Hey guys, here is the new chapter hope you will liked and read thru everything.
Also for a extra chapter 100 powerstone
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Enjoy the chapter!
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The sunset beginning to fall over Konoha did not bring the usual peace to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The sky had turned a violet hue, streaked with dark clouds that threatened rain.
At the main gates of the village, the air changed suddenly. The guards on duty, who until a moment ago were joking about the price of sake at the local tavern, fell silent. An unnatural cold, a pressure that came not from the wind but from the spirit, slid down the wooded path.
Then they appeared. It was not the triumphal return the village expected after the reports of holding Kikyō. It was a procession of ghosts.
The ninjas of the Uchiha Clan, men and women who usually walked with a pride that bordered on arrogance, now advanced with splintered armor, scratched forehead protectors, and Police Force uniforms soaked in a mixture of their own blood and that of others.
At the head of the column, Shisui Uchiha walked with his gaze fixed on the horizon, as if fearing that if he blinked, reality would once again become the hell he had just left behind.
On his shoulders, he carried the body of Fugaku. The leader of the clan, the man who commanded respect even from the Hokage, hung limp.
His face was hidden behind improvised bandages, but the trail of dried blood running down his jaw told the story of a fight that everyone was dying to hear.
"Make way! Medical unit to the main gates!" shouted one of the guards, his voice cracking with urgency.
The news spread like wildfire across the village rooftops. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, arrived in a burst of speed immediately upon receiving the word, flanked by his personal guard.
Seeing the state of the troops he had sent to drive Suna out of the Land of Fire, his eyes usually weary from administration filled with a profound seriousness. There were no immediate questions; the state of Fugaku and the trauma in the eyes of the ninjas were answer enough.
"Take them to the hospital," Hiruzen ordered with an authority that admitted no defiance.
"Every available doctor, from interns to medical jutsu masters, is to concentrate on the Uchiha wing. Now!"
With the Hokage's orders, the medical ninjas began to move rapidly to help everyone in need, focusing primarily on the clan leader.
While stretchers flew through the corridors of the Konoha Hospital, a much somber meeting was brewing in the Hokage Tower.
The office was steeped in a heavy gloom, thick with the scent of tobacco from Hiruzen's pipe and the stale aroma of ancient scrolls.
Shisui Uchiha stood in the center of the room, surrounded by the village's figures of authority. To Hiruzen's left, the advisors Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane watched him with a mixture of pity.
To the right, hidden in the densest shadows, Danzō Shimura remained motionless, his visible eye fixed on the young Uchiha as if he wanted to dissect his soul.
"Speak, Shisui," Hiruzen said, his voice sounding calm to soothe the child, who looked as if he had just emerged from hell.
"Tell us what happened in Kikyō. You are the only one in a condition to tell us the truth."
Shisui swallowed hard. His hands trembled slightly, a sign of post-traumatic stress he could not hide.
He recounted the battle in a monotonous voice, describing the start of the attack how everything was going well, even when they infiltrated to rescue the hostages.
He told them how Pakura of the Scorch Release and a squad ambushed them, detailing how his comrades were turned into mummies or eliminated quickly, leaving him to fight Pakura alone.
Fortunately, something happened in the main battle that drew her attention and allowed him to escape.
By the time he reached the main scene, he saw Rasa's golden dome and everything else. But when he reached the climax, his voice dropped to a whisper.
"Leader Fugaku... used a technique. He called it Akuma no Bansan (The Devils' Banquet)."
Shisui described the effect. He did not speak of the Susanoo, just as Fugaku had ordered him in a brief moment of lucidity, but he could not hide the magnitude of the genjutsu.
He explained how Suna's army turned into a frenetic mass of ninjas murdering each other, convinced that their friends were enemies. He described how Rasa and Pakura, the pillars of Sunagakure, massacred their own men under the influence of Fugaku's eyes.
The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the crackle of Hiruzen's pipe.
