The setting sun dyed Konoha's sky in shades of crimson and gold.
Orange-red light spilled across the training grounds, stretching long shadows across the earth.
Naruto sat on the ground, panting heavily as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Old man, isn't today's training enough already?" he groaned. "I'm seriously about to drop dead from exhaustion!"
Inside the sealing space, Madara crossed his arms and shot him a cold glance.
"And you're already complaining at this level?"
"Hey! I've been training nonstop for five straight hours!" Naruto protested indignantly.
Madara was just about to mock him further when his Sharingan suddenly stirred.
His gaze shifted sharply toward the distant forest.
A familiar fluctuation of chakra rippled through the air—
Uchiha chakra.
And not just that… it was engaged in fierce combat.
"That's enough for today's training," Madara said suddenly, his voice sinking into something cold and dangerous.
"You can get up now."
Naruto froze. "Huh? What's wrong?"
"Someone's causing trouble on Konoha's territory."
Madara's lips curled into a chilling smile. "I'm curious to see who's got the nerve."
Naruto blinked. "Uh… so?"
He genuinely didn't understand Madara's reaction.
Back then, Madara had personally said that Konoha, the Hokage—none of it mattered to him.
So why did he suddenly look like this is my turf, and I'll kill anyone who dares stir shit here?
"So—"
Madara's voice carried unquestionable authority.
"Right now. Immediately. We're going to take a look."
Konoha's Border — Forest Training Grounds
The training grounds at the edge of Konoha were stained blood-red by the setting sun.
In the deathly quiet of the forest, Uchiha Shisui's breathing sounded unnaturally loud.
His right hand clenched a kunai tightly, his knuckles bleached white from the strain.
Twelve Root operatives closed in from all directions like specters, their masks reflecting a cold gleam under the twilight.
A shuriken suddenly tore through the air.
Shisui twisted aside, but in the same instant, three figures lunged at him from different angles.
His hands flashed through seals.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame Technique!"
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
A blazing fire dragon roared forward, only to be intercepted mid-charge by a rising wall of water.
White steam exploded outward, momentarily halting the Root unit's advance.
"So you really are worthy of the name Shisui of the Body Flicker."
Danzō Shimura emerged slowly, leaning on his cane.
"But today—there's nowhere left for you to run."
Shisui grit his teeth. His Sharingan spun rapidly, capturing every enemy movement.
Their formation was terrifyingly precise—
Three-man cells, each maintaining flawless offensive and defensive spacing.
More horrifying still—
They had completely discarded individuality.
They moved like perfectly calibrated killing machines.
"Lord Danzō,"
Shisui suppressed the turbulence in his chakra, his voice steady.
"You know very well that Kotoamatsukami exists to prevent a coup within the Uchiha clan. This plan was personally approved by the Third Hokage."
Danzō's mouth twisted into a grotesque smile.
"Using the strongest genjutsu to placate a group of traitors?"
"What a waste."
His cane tapped softly against the ground.
"Hand it over to me. I can extract far greater value from it—for Konoha."
A chill crawled down Shisui's spine.
Through his Sharingan, he could see it clearly—
The chakra flow beneath Danzō's bandages was abnormally turbid.
As if it were… mixed with something that didn't belong to him.
"So that's it…"
Shisui's pupils shrank violently.
"You've already—"
Before he could finish—
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet!"
A compressed blast of air screamed toward him.
Shisui vanished in a flash—but in that instant, another enemy had already completed his seals.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The ground beneath Shisui liquefied into mud.
"Hah!"
With a roar, chakra detonated beneath his feet, launching him skyward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
But waiting above was the third squad—
Six shuriken wrapped with explosive tags hurtled toward him simultaneously.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Shisui crashed to the ground amid fire and smoke.
His forehead protector was blown away. Blood streamed from his temple, blurring the vision in his left eye.
Worse still—
His chakra was draining at an alarming rate.
"…Damn it. Poison smoke."
