Chapter 103: Atonement
"We're here. I've kept my promise. Now, this one's fate—whether you kill her or spare her—is entirely up to you."
At Konoha's outskirts, in the center of a forest that had been completely leveled by brutal combat, Menma and Shisui found the black-haired girl still unconscious on the shattered ground—Uchiha Itachi.
The surrounding devastation was horrifying to behold. Massive claw-shaped craters, earth vaporized beyond recognition, scattered charred wood and molten rock fragments... The air still reeked of burning and carried traces of savage chakra that had yet to dissipate.
'Did the Nine-Tails jinchuriki do this... to destroy a battlefield to this extent... And yet, even in that berserk state, he deliberately spared Itachi's life?'
But this thought only flashed through Shisui's mind momentarily. Right now, he had no mental energy left to ponder the jinchuriki's abnormal behavior.
All his attention was drawn to the unconscious girl on the ground. He slowly approached, crouched down, and gazed with complex emotions at Itachi's pale, haggard face.
In all his life up to this point, Shisui's feelings had never been as complicated and indescribable as they were at this moment.
Not long ago, when he'd decided to leap into the Naka River and embrace death, he had placed all his hopes, all his trust, the future of both Konoha and the Uchiha—everything—unreservedly into this person's hands.
He'd firmly believed Itachi could understand his will and find that thorny path toward light through the darkness.
However... when he heard that ice-cold, bloody "genocide" plan proposed by Itachi herself, what had his feelings been then?
The sharp pain of betrayal? Deep disappointment from dashed expectations? Rage at such extremely cruel methods?
Perhaps... there was also a trace of frustration he wouldn't admit to himself. Hatred that she had so easily chosen the most extreme, most thorough method, betraying his expectations.
But now, looking at this scarred, unconscious girl before him, those intense emotions gradually settled. In their place came something deeper and more bitter—reflection.
At this moment, Menma shifted his gaze from the unconscious Itachi to the silent Shisui beside him. "I remember... your other eye should still be with her, right? I need to retrieve it now... This process might involve some unpredictable reactions, so I hope you'll understand."
Truth be told, Menma wasn't entirely certain himself. Crazy Diamond's ability worked on the principle of "restoration"—returning objects or flesh to their proper state, or to what the user perceived as the "original condition."
But in this situation... Shisui's left eye socket now contained a three-tomoe Sharingan. Should this count as a "missing component" or "transplanted foreign matter"?
Like a person who'd lost a leg getting a prosthetic—when Crazy Diamond's power acted on them, would it restore their original flesh-and-blood leg, or would it "restore" the prosthetic to be even more durable? This kind of situation involving body part ownership and transplantation was his first attempt.
But regardless of the outcome or uncertainty, that Mangekyo Sharingan containing [Kotoamatsukami]'s power absolutely could not remain with Uchiha Itachi. Menma had to try.
Shisui immediately understood Menma's intent. Though recalling the eerie scene of Danzo's eye flying out on its own still made his skin crawl, he knew they couldn't let Itachi continue possessing an eye capable of silently altering others' wills.
That power was too dangerous, both for Itachi herself and for the entire situation.
Without any hesitation, he nodded solemnly, indicating complete understanding and acceptance of any consequences. Then he raised his hand and slowly removed the fox mask from his face, revealing handsome features marked by heavy exhaustion beneath.
Next, under Menma's somewhat stunned gaze, Shisui moved with shocking speed—he extended his fingers and precisely, swiftly probed into his left eye.
Menma could even hear an extremely faint, teeth-grindingly wet sound.
The next moment, Shisui actually maintained his composure and forcibly extracted his recently implanted, still-functioning three-tomoe Sharingan directly from his eye socket. Crimson blood immediately began seeping slowly from the hollow socket.
The entire process showed not a trace of hesitation or trembling.
Menma's mind began frantically complaining.
'No... while I did joke before about your Uchiha clan's Sharingan being like USB drives you can plug and play... isn't this casual bare-handed eyeball extraction a bit too practiced?! Don't these areas have pain receptors?!'
Despite his internal dismay and even revulsion at the Uchiha clan's "traditional skill" of bare-handed eye removal and installation, Menma knew he couldn't show any abnormal emotions at this moment.
He could only maintain surface silence and calm while focusing his will on his Stand.