"Thank you very much for the report, Shisui. Make sure you rest and are treated by the medical ninjas. You may go," Hiruzen said, his tone even more peaceful to calm the boy, who nodded and left the room.
With the room in silence, Danzō did not hesitate to break it.
"It is a monstrosity!" Danzō erupted, taking a step forward from his previous position. His voice was a lash of accusation.
"Hiruzen, you knew this Uchiha kept secrets, but this? A genjutsu capable of dismantling the hierarchy of an entire army in seconds? That is not a defensive technique; it is a way to bring down entire nations!"
"Danzō, calm down," Koharu intervened, though her own face was pale. "Fugaku used that ability to save our troops."
"I don't care why he used it!" Danzō roared, slamming his fist onto the table. "Why were we not informed of this capability, Hiruzen? Why does the leader of the Uchiha Clan, a man with access to the village's security secrets, possess a weapon that can turn any Konoha ninja against his own brother? This is a Double-S Rank internal threat! I demand that Fugaku be placed under Root's custody as soon as he wakes. We cannot have him loose with a technique like that!"
Danzō's mind was already spinning with a thousand plans to keep Fugaku under his control.
Hiruzen exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, closing his eyes. The weight of the village's politics was sometimes more destructive than the enemy's jutsus.
"Fugaku Uchiha has just saved the Kikyō front. He has gone blind in one eye and exhausted his life force for this village. I will not allow him to be treated like a war criminal while his wounds are still bleeding. But," Hiruzen looked at Danzō with a seriousness that chilled the air, "I understand your concern, Danzō. But remember I am the Hokage."
At the Konoha Hospital
the hallway of the intensive care unit was guarded by members of the Uchiha Police Force, who allowed no one outside the clan to pass. Mikoto Uchiha crossed the barrier with an expression of stone, though inside she felt her world was collapsing.
She entered Room 402. The rhythmic sound of medical monitors was the only thing filling the space. Fugaku was there, his strong body reduced to a fragile figure under the white sheets. The bandages covering his eyes were soaked with a yellowish serum mixed with blood.
Mikoto sat by his side and took his hand. It was cold, his knuckles raw from combat.
Fugaku moved slightly, his cracked lips murmuring something unintelligible until he managed to focus his voice.
"Mikoto," his voice was barely a hiss.
"I'm here, Fugaku. It's all over. You're home."
"I'm sorry," Fugaku squeezed his wife's
hand, and she could feel his pain. "I promised... I promised I wouldn't use that power... that I wouldn't enter that darkness. But there was no other way. It was them or us. I saw our people on the verge of death... I saw how I would fall, too."
"Don't speak, Fugaku," Mikoto whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks and falling onto her husband's hand.
"You did what a leader had to do. No one can blame you for wanting your clan to come home."
Following Mikoto's words, Fugaku sank back into a sedative-induced sleep.
Kilometers away from Konoha
in the city of Kikyō, the air still hung heavy with the stench of death. The Sunagakure ninjas who survived the "Devils' Banquet" wandered the streets like automatons. The trauma was not just physical; it was mental. They had seen their heroes turn into butchers.
Rasa sat on the edge of a dry fountain, his head in his hands. His gauntlets were dented and stained. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the face of that Genin he had almost crushed with his magnetic sand.
The respect his men once had for him had transformed into a frigid silence. He was a leader who had failed the most basic test: protecting his own from themselves.
Daigo, on the contrary, moved through the camp with a cold tranquility, his white cape moving with the wind. He was personally verifying that everyone was in their positions.
He entered the messengers' room and looked at the ninja tending to the carrier hawks. "Send an encrypted message to the Third Kazekage," Daigo ordered. "Inform him that the Kikyō front has suffered massive casualties due to a previously unknown Uchiha genjutsu. Rasa is unfit for command due to emotional instability. I am assuming total control of field operations. I demand three immediate reinforcement battalions and the reserve puppeteer unit. If Konoha thinks we have retreated, it is the moment to hit them where they least expect it."
After sending the message, Daigo left and headed to one of the noble houses in the city where Pakura had taken refuge.
