Chapter 307 – The Curtain Falls (Part I)
"It's you!"
Ao's already pale face turned ghostly white, his expression twisting between shock and disbelief.
He had considered countless possibilities — the names of every renowned Uchiha, even the legends whispered across the continent.
But never — not once — did he imagine that the mysterious masked man before him could be that boy… the one he had met on the battlefield all those years ago.
Uchiha Kei.
Now it all made sense — the fighting style, the deadly precision, the Chidori crackling from his hand.
But… how? How could it be him?
"Y–You…"
Kei tilted his head slightly, his voice calm, almost amused.
"Ah, yes. It's me. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Still… I must admit, I rather enjoy that look on your face."
"Why?" Ao growled, his voice low and steady despite the blood streaming from his wounds.
He didn't dare relax. One misstep — one blink — and Kei would cut him down.
He knew that even without a surprise attack, even face-to-face, he didn't stand a chance.
Still, his duty was clear. He had to buy time.
As long as the Fourth Mizukage arrived —
as long as the sealing team finished dismantling the black flames that trapped them —
this devil, this man who had slaughtered hundreds of Mist shinobi, would die here.
Kei's tone softened. "The reason? Simple."
He looked down at Ao as if he were explaining a trivial detail of a mission.
"I came to Kirigakure because it benefits me — and because it benefits Konoha."
"You're working with those clans," Ao spat. "All this chaos, all this death — just to help them wash their hands clean? To give them a graceful way out?"
Kei chuckled. "You're stalling. But since you're about to die, I'll indulge you."
He raised a brow. "You think I'd waste time talking if I didn't want to? Think carefully — I'm letting you understand a few things before you go."
Ao's Byakugan pulsed with chakra.
Kei's reserves were clearly depleted, his chakra fluctuating unevenly — yet Ao could still feel a dangerous energy simmering inside him.
Especially when Kei calmly pulled out a small pill and swallowed it.
A chakra restoration pill. He was preparing for another fight.
He's not planning to escape? Ao thought, his chest tightening. Is he… waiting for something?
A terrifying thought struck him like lightning.
Could it be—the tailed beast?
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, was the Three-Tails' Jinchūriki.
And Kei — surrounded, cornered, his escape routes sealed —
the most efficient way out… would be to seize the beast itself.
That explained everything.
The chaos, the devastation, the deliberate provocation.
He had wanted to lure Yagura into the field.
He had wanted this exact moment.
But what gave him such confidence?
Why was he so certain he could defeat the Mizukage — let alone control a tailed beast?
Kei's soft voice broke through Ao's spiraling thoughts.
"Confused, aren't you?"
He stepped forward, the black flame of Amaterasu flickering faintly across his blade.
"The Fourth Mizukage's already entered the battlefield, hasn't he? Then tell me, Ao… why don't you take a closer look at him?"
Ao froze. Sweat trickled down his back.
Take a closer look…?
His mind flashed back to the faintly distorted chakra he had seen within Yagura before — chaotic, intertwined, unnatural.
Almost reflexively, Ao's Byakugan flared again, his 360-degree vision locking onto the approaching Mizukage.
What he saw made his heart stop.
Within Yagura's body, his chakra was indeed turbulent —
but among the storm of energy, there was another chakra.
A foreign one.
Twisting, binding, controlling.
Two sources of chakra — Yagura's and the Three-Tails' — were being completely dominated by a third, sinister presence.
Ao's mind went blank.
The Fourth Mizukage… is being controlled!
That was why he had sealed the nation's borders.
Why he had purged foreign shinobi.
Why he had enforced that ruthless "elite-only" ninja policy.
Yagura wasn't leading Kirigakure —
he was a puppet.
And whoever controlled him… was standing right in front of him.
Kei's voice came again, quiet, cruelly amused.
"So you've figured it out. Surprising, isn't it? Unbelievable, even?"
"You—You monsters…" Ao's hand trembled as he raised his sword, pointing it at Kei.
The Uchiha smiled thinly.
He stepped forward, drawing his blade. The black flames along its edge hissed.
"Consider this my mercy, Ao. I'll grant your final wish — the truth of your village, and the despair that comes with it.
Now take that knowledge…"
His Mangekyō flared, spinning like a curse.
"…and carry it into the Pure Land."
"Goodnight."
The blade flashed — a sweep of darkness and fire.
Ao never had the chance to react.
Chidori cut through him effortlessly, his body torn in two.
The flames of Amaterasu devoured him, burning endlessly, until even his ashes vanished into the wind.
Kei didn't look back.
Ao had been a loose end — one more risk to his long game.
With the Byakugan, Ao could have seen too much — the truth behind Yagura's manipulation, the hand of Uchiha Obito behind it all.
That couldn't be allowed.
Mei, on the other hand, would live.
Her hatred would serve a purpose —
a seed of resistance, a spark to keep the Mist fractured.
A future thorn in the side of Akatsuki.
