Facing the emotional Fugaku, Menma's fully-wrapped companion acted according to the plan.
Beneath the mask, his newly acquired three-tomoe Sharingan spun, and a powerful genjutsu instantly pulled Fugaku into an illusion.
Fugaku's brows furrowed as he instinctively tried to break free, but the images that appeared before his eyes froze him in place.
...Shisui?!
In the illusion, Fugaku immediately recognized the mysterious person's identity: the Uchiha genius who had suddenly disappeared.
But now, in the memory constructed by the genjutsu, he clearly saw the entire process of Shisui being saved by Menma after falling off the cliff.
Even more shocking, he witnessed the truth of the entire 'clan annihilation' operation — no, to be precise, a meticulously planned deception.
Creating life? What kind of ability is this? Some kind of Bloodline Limit?
The illusion clearly showed Itachi inviting the leader of the [Ash] organization to assist in the clan's annihilation, but this mysterious man secretly deceived Itachi.
Fugaku saw the dovish Uchiha Clan members being put into a state of suspended animation by a power that could create life, while the true hawkish members were personally executed by Menma...
The [Ash] organization's actions? Was Itachi... used by him?
Complex emotions surged through Fugaku's heart like a tide.
First, a wave of relief washed over him — the Uchiha Clan had not truly been annihilated; most of the clan members had been saved.
But then, the heavy reality weighed on him: those saved clan members would probably never be able to return to Konoha.
The [Ash] organization would never easily let them return.
He, the clan leader... almost personally doomed the entire clan...
Fugaku's clenched fists trembled slightly; his original sharp fighting spirit had long dissipated, replaced by deep regret and self-reproach.
He lowered his head, looking as if he had suddenly aged ten years.
Itachi noticed her father's abnormality.
She vigilantly looked at the heavily wrapped man beside Menma — was it genjutsu?
What exactly had her father seen in the genjutsu?
Menma's voice broke the silence at the right moment. "You probably want your younger sister to revitalize the Uchiha Clan, right...?" His tone held a hint of playfulness.
"Isn't it too heavy a burden to place on a girl's shoulders?"
"Even if we spare your parents, the current Uchiha Clan won't affect your plan. Or... are you determined to strike down your own parents?"
"...This isn't what we agreed upon." Itachi's voice was terrifyingly low, the tomoe in her Sharingan slowly rotating. "You were only responsible for annihilating the other Uchiha Clan members."
The next moment.
"Ugh!"
Fugaku suddenly hunched over, a heart-wrenching pain erupting from his abdomen.
Unnatural black flames inexplicably ignited on his clan leader's robe, the fabric turning to ash the instant it touched the fire.
Amaterasu.
Tears of blood flowed from Itachi's eyes; the ominous black flames were unleashed from that Mangekyo Sharingan.
The flames clung to Fugaku like a persistent parasite, first burning through his abdomen, then beginning to incinerate his internal organs.
Fugaku knelt on one knee, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.
"You truly are extreme." Menma's voice turned cold at the sudden sneak attack.
"You've crossed the line, [Ash]. The truth must be buried in darkness."
"Stop it! Itachi!"
A piercing cry tore through the night sky.
Uchiha Mikoto rushed out from the street corner, the hem of her kimono fluttering in the wind from her running.
This mother's face clearly showed she had rushed from home.
She never imagined she would witness her daughter brutally attacking her husband.
But in the very next second—
"Boom!"
The same black flames erupted on Mikoto.
The woman, who had already retired from the front lines, instantly froze, the flames spreading from her chest.
So... she wouldn't even spare herself?
Mikoto staggered and fell to her knees, the searing pain making her vision blur.
In her gradually fading sight, she saw the tears on her daughter's face shimmering in the moonlight.
That tear was quickly dried by the night wind.
When Itachi looked up again, only chilling resolve remained in her eyes.
The air current from her Body Flicker Technique stirred up the fallen leaves on the ground, and by the time Menma tried to stop her, only a few swirling withered leaves remained.
She was going to complete her final mission — to see her younger sister.
"How could... Itachi... how could she have become like this?!"
Shisui's voice trembled uncontrollably.
He stared intently in the direction Itachi had disappeared, unable to comprehend — the plan could already be implemented, the dovish faction had already been saved, surely... it didn't have to come to this.
Yet Itachi chose the most extreme method.
