There will always be sacrifices in Konoha, if not the previous generation, then the next...
The sweating boy standing before him, who had just halted his sword strike, was a prime example. He was a descendant of Kagami Uchiha, a highly representative member of the many war orphans.
The difference was that most civilian ninjas were mediocre, achieving little throughout their lives.
But Shisui was exceptionally gifted. Needless to say, in the original story, he had already displayed extraordinary talent at a young age, making a huge name for himself as "Shisui of the Body Flicker."
Even now...
With a single swing of his sword, the boy unleashed a flying slash wreathed in roaring flames that pierced the air, instantly severing several wooden dummies over ten meters away. He already possessed a trace of the elegance Roy had when he first mastered [Water Breathing].
Roy casually tossed him a towel that Mikoto had prepared in advance and said calmly, "I know."
With just a glance, following the thread of karma between himself and Shisui, he split off a [Heart Bug] and peered into it...
"Squeak..." The [Heart Bug] wriggled deep into Shisui's heart, bringing back an image. It was a ninja wearing a cat-faced mask, a black tight-fitting undershirt, and a white strap vest, with two short swords crossed on his back. He was constantly talking to Shisui, frequently mentioning Roy's name, overtly and covertly extracting information from Shisui, and enticing him to join them under the pretext of doing it for Konoha...
Roy's gaze flickered, an imperceptible trace of mockery flashing through his eyes as he recognized the person's identity—
Controlled by Danzo and planted with the [Cursed Seal of Tongue Eradication], a member of [Root]!
As for exactly which member of [Root] it was, there were quite a few who specialized in dual short swords. The most famous was undoubtedly Danzo's most relied upon and trusted assistant—Torune Aburame!
Of course, who it specifically was didn't matter; knowing who gave the order was what mattered. Roy recalled his rather unpleasant first encounter with a certain someone in the Hokage's office. He turned his head to Shisui and Itachi and said, "There is a rat hiding behind the tallest tree fifty meters to the front right. Which one of you is going to drag him out for me?"
Shisui and Itachi paused for a moment. Then, exchanging a glance, they simultaneously drew their swords and slashed toward the direction Roy had provided!
"Swish!" Two bright flashes of blade light tore through the air, heading straight for the tall bushes hidden beneath the tree. A head popped out of the bushes, while the neck and the rest of the body remained buried underground. Hearing Roy's sudden words, the figure's expression changed drastically, and he immediately tried to escape... but he didn't expect...
That Shisui and Itachi, despite their young age, would have such sharp sword skills!
Especially Shisui. With his three-tomoe Sharingan activated and bolstered by his supreme visual prowess, his flame-wreathed slash came fast and accurate, forcefully shattering the spy's intention to continue peeping!
'Damn it! Since when did the Uchiha clan produce two such formidable little swordsmen?!'
The head cursed inwardly.
A wave of heat rushed at his face as the sword light arrived in an instant!
He simply stopped looking.
His head suddenly shrank downward, instantly burrowing into the ground.
But then, with a loud "Boom!",
Shisui's slash landed, blasting the dirt apart and forcefully tearing open the surface, leaving behind a scorched trench!
"Seventy meters to the west..."
'It missed?' Shisui frowned as he heard Roy call out the position once again.
Taking advantage of his slight daze, Itachi brushed past his shoulder and sprinted wildly toward the west.
Shisui hurriedly raised his sword and followed, flanking left and right with Itachi, chasing the bulging mound of dirt...
"Swish! Swish!" Two more slashes pierced the ground, nearly grazing White Zetsu's body and slicing off his ear. It scared the living daylights out of him. As he struggled to escape, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, 'Am I the sensory ninja, or is he the sensory ninja?'
'Damn it, how on earth did this guy, Jin Uchiha, discover me?!'
"Rumble, rumble..." White Zetsu burrowed through the dirt while Shisui and Itachi chased closely behind him, repeatedly swinging their swords.
What was even more infuriating was that behind the two boys, Roy was constantly calling out coordinates, pinpointing his exact location. It was as if the guy had literally attached an eye to his body. If he was forced east, he didn't dare go west. It was simply despair-inducing!
"Forty meters to the south..."
"He turned. Thirty meters to the southeast..."
"Don't stop, thrust your swords deeper... He's burrowing further down..."
"Swish! Swish!" Several more flashes of blade light penetrated the ground, taking off one of White Zetsu's feet!
It was Itachi's sword!
Although the young boy had not awakened his Sharingan and his dynamic vision was inferior to Shisui's, and his speed was slightly lacking compared to Shisui, who was three years older... the boy excelled in his intense combat intuition!