Every enemy needed its perfect counterpart, after all.
Kei glanced down at Ao's burning corpse.
Then, with a faint sigh, he reached out and plucked the Byakugan from the smoldering socket before it could be destroyed by the flames.
"Too close," he muttered. "A second later, and even this would've been gone."
He turned the pale eye in his hand thoughtfully.
"What should I even do with this?"
After a moment of consideration, he smiled faintly.
"Fine. I'll give it to her. A gift — or insurance, depending on how you look at it."
He pocketed the Byakugan.
Kei had always believed in one principle: Power is only truly valuable when it's your own.
Even after attaining the Eternal Mangekyō, he refused to rely on borrowed strength.
Still, he knew the truth — sometimes, the right substitute could be the difference between life and death.
Had his experiments on hybrid cells failed,
he would have accepted Fugaku's eyes without hesitation —
even if it meant turning against him.
That was the nature of survival.
"People like me," he murmured, "only move when there's something to gain."
A faint smirk tugged at his lips.
"Guess that makes me a refined egoist."
He thought briefly of Ayaka Hyūga.
"That woman's the same. Whoever marries her one day… will have his hands full."
He chuckled softly, then pocketed the Byakugan and turned his gaze toward the distance.
A powerful chakra was rapidly approaching — cold, controlled, but immense.
The Fourth Mizukage.
Kei slowly sheathed his blade.
"This fight won't be one of strength," he said quietly. "It'll be a battle of illusions."
Obito, who controlled Yagura from afar, would no doubt ease the pressure for him —
but not too much.
They both knew the stage had to look real.
Convincing.
Even to Black Zetsu, who was surely watching from the shadows.
Kei's eyes narrowed.
"Let's see how strong your control really is, Obito."
He took a step forward — and then froze.
A crushing wave of chakra surged toward him, roaring like a flood.
The ground split beneath his feet.
"We've found him!"
From the mist beyond, Obito — controlling Yagura's body — cut through the battlefield like a blade, the Mizukage's chakra flooding the field like an ocean.
Moments later, the Fourth Mizukage stood before Uchiha Kei.
Far away, Obito and Black Zetsu both watched from their hidden vantage points — neither daring to come closer.
One was scheming;
the other, simply afraid.
Even Black Zetsu, who had lived for a thousand years, could feel the unease twisting in his gut.
He didn't know what Kei truly was anymore.
He only knew one thing —
This Uchiha's power was no longer that of a mortal man.
Centuries of experimentation had led Black Zetsu to one grim conclusion.
He had confirmed, through endless trials, that the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could only be achieved by merging two compatible eyes — brothers, bound by blood and emotion.
He had even uncovered a crude alternative — a method that relied on the chakra of Ashura's reincarnation, forcibly imitating the stability of the Eternal Eye.
But it was imperfect.
Such eyes could match the Eternal Mangekyō in endurance, slowing the inevitable blindness…
yet they could never truly equal it in quality, depth, or power.
So he abandoned it.
For Black Zetsu, only the Ashura lineage itself could serve his ultimate purpose.
What he hadn't foreseen was that Madara Uchiha — through that accursed stone tablet — would discover his theory… and even succeed in creating a working subject.
And now, somehow, Uchiha Kei seemed to possess something even greater.
Zetsu's mind raced.
Kei couldn't possibly have learned the full contents of the tablet — those passages could only be read by the Eternal Mangekyō itself.
Yet here he was, defying logic, defying the Uchiha curse.
Could he… have inherited a fragment of Indra's chakra?
Or perhaps… his bloodline had reverted, skipping generations — returning to its primordial, divine form?
It was absurd. Ridiculous. Impossible.
But reality was staring him in the face.
Kei had no brother, no twin eyes to merge — and yet his Sharingan showed no signs of degradation.
No blindness. No strain. Only power.
Could it be… that his eyes had naturally evolved?
Or worse — that from the very moment he awakened them, they were already complete?
Eyes that were perfect.
Eyes without weakness.
Eyes that could never burn out.
Zetsu's expression darkened.
"If that's true," he hissed under his breath, "then this is a disaster."
He had waited millennia for his plan to align — for the cycle of Indra and Ashura to repeat, for the world to return to the will of Mother Kaguya.
And now everything was unraveling.
Madara was dead.
The Rinnegan had fallen into the hands of a fool who barely understood its power.
And his "chosen successor," Obito, was unstable at best — a tool too emotional for the task.
And as if fate were mocking him, now appeared a boy —
a boy whose eyes carried a power greater than any Mangekyō he had ever seen.
It was infuriating. Maddening.
So many centuries of manipulation — and now chaos reigned once again.
"Damn it!"
Zetsu's thoughts were shattered as Obito suddenly clutched his mask, doubling over in pain.
"What happened?" Zetsu snapped, turning toward him.
"That bastard…" Obito's voice trembled, one hand pressed over his bleeding eye.
