The agony of reality and illusion overlapping erupted violently!
On the hospital bed, Shisui's body arched violently as if struck by a high-voltage current!
A suppressed, utmost cry, like that of a dying beast, burst from the depths of his throat.
The bandages wrapped around his eyes were instantly soaked through by a surge of blood mixed with tears, blooming into two glaring patches of dark red.
His temples felt like they were about to explode… his eyeballs felt as if being simultaneously pierced and stirred by countless red-hot steel needles!
The pain penetrated deep into his bones, reaching his very soul!
The bloody hell of the clan's massacre in the illusion, the tearing agony of his eyeballs in reality… these two forces violently collided and tore at each other within his fragile optical nerve center!
Humm—!
As if some invisible seal was forcibly shattered by a savage power!
A cold, rampant Ocular Power carrying an aura of destruction, like a fierce beast breaking free from its cage, suddenly awakened within his eyes!
His previously blurred vision instantly became crystal clear. He could even 'see' through the bandages, clearly perceiving the cold air currents in the room, the subtle flickering lights on the instruments, and...
That black figure that had appeared at the doorway at some point, standing silently!
Shisui's gaze pierced through the bandages, firmly locking onto that figure: the familiar black robe, the wide white fur collar on the shoulders, the iconic, icy, emotionless white three-eyed fox mask covering the face.
'Shura!'
The moment Shisui saw Shura, applause carrying a certain mockery and appreciation rang out abruptly in the silent room.
Clap... Clap... Clap...
Shura leaned against the cold metal doorframe, clapping his hands unhurriedly. His gaze from behind the mask's eyeholes focused on Shisui's blood-and-tear-soaked bandages as if admiring an exquisite piece of artwork.
"Magnificent." Shura's voice came through the mask, low and magnetic.
"As expected of the strongest Ninja in Konoha's Uchiha Clan. Under such stimulation, you actually forced the transplanted clone One-Tomoe Sharingans to evolve directly into the Three-Tomoe Sharingans."
"This talent, this willpower… tsk, no wonder that old fool Danzo is so obsessed with your eyes, treasures them like jewels, yet fears them like venomous snakes."
His tone held undisguised admiration, yet also radiated a cruel insight into everything.
Shisui breathed rapidly, his chest heaving violently.
Every breath tugged at the intense pain deep within his eyeballs. The three tomoes in the Sharingan beneath the bandages spun uncontrollably, its cold and rampant Ocular Power nearly overflowing.
Enduring the tearing-like pain, his voice was hoarse as sandpaper grinding, each word carrying the taste of blood: "That… that Genjutsu just now… what was it?! What did you do to me?!"
The questioning was filled with shock, anger, and the immense terror left by the massacre illusion that hadn't yet dissipated.
Shura slowly lowered his applauding hands, his demeanor as casual as if discussing the weather: "Nothing much. Just let you preview the final act script meticulously arranged for your Uchiha Clan by Konoha's upper-echelons."
His voice suddenly turned cold, like an icy current sweeping through the room: "A final solution to eliminate hidden dangers, to cut off the problem once and for all."
"Nonsense!!" Shisui gripped the sheets beneath him tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, the bloodstains on the bandages deepening.
The Third Hokage's kind face, his promises, Itachi's clear and resolute eyes flashed through his mind. He couldn't believe it, even more, he couldn't accept it!
"Hokage-sama wouldn't allow it! Itachi… how could Itachi possibly do such a thing! Don't think you can use such despicable Genjutsu to sow discord! This is your scheme!"
His voice trembled with agitation and pain, yet carried a stubbornness on the verge of collapse.
"Scheme? Heh heh heh." Shura seemed to have heard something extremely amusing, letting out a low laugh. The laughter echoed in the spacious and cold room, full of sarcasm.
He tilted his head slightly. His gaze from behind the mask seemed to pierce through the bandages, staring directly into Shisui's Three-Tomoe Sharingan, which was spinning madly with anger and pain.
"Danzo gouging out your eye… was that my scheme too?"