Not a threat, not control, but elimination.
Even against her own parents.
"...On the trolley problem, she really went all out."
Menma didn't respond to Shisui's shock, merely walking towards Uchiha Fugaku, who lay in a pool of blood.
Amaterasu's black flames still burned, but Fugaku had already passed out from the excruciating pain, the flames consuming his body with a faint sizzling sound.
"Drag the clan leader's wife over here." Menma's voice was calm. "Be careful not to touch those flames."
Shisui snapped back to attention, immediately understanding Menma's intention — he was going to save them!
Without further questions, Shisui body-flickered to the street corner, carefully avoiding the residual Amaterasu flames, and dragged Mikoto, who was also being burned by the black flames, to Menma's side.
The woman had already fallen unconscious, faint tear stains still visible on her pale face.
Now, the two Uchiha Clan members, burned by Amaterasu, lay side by side before Menma.
Next was the crucial part; behind Menma, two illusory figures, visible only to him, slowly emerged...
"It might get a little bloody. It's best not to look, but it's up to you."
Before he finished speaking, Gold Experience behind him had already swung its fists, and brilliant life energy, like a cascading galaxy, slammed into Fugaku and Mikoto's damaged bodies.
"Be born, new life."
In an instant, the internal organs that had been completely incinerated by Amaterasu began to transform into peculiar flower vines.
Emerald green vines entwined with blooming pure white flowers, stubbornly spreading under the scorching black flames.
Menma's kunai flashed with a cold gleam, precisely severing the stems connected to the flames — finally, Amaterasu was completely separated from their bodies.
However, the danger was not yet over.
Fugaku's face quickly turned ashen after losing most of his internal organs, and Mikoto's breathing became almost imperceptible.
Gold Experience immediately continued to inject life energy, a halo enveloping the two, barely sustaining the flickering flame of life.
The severed vines completely turned to ash in the black flames.
With the disappearance of the last trace of combustible material, the Amaterasu flames, rumored to "never extinguish until the target is completely incinerated," finally dissipated unwillingly into the night sky.
Now!
"Crazy Diamond!"
The azure Stand suddenly appeared, its fists erupting with astonishing restorative power.
Shisui had never witnessed such a bizarre sight; the plant remains that had long turned to dust in the air reassembled, the vines twisting and writhing, gradually restoring themselves into living internal organ tissue.
Even more astonishing, these organs, as if drawn by an invisible force, returned to their bodies, precisely filling the burned cavities, and even the burn wounds slowly began to heal.
This power...
Shisui's Sharingan spun frantically, trying to analyze the extraordinary scene before him.
But just as the repair was about to be completed, Menma suddenly stopped.
Now was not the time to expose his abilities... He gazed at the unconscious pair, silently thinking, 'I'm sorry, I can't completely heal you yet. Once this is all over, I will definitely restore you to your former selves.'
Ultimately, though Fugaku and Mikoto's breathing was weak, their lives were saved.
A faint flush of color appeared on their pale faces, proving that this astonishing miracle of life had indeed occurred.
"You... you really saved them."
Shisui's voice trembled slightly.
He gazed at the Fugaku couple, whose breathing was now steadier on the ground.
Those abilities — healing wounds, giving life — such hopeful and gentle powers.
Through the mask's openings, Shisui vaguely caught a glimpse of the emotion that flashed in Menma's eyes.
Was it guilt? Why?
He had snatched these two lives from the hands of death, yet why did he show such an expression?
"Alright, Shisui." Menma suddenly turned. "It's time to go; our mission isn't over yet."
"Mission?" Shisui paused. "What else needs to be..."
His words abruptly ceased.
This time, he clearly saw it — beneath the mask, in the faintly visible eye, surged undisguised, chilling killing intent, causing Shisui to involuntarily tense his body.
"The Root rats... have scurried in the shadows for too long."
The caw of crows echoed in the distance, and the moonlight shone on the fox mask, reflecting a cold, sharp gleam.
"This time, for the Sharingan, that old dog will surely crawl out of his rat hole himself."
"The 'Darkness of the Shinobi,' Danzo Shimura —"
As the final syllables fell, Shisui felt as if countless vengeful spirits wailed behind Menma.
Those gouged-out Sharingan, those innocent lives sacrificed, and... Shisui's own stolen right eye.
"It's time to bury his rotten ambition, and his pathetic era —"
"Together."