With a thought, the azure Stand only he could see—Crazy Diamond—slowly placed its hand imbued with "restoration" power gently on Shisui's shoulder.
An invisible wave of psychic energy rippled outward from the Stand's palm.
Immediately, involuntary crow cries echoed from the distant horizon, drawn by an irresistible force, rapidly growing clearer as they approached.
Menma glanced at the three-tomoe Sharingan in Shisui's grip, which showed no changes, and felt somewhat relieved.
It seemed Crazy Diamond's "restoration" priority recognized it as "foreign matter that doesn't belong to Shisui's body," so the power was directly working to locate and summon that "original," "lost" Mangekyo Sharingan. Good, this made things simple.
When the crow—pulled by invisible force from its distant summoning node and looking rather panicked—fluttered its wings and flew close, Menma stopped outputting his ability at the right moment.
He reached out and precisely grasped the special crow's neck, controlling it.
Shisui felt the strange pulling sensation fade from his body. Silently, he once again performed that eye-twitchingly practiced motion, carefully inserting the still-warm, blood-stained three-tomoe Sharingan back into his hollow right eye socket, gently rotating it a few times to adjust the position.
Menma: "..."
His mind had given up complaining and chosen numb acceptance.
Just as Menma gripped the struggling crow, considering how to safely extract the sealed Mangekyo Sharingan from within—
Shisui beside him acted again. In his newly installed right eye, the three tomoe slowly rotated, and a subtle wave of dojutsu power instantly enveloped the crow.
The next moment, something extraordinary happened. The crow's entire body began twisting and dissipating like smoke, finally completely transforming into countless scattered black feathers.
And at the center of that dissipation, a slowly floating Mangekyo Sharingan with sinister crimson patterns quietly suspended in midair—the eye containing [Kotoamatsukami]'s power that originally belonged to Shisui.
——————
"Imprison her in an absolutely secure location? I understand."
Ultimately, this was the first and currently most prudent decision Shisui could make after struggling and weighing options in his heart.
He planned to first completely seal Itachi's chakra, strip away her dangerous power source—the Mangekyo Sharingan—then secretly imprison the powerless her in a safe place for lengthy confinement and reflection.
"Yes..."
Shisui's tone was immensely heavy, carrying deep self-blame. "I bear inescapable guilt for everything that happened. I was the one who arbitrarily imposed overly heavy expectations and potentially misguided direction on her... Until this sin is completely atoned for, I will... undergo atonement together with her..."
Menma had no objection to this, merely nodding slightly. This handling method infused with penitence and redemption was completely within his expectations.
If anything, it would have surprised and puzzled him if Shisui had been consumed by extreme disappointment and rage, directly demanding Uchiha Itachi's execution.
Subsequently, Menma bent down and removed from Itachi's eye sockets the pair of Mangekyo Sharingan that contained great power but also brought endless suffering. The eyeballs were covered with bulging blood vessels, clearly showing that the continuous use of high-burden dojutsu like Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi the previous night had caused tremendous strain and damage to these recently awakened eyes.
Just as Menma prepared to summon Gold Experience to create a pair of ordinary eyes for Itachi's hollow sockets, Shisui reached out and gently stopped him.
"Leader..." Shisui's voice was somewhat hoarse, his gaze falling with complex emotions on Itachi's face that had lost its luster and appeared especially vulnerable. "Are you planning... to use that life-granting ability to create new eyes for her?"
Menma nodded, confirming his guess.
"...No," Shisui fell silent for a moment, ultimately shaking his head with difficulty. "Let's... keep it this way for now. Itachi... the mistakes she made require appropriate punishment... Perhaps... temporarily being unable to see is a necessary discipline for her, for everyone. Let's leave it like this."
Making this decision clearly tormented Shisui's heart, but he ultimately persisted in this painful "correction."
He hoped that through this method, Itachi would truly experience the taste of losing power and the heavy consequences of her actions.
Menma looked deeply at Shisui, understanding his choice made from such complex feelings. He didn't insist further, only nodding again and withdrawing the hand prepared to activate his ability.
"Let's go."
Shisui bent down and carefully shouldered the unconscious black-haired girl. Menma placed one hand each on Shisui's and Itachi's shoulders.
The next moment, the ghostly blue light of the Hiraishin technique flashed briefly, completely enveloping the three figures. The light blazed brightly then immediately extinguished, leaving only emptiness and silence behind.