"We're here. I kept my promise. Now, you can do whatever you want with this guy."
On the outskirts of Konoha Village, in the center of a forest that had just experienced a brutal battle and was completely leveled, Menma and Shisui found the still unconscious, black-haired girl lying on the shattered ground—Uchiha Itachi.
The surrounding scene was shocking. Giant claw marks, deep craters, land completely evaporated, charred wood and molten rocks scattered everywhere… The air still reeked of a pungent burnt smell and the lingering, violent Chakra aura.
Was it the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki… to be able to destroy a battlefield to this extent… And, in that rampaging state, he even specifically left Itachi alive?
But this thought only flashed through Shisui's mind. At this moment, Shisui no longer had the extra mental capacity to delve into the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's abnormal behavior.
All his attention was drawn to the unconscious girl on the ground. He slowly walked forward, squatted down, and gazed with complex emotions at Uchiha Itachi's pale and haggard face.
It could be said that in Shisui's life up to this point, his feelings had never been as complex and inexpressible as they were now.
Just a short while ago, at the moment he decided to jump into the Naka River to die, he had entrusted all his hope, all his trust, and the future of Konoha and the Uchiha Clan, without reservation, to the person before him.
He firmly believed that Itachi could understand his will and find that thorny path to light in the darkness.
However… when he heard the cold, bloody "clan extermination" plan proposed by Itachi himself, what were his feelings then?
Was it the stinging pain of betrayal? The deep disappointment of dashed hopes? Or anger at such extreme and cruel methods?
Perhaps… there was also a hint of "hating that iron cannot be made into steel" that even he was unwilling to admit. Hating her for choosing the most extreme, most thorough method so easily, disappointing his expectations.
But at this moment, looking at the scarred, unconscious girl before him, those intense emotions gradually settled down. In their place was a deeper, more bitter introspection.
At this point, Menma shifted his gaze from the unconscious Itachi to the silent Shisui beside him. "I remember… your other eye should still be with her, right? I need to retrieve it now… This process might be accompanied by some unpredictable reactions, I hope you can understand."
In fact, Menma was also a little unsure. Crazy Diamond's ability principle was "restoration," restoring an object or body to its proper, or the user's perceived, "original state."
But in this situation… Shisui's right eye socket now contained a three-tomoe Sharingan. Should this be considered a "missing part" or an "implanted foreign object"?
Like a person who lost a leg and got a prosthetic limb, when Crazy Diamond's power is applied, will it restore his original flesh and blood leg, or will it "restore" that prosthetic limb to be even sturdier? This was his first time attempting a situation involving body part ownership and transplantation.
But no matter the outcome, no matter the uncertainty, that Mangekyo Sharingan containing the power of Kotoamatsukami absolutely could not remain with Uchiha Itachi. Menma had to try.
Shisui immediately understood Menma's intention. Although recalling the eerie scene of Danzo's eyeball flying out on its own still sent shivers down his spine, he knew that Itachi could no longer possess that eye which could silently alter others' wills.
That power was too dangerous, both for Itachi himself and for the entire situation.
He did not hesitate at all, nodding solemnly, indicating complete understanding and acceptance of any consequences. Then, he raised his hand and slowly removed the fox mask from his face, revealing his delicate but heavily tired countenance beneath.
Immediately after, under Menma's slightly astonished gaze, Shisui's movements were astonishingly fast—he extended a finger, precisely and swiftly probing into his own right eye.
Menma could even hear an extremely faint, teeth-gratingly sticky sound.
The next moment, Shisui, without changing his expression, actually plucked out his recently replaced, still functioning three-tomoe Sharingan directly from its eye socket! Fresh red blood immediately began to seep slowly from the empty socket.
There was not the slightest hesitation or tremor throughout the entire process.
Menma's mind began to go wild with complaints.
No… While I did complain before that your Uchiha Clan's Sharingan are like USB drives, plug and play… isn't your operation of directly plucking out eyeballs with bare hands, without changing your expression, a little too practiced?!
Does this part really have no pain nerves?!
Although he felt extremely speechless, even a little creeped out, by the Uchiha Clan's "traditional art" of plucking and implanting eyeballs with bare hands, Menma knew he absolutely could not show any unusual emotions at this moment.
He could only maintain a facade of silence and calmness, concentrating his thoughts on his Stand.