Shisui dropped to one knee.
"Your final chance, Shisui,"
Danzō hissed like a venomous serpent.
"Hand over Kotoamatsukami, and I'll grant you a dignified death."
Shisui suddenly laughed, blood dripping from his chin.
"Lord Danzō… have you forgotten how I earned the name Shisui of the Body Flicker?"
His hands became blurs, seals forming faster than even the Sharingan could track.
"Phantom Body Flicker Technique!"
Dozens of Shisui clones erupted into existence—
Each radiating genuine chakra.
For the first time, the Root formation faltered.
They couldn't distinguish the real body.
"Useless."
Danzō sneered, forming a strange, ancient hand sign.
"Wood Style: Silent Binding!"
Shisui's blood ran cold.
Wood Style?!
That was the First Hokage's exclusive kekkei genkai—
How could Danzō possibly possess it?
Before he could react, wooden vines burst from the ground, instantly binding one Shisui.
The rest of the clones vanished.
This was Danzō's true killing move.
He had already planted Wood Style seeds throughout the battlefield.
The vines constricted mercilessly.
Shisui's ribs creaked under the pressure.
Worse—
They were absorbing his chakra.
"Surprised?"
Danzō approached slowly.
"Do you really think I've lived this long without reason?"
"Y–You—AAAHHH!!!"
In Shisui's scream, Danzō plunged his hand forward—
And tore out Shisui's right eye alive.
Blood dripped between his fingers.
"For Konoha," Danzō said calmly,
"Any power is worth pursuing."
Shisui's vision blurred, but he stared at Danzō with unwavering hatred.
"You've… fallen…"
"No," Danzō replied coldly.
"It's you Uchiha who are too naïve."
He reached for the left eye.
"Farewell, Shisui of the Body Flicker—"
At that instant—
Shisui's left eye exploded with an eerie crimson light.
The Mangekyō pattern spun wildly as an unprecedented surge of chakra erupted.
"What—?!"
Danzō recoiled in shock.
Emerald chakra burst skyward like a volcanic eruption, condensing into a colossal skeletal frame.
Nerves.
Muscle.
Armor.
Susanoo — First Stage.
The giant fist slammed downward.
The ground collapsed instantly.
Three Root operatives were crushed into pulp.
Danzō rolled desperately out of the way, his sleeve shredded by the shockwave—revealing a grotesquely pale arm beneath.
"How is this possible…?"
His voice trembled for the first time.
"Activating Susanoo with only one eye?!"
Susanoo was the ultimate ocular technique of the Mangekyō Sharingan—
Recorded history stated it required both eyes pushed to their limits.
And yet—
Shisui stood within it with only one.
Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and ears.
But his gaze remained unshaken.
"Danzō… you'll never… understand… the power of the Uchiha…"
The emerald giant raised a spiraling greatsword, chakra flames coiling around the blade.
If it fell—
The entire training ground would be erased.
But just before the strike—
Susanoo began to collapse.
Shisui's chakra was exhausted.
The massive warrior shattered like glass.
He fell heavily to the ground, consciousness fading.
Danzō crawled from cover, a feral grin on his face.
"It seems… victory still belongs to me…"
Dragging his battered body forward, greed gleamed in his single eye.
"The strongest genjutsu eye… will be mine…"
Just as his fingers reached Shisui's eyelid—
A golden blur struck between them like lightning!
Danzō was kicked away, crashing through three trees before stopping.
He looked up in terror—
Uzumaki Naruto stood before Shisui.
But what terrified him more—
Was Naruto's right eye, glowing with a crimson three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Shimura Danzō…"
Naruto spoke—
But the voice was deep. Mature. Cold.
"The little brat who used to trail behind Tobirama…
Your methods are still just as revolting."
Danzō's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
That voice—
He would recognize it even in death.
"U–Uchiha… Madara?!"
"Dare lay a hand on an Uchiha…"
"Have you prepared yourself to die?"