Bonus Chapters every 100 Power Stones
"Normal Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
[Year X789]
~ With Shisui ~
Sleep was a luxury he'd learned to do without when necessary.
During his years in Konoha's ANBU, missions often required maintaining alertness for days at a time, monitoring targets or waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He'd developed techniques for achieving rest and recovery through meditation that were nearly as effective as actual sleep, while keeping his senses alert for potential threats.
His breathing slowed and deepened as he sank further into the meditative trance. The sounds of the mountain environment faded to background noise as his consciousness turned inward to review the day's observations.
The pressure patterns he'd encountered during his approach definitely needed thorough documentation. The Magic Council would want detailed maps showing where the anomalies began and ended, along with measurements of their intensity at different points. The complete absence of the pressure effect here at the mountains themselves was particularly significant, suggesting either a natural barrier or some kind of intentional magical construct.
His investigation of the central valley would need to be done carefully as well. Whatever lay hidden in these ranges had potentially remained undisturbed for centuries, and there were undoubtedly good reasons for that isolation as he remembered the demon fragment he'd encountered two years ago.
As the hours passed and true darkness settled over the mountain range, Shisui maintained his meditation. What he did not realize, or more accurately, what he could not realize, was that something watched him from the darkness beyond.
Hidden among the shadows, patient and silent, observing his every movement.
The presence made no sound, had no magical signature that would alert his senses, and moved in such a way that even his subconscious awareness failed to detect its presence. It simply watched, waiting, observing this outsider.
Night passed without further incident from Shisui's perspective. As the first hints of dawn began to lighten the sky, he gradually emerged from his meditative state feeling refreshed and alert.
Standing and stretching briefly, he looked toward the centre of the mountain range where the deepest valleys lay hidden. Whatever secrets this region held, whatever threats had made it too dangerous for others to explore, that was most likely where it would be.
It was time to begin the real investigation.
By midday, Shisui had made significant progress deeper into the mountain zone's heart. The journey from the outer peaks to the central regions required careful navigation, but his enhanced abilities made the travel manageable.
The landscape gradually changed as he moved inward. When he finally reached the highest pass that would give him a clear view of the central valley, Shisui paused to take in what lay below.
The sight was both familiar and deeply unsettling.
Like the Valley of the End that he remembered so clearly, the centre of the mountain range contained a vast depression surrounded by towering peaks. But where the Valley of the End retained its natural beauty despite the scars of ancient conflict, this valley looked unnatural.
Everything was dead.
The valley floor, which should have been green with mountain vegetation, appeared lifeless and black. Trees stood in scattered formations, but their branches were bare of leaves and their trunks showed the dark staining of long decay. The ground itself seemed drained of colour, as if something had leached away every trace of vitality from the soil.
Most striking were the ruins that were scattered at the valley's centre. Ancient stone structures rose from the dead earth, their architecture unlike anything Shisui had encountered in either world. The buildings were massive yet elegant, clearly the work of an advanced civilization, but they too showed signs of the same deathly influence that had claimed the natural environment.
Shisui's eyes narrowed as he studied the ruins more carefully from his vantage point. Warrod had mentioned the Magic Council's theory about this region potentially containing the remains of Mildian, an ancient lost city. The scale and sophistication of these structures certainly matched what he'd expect from such a legendary place.
"Only one way to find out," he muttered, beginning his descent into the valley.
The approach did not take too long, and with each step closer to the valley floor, the unnaturalness became more apparent. The air grew heavier, not with magical pressure like he'd experienced at the plains' threshold, but with something far more unsettling. It was as if the very atmosphere carried an echo of some ancient tragedy.
When he finally reached level ground, Shisui activated his Sharingan to get a clearer picture of what he was dealing with. The enhanced perception immediately revealed details that made him shudder involuntarily.
There was no life here at all. Not in the way he understood the concept, anyway. His Sharingan could detect the faintest traces of living energy in most environments, the subtle glow that marked plants, animals, even microorganisms. But this valley was a complete void.
More disturbing was what his dojutsu revealed about the ambient Ethernano. It was… corrupted, somehow. It carried qualities that his enhanced perception couldn't interpret.
Shisui approached the valley's true boundary slowly, studying the stark line where normal mountain environment gave way to the dead zone. The transition was unnaturally sharp, as if someone had drawn a precise border between life and death.
On one side, typical mountain vegetation struggled against the harsh climate but maintained its essential vitality. On the other side, nothing lived at all.
His instincts began sending warning signals as he drew closer to the threshold. Not the general caution that came with entering unknown territory, but something much more primal and immediate. Every nerve in his body was telling him to retreat, to turn around and flee the place as quickly as possible.
But Shisui pressed forward, determined to understand what lay beyond that threshold, even if his subconscious mind recoiled from the prospect.
Slowly, carefully, he raised his right arm toward the boundary between life and death.
Before his hand could cross the threshold, every survival instinct he possessed erupted in simultaneous alarm. Terror flooded through his system with such intensity that it overwhelmed his conscious mind completely.
Without conscious thought, Shisui yanked his arm back and Body Flickered away from the threshold, putting significant distance between himself and whatever force that marked the dead valley. He appeared on a rocky outcropping several yards away, his heart racing and his breathing rapid despite his usually perfect control.
The terror had been unlike anything he'd ever experienced. Not even facing Danzo and an entire squad of Root operatives had triggered such an overwhelming survival response.
He took several minutes to calm himself completely. Whatever power that protected those ruins, whatever it was that had created the death zone that surrounded them, it was beyond his ability to investigate safely. The dead valley would have to remain a mystery for his eventual report to Warrod.
At least for now.
But that limitation also presented an opportunity.
Since he couldn't safely explore the most dangerous areas of the mountain zone, he could focus entirely on the training that had brought him here in the first place. Out here in this remote wilderness, far from any observers except possibly the strongest mages in Ishgar, he could finally push his abilities to their absolute limits without concern for secrecy or collateral damage.
Shisui's Sharingan began shifting as the Mangekyo soon took it's place. The time had come to answer a question he'd been avoiding for far too long.
The revelation about Tenrou Island had shattered any illusions about being able to protect what mattered to him through conventional strength alone.
If he was going to face threats like Acnologia or whatever entity that was sealed in that dead valley, he needed access to his ultimate techniques. That meant determining once and for all whether prolonged use of his Mangekyo Sharingan would lead to blindness, as it had for other Uchiha in the Elemental Nations.
With his decision made and his determination solidified, Shisui closed his eyes and began gathering his chakra.
A green aura began enveloping his entire body, the distinctive colour becoming visible as spectral energy took shape around him. The manifestation was slow and deliberate, each stage building upon the last as his spectral construct prepared to take physical form.
Opening his eyes, Shisui called out the name of the technique that had once made Madara Uchiha's name legendary among the Uchiha clan.
"Susanoo!"
~ End of Chapter 59 ~
SUSANOOOOOOOOOO!