As his mind moved, the azure Stand that only he could see—Crazy Diamond—slowly placed its hand, imbued with the power of "restoration," gently on Shisui's shoulder.
An invisible wave of spiritual energy rippled out, centered on the Stand's hand.
Immediately, unnatural cries of crows, forcibly pulled from afar, came from the distant sky, growing clearer as they approached.
Menma glanced at the three-tomoe Sharingan in Shisui's hand, which had not changed at all, and his heart settled slightly.
It seems Crazy Diamond's "restoration" priority is to consider it a "foreign object not belonging to Shisui's body," so the power directly acted to find and recall that "original," "lost" Mangekyo Sharingan. Good, this makes things simpler.
When the somewhat flustered crow, forcibly dragged from a distant summoning node by an invisible force, flapped its wings and flew closer, Menma stopped the output of his ability at the opportune moment.
He reached out and precisely grasped the neck of this special crow, bringing it under control.
Shisui felt the strange pulling sensation on his body disappear. Silently, and with that same practiced motion that made Menma's eyelids twitch, he reinserted the still warm, blood-stained three-tomoe Sharingan he held in his hand back into his empty right eye socket, gently rotating it a few times to adjust its position.
Menma. "…"
His inner self had given up complaining and chose numb acceptance.
Just as Menma was holding the struggling crow, wondering how to safely extract the Mangekyo Sharingan sealed within its body—
Shisui, beside him, acted again. In his newly reinstalled right eye, the three tomoe slowly rotated, and a subtle wave of ocular power instantly enveloped the crow.
The next moment, something strange happened. The crow's entire body began to twist and dissipate like smoke, eventually turning completely into countless scattered black feathers.
And at the center of that dissipation, a slowly floating Mangekyo Sharingan with an eerie, crimson pattern quietly hovered in mid-air—it was precisely the eye containing the power of Kotoamatsukami, originally belonging to Shisui.
— — — — — —
"To imprison her in an absolutely safe place? I understand."
Ultimately, after much internal struggle and deliberation, this was Shisui's first, and currently most prudent, decision.
He intended to first completely seal Itachi's Chakra, strip her of her dangerous power source—the Mangekyo Sharingan—and then secretly confine her, now without power, in a safe place for a long period of imprisonment and reflection.
"Mm…"
Shisui's tone was incredibly heavy, filled with deep self-reproach. "I also bear an inescapable guilt for all of this. It was I who presumptuously imposed overly heavy expectations and guidance that could lead her astray… Before this guilt is fully atoned for, I will… atone with her…"
Menma had no objection to this, simply nodding slightly. This method of handling, imbued with repentance and redemption, was entirely within his expectations.
In fact, if Shisui had demanded Itachi's execution due to extreme disappointment and anger, that would have surprised and puzzled him.
Then, Menma leaned down and removed the Mangekyo Sharingan from Itachi's eye sockets—eyes that contained immense power but also brought endless pain. The eyeballs were covered in tangled blood vessels; clearly, the continuous use of high-load ocular techniques like Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi tonight had caused immense strain and damage to these recently awakened eyes.
Just as Menma was about to summon Gold Experience to create a pair of ordinary eyes for Itachi's empty sockets, Shisui reached out and gently stopped him.
"Leader…" Shisui's voice was somewhat hoarse, his gaze complex as it fell on Itachi's lifeless, particularly fragile face. "Are you planning… to use that life-giving ability to recreate a pair of eyes for her?"
Menma nodded, confirming his guess.
"…No," Shisui was silent for a moment, but finally shook his head with difficulty. "Let's… keep it this way for now. Itachi… her mistakes require corresponding punishment… Perhaps… being unable to see for a while is a… necessary disciplinary measure for her and for everyone. Let's leave it at that for now."
Making this decision clearly tormented Shisui, but he ultimately adhered to this painful "justice."
He hoped that through this method, Itachi would truly experience the taste of losing power and the heavy consequences of her actions.
Menma looked deeply at Shisui, understanding his choice born from a complex state of mind. He did not insist further, simply nodding again and withdrawing the hand he had prepared to activate his ability.
"Let's go."
Shisui bent down and carefully hoisted the unconscious black-haired girl onto his shoulder. Menma then placed one hand on Shisui's shoulder and the other on Itachi's.
The next moment, the faint blue light of the Flying Thunder God technique flickered, completely enveloping the three figures. The light flared brightly and then immediately extinguished, leaving only emptiness and silence in its place.