Chapter 83: The Final Mission
Facing the emotionally agitated Fugaku, the companion fully wrapped beside Menma acted according to the predetermined plan.
Beneath the mask, those newly acquired three-tomoe Sharingan suddenly rotated, powerful genjutsu instantly pulling Fugaku into illusion.
Fugaku's brow furrowed, instinctively wanting to break free from the genjutsu, but the scenes appearing before him froze him in place.
'...Shisui?!'
In the vision, Fugaku immediately recognized this mysterious person's identity. That suddenly vanished Uchiha genius—and now, in the genjutsu-constructed memory, he clearly saw the entire process of Menma rescuing Shisui after his fall from the cliff.
Even more shocking, he witnessed the truth of the entire "massacre" operation—no, more accurately, a carefully orchestrated deception.
'Creating life? What kind of ability is this? Some bloodline limit?'
The illusion clearly showed Itachi inviting the Ember organization's leader to assist with genocide, while this mysterious man secretly deceived Itachi.
Fugaku saw dove-faction Uchiha clan members disguised as dead through some life-creating power, while true hawk faction members were personally executed by Menma...
'The Ember organization's actions? Itachi... was she being used?'
Complex emotions surged through Fugaku's heart like a tide.
First came a wave of relief—the Uchiha clan hadn't truly perished; most clan members had been saved.
But immediately after, harsh reality pressed down as he realized those rescued clan members could probably never return to Konoha. The Ember organization wouldn't easily let them return.
'As clan head... I almost personally destroyed the entire clan...'
Fugaku's clenched fist trembled slightly, his once sharp fighting spirit long dissipated, replaced by deep regret and self-blame. He lowered his head, suddenly seeming to age ten years.
Itachi sensed her father's abnormality. She warily watched the fully wrapped man beside Menma—was it genjutsu? What exactly had her father seen in the illusion?
Menma's voice timely broke the silence. "You want your sister to revive the Uchiha clan, right..." His tone carried some amusement.
"Isn't placing such a burden on a girl's shoulders too heavy?"
"Even if you spare your parents now, it won't affect your plan. Or... are you determined to harm your own birth parents?"
"...This isn't what we agreed upon." Itachi's voice came terrifyingly low, the tomoe in her Sharingan slowly rotating. "You were only supposed to annihilate the other Uchiha clan members."
The next moment—
"Ugh!"
Fugaku suddenly doubled over, excruciating pain tearing through his abdomen. Unnatural black flames ignited on his clan head robes without warning, fabric turning to ash the instant it touched the fire.
[Amaterasu]
Blood tears flowed from Itachi's eyes as the ominous black flames were released from this Mangekyō Sharingan. The flames clung to Fugaku like maggots to bone, first burning through his abdomen before beginning to incinerate internal organs. Fugaku dropped to one knee, beads of sweat rolling from his forehead.
"You really are extreme." Seeing the sudden ambush, Menma's voice turned cold.
"You overstepped, Ember. The truth must be buried in darkness."
"Stop! Itachi!"
A piercing cry split the night sky. Uchiha Mikoto rushed from the street corner, her kimono hem fluttering in the wind from her running. This mother had clearly hurried from home. She never imagined she'd witness her daughter striking down her husband.
But the very next second—
Boom!
The same black flames exploded on Mikoto's body. This woman who'd retired from the front lines immediately froze in place, flames spreading from her chest.
'So... she won't even spare me?'
Mikoto staggered and collapsed, the burning agony making her vision blur. In her gradually dimming sight, she saw tears sliding down her daughter's face, glittering in the moonlight.
Those tears were quickly dried by the night wind.
When Itachi raised her head again, only heart-chilling resolve remained in her eyes. Air currents from Shunshin stirred fallen leaves on the ground, and by the time Menma wanted to intervene, only a few swirling withered leaves remained.
She was going to complete her final mission—to see her sister.
"How could... Itachi... how could she become like this?!"
Shisui's voice carried undisguisable tremor as he stared fixedly at where Itachi had vanished. He couldn't understand how—when the plan could be implemented, when the doves had been saved, when... there was no need to go this far.
Yet Itachi chose the most extreme method.