The moment he noticed White Zetsu circling around and faintly attempting to escape toward the northwest,
Itachi mustered his strength. In a moment of desperation, he threw the sword in his hand like a shuriken, anticipating White Zetsu's escape route in advance and severing one of his feet!
"Ah—!" A shrill, miserable scream rang out!
Shisui whizzed past Itachi, raising his voice, "Well done!"
Following that, seizing the opportunity Itachi had created, he took advantage of the split second White Zetsu paused to howl in pain... "Shisui of the Body Flicker" arrived!
In just the span of a single breath,
The boy lunged in front of White Zetsu with his sword. With a single strike of [Flame Breathing · Third Form · Blazing Universe], he slashed downward, wreathed in surging flames, and fiercely plunged it into the ground!
Another shrill scream echoed out—
As the ground churned madly, Shisui seized the opportunity once again, frantically stabbing down over a dozen times until finally... everything went quiet...
When the dust settled and the surface was broken open,
It revealed a completely snow-white humanoid creature with its head tilted and tongue hanging out. Shisui and Itachi, who had just caught up, were visibly stunned and looked at each other in dismay.
"What, are you surprised?"
"Step... step..." A slow series of footsteps echoed in their ears.
Roy's black hair swayed in the wind as he strolled over at a leisurely pace. Upon reaching the two boys, he suddenly opened his hands and struck a palm against both Shisui's and Itachi's backs...
Nen, as warm as a spring breeze, instantly invaded their bodies. While they were still in a daze,
It expelled white, cotton-like spores from within them...
"Brother, what is this?"
"Spores. It's also this guy's special ninjutsu." With a thought, Roy waved his hand and condensed a Fire Style technique, instantly burning the cotton-like substances to ash. With another glance, he looked down at White Zetsu from above and said, "In other words, the enemy... isn't completely dead yet!"
"Jin Uchiha, how did you discover me?!" As if to verify Roy's words, White Zetsu, knowing he couldn't escape, suddenly widened his eyes and stared fixedly at Roy.
Shisui and Itachi were about to step forward with their swords from the left and right again, but Roy raised a single hand halfway and stopped them.
"Don't worry. Although he isn't dead, he... only has one breath left..."
Roy looked at White Zetsu expressionlessly, having no intention of answering him at all. With a flick of his finger, a [Heart Bug] wriggled and, following the [Thread of Karma] he had just established with White Zetsu, instantly invaded White Zetsu's heart.
"Ding, ding, dong, dong..." His life flashed before his eyes.
On the verge of death, White Zetsu suddenly froze.
In a haze, he saw that Roy had somehow appeared within his mind, standing with his hands behind his back on the ridge of his heart's field, watching his entire life unfold like a scroll across the sky... White Zetsu couldn't control a shudder. He pointed weakly at Roy and said in horror, "You can read minds?!"
"You clearly aren't from the Yamanaka clan, so why can you read minds?"
"That's it... It's the Sharingan... It must be your Sharingan..."
"Bang!" The life review shattered.
The field of his heart quaked and crumbled. Roy's figure faded, but he seized the opportunity to look at a corner of the picture scroll... In his eyes, two great suns ignited with a "Whoosh!", and he vaguely saw a black shadow...
The shadow was leaning against a large tree, standing beneath it.
Half of his body was pitch black, and the other half was snow white, just like White Zetsu. Across the [Thread of Karma], he locked eyes with Roy from afar, and suddenly... he stumbled two steps backward, crashing heavily against the tree trunk!
'Jin Uchiha...' A faint murmur echoed through the rustling green leaves...
Black Zetsu covered his eyes, staring intently at Roy.
The boy's expression remained calm. As White Zetsu's clone gradually lost its life force, his figure slowly faded away...
In less than a moment, his consciousness returned, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Brother, he's dead!"
His chakra completely drained,
Shisui crouched down, checked White Zetsu's breathing, and informed Roy at the right moment.
Roy gave a noncommittal hum and slowly glanced toward a certain direction at the edge of Konoha. If his guess was correct, beneath the large tree where Black Zetsu had just been standing should be the place where Madara Uchiha was lingering on his last breath!
After a long while, the boy withdrew his gaze and looked at Itachi again.
Itachi lowered his head, nervously gripping his sword. He bowed to him and said, "Brother, I was wrong. I shouldn't have thrown my sword..."
Roy didn't say a word. He simply reached out a hand, gently rubbed the boy's head, and said softly, "You weren't wrong."
"But didn't you say that a sword is a swordsman's life, and it must never be discarded?"
