"If I'm gonna die today, I'm taking someone with me!"
Masako glared venomously at Hanataki and Kakuzu.
"…"
Hanataki just stared.
Masako was right about Hidan.
Hidan couldn't die without his body. But with just a head, he couldn't do anything either. It was basically the same as being dead.
Hanataki glanced at Kakuzu. "Go find Sasori."
Kakuzu nodded.
He was no match for these three in the first place. Now, with only one heart left, caution was paramount.
Hanataki sending him after Sasori was perfect. The journey would give him more than enough time to collect five new hearts. This old man felt naked, insecure, without a full set.
Kakuzu's figure vanished from Shisui's line of sight.
None of the three dared move to stop him.
They knew the real threat was the masked man right in front of them.
Shisui thought of Tsurugi. His gaze, when it returned to the masked figure, was complex. He wanted to kill this man. Bury forever the connection between him and Tsurugi. That way, Tsurugi would never know her sister was her enemy. She would never feel that pain.
But this masked man's strength was unfathomable.
Shisui's only real weapon was the Kotoamatsukami.
Kotoamatsukami!
His pupils flickered. He could use it. Change this man's will. Bring him back to Konoha. Not only would Tsurugi reunite with family, but Konoha would lose an enemy and gain a powerful ally.
Hanataki had no idea Shisui had decided, in under a minute, to use the Kotoamatsukami on him.
Right now, he was thinking about how to subtly let these three off the hook.
Ah.
No.
Not off the hook. He needed to let them off the entire damn fishing boat.
"Alright! No point holding back against an opponent like this!"
A fresh spear materialized in Masako's hand. Purple flames erupted along its length. She leapt high into the air and drove it down towards Hanataki's position.
Her eyes held an edge sharper than her spear's point. Her body coiled, the force behind the strike unreal.
BOOM!
Purple light erupted into the earth beneath Hanataki's feet.
The sound of shattering, tearing ground exploded in his ears.
Almost instantly, the purple light flowed like liquid fire, solidifying into several beams of light that trapped Hanataki in a cage.
From above came the piercing shriek of air—Masako, spear-first, aiming for the crown of his head.
Hanataki glanced up. The cold gleam of the spear-point reflected in his eyes.
He thought, I underestimated Uchiha Masako.
This girl… her strength wasn't inferior to Juri's.
A silvery-white light gathered in Hanataki's palm and met the spear's tip.
Masako's eyes widened. The spear vanished from her grip. Her own momentum carried her helplessly towards the masked man.
From a distance, Shisui and Juri frowned. Seeing the spear suddenly flying back towards them, Juri leapt, twisted in mid-air, and snatched Masako's spear from its trajectory.
"Masako, watch out!"
The strange pattern in Juri's eyes spun.
Time itself seemed to stutter.
The light beams about to pierce Masako's heart were reflected back in an impossible arc, shooting towards Hanataki.
Hanataki tilted his head. The light missed him by inches.
Masako's fist blazed with purple light. Bone and sinew seemed to encase it, enlarging it several times over.
The distance between Hanataki and Masako, after the earlier exchange, was point-blank.
By all logic, at this range, the punch was impossible to avoid.
Hanataki, however, existed outside of logic.
He flickered. Vanished.
The person now in the path of Masako's fist was Shisui.
Hanataki reappeared beside Juri.
Juri's pupils shrank to pinpricks. He jerked backwards, his speed surpassing any limit he'd ever known. The raw, primal instinct to survive.
"Fast reflexes."
Hanataki watched Juri, who had retreated to the same line as Masako and Shisui, and gave a slight smile.
Juri's breathing hitched. Cold sweat soaked his back.
"Are you okay?!"
Masako looked at Juri. Her usually smiling face was now carved from ice.
Juri shook his head.
Masako's heart sank.
This masked man could swap places with himself and his opponents instantly.
An ability like that was… monstrous.
They couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.
All their attacks, their combined efforts… to him, it must look like children playing.
"Shisui?"
Masako looked at Shisui, who hadn't spoken a word since the masked man appeared.
He was their leader. They needed tactics. Now.
Shisui had made his decision. "Cover me. Use everything you've got. Buy me one minute."
He believed in the Kotoamatsukami's power. But the opponent was too strong.
He needed time. To ensure the genjutsu took root completely.
"Got it!"
Masako and Juri nodded. Their eyes sharp as blades, they locked onto Hanataki.
"Go!"
They split, charging Hanataki from two flanks.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Singing Projectile!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
The gale wrapped around the fire dragon, swelling its size manifold. It surrounded Hanataki from all sides.
His vision filled with blinding crimson light and searing heat.
The air around him tightened, waves of heat prickling his skin.
A golden light enveloped Hanataki's body.
A pillar of radiance swallowed him whole.
The fire dragon crashed into the light pillar and was devoured instantly.
But the extreme heat at the epicenter didn't fade. A more terrifying heatwave was brewing.
Dragon heads, as large as Xiao Qing's true form, emerged from the light pillar. Their bodies peeled away from the radiance, unleashing wave after wave of scalp-prickling heat towards Masako and Juri.
BOOM!
Another deafening blast.
The colossal fire dragons dissolved.
From the towering plume of white smoke, two giants rose from the earth.
