Moonlight spread across the cliffside like pale silver ink.
The valley below was a deep black abyss. Strong winds rose from the darkness, howling up the cliff in long hollow gusts.
Shisui Uchiha landed lightly near the edge of the cliff.
Blood stained the side of his clothes from the battle in the forest. His shoulder and side throbbed with pain. The healing salve he had applied had slowed the bleeding, but the wounds still burned with every movement. His breathing remained controlled, though it took effort to keep it that way.
However, Shisui quickly realized he was not alone.
"I wondered how long it would take you."
The voice carried across the wind like dry parchment tearing.
Danzo Shimura sat several meters away on a large stone. His cane was planted firmly against the ground. His bandaged arm rested at his side. Under the pale moonlight, his visible eye gleamed with a cold and patient hunger.
Behind him, the darkness felt unusually heavy.
Shisui had not expected to see Danzo here. For a brief moment, surprise flickered inside his mind, but his face remained calm and unreadable.
Danzo noticed it anyway.
"You are surprised," Danzo said quietly. "Did you truly believe I would not know about this meeting place between you and Itachi?"
He leaned slightly forward.
"I see everything that happens in this village. I know more than you think."
Shisui did not reach for his blade yet. His posture remained relaxed, though his eyes studied every movement Danzo made.
"Your ANBU fought well," Shisui said calmly.
Danzo's expression did not change.
"And yet you live," he replied.
The wind grew stronger, whipping through the trees below.
Shisui stepped closer to the cliff's edge, placing the endless drop behind him. The abyss stretched out beneath the moonlight.
"You are wounded," Danzo observed quietly. "Your chakra is lower than before."
Shisui's Sharingan spun slowly.
"It is still enough."
Danzo tapped his cane once against the stone.
The sound echoed faintly across the cliff.
"Your Mangekyō Sharingan belongs to the village," Danzo said.
Shisui's voice remained calm.
"By village you mean you."
Danzo studied him carefully.
"You misunderstand the nature of power," Danzo continued. "A shinobi does not possess power for himself. His strength exists only for the sake of the village."
Shisui shook his head slightly.
"That is where we differ, Danzo-sama. The village exists to protect its people. Power should never be used to control them."
Danzo's eye narrowed.
"You speak of ideals," he said. "But ideals do not stop wars. They do not prevent rebellion. Control does."
"The Uchiha are not enemies," Shisui replied. "They are part of this village. If we treat them like enemies, then conflict becomes inevitable."
Danzo's voice hardened.
"The moment a clan begins to think of itself above the village, it becomes a threat."
"And forcing them into submission will only make that threat real," Shisui answered.
For a moment the wind was the only sound between them.
Danzo's expression remained calm, but there was a faint edge in his voice.
"You believe peace can be created through trust," he said.
"Yes."
Danzo slowly stood from the stone.
"I believe peace is created through fear."
Shisui's gaze sharpened.
"Fear creates silence," he said. "Not peace."
Danzo lifted his cane slightly.
"Silence is often enough."
Shisui's eyes burned crimson in the moonlight.
"If the village becomes a place ruled by fear, then it will no longer be worth protecting."
Danzo took a slow step forward.
"That is why someone like you cannot be allowed to decide the future of the village."
The wind roared louder along the cliff.
Shisui did not move.
Danzo's eye fixed directly on Shisui's Sharingan.
"That eye," Danzo said quietly, "is too dangerous to remain in your hands."
Danzo moved first.
For a man of his age, his speed shattered all expectations.
Wind Style: Vacuum Gale.
He lunged forward in a blur. His cane struck toward Shisui in a rapid combination before a compressed arc of wind chakra blasted outward. The force exploded against Shisui's guard and launched him backward toward the edge of the cliff.
Shisui twisted his body in mid-air and landed in a low crouch only inches from the drop.
Before he could fully recover, Danzo attacked again.
Wind Style: Air Ripper.
Danzo closed the distance instantly. A hidden blade flashed free from his cane as he unleashed a series of rapid strikes. Shisui parried two of them, but the final slash tore across his ribs.
Blood sprayed across the stone.
Shisui countered immediately.
Combustive Sword Attack.
His blade moved in a sharp sequence of strikes. The first blow forced Danzo's guard open. The second slash drove him back. Flames then erupted along the sword as Shisui brought it down in a blazing overhead arc.
Danzo leapt backward at the last moment. Wind chakra burst beneath his feet and pushed him away from the flames.
The cliff face behind him shattered when the burning strike hit the stone.
Shisui pressed forward despite the blood soaking through his clothes.
Gale Sword Attack.
