Before the words fully faded, Shisui felt a broad, gloved hand gently rest on his shoulder.
The next moment!
Without any warning, without any sensation of spatial distortion!
Shisui only felt an unpleasant twisting of his body!
It was as if the entire world had been instantly crushed and reassembled by an invisible giant hand!
The howling wind in his ears, the rustling of leaves, the buzzing of the insect swarm-
All sounds vanished without a trace!
It was replaced by a heart-palpitating sense of weightlessness and spatial pulling!
It felt like just an instant, yet also like an eternity had passed.
His feet landed on solid ground once more.
The surroundings had completely changed.
The damp, chilly forest air was replaced by a smell mixed with disinfectant.
The air was dry and constant, carrying the cold sterility unique to a laboratory.
The ground beneath his feet had also changed from soil to a metal floor.
A low, rhythmic mechanical hum echoed in his ears.
The Chakra Chains binding him loosened and retracted as if alive, disappearing into Shura's wide sleeves.
The heavy sealing force vanished along with them.
"Cough—" Losing the support of the chains, Shisui's severely injured body staggered and nearly collapsed.
He barely steadied himself, his ears twitching slightly as if trying to sense this vast space through hearing.
'This place…'
"The subject is here." Shura's low voice rang out, directed at another person in the space.
Two figures stepped out from behind an instrument flashing complex data.
One wore a white lab coat and a white surgical cap, humming an unknown tune softly. He walked to the operating table and began preparing various instruments and the One-Tomoe Sharingan for transplantation.
The other wore a deep blue, high-collared long robe that outlined a slender yet powerful frame.
Raven-black long hair fell, covering a small part of the right face.
The exposed skin appeared nearly transparent under the cold light.
Eyes like the finest black jade, deep, icy, and utterly calm, rested quietly on the wretched figure of Shisui.
That gaze held a detached, penetrating scrutiny, as if examining a specimen.
It was Hikari.
"With your Ocular Power, theoretically, no one in Konoha should be your match in a one-on-one situation." Hikari said, her arms crossed.
When she heard Menma say Shisui had been ambushed and his eye taken, she had found it somewhat hard to believe.
Now, seeing Shisui with one eye covered by a patch and his right eye socket hollow and bleeding, an inexplicable anger rose from the depths of her heart.
For a clan with a Kekkei Genkai based on eyes, having their eyes stolen was perhaps the gravest humiliation!
Even after losing one eye, Shisui's growth over the past year shouldn't have made him weaker than when he fought her.
'To think he was ambushed and lost his last eye.'
Remembering how Shisui had repeatedly urged her to return to Konoha with him back then,
Hikari found it almost laughable.
Hearing this voice, Shisui's heart sank heavily.
Even though a year and a half had passed since their last battle, the oppressive feeling Hikari instilled in Shisui had never faded with time.
On the contrary, as Shisui grew stronger, he increasingly felt that Hikari's power was unfathomable.
Shura, his face turned towards Shisui beneath the white three-eyed fox mask, announced in a flat, emotionless voice that belied the cold decision: "In a moment, we will transplant a new pair of One-Tomoe Sharingan for you. They will suffice."
It was spoken as if discussing a trivial matter.
Hikari didn't speak, merely giving Menma a slight nod.
The shadow clone in the white lab coat had already walked to the operating table nearby, his fingers fiddling with cold metal, producing faint clinks and scraping sounds.
A sealed metal container emitting cold air was opened. Inside, immersed in a pale green liquid, lay two scarlet Sharingan, each pupil had a single black tomoe.
"One-Tomoe Sharingan?" Hearing they intended to transplant Sharingan for him, Shisui frowned, "Why do you have—"
A sense of foreboding began to spread within him.
Seeing through his thought, Menma let out a light, dismissive snort, "Don't overthink it. They're just clones produced using cloning technology and activated with Yin Attribute Chakra. If we truly wanted Sharingan, do you think the Uchiha Clan in Konoha would still be so peaceful?"
The words were filled with scorn, but Shisui actually felt somewhat relieved.
Because he knew Shura and Hikari had visited Fugaku before, and upon reflection, he reasoned that if they truly had a need for Sharingan, it wouldn't be for something as simple as One-Tomoe ones.
Shisui was acutely aware of Hikari's terrifying strength. If she made a move, no one in Konoha's Uchiha Clan could stop her.
Just like Madara in his day!
…
Outside Konoha Village, in the blood-scented forest clearing-
Tatsuma arrived first, his wide sleeves stirring without wind. A black cloud of kikaichu swarmed like bees returning to the hive, instantly covering the area where Shisui had last been, emitting dense, frantic buzzes as they desperately collected residual scents and pheromones from the air.
Fu followed closely, his hands forming hand seals. His powerful mental perception spread out like ripples on water, meticulously scanning every inch of ground, every leaf, attempting to capture any lingering mental fluctuations or Chakra Traces.
Subsequently, several Root Ninjas wearing animal masks landed silently like ghosts, vigilantly sealing off the perimeter.
They were experienced, their movements swift, their eyes scanning the ground like hawks… the residual bloodstains, the trampled and flattened grass, and the glaring bloody handprint Shisui had left on the tree trunk he last leaned against.
"The blood trail is strongest here," One Root ninja crouched down, pinching a bit of dark red soil between his fingers, his voice cold.
"His injuries are severe, he's lost a lot of blood. His mobility should be at its lowest."
"The insect swarm's pheromone tracking has been cut off." Tatsuma's voice came through his mask, carrying a rare hint of confusion and gravity.
"Right in this area, the scent… vanished into thin air. There are no traces of departure, no footprints, broken branches, or residual Chakra Fluctuations... everything's gone. It's as if... something wiped it away in an instant."
"The remaining spirit is also extremely weak, and it was interrupted instantly." Shan Zhongfeng withdrew his perception, and his brows were furrowed under the mask.
"The mental residue... is extremely faint, and it cut off abruptly." Fu withdrew his perception, his brow furrowed beneath the mask.
"There are no signs of violent struggle, nor the mental drag trail that should accompany high-speed long-distance movement... It's very strange."
The air seemed to freeze.
All the Root Ninjas halted their movements, their eyes beneath the masks filled with disbelief and startled doubt.
How could Uchiha Shisui, who was gravely wounded, near death, having lost an eye, with chaotic Chakra, possibly vanish into thin air under the watchful eyes of over a dozen elite Root's members, under the dual lock of the Aburame Clan's top tracking insects and the Yamanaka Clan's powerful mental perception?
It completely defied logic!
"Expand the search perimeter!" Tatsuma's voice held suppressed anger and frustration.
"Center it here, radius five kilometers! No, ten kilometers! Turn over every stone! No Space-Time Ninjutsu can leave absolutely no clues! He must still be nearby!"
The order given, the Root Ninjas dispersed like a black tide once more, melting into the deeper night.
The insect swarm buzzed as it spread further out. Fu's mental power was pushed to its limit, scanning repeatedly like a giant radar net.
However, time passed, minute by minute.
The night grew deeper, the chill in the forest more biting.
Aside from the wind whistling through the treetops and the futile buzzing of the insects, no valuable discoveries were made.
Shisui had vanished completely, as if evaporated from the world, leaving only the blood-stained forest behind.
All that remained was the cold confusion of the Root Ninjas and the lingering, thick, heart-gripping scent of blood in the air.