Chapter 171: What Does the Land of Stars Possess? Uzumaki, Kaguya, Uchiha?!
Shura seemed deeply satisfied with Shisui's current state of desolation.
He spoke no more, standing silently as his white fox mask reflected the sterile light of the hospital ward with an inorganic luster—a bystander from hell watching the seeds of despair he had sown take root and sprout.
Time flowed slowly in the suffocating silence, each second stretching into a century. Finally, Shura broke the frozen despair, his tone returning to that of indifferent control:
"Feel your new power well, Uchiha Shisui. These three-tomoe Sharingan, nourished by despair and betrayal, will be your only reliance for seeing the truth in the future."
He turned slightly, his gaze seemingly piercing the window into the endless darkness outside.
"By my count, there is about a year left before that 'script' officially takes the stage." Shura turned back, a trace of cruel expectation in his masked eyes. "When that time comes, use these eyes to see for yourself. Watch how Konoha tolls the final death knell for your Uchiha clan."
"Oh, and don't dream of escaping. You certainly wouldn't want to see a Susanoo split the Hokage Building in half."
With that warning, Shura departed. His black robes brushed the cold floor like wings of the night as he stepped out. The heavy iron door groaned and swung shut, cutting off the light from the hallway and the figure who had delivered the prophecy of doom.
Click.
The faint sound of the lock turning felt like a gunshot in the dead silence.
On the bed, Shisui remained stiff. The Sharingan beneath his bandages had stopped spinning, but the cold, violent ocular power had not subsided; it coiled in his sockets like a lurking viper. Every heartbeat brought a searing pain and the echoed screams of his kin.
He reached up with a trembling hand, touching the cold, blood-soaked gauze.
Fugaku's calm acceptance of death.
Mikoto's silent tears.
Itachi's hollow, numbed eyes.
The cold surveillance of the Anbu.
Shura's words echoed: "Everything you hope for is naught but beautiful foam..."
The freezing current of despair submerged him completely. There was no roar of anger, only a suffocating void. He lay there like a puppet with its strings cut, his fingers tightening until his knuckles turned white, as if trying to crush the reality beneath his sheets.
By the next day, Shisui had adapted to his new eyes. He was relocated to a clean but lonely stone courtyard not far from Uchiha Hikari's residence.
The bandages were gone. In his slightly pale face, the new ink-black pupils held three slowly rotating tomoe—a silent testament to the transformation and agony brought by the illusion. Though they lacked the utility of his original Mangekyō, they restored him to the level of an elite jōnin.
Standing on the cold stone steps, Shisui tried to let the autumn wind cool his mind. He knew that after Danzō's ambush, returning to the village would only accelerate the conflict between the clan and the village. Furthermore, Shura would never let him leave freely after performing such a high-level transplant.
I cannot bring two mysterious enemies back to Konoha, and I cannot deepen the Uchiha's strife. For now, staying in the Land of Stars is the only choice.
I'll use this time to observe the Land of Stars and gather intel on the Star Village, Shisui thought.
Suddenly, the laughter of children from the neighboring yard caught his attention. His gaze swept over the adjacent property, and a flash of bright red struck his vision.
It was a whirlpool crest (Uzumaki), cast from a resilient red metal and bolted firmly to the dark wooden gate of the next courtyard. The design was ancient and fluid, carrying the weight of a legendary lineage.
The Uzumaki clan? The clan that perished in the fires of war, leaving only legends and names on Konoha's monuments?
He remembered the first time he fought Hikari—the red-haired woman who had restrained three Iwa shinobi with the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Shisui's body moved instinctively. He leapt silently, landing as light as a leaf atop the courtyard wall.
"...The flow of chakra must sink deeper into the meridians, Kimimaro," a gentle female voice said. A red-haired woman in her twenties was guiding a white-haired boy in his training. "If Yang power is too great, it is like a flood; without a dam, it will destroy the riverbed. The Yin power from the Byakugan is your dam. Learn to feel its 'stillness' to restrain the 'motion' in your blood."
In the center of the yard, Kaguya Kimimaro stood shirtless, his posture as straight as a pine. Beneath his skin, pale bones bulged and receded rhythmically. Beside him, Uzumaki Vanilla held her palm near his shoulder, a soft green medical chakra enveloping him.
Further away, Haku stood quietly, cold white mist swirling around his fingertips. Another girl with brown hair and light freckles—Iburi Yukimi—watched with curiosity, wisps of smoke trailing from her body.
Shisui's breath hitched.
Uzumaki survivors! The Kaguya clan! An Ice Release user! And another bloodline I've never even seen!
This small courtyard held four descendants of clans thought to be extinct or extremely rare. This was no coincidence. What kind of net was Shura weaving here? Why was he gathering these lost powers?
"Who's there?" Vanilla's voice turned cold. The green glow vanished as she looked sharply toward the wall.
Shisui dropped into the yard. "My apologies for the intrusion. I am Uchiha Shisui. I am staying next door to recover. I saw the Uzumaki crest and became curious."
"Uchiha Shisui?" Vanilla's keen eyes lingered on his new Sharingan. As a medical ninja, she understood the situation immediately. Her expression softened into a knowing smile. "I see. Lord Shura mentioned you. Come in and sit; there's no need to be formal."
She turned to the youths. "Kimimaro, Haku, Yukimi—this is Shisui of the Uchiha. He is the strongest ninja of Konoha's Uchiha clan."
As the top graduates of the Star Ninja School, these three were now a squad led by Vanilla (who had been promoted to jōnin), with occasional training from Hikari.
"The name 'Shisui of the Body Flicker' is well-known," Kimimaro said, opening his eyes. His recently transplanted Byakugan looked at Shisui with calm indifference. "I am Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan."
"Hello, I am Haku of the Yuki clan," Haku greeted with a smile so gentle it gave Shisui a fleeting sense of warmth.
"Wow! A Konoha ninja! Hello! I'm Yukimi of the Iburi clan!" Yukimi added with the exuberant curiosity of a young girl.
Shisui's voice felt dry as he looked at Kimimaro's Byakugan. He remembered Shura's second raid on the Hyūga—the four pairs of eyes that were stolen. Were they given to this boy?
"The Kaguya clan... I thought they were wiped out two years ago during their rebellion," Shisui said, recalling a report Fugaku had once mentioned.
"Wiped out?" Vanilla replied, her tone as calm as if stating a distant historical fact. "The world is unpredictable. Some seeds always manage to struggle out of the ashes."
"Just like us, the Uzumaki. Uzushiogakure is history, but dispersed bloodlines can still take root here." She pointed to the ground beneath her feet.
Shisui's heart sank heavily.
Uzumaki, Uchiha, Kaguya, Yuki, Iburi... and those stolen Byakugan. The Land of Stars was becoming a reservoir for the world's most dangerous bloodlines.