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Despite the searing pain in his nearly bleeding eyes, Uchiha Shisui forcefully activated his Susanoo.
With a roar, a towering, emerald-green spectral warrior erupted from him — fierce and majestic — wielding a massive war spear. Without hesitation, it swung downward, aiming straight at Ye Dou.
Ye Dou's expression was solemn, but he didn't retreat. He poured more chakra into his blade, forcing himself to meet the attack head-on.
"Gravity Cut!"
Boom!
The gravity-infused blade collided with the war spear. The impact shook the entire battlefield — a violent shockwave tore through the air, uprooting trees and sending debris flying like shrapnel.
"Ugh!"
With just a single exchange, Ye Dou coughed blood and was sent flying backward. His sword shattered into fragments upon impact and scattered across the forest floor.
He had faced Root operatives before and never bled — yet, against Uchiha Shisui, he was wounded in moments.
But this wasn't the fault of the Root ninja. After all, even Shimura Danzo and his elite didn't dare face off against a fully manifested Susanoo.
Only Ye Dou was this reckless — or perhaps this resolute — choosing to fight head-on.
Shisui, however, didn't emerge unscathed. That slash had driven him and his Susanoo deep into the earth, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
> [Mangekyō Sharingan fully synchronized — Susanoo Fourth Form Activated]
Boom!
Even protected by Susanoo, Shisui was slammed into the ground with crushing force, a crater opening beneath him. Ye Dou's slash was more than brute strength — the gravitational pressure behind it attacked from within, bypassing normal defenses.
Susanoo could shield against blades — but not against the crushing force of gravity itself.
"Damn it… What kind of jutsu is this? It's not Doton: Added-Weight Rock Technique, the effect is far more extreme… ngh…"
As he stood, Shisui clutched his left eye, which throbbed with excruciating pain.
The earlier battle with Danzo and the Root ANBU had taken its toll. His chakra was drained, and his Mangekyō Sharingan was now bleeding profusely — his dojutsu nearing its limit.
"I can't collapse… I still haven't completed my mission…"
His vision blurred. His breathing grew heavier. But before he could steady himself—
Whoosh!
The air split with a sonic crack.
Ye Dou, despite his injuries, returned — faster and fiercer than before.
Shunpo — 'Shave'!
He darted across the tree trunks in a blur, accelerating with each step by harnessing recoil force — a technique akin to the Rokushiki from distant lands.
The shattered sword was gone. In its place, a fresh one gleamed, chakra already surging through its edge.
"Why do you stand in my way?!" Shisui shouted, his hair flaring wildly as he summoned Susanoo once more.
Boom!
Shisui's chakra erupted with terrifying clarity. His Susanoo grew even more defined — armor thicker, eyes blazing with fury, its ethereal body now in its Fourth Form: a towering warrior clad in nearly impenetrable defense and armed with devastating power.
Even its gaze seemed to burn with Shisui's unrelenting anger.
"You'll die here!"
Despite blood still pouring from his eyes, Shisui roared and drove his Susanoo forward, hurling the massive spear at Ye Dou like a meteor.
But Ye Dou stood firm.
He gathered chakra, his new blade crackling with raw force — then leapt straight at the oncoming spear.
Boom!
The collision of their attacks released an even more devastating shockwave. This time, neither Shisui nor Ye Dou was sent flying. Their powers clashed in a deadlock.
This blow was a decisive one — a contest of life and death.
From the shadows, Shimura Danzo and his Root operatives finally arrived — but Danzo held up a hand.
He wouldn't interfere — not yet.
Let the two hounds tear each other apart. When both were down, he would swoop in and claim the prize: Shisui's eyes.
Suddenly—
As Shisui focused everything on Ye Dou, a shuriken beneath his feet puffed into smoke.
A Shadow Clone.
From behind him, Ye Dou's clone reappeared — a perfect mimic of the one in front — and without hesitation, struck.
"Tch—!"
Shisui's senses screamed, but it was too late.
The clone's hand became a blade of chakra — and stabbed straight into Shisui's left eye socket.
"AAAHH!!"
Blood spurted. Shisui screamed in agony as his left Mangekyō Sharingan was ripped from his eye.
"I'll take the other one too!"
With Susanoo flickering and collapsing, Ye Dou lunged forward with his real body, aiming for Shisui's remaining eye.
Though a single Mangekyō was rare and powerful, a pair was far more valuable — capable of awakening the perfect form of Susanoo, and unlocking forbidden techniques like Kotoamatsukami.
But at that exact moment—
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Danzo struck.
A massive compressed blast of wind screamed through the trees, tearing toward Ye Dou like a spinning guillotine.
Ye Dou grimaced, and raised his sword just in time.
Boom!
Caught off guard, he was blasted away by the full force of the jutsu, slamming into a tree. Blood trickled from his mouth as he stood, staggering.
His clone, however, wasn't destroyed — and escaped with the stolen eye in hand.
Half of the mission was complete.
"One more…" Ye Dou muttered through gritted teeth.
He wasn't finished yet.
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