The room was in shadow. Pakura was sitting in a corner, staring at her own hands; not even the sunlight was allowed to enter.
"Pakura-chan," Daigo said, closing the door behind him.
"Go away, Daigo," she replied, her voice broken. "I don't want you to see me like this. I still feel the heat... I still hear how their bodies dried up under my technique. I killed them all. My own subordinates."
Daigo approached and knelt before her, taking her by the shoulders with a force that compelled her to look at him.
"As I told you before, it is not your fault. It was all the fault of a powerful genjutsu that even I would have fallen victim to," Daigo said, looking at her with his steady gaze.
"I understand, but the guilt won't go away. The blood is on my hands. Every time I close my eyes, I see the faces of our ninjas filled with fear," Pakura explained.
"I think the best thing I can do for you right now, Pakura-chan, is to have you return to Sunagakure with the ninjas in the worst condition," Daigo said smiling at her
"I don't want to go back to Suna," she whispered, tears blurring her eyes. "I can't look at my people without seeing those scenes."
"Then if you don't want to return to Suna, you have to pull yourself together. Be the Pakura I know the one who carries the weight on her shoulders and secures a new day for the village," Daigo said, his voice softer this time.
Daigo drew her to him and wrapped her in a protective embrace. Pakura clung to him like a shipwreck survivor to a plank.
In that moment of extreme vulnerability, Pakura lifted her head and kissed him. It was a sweet kiss, filled with appreciation and affection. Daigo returned the kiss with equal softness, while watching her tears stopping as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment.
Hours later
in the Kikyō command center, the three pillars of the resistance met: Daigo, Sasori, and a Rasa who, although no longer the leader who arrived, was thirsty for vengeance.
"Konoha surely knows everything that happened by now. Judging by their movements, they will surely send more ninjas soon," Daigo said, spreading a map across the table.
"If the reinforcements arrive faster than normal, we will attack this point and this city. That way, we gain high ground to observe their movements before they arrive and a new point to control the Land of Fire."
"Sounds good. I have enough puppets to finish off plenty of Konoha ninjas. Besides, this new hand allows me to control more puppets now, with a total of ten," Sasori said.
"I have no problem if you want me to handle the lookout post," Rasa said, trying to take on the mission.
"To your misfortune, that won't be possible, Rasa. The current ninjas don't trust you. Sasori will handle that. You're coming with me to the city. Sasori, do you have what I asked for?" Daigo asked, looking at the puppet master.
"Yes. I've collected enough Konoha ninja bodies. We'll give them a taste of their own medicine; I just need time to create them."
"Excellent," Daigo nodded. "Rasa, you know the defenses better than I do. We'll also handle cutting the supply routes to konoha by doing that they would need to take us serious."
This time Rasa did not speak; he only nodded as he marked the routes he knew on the map.
The meeting continued as they planned their next moves and waited for reinforcements.
A whole week passed. Seven days of sepulchral silence in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Fugaku Uchiha finally opened his left eye. The morning light felt unbearable, burning his weakened retina, but he could focus on the figure of Mikoto asleep in the chair beside his bed.
He tried to open his left eye. He frowned. He felt the eyelid muscle move, felt the eyeball turn, but there was no light. Nothing. Not a shadow, not a flicker. Only absolute, heavy, and definitive darkness.
He brought his trembling hand to his face, touching the bandages. Reality hit him like a tsunami. He was completely blind in one eye.
The price of the "Devils' Banquet" had been the permanent sacrifice of his right vision.
The Mangekyō had claimed its tribute.
Fugaku stared at the ceiling with his only healthy eye. He could hear the bustle of the village outside people walking around without knowing that their safety had been bought with his blindness and the souls of his comrades.
"The price of survival," Fugaku whispered, his voice breaking in the solitude of the room.
Mikoto woke up at the sound of his voice and, seeing the empty gaze in half of his face, burst into tears, embracing him with a strength that tried to piece together the broken fragments of a man who had just stood back up.
End of Chapter