A deep violet and an obsidian-black Susanoo stood before Hanataki.
The very air trembled with their oppressive presence.
From Hanataki's perspective, even craning his neck back, he could only see up to the giants' waists.
So he chose the obvious solution. He went up.
His figure appeared in mid-air the next second.
Face to face with Uchiha Juri and Uchiha Masako inside their constructs.
"So this is the power of the Uchiha's Sharingan?"
Hanataki raised an eyebrow.
No wonder Orochimaru was obsessed.
The Sharingan… it really was something.
Seriously, which transmigrator wouldn't want to pilot a Gundam? To feel that rush?
Even he was feeling a little envious.
Mainly because it was so damn cool.
Instant max-level intimidation.
That feeling of looking down on everything… no wonder Sasuke got a big head, always picking fights above his weight class.
"Hmph!"
Masako's Susanoo was an amethyst-armored giant. One hand held a long spear wreathed in purple flame, the other a massive shield.
The giant's spear swept through the air. The resulting gale, rising from the ground, was strong enough to flip a man. The flaming spear shot towards Hanataki.
Simultaneously, purple barriers solidified around Hanataki, trapping him in a sealed, enclosed space.
Hanataki immediately looked at the giant's other hand. The shield was gone.
So, this was an absolute domain? Trap someone, then execute them?
He raised his hand. This time, he used the ultimate attack from his Corona Mode—the Gaussium Beam.
BOOM!
The beam struck the purple barrier. A faint ripple spread. The barrier remained utterly undamaged.
Surprise flickered in Hanataki's eyes.
The purple spear, meanwhile, passed effortlessly through the barrier, aimed straight for his heart.
Golden light extended from Hanataki like countless tendrils, filling the purple prison.
In the split second before impact, a blinding white light stabbed at their eyes.
Masako and Juri, using their Sharingan, felt the pain first-hand.
The light, diamond-like, refracted the sun's rays, transforming the purple barrier and the spear inch by inch into solid diamond.
Hanataki stood at the center of the converging light. He raised a hand. Tapped.
BOOM!
An unprecedented explosion shattered eardrums.
The crisp sound of shattering followed.
Clink-clank-clatter. A chaotic, crystalline symphony.
Tears of blood streaked down Masako's face. She clutched her bloodshot eyes, hands trembling.
The barrier and the purple spear had become countless shards of glittering diamond.
Another of Ultraman Cosmos's skills—Diamond Crush.
[The host is getting more and more proficient with Cosmos's skills,] the system remarked.
[Stay humble,] Hanataki's lips curled.
He'd figured out Masako's Susanoo ability now.
An absolute spatial domain guaranteeing a fatal wound. Against anyone else, it would be a death sentence.
Too bad they ran into him.
The deep violet giant wavered, its light fading, until only Masako remained, kneeling on the ground. She gasped for air, staring at the masked man in the sky whose breathing hadn't even faltered. A seed of despair took root.
Was this level of power… even human?
Inside his own construct, Juri gritted his teeth. His giant raised a colossal axe and brought it down in a pure, earth-cleaving strike.
Hanataki didn't hold back. Vast cosmic energy gathered in his hands.
Wind whipped, clouds churned, the sky darkened.
A massive beam of light shot towards Uchiha Juri.
The giant crossed its axe before its chest, a desperate block against the suffocating power.
But from axe, to armor, to the skeletal frame itself, the Susanoo couldn't withstand the assault. It dissolved into streams of black light, scattering into the air.
Uchiha Juri's body was flung away like a ragdoll.
Countless trees snapped at their trunks. Juri landed hard in the distance.
Sharp, broken branches stabbed deep into his organs.
Cough!
A thick spray of blood, mixed with chunks of flesh, erupted from Juri's mouth.
The light in his Sharingan died, reverting to ordinary black.
Juri's fingers twitched.
Every nerve screamed with sharp, agonizing pain.
Darkness encroached on his vision.
The fading of his life force was painfully clear now.
"Juri!"
Masako screamed. The world narrowed to the blood on his lips. She ran to him, tears streaming uncontrollably.
"Uchiha Juri!"
"You are NOT allowed to die!"
"Do you hear me?!"
She didn't dare move him. Her trembling hands cradled his head as it began to loll.
"Shisui!"
"What do we do?"
"What do we DO, Shisui?!"
Her cries were raw, helpless.
If she died first, it wouldn't hurt.
But she couldn't bear losing someone important before her.
"The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan really is something, huh?"
Hanataki's voice was almost admiring.
Hatred, pure and white-hot, burned in Masako's chest. It hurt.
This man!
After killing Juri… he dared to mock them with that tone?!
She held Juri's head tight, feeling the last wisps of his breath fade.
"Don't go…"
"Juri…"
"Don't…"
Shisui's figure multiplied in the air. Dozens of afterimages charged Hanataki simultaneously.
No flashy ninjutsu. No mighty Susanoo.
Just Shisui, using the Body Flicker, sword raised, coming straight at him.
As if intrigued by the directness, Hanataki smiled. He let the gathered light in his hands dissipate. A pure taijutsu match.
"If this is all you have, you won't win."
Hanataki caught Shisui's sword-wrist. A cold laugh.
"I didn't plan to win."
Shisui's expression was eerily calm.
He