"Did you discard it?" Roy smiled and patted Itachi's forehead. He then naturally slung an arm around Shisui's shoulders. Watching the sunlight filter through the lush forest and cast patches of light on the ground, he said slowly, "Throwing your sword in a moment of desperation is not called discarding it. Itachi... Shisui... become even stronger..."
"I hope that one day, even if I'm not by your side, you'll be able to easily handle situations like today's..."
"Brother, that won't happen. I will always stand by your side!" Shisui suddenly looked up at Roy and said firmly.
"Me too," Itachi silently tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.
The young boy secretly swore that in the future... he would definitely become stronger and stronger. So strong that he could easily kill his enemies without ever needing to throw his sword again!
The boys' feelings were sincere and open.
Their overflowing camaraderie naturally emanated from the tops of their heads in the form of a profound "blue"...
A warm, shallow smile curved on Roy's lips. He didn't say anything more, only stating, "Go practice your swordplay."
Shisui and Itachi nodded heavily. Just like always, without needing Roy's special instructions, they found crushed stones, filled their baskets, hung them from the tips of their swords, and began their daily routine of ten thousand swings...
"One... two... three... four..."
His younger brothers were sweating profusely, brimming with fighting spirit... As their older brother, he naturally couldn't fall behind...
Near the edge of the training ground, not far from the two brothers, Roy found a large tree and sat down cross-legged. Immediately... he immersed his consciousness, stirred his Nen, and began to construct his own—Susanoo!
This ninjutsu based on the Mangekyo Sharingan, strictly speaking, was less of a ninjutsu and more of... an external manifestation of chakra, forging a colossal avatar... much like Netero's [100-Type Guanyin].
It was like the giant he had seen in his great-grandfather Maha's unconscious domain, wielding a cloak hammer, drawing down thunder, and furiously shaking the heavens.
Because everyone's Nen abilities or Mangekyo Sharingan abilities were different, it often manifested in different forms.
However, according to Roy's understanding of the original story, [Susanoo] could generally be divided into five stages. Due to the difference in strength, each stage would exhibit vastly different morphological variations.
The first stage was the skeletal form, which was also the initial state. It could only form a ribcage or arm skeleton, had limited defensive power, and could barely wield some simple weapons.
The second stage was the muscular form: muscles and meridians covered the skeleton, forming a half-body shape. It could unleash exclusive ninjutsu, such as the Yasaka Magatama and other powerful techniques.
The third stage was the armored form: clad in Tengu armor, its defense was massively increased, but the chakra consumption was immense. In the original story, Itachi had displayed this during his battle with Sasuke, using it to... slay Orochimaru, who was attached to Sasuke's body.
The fourth stage was the humanoid form: generating legs and a lower body. The caster could enter the head to control it, enhancing mobility, and it could also be used to armor Tailed Beasts. In the original story, Madara had once used this form to armor the Nine-Tails and fought a massive battle with Hashirama at the Valley of the End, which later generations commemorated by carving statues.
The fifth stage was the Perfect Form: this was also the ultimate form that [Susanoo] could display. Not only was its size colossal, rivaling mountains, but it could even sprout wings from its back, possessing the ability to fly and cleave through mountain ranges. In the original story, only Madara and Sasuke had ever achieved this. Behind this was the fact that both were reincarnations of [Indra], allowing them to inherit more [Yin Style] than other members of the Uchiha clan.
As these thoughts raced through his mind,
Roy sat cross-legged beneath the tree, slowly placing his hands flat on his knees. He began to open his Aura Nodes and mobilize his Nen...
"Buzz..." As a trace of blood-red slowly crept into the boy's eyes, three pitch-black tomoe linked and rotated like blades, forming a nebula that slowly revolved around the two suns that ignited with a "Whoosh!"...
Following that, a pure, massive, and heart-palpitating [Ren] explosively swept out with the boy at its center.
Shisui and Itachi, who were practicing their swordplay, suddenly shuddered. They abruptly stopped their movements and turned to look...
"Crack..." Suddenly, a blue giant, wreathed in scorching flames, slowly emerged from Roy's body!
Its skeletal structure was clear.
As it stretched out, it completely blotted out the sun in the sky.
Then, it leaned down to look at Shisui and Itachi as if looking at two ants. In its hollow eyes, two suns ignited with a "Whoosh!". Compared to the two suns ignited in Roy's pupils, these were even hotter, more dazzling, and more blinding. The moment Shisui and Itachi saw them...
It caused the two boys' legs to uncontrollably give way. They fell flat on their bottoms, and the swords in their hands slipped from their grasp, dropping to the ground with a "Clang"...