"He… he stole my control!"
"What?!"
Zetsu's composure finally cracked. "How is that even possible?"
Obito's voice quivered, equal parts rage and disbelief.
"His ocular power— it's stronger than mine! During the battle, he forced the Fourth Mizukage into a genjutsu of his own, overriding my chakra flow! I tried to reassert control, but… the distance was too great. I couldn't compete!"
Zetsu froze. Then, after a moment, he exhaled and shook his head slowly.
"Distance dulls your influence," he admitted. "But still… I told you not to fight him directly."
His tone was calm, but his gut twisted with dread.
That uneasy feeling he'd had earlier — the one he'd tried to ignore — had now taken shape.
Kei was beyond their control.
"I'm not accepting this!" Obito snapped, fury boiling in his voice.
"I'm going down there! I'll end that bastard myself!"
"Forget it," Zetsu said coldly, cutting him off. "You're not his match. Not now."
He turned his gaze back toward the misty battlefield.
"Besides, he's holding a tailed beast hostage. If you interfere here, in Mist territory, we'll lose every foothold we've built. Let the people believe he's your imitator — some rogue pretending to be 'Madara's shadow.' It's better that way."
Obito glared at him. "But we're not even on the same side! He's not following the plan!"
Zetsu sighed. "Whether he is or not, the damage he's done to Kirigakure is irreversible. Once the Mist remember your chakra signature, they'll never stop hunting you. So, stay quiet. Focus on retrieving the Jinchūriki when the chance comes."
Obito clenched his fists. "And if he keeps getting in the way?"
Zetsu's eyes gleamed like ink. "Then we adapt. But for now, we watch. Think of it as… gathering data."
Meanwhile, in the center of the battlefield, Kei stood over the motionless body of Yagura Karatachi, the Fourth Mizukage.
His chest rose and fell with exhaustion. Sweat dripped from his brow.
"Damn that Obito…" he muttered under his breath, voice edged with irritation. "I told him not to interfere."
He had expected a simple genjutsu struggle for control — but Obito, in his desire to make the fight look authentic, had given Yagura one final command: "Fight Uchiha Kei."
The result was a chaotic, destructive clash that had tested even Kei's limits.
Despite Yagura's trance-like state, his instincts were deadly. He was a Mizukage — and even bound by illusion, he fought with terrifying skill.
If not for Kei's Mangekyō Sharingan, whose power naturally suppressed tailed beasts, he might have been overwhelmed.
Thankfully, Yagura and the Three-Tails were not yet in perfect sync.
They had not achieved mutual understanding, nor full cooperation.
Had they been united, even Kei wasn't sure he could've won.
He exhaled, massaging his aching chest.
"That damned Water Mirror Technique… really is troublesome," he muttered.
Yagura's Water Release: Water Mirror Jutsu had mirrored Kei perfectly — creating a doppelgänger capable of replicating his attacks with identical power.
The sheer precision of it had nearly cost him his life.
Fortunately, the technique had limits. Otherwise, Yagura would never have fallen this far.
Even so, Kei had to admit — if used skillfully, it was an incredibly dangerous jutsu.
"As for that wind style of his…" he muttered with a wry smile. "Pretty impressive."
Those sweeping gusts, sharp and powerful, had forced Kei to move on instinct more than once.
"But it's over," he said finally. "That's enough for this performance."
He looked toward the mist-shrouded horizon, his Mangekyō flickering faintly.
"Time to end the act."
Raising his eyes, he sensed the residual flames of Amaterasu still burning at the edges of the field.
"Sealed already?" He sighed. "Forget it — I'll cancel them myself."
Though the Amaterasu wasn't his innate power, his bond between the black flames and his Susanoo allowed him to manipulate them freely.
Kei always kept the skeletal form of his Susanoo faintly active, hidden — a silent guardian, always at the ready.
That connection let him feel every flicker of those cursed flames.
With a slow exhale, his eyes began to spin again, the tomoe merging into a complex pattern of light.
At that moment, Yagura's own eyes mirrored his —
identical Mangekyō patterns swirling in sync.
The genjutsu tether snapped into place.
Within the depths of Yagura's consciousness, seals crumbled like sand, and the monstrous chakra of the Three-Tails surged forth in a violent tide.
Water erupted from the battlefield, swirling upward like a living storm.
Moments later, the Three-Tails, a massive turtle-like beast bristling with spikes and trailing three thrashing tails, rose from the flood.
Kei leapt gracefully onto its head.
He looked down upon the devastation he had wrought — the shattered land, the broken bodies, the burning mist —
and for a fleeting moment, his face twisted into something unreadable.
A mixture of exhaustion, madness… and cold detachment.
"The show's over," he whispered.
"This stage…"
He looked toward the horizon, eyes glinting with eerie calm.
"…ends with me."
The Three-Tails roared, and the entire battlefield quaked under its cry.
The final act of Kirigakure's nightmare had begun.