---
"Akatsuki?!"
Shisui's voice was low, but his shock was evident. His gaze locked onto the figure draped in a black cloak adorned with red clouds, and a chill ran down his spine.
For years, Konoha's intelligence network, under Minato's orders, had been investigating the Akatsuki organization. The mission Shisui and his ANBU team had undertaken this time was directly tied to gathering intel on them.
But now, an Akatsuki member had appeared here, blocking their path. The intent was clear—interception and assassination.
From what Shisui knew, Akatsuki's core members were all S-rank rogue ninjas, infamous across nations. For one of them to eliminate an ANBU operative without anyone noticing was proof of their terrifying strength. Only someone from the organization's upper echelons could manage such a feat.
Shisui's expression turned grim as his eyes scanned the dark silhouette across the mountain ridge. Though obscured by the night, he could faintly discern the figure's unsettling gaze—a pair of eyes marked with strange, concentric patterns.
A shiver coursed through him. His instincts screamed danger.
No hesitation. Shisui unsheathed his blade in a single, fluid motion, its steel gleaming under the pale moonlight.
"Everyone, scatter and retreat! Relay this information to Hokage-sama immediately!"
Swish!
In an instant, Shisui vanished from his position. A blur of motion, he reappeared in the midst of the enemy, his blade igniting with chakra-infused flames.
The surrounding ANBU hesitated, startled by their team leader's order. Retreat? They weren't accustomed to fleeing battles, especially not with Shisui leading. He was hailed as the strongest in the Uchiha clan and one of ANBU's finest. Surely, they could manage against a single enemy.
"Do it now!" Shisui's voice cut through the night like steel.
There was no room for debate. The enemy wasn't ordinary. Shisui could feel it in the air—the tension, the malice. And the tremor they'd felt earlier… that wasn't natural. If it was jutsu, then their foe's power was far beyond anything they had faced before.
No sooner had Shisui moved than he closed the gap between himself and the Akatsuki member. With precise timing, he swung his blade in a fiery arc, aiming for a decisive strike.
But instead of dodging, the man in the Akatsuki cloak raised his left arm.
Clang!
Sparks flew as Shisui's blade connected, not with flesh, but with something unnervingly solid. The impact rang out like steel meeting steel.
Shisui's eyes widened in disbelief. His strike, though not his most powerful, should have easily cleaved through human flesh. Yet here, it was as though he'd struck unyielding metal.
"What…?"
The Akatsuki member stood unfazed, as if mocking Shisui's attack.
The other ANBU members exchanged uneasy glances. Their trust in Shisui's judgment outweighed their confusion, and they reluctantly began retreating.
Suddenly, the eerie sound of mechanical grinding filled the air.
Krrrrk!
Before their eyes, the Akatsuki member's cloak tore away, revealing his grotesque, modified body. Mechanical arms sprouted from his torso, gleaming with sharp, weaponized appendages.
"He's… not human?" Shisui whispered, his voice barely audible.
Then, his gaze locked onto the man's eyes—purple orbs etched with ripple-like patterns that seemed to pulse with an ancient, otherworldly power.
Shisui's heart sank as recognition struck.
"Those eyes… the Rinnegan?"
As a member of the Uchiha clan, Shisui was well-versed in the legends. The Rinnegan was said to be the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths himself, a power far beyond ordinary comprehension.
And now, that power stood before him, manifest in the form of this monstrous enemy.
---
In Konoha, there were few individuals Minato trusted completely, and Shisui was one of them. His loyalty, skill, and sharp intuition made him invaluable.
As part of his responsibilities, Shisui had been tasked with investigating the Akatsuki organization. Through his work, and with information shared by Minato, he'd learned critical details. One name, in particular, stood out—the enigmatic leader of Akatsuki, Pain. He was said to possess the legendary Rinnegan, the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.
But Shisui had never imagined that the leader himself would appear here, intercepting their mission.
As the realization hit, Pain's body shifted unnaturally. Several mechanical arms sprouted from his back, their joints whirring with ominous precision. His palms transformed, reshaping into cylindrical launchers.
"Missiles?" Shisui muttered, his Sharingan narrowing in alarm.
Whoosh!
Pain unleashed a barrage of missiles, their trajectories splitting in multiple directions, targeting the scattered ANBU operatives attempting to flee.
Shisui's focus sharpened. He couldn't stop the missiles from reaching his comrades, but he couldn't let the leader of Akatsuki out of his sight. The flames of determination burned in his Sharingan as he steadied his blade.
As he raised his left hand to weave seals for a counterattack, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.
Above the battlefield, a second figure in Akatsuki robes descended silently from the night sky, as if gravity itself had no hold on him.
Shisui froze mid-seal, his body stiffening unnaturally.
"What—?!"
A strange force gripped him, dragging him upward against his will. It felt as though an invisible hand was pulling him toward the floating figure above.
Even in this moment, Shisui's training took over. His Sharingan flicked toward the new arrival.
"So, there's another one," he muttered, his voice cold but focused.
Shisui's mind raced. The mechanical-armed enemy below seemed to be Pain, the Akatsuki leader, but his abilities—while bizarre—didn't seem overwhelmingly powerful.
However, this new arrival... floating effortlessly and controlling him without seals or visible tools, possessed abilities far more unnerving.
As Shisui was forcibly pulled higher, he sensed a shift in the air behind him.
Swish!
Pain's bladed arm extended with lethal speed, thrusting toward Shisui's floating form.
The blade struck true, piercing his body with a sickening sound.
"Got him!" the floating man murmured, his Rinnegan narrowing slightly in satisfaction.
But there was no blood.
Instead, Shisui's pierced form exploded into a flurry of crows. Black feathers scattered across the sky, and the cawing echoed eerily in the night.
"A crow clone… It was a feint all along?" the airborne man muttered, his eyes narrowing further.
Boom!
Simultaneously, a streak of light blazed through the sky. Several flaming projectiles, imbued with chakra, intercepted the missiles mid-air, detonating them before they could strike the ANBU below. Explosions lit the mountainside, sending waves of fiery debris into the night.
Standing atop a distant peak, Shisui sheathed his blade. His dark hair swayed in the wind as his crimson Sharingan locked onto the floating enemy.
Their gazes met.
Shisui's breath hitched for the briefest moment as his Sharingan studied the man's Rinnegan. His instincts screamed a warning—this wasn't an ordinary foe.
The man above smirked faintly, his eyes radiating an unsettling calm.
"Let's see how far your Uchiha eyes can take you," he murmured.
---
p@treon.com/Siam_37 up to 15 advance chapter.