Not threats, not control, but silencing.
Even against her own birth parents.
"...On the trolley problem, she's quite absolute indeed."
Menma didn't respond to Shisui's shock, only walking toward Uchiha Fugaku collapsed in a pool of blood. Amaterasu's black flames still burned, but Fugaku had already fainted from the excruciating pain, flames consuming his body with faint "sizzling" sounds.
"Drag the clan head's wife over." Menma's voice remained calm. "Be careful not to touch those flames."
Shisui snapped back to awareness, immediately understanding Menma's intent—he was going to save them!
Without questions, Shisui used Shunshin to reach the street corner, carefully avoiding Amaterasu's residual flames to drag Mikoto, similarly burned by black fire, to Menma's side. The woman had fallen unconscious, undried tear tracks still on her pale face.
Now both Uchiha burned by Amaterasu lay side by side before Menma.
What came next was crucial. Behind Menma, two ethereal figures only he could see slowly materialized...
"The scene might be somewhat gory. Better not to watch, but it's up to you."
Before finishing his words, Gold Experience behind him had already swung both fists, brilliant life energy pouring like a galactic torrent onto Fugaku and Mikoto's broken bodies.
"Be born, new life."
Instantly, those internal organs burned to nothing by Amaterasu began transforming into strange flowering vines. Emerald tendrils wrapped around blooming pure white flowers, spreading tenaciously under the black flames' burning. Menma's kunai flashed coldly, precisely cutting the stems connecting to the flames—finally, Amaterasu completely separated from their bodies.
But the crisis hadn't lifted.
Having lost most internal organs, Fugaku's complexion rapidly turned ashen while Mikoto's breathing became barely perceptible. Gold Experience immediately continued infusing life energy, halos enveloping both, barely maintaining their flickering life flames.
The severed vines completely turned to ash in the black flames. With the last combustible material's disappearance, those flames supposedly "never extinguishing until the target burns completely" finally dissipated unwillingly into the night sky.
Now!
"Crazy Diamond!"
The azure Stand suddenly manifested, fists erupting with astonishing restorative power.
Shisui had never witnessed such a bizarre scene—those plant remains already turned to ash actually reaggregated in mid-air, vines twisting and writhing as they gradually restored into living organ tissue.
Even more shocking, these organs seemed drawn by invisible force back into their bodies, precisely filling the cavities burned away, even burn wounds beginning to slowly heal.
This power...
Shisui's Sharingan spun frantically, trying to analyze this scene beyond reason. But just as restoration neared completion, Menma suddenly stopped.
'Now isn't the time to expose abilities...' He gazed at the unconscious pair, silently apologizing: I'm sorry, I can't completely heal you right now. Once this matter truly ends, I'll definitely restore you completely.
Ultimately, though Fugaku and Mikoto's breathing remained weak, their lives were preserved. Faint color returned to their pale faces, proving this miraculous feat had indeed occurred.
"You... really saved them."
Shisui's voice trembled slightly. He gazed at the Fugaku couple whose breathing gradually stabilized on the ground—those abilities to repair wounds and grant life were such hopeful, gentle powers.
Through the mask's eyeholes, Shisui vaguely caught emotions flashing in Menma's eyes. Was that guilt? Why? He'd just snatched these two lives from Death's grasp—why would he show such an expression?
"Alright, Shisui." Menma suddenly turned. "Time to go. Our mission isn't finished."
"Mission?" Shisui froze. "What else needs..."
His words cut off abruptly.
This time, he clearly saw—beneath the mask, in that barely visible eye, undisguised, piercing killing intent churned, making Shisui involuntarily tense.
"Root's rats... have skulked in shadows too long."
Distant crow cries echoed as moonlight struck the fox mask, reflecting cold, harsh light. "This time, for the Sharingan, that old dog will definitely crawl out of his rat hole personally."
"Shimura Danzō of the Darkness of Shinobi—"
As the final syllable fell, Shisui seemed to see countless vengeful spirits wailing behind Menma. Those gouged-out Sharingan, those sacrificed innocents, and... Shisui's own stolen right eye.
"It's time to bury his rotting ambitions along with his pathetic era—"
"Together."