He struck once, then twice. The final motion was a powerful kick that sent Danzo high into the air. Shisui chased him upward instantly, his body wrapped in a streak of flame as he followed through with a blazing upward slash.
The strike would have split a lesser shinobi in half.
Danzo twisted in mid-air.
Wind Style: Vacuum Wave.
A violent arc of wind chakra slammed downward. It struck Shisui in the middle of his attack and hurled him into the cliffside.
Stone shattered on impact.
Shisui dropped to one knee.
Blood now dripped from his mouth.
Danzo landed smoothly on the stone ground.
"You are stalling," he said calmly.
Shisui did not respond.
Instead, his eyes flicked briefly toward the dark forest behind Danzo.
He was waiting.
Danzo noticed the glance.
Then he smiled.
A dry and unpleasant sound escaped him.
"You are waiting for someone."
Shisui remained silent.
Danzo's visible eye gleamed.
"Itachi Uchiha will not be coming."
Shisui's jaw tightened.
Danzo's smile widened slightly.
"He has been… preoccupied with a task tonight," Danzo continued calmly. "And I do not believe your crow messenger will be leaving this forest either."
The meaning behind those words was sharp.
More chakra signatures began to appear along the tree line.
Root.
More of them.
Again and again, figures stepped forward from the darkness.
Shisui exhaled slowly.
Now he understood.
This had never been a simple ambush.
It was a trap layered upon another trap.
Danzo lifted his hand.
Ten more Root operatives stepped into the moonlight.
Shisui now stood surrounded.
He was bleeding.
His chakra reserves were dropping.
And he was alone.
Danzo's voice cut through the wind.
"End this."
The Root operatives surged forward.
Shisui's Sharingan burned brighter.
Flash Double.
Two shadow clones appeared beside him instantly and intercepted the first wave of attackers.
Steel clashed rapidly across the cliffside.
One clone vanished in smoke after a blade pierced its chest. The second clone managed to cut down a Root operative before it disappeared under a wind-infused strike.
Danzo moved again.
Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere - Fallen Leaves.
A series of precise slashes ended with a compressed burst of wind chakra that struck Shisui directly. The blast threw him backward across the stone.
He slid dangerously close to the cliff edge.
Another Root operative lunged toward him.
Shisui reacted instantly.
Fire Style: Flame Bombs.
A burst of fire exploded from the edge of his blade at close range. The attacker was blasted off the cliff, screaming as he fell into the darkness below.
Three more Root operatives rushed him at once.
Their blades flashed toward him from different angles.
Shisui spun and cut the first attacker down with a fast slash.
The second blade stabbed into his thigh.
Shisui hissed through clenched teeth as pain surged through his leg.
He retaliated immediately.
Uchiha Style: Halo Dance.
A ring of fire erupted from his sword and expanded outward. The flames forced the attackers back as their cloaks caught fire.
The wind around the cliff howled louder.
Danzo stepped forward calmly.
Wind Style: Giant Vacuum Bullets.
A massive sphere of compressed wind chakra roared toward Shisui.
He dodged to the left.
But Danzo followed instantly.
Vacuum Blast Barrage.
Multiple arcs of wind chakra struck Shisui while he was still moving.
The attacks slammed into him and threw his body across the stone ground.
He crashed hard.
Hard enough that his vision flickered.
Blood pooled beneath him.
The Root operatives advanced slowly.
Danzo approached as well, his cane tapping lightly against the stone.
"Give up, Shisui Uchiha," Danzo said calmly. "Your idealism ends here."
Shisui's breathing grew heavier.
But he slowly forced himself back to his feet.
"What are you saying?" he asked.
He paused for a moment.
Then he smiled faintly.
"I could do this all day."
For a brief moment, the world seemed to slow.
Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan spun violently inside his eye.
A massive surge of chakra exploded outward from his body.
A skeletal arm made of glowing green chakra burst into existence and swept across the battlefield. The enormous limb smashed three Root operatives away as if they were nothing more than insects.
The ground beneath Shisui cracked under the pressure of the released power.
A towering spectral figure began to form around him.
A half-formed upper body of a warrior made of ethereal chakra armor materialized around Shisui.
Half Upper Susanoo.
The massive guardian towered above the battlefield. Its form looked fierce and almost demonic, with a red tomoe glowing at the center of its chest. One of its enormous arms held a drill-shaped spear that radiated burning chakra.
Danzo's eye widened slightly.
"So," he said calmly, "you finally resort to it."
Shisui stood inside the Susanoo's chest, surrounded by the glowing chakra armor.
Blood continued to flow from his wounds, but his expression had become calm and focused.
"Susanoo: Fire Thrust."
