As he spoke, his figure vanished and reappeared in front of Shisui and Itachi. The ability he displayed made it seem like instant movement, closing the distance in a flash. The pressure felt tangible, crushing down on their nerves.
"And I came here to help you patch those holes," Obito Uchiha said in a low voice.
"You," Shisui said hoarsely, his throat tightening. "What did you say?"
Before he could finish speaking, sudden footsteps echoed through the darkness. The sound instantly put both of them on edge, and they turned their heads sharply. A figure dressed like ANBU stepped out, its body writhing like rotten sludge.
Under the shocked gazes of Itachi and Shisui, the figure turned into a pale humanoid creature within a few breaths. Then it changed again, becoming the exact appearance of Yashiro Uchiha. It stood there calmly in front of them.
"This feeling," Shisui Uchiha said gravely, his Sharingan focused. "Not just the appearance, but even the Chakra fluctuations and presence are identical." This was not something a simple transformation technique could achieve.
When Itachi Uchiha saw the white humanoid mimicry and recalled "Madara's" words, a dangerously tempting possibility surfaced in his mind. He suddenly turned his head toward "Madara," his voice trembling. "You mean, every time we kill a target, we replace them with this thing?"
"And the dead clansmen continue to live, so no one notices anything wrong?"
Hearing this, Shisui Uchiha also realized it, his pupils shrinking slightly.
"At least you are not beyond saving," Obito Uchiha said with faint approval mixed with amusement. "These creatures are called 'White Zetsu'. After I survived back then, they were created using Hashirama Senju's Wood Release cells."
"After absorbing a target's Chakra, they can take on the same appearance, presence, and Chakra fluctuations. Even the closest people or sensing Ninja cannot tell the difference."
"They will replace the clansmen you kill and continue playing their roles until you decide the time is right."
The White Zetsu grinned widely at Shisui and Itachi, its smile chilling. "Hehe, nice to meet you. Leave this kind of thing to me."
"Well?" Obito Uchiha asked softly. "Doesn't your plan, full of holes, look much more perfect now?"
Shisui and Itachi exchanged a glance and fell silent. The solution before them was too shocking to immediately accept or reject. Watching the two geniuses hesitate, Obito Uchiha curled his lips beneath the mask, savoring a long-lost sense of superiority.
Since that cursed "shadow" exposed his identity in front of Nagato, he had not felt this way in a long time. Even if he had lost a pair of Rinnegan, what did it matter. The eyes that Madara Uchiha once obtained, he could recreate again.
One day, he would return with new Rinnegan and take everything back.
At the same time, somewhere none of them noticed, things were quiet.
Inside the study, Fugaku Uchiha sat back at his desk and picked up the documents he had not finished reading. His expression remained focused and steady, as if everything that had just happened was no more than a trivial interruption. Occasionally, he would pause and unconsciously rub his temple, but his gaze stayed calm, and his fingers turning the Scroll did not tremble.
Only the cold moonlight outside the window shone through the lattice, falling on a face that was calm to the point of numbness.
Deep within the consciousness already taken over in Shisui's eyes, a trace of Fugaku Uchiha's true self struggled like a drowning man sinking into the deep sea. The mental ocean that once belonged to Fugaku Uchiha now had a Mangekyo Sharingan hanging in the sky like a sun, its green light covering the surface. That was the will-controlling effect of Kotoamatsukami, ruling this mental space.
Yet in the center of that green-covered sea, there remained a small, lonely black island. It preserved the last fragment of Fugaku Uchiha's self.
"Why? Why is this happening?" "Shisui! Itachi! What are you trying to do?!" "Let me out! Let me out!"
Fugaku Uchiha could see the real world outside, but his shouts were completely suppressed within the mental space and could not escape at all. He was like a ghost trapped inside his own body, forced to watch it obey Shisui's commands.
At that moment, a voice with a playful tone sounded behind him.
"Still deceiving yourself?"
The remaining consciousness of Fugaku Uchiha shuddered violently. He turned toward the voice and saw a figure appear behind him. The figure was cloaked in black robes, from which inky liquid flowed like a living thing, spreading over the green sea below.
The sensation felt like erosion.
Only then did Fugaku Uchiha realize that the black island he stood on was the shadow of that figure.
"Who are you?" Fugaku Uchiha asked, his voice filled with shock and vigilance.
Without a doubt, the figure appearing in his mental space was Yunchuan Hyuga. The fragment of consciousness that should have been completely covered was something he had deliberately preserved.
"At this point, do you still not understand your situation?" Yunchuan Hyuga did not answer the question directly. He smiled with near-cruel mockery. "Do you still not see what the son you trusted so deeply, and Shisui Uchiha, intend to use your body for?"
As realization dawned, Fugaku Uchiha began to tremble violently. Itachi and Shisui, could it be that they planned to do that?
"That's right," Yunchuan Hyuga said with a teasing smile. "They will use your body and the trust the clansmen have in you to draw out the radicals, those they see as obstacles."
"One by one, they will kill them by your hand."
Each word stabbed into Fugaku Uchiha's consciousness like a poisoned ice spike.
"No, impossible!" Fugaku Uchiha shook his head in a daze. "Itachi is my son. I have treated Shisui well. How could they do this? How could they betray the clan? How could they slaughter their own people?"
His thoughts were already in chaos. The son and junior he valued were planning a purge against the clan, and they wanted to turn him into their blade.
"Betrayal? Slaughter?" Yunchuan Hyuga said as if he had heard a joke. "What if, in their eyes, this is salvation?"
"Salvation?" Fugaku Uchiha felt an overwhelming sense of absurdity.
"Sacrificing the hopeless radicals in exchange for peace in Konoha," Yunchuan Hyuga whispered like a demon. "What noble righteousness, isn't it?"
"No, I don't believe it. Itachi wouldn't. Shisui wouldn't," Fugaku Uchiha muttered weakly.
Those so-called radicals were his clansmen, living people with parents, spouses, and children. How could their lives be taken so easily under the excuse of sacrifice? How could anyone deny their right to live so simply?
Sacrifice meant giving up one's life by choice. What right did Shisui and Itachi have to force that choice on others?
"Believe it or not, it doesn't matter," Yunchuan Hyuga said as the black liquid beneath his robe grew thicker, firmly sustaining Fugaku Uchiha's last bit of clarity. "Because you will see it soon."
He slowly raised his head and looked at the Mangekyo Sharingan hanging in the sky.
"Feel it properly, Fugaku Uchiha," he said with a pleasure that bordered on cruelty. "Feel the pain of being betrayed by those closest to you."
"Feel the helplessness of losing everything because of your hesitation and cowardice."
"Feel the despair of watching yourself destroy everything you cherish."
"In the end, regret it, hate it, and beg."
"Your pain, your helplessness, your despair, your hatred, and your pleas," he continued softly. "They are the most essential movement in this perfect tragedy."