned indecision, the commander abruptly retreated. He recognized the futility of facing Shisui alone. Their earlier confidence had stemmed from Shisui's divided attention, his concern for his injured comrade weighing him down. Now, with that burden lifted through Kimura's sacrifice, they stood no chance.
Shisui turned his gaze toward the retreating commander. The eye patch the man wore appeared to contain some kind of protective seal, but such countermeasures were no longer sufficient against the power of his newly awakened Mangekyō.
"A dōjutsu?" Shisui whispered in shock.
Through his enhanced vision, he detected chakra patterns beneath the commander's eye patch—patterns consistent with another ocular technique. This revelation stunned him. Kirigakure possessed many clans with various kekkei genkai, but none were known to have dōjutsu.
In the current shinobi world, only two major eye techniques existed: the Sharingan and the Byakugan. Now possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui could immediately identify the chakra signature—the man concealed the Byakugan beneath his patch!
A cold realization washed over him. In Konoha's recent history, the Byakugan had been compromised only once—approximately ten years ago during the Third Shinobi World War, when several Hyūga clan members had mysteriously vanished.
Shisui's expression darkened further as connections formed in his mind. That was the same period when Kakashi and Rin had been abducted by Kirigakure forces, when Obito had sacrificed himself on the battlefield to save his teammates.
"Everyone retreat!" The eye-patched commander shouted once he had put some distance between himself and Shisui.
SWISH!
Before the command fully left his lips, Shisui materialized directly before him, moving faster than the eye could track. The commander's face contorted in terror as those Mangekyo eyes reflected in his visible eye.
With a subtle pulse of chakra, Shisui cast a powerful genjutsu, sending the commander into a deep slumber. Turning back to survey the confused Kirigakure forces, Shisui's expression remained cold and focused.
SWISH!
His form blurred once more as he vanished from sight. With his unparalleled speed, the regular Kirigakure ANBU had no chance to react. One by one, he appeared before each operative, freezing them in place with precise applications of his genjutsu.
Within minutes, dozens of Kirigakure ANBU stood immobilized across the battlefield, trapped in illusory worlds of Shisui's creation.
After subduing the final ANBU member, Shisui shifted his gaze toward a specific location on the island—a seemingly innocuous tree some distance away.
"You discovered me?"
Mei Terumi stepped out from behind her cover, genuinely surprised. Though she knew Shisui was exceptionally skilled, his ability to detect her concealed presence despite everything else demanding his attention was remarkable.
She had observed his actions carefully—how he had controlled everyone with his illusions but had refrained from taking their lives. That restraint spoke volumes.
Mei approached, appearing before Shisui in a graceful movement.
"Thank you," she said softly, acknowledging his mercy. He had clearly known her location yet had chosen not to kill his enemies, instead subduing them with genjutsu—perhaps partly for her sake.
Shisui didn't immediately respond, the murderous intent in his eyes not yet fully dissipated. The pain of Kimura's death remained raw, fueling the dangerous power now coursing through him.
Mei Terumi's gaze fell upon the transformed pattern in Shisui's eyes, and she couldn't suppress a gasp of recognition and awe.
"Mangekyō... Sharingan?!"
...