The giant drill-shaped spear swung downward with devastating force. It tore through stone and flesh alike. The attack continued with two powerful drilling thrusts that ripped through the battlefield before ending in a massive explosion of fire that engulfed nearly half the cliffside.
Several Root operatives were consumed by the flames instantly.
Danzo escaped only by leaping away with the help of wind chakra.
Shisui attacked again.
"Susanoo: Gouge."
The enormous spear slammed into the ground.
The earth erupted violently as the impact shattered the stone surface. Several surviving Root operatives were thrown high into the air by the explosion.
"Susanoo: Tsukumo."
The massive spear shot forward like a drilling projectile. It pierced through two airborne operatives at the same time before flinging their bodies apart like burning debris.
Danzo retaliated immediately.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere Rain."
A barrage of compressed wind spheres fell from above like deadly rain. The attacks slammed repeatedly against the Susanoo's armor.
Cracks began to appear across the glowing chakra shell.
Shisui gritted his teeth as the pressure increased.
"Susanoo: Flame Spiral."
He raised the massive spear high above his head.
Then he brought it crashing down with overwhelming force.
The flaming strike carved across the entire cliffside like divine judgment. A massive spiral of fire tore through the battlefield and consumed the remaining Root operatives in a raging inferno.
The flames roared for several seconds.
Then silence slowly returned.
Smoke drifted through the air.
Bodies burned across the shattered ground.
The Susanoo flickered but still remained around Shisui.
Not far away, Danzo had fallen to his knees. His clothes were scorched, and his body looked badly burned.
For a brief moment, the battlefield seemed finished.
Then suddenly, a blade pierced through Shisui's back.
The sword pushed through the Susanoo's weakened armor.
Through his chest.
Shisui's eyes widened.
Behind him stood Danzo.
Alive.
Unharmed.
The Danzo that Shisui had destroyed moments earlier dissolved like an illusion.
The real Danzo twisted the blade deeper inside Shisui's body.
Blood spilled from Shisui's mouth.
Danzo's free hand shot upward toward Shisui's face.
Then he ripped the Mangekyō Sharingan from Shisui's right eye.
Pain beyond anything Shisui had ever experienced flooded his body.
The Susanoo shattered instantly, its glowing armor breaking apart into fading fragments of chakra.
Shisui collapsed forward onto the ground.
Danzo stepped back slowly, holding the bloody eye in his hand.
He stared at it with cold satisfaction.
"At last," he murmured quietly.
Danzo had used Izanagi from the eye hidden behind the bandages on his face. The illusion had allowed him to survive the devastating attack from Shisui's Susanoo.
Now that the battle had ended, he calmly reached up and began removing the bandages wrapped around his face. His intention was clear. He planned to place Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan into his own eye socket.
But something unexpected happened.
The world tilted.
Yet Shisui did not fall.
His remaining eye suddenly flared with power.
Izanagi.
A violent pulse of chakra exploded outward from his body.
Reality twisted once again.
Danzo staggered slightly as he looked down at his hand.
The stolen eye was gone.
It was no longer in his grasp.
Instead, it had returned to where it belonged.
Back inside Shisui's socket.
However, the price for using Izanagi was severe.
Darkness consumed Shisui's left eye completely.
The eye had turned blind forever.
Even so, he remained standing, though his body swayed slightly from exhaustion and blood loss.
Danzo's expression darkened immediately.
"You dare…!" he began coldly.
The deep wound in Shisui's chest had closed because of Izanagi, but the rest of his injuries remained. Blood still stained his clothes, and his breathing had grown heavier.
Shisui spoke quietly.
"Even if I die… I will not let you take it."
His body was nearly out of strength.
His chakra reserves were almost gone.
He could barely remain standing.
Danzo stepped forward slowly, his expression filled with anger and frustration.
Shisui staggered backward step by step.
Each movement brought him closer to the cliff behind him.
The wind howled violently as it rose from the deep valley below.
For a brief moment, the two men locked eyes.
"You cannot escape again," Danzo said coldly.
Shisui smiled faintly.
"I am not escaping."
Then he stepped backward into empty air.
Danzo lunged forward instantly, trying to grab him.
But he was too late.
Shisui's body fell away from the cliff.
Within seconds, he disappeared into the dark abyss below.
Danzo rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the endless darkness.
"Damn you, Shisui Uchiha!" he shouted in fury.
The wind carried his voice into the valley below.
Danzo remained standing at the edge of the cliff, his anger greater than words could express.
A few moments later, several Root operatives arrived behind him.
They knelt silently.
Danzo did not turn around.
"I want his body," he ordered coldly.
The Root operatives immediately moved to carry out the command.
Far below the cliff, the darkness swallowed everything.