"Jie also awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Fugaku Uchiha murmured, a pang of sorrow flashing through his heart.
Possessing the Mangekyo himself, Fugaku knew all too well that unlocking those eyes required a shinobi to face the very tragedies they feared most. He had awakened his own after watching his clansmen die endlessly on the battlefield.
So what about Jie? What kind of unimaginable heartbreak had he experienced?
Jie was only ten years old. A normal child his age would still be laughing and playing without a care at the Ninja Academy. Yet, Jie had already endured unknown suffering, bearing the weight of the Mangekyo to fight for the future of the Uchiha clan. The mere thought sent a sharp ache radiating through Fugaku's chest.
Of course, Fugaku could never have guessed that his son possessed a System—an existence that utterly defied common sense. In reality, Jie had just spent his free time teasing little Sasuke, watched him get into a scuffle with Naruto, and successfully awakened his Mangekyo with the System's help. It was a secret Jie would bury deep in his heart forever; he couldn't tell a soul.
Across the battlefield, Shisui Uchiha's expression froze the moment he saw Jie summon the ethereal avatar.
"Impossible... you can also use the ancestors' power?" Shisui gasped. "You're only ten years old! How could you possibly gain their recognition? Are you the true answer for the Uchiha, and I've been walking the wrong path?"
Shisui couldn't believe his eyes. If Jie also wielded the power of Susanoo at such a young age, then what did that make him? Compared to this ten-year-old prodigy, he was nothing.
"Calm down, Shisui! You must believe that you are in the right," Danzo barked, immediately cutting in just as Shisui was on the verge of spiraling into self-doubt.
When Jie first revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan, Danzo realized that he stood no chance against the boy alone. If he wanted to defeat Jie—or even just survive this encounter—Shisui's strength was absolutely indispensable. He couldn't afford to let his pawn lose his fighting spirit.
Danzo's words seemed to work. The light returned to Shisui's eyes as he muttered to himself.
"That's right... I am the ancestors' chosen one. You are nothing but a fake, a despicable thief who stole this power!" He roared, "Despicable thief! Susanoo: Great Fireball Technique!"
Under Shisui's control, the colossal green Susanoo began to gather an immense fireball in its mouth, expanding until it resembled a Tailed Beast Bomb. It was a standard C-rank Jutsu, but amplified by the massive framework of the Susanoo, its destructive power was far more terrifying than even the A-rank combination Jutsu Jie had used earlier.
"Bansho!"
An invisible domain instantly expanded, covering Jie's crimson-gold Susanoo and halting the apocalyptic fireball in its tracks. The terrifying heat it carried was completely neutralized, unable to affect Jie in the slightest.
Returning the favor, Jie's eyes narrowed as he gave a soft shout. "Susanoo: Rasenshuriken!"
With a piercing, high-pitched hum, a colossal, spiraling shuriken of chakra shot forward, blasting directly into Shisui's avatar.
Boom! A violent explosion ripped through the air. A massive crater was blown straight through the chest of the green Susanoo, shattering and tearing away several of its glowing ribs.
"Gah!" Shisui cried out in pain as the backlash of the heavy damage hit him, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
"Impossible... I am the ancestors' choice! I will not fail here!" he bellowed, recklessly squeezing every last drop of his ocular power. Fueled by his desperate continuous output, the shattered Susanoo rapidly stitched itself back together.
Simultaneously, a massive, spiraling drill-like sword materialized in the green avatar's hand. Once the Uchiha clan's Susanoo reached its third stage, it would manifest unique, mythical weapons. This spiral sword was Shisui's exclusive divine artifact.
"Susanoo: Tsukumo!"
Endless Wind-style chakra converged into the spiral blade, fracturing into countless chakra senbon. As Shisui thrust the giant sword forward, a barrage of glowing needles rained down like a storm.
"Susanoo: Kamui!"
Under Jie's command, spatial vortexes rippled open in the empty air, sucking the incoming volley of chakra senbon directly into the Kamui dimension. Even the few stray needles that slipped through the cracks harmlessly phased past him.
"If you like playing with needles so much, I'll return them all to you," Jie said calmly.
The moment the words left his mouth, a cluster of spatial vortexes tore open directly behind Shisui. The storm of green senbon shot back out, not a single one wasted as they ruthlessly bombarded Shisui's back. Using Kamui to absorb and redirect attacks was one of the Jutsu's most fundamental applications.
Taking another devastating hit, Shisui vomited a larger spray of blood, his legs giving out as he collapsed to his knees inside the Susanoo.
"I haven't succeeded yet... how can I fall here?!" Shisui gasped out. "Haaah!"
He tried to force himself back up, but a sudden, excruciating stabbing pain in his eyes made him cry out, and he clamped his hands over his face.
'Has he finally reached his limit?' Jie thought, observing the older shinobi's breakdown.
Sustaining the Susanoo drained an astronomical amount of Mangekyo ocular power. This was doubly true for Shisui, who had immediately jumped to the third stage and spammed high-yield Jutsu like they cost him nothing. Honestly, Jie felt the man was naturally gifted to have lasted this long.
However, after this battle, even if Shisui survived, he would almost certainly go blind in at least one eye. Unlike Jie, Shisui didn't possess a Sage Body to constantly nourish and heal his optic nerves. Overdrawing on his eyes like this was a guaranteed path to rapid blindness.
Jie realized he would need a good period of rest after this fight as well, if only to replenish his own spent chakra and ocular power. It was definitely time to start looking for a way to break through to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
But first, he had to dispose of the two annoyances right in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, Jie flooded his Susanoo with pure ocular power. A blindingly radiant, golden longsword slowly materialized in his avatar's hand. This was completely different from the crude chakra blades he had carelessly formed while slaughtering the Root ninja earlier; this was his Susanoo's true, exclusive divine artifact.
The Sword of Ama-no-Murakumo.
"It's time to end this," Jie exhaled slowly. "Susanoo: All-Severing! Susanoo: Sword of Leaping Flame!"
A streak of pure golden light slashed across the battlefield.
Before Shisui's Susanoo could even register the movement, it had already met its end. The golden arc swept past Shisui's eyes like a purifying holy light, meeting zero resistance as it cleaved clean through the green avatar.
The brilliant slash didn't stop there. It carried onward, grazing the distant Hokage Monument and carving a massive, deep gorge into the stone face before disappearing into the horizon.
As if cleansed by the light, the thick green chakra of Shisui's Susanoo dissolved into the air. Within seconds, the towering giant had completely vanished.
"I've lost..."
Shisui's face was deathly pale, but the manic desperation from earlier had faded, replaced by a profound, heavy serenity.
"Young Clan Head... I hope that under your leadership, the Uchiha clan can walk toward a truly correct future." In his final moments, Shisui seemed to finally see the true path ahead, a faint smile gracing his lips as his life faded away.
Jie lowered his golden blade, his Mangekyo spinning slowly as he locked eyes with the remaining target.
"Shisui is dead. Now, it's your turn."
"Danzo!"
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