"The turmoil on the night of the Nine-Tails Attack… was that also my arrangement?"
"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. The masked man you just saw is the true culprit behind the Nine-Tails Attack. A fellow who roams outside but holds a deep hatred for the Uchiha Clan, you see."
Uchiha Shisui's pupils trembled slightly. His mind flashed back to the mysterious Ninja wearing the tiger-striped single-eye mask he had seen directly in the Genjutsu.
'The true culprit behind the Nine-Tails Attack?'
'Could it be another Mangekyo?'
'Damn it, why are there so many Uchiha Clan's members outside? When did they leave? And how does Shura know all this?'
Shisui was utterly perplexed.
Shura took a step forward. The hem of his black robe slid silently across the cold floor.
An intangible, heavy pressure instantly spread, enveloping Shisui on the hospital bed.
The Genjutsu World he created using the Red Moon Scroll did indeed include some personal additions.
For example, the Uchiha Massacre was an order Danzo gave to Itachi, bypassing the Third Hokage. Itachi found the mysterious masked man, Obito, at the Naka River Shrine and asked for his help in the massacre.
During the Night of the Massacre, Itachi primarily slaughtered the elderly, weak, women, and children within the compound, while the Uchiha Clan's Jonin from the Military Police Force were mainly dealt with by Obito.
There were definitely Root's members monitoring the Uchiha Clan's compound from the periphery. But at least in the original work, Kakashi, who was already the Anbu Captain, along with Anbu's members like Yamato, were only brought by the Third Hokage himself to assess the situation after the massacre had occurred.
But that wasn't important, as the Night of the Uchiha Massacre was a foregone conclusion.
"The Konoha you protect has long regarded the Uchiha as a malignant tumor that must be excised."
"The Third Hokage you trust, indecisive and weak-willed, has repeatedly tacitly permitted Danzo's actions."
"The Uchiha Itachi you placed your hopes on, regarded as a close friend and brother-" Shura's voice deliberately paused, carrying a cruel amusement.
"He chose the village. He chose so-called 'greater good'. For this, he personally raised the slaughtering blade. The entire Uchiha Clan, over a thousand lives, including the parents who gave birth to and raised him, all became obstacles that must be cleared on his path to 'protecting Konoha'."
"Oh, right, perhaps a young Sasuke will be left behind, as an 'anchor' for him to bear hatred and continue living?"
Each word was like a red-hot blunt knife, savagely twisting in Shisui's bleeding heart.
The picture Shura painted overlapped perfectly with every bloody detail he had seen in the Genjutsu.
Itachi's numb emptiness as he swung his blade, the calm resolve of Fugaku and his wife as they offered their necks, the indifferent surveillance of the Anbu outside the walls-
These images violently assaulted his already precarious belief system.
"The peaceful coexistence you hoped for, the integration of clan and village you firmly believed in-" Shura's voice was like the death knell of a final judgment, ringing out coldly and cruelly.
"Were nothing but beautiful bubbles woven by the Konoha's upper-echelons to appease 'naive' powerhouses like you. A gentle poke, and all that remains is..." He raised a hand, pointing at the two glaring bloodstains on Shisui's eyes.
"...this vision full of blood and despair."
Deathly silence filled the room, broken only by Shisui's heavy, painful panting and the monotonous, cold, countdown-like beeping of the medical equipment.
"No… It can't be… He…" Shisui's voice trailed off, weak and unconvincing even to himself.
Words of rebuttal stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.
The suffocating despair and bloodiness from the illusion, real enough to be tangible, poured into his chest like molten iron, freezing his blood.
Shura's words, like the most malicious curse, precisely nailed the weakest cracks in his beliefs, prying at the already fractured foundation.
He still believed in the Third Hokage. He still believed in Itachi.
But what about Danzo?
'Just as Danzo had bypassed Hokage-sama to ambush me, if Danzo bypassed Hokage-sama to give Itachi the order to massacre the clan... who could stop it?'
Thinking this far, the conviction in Shisui's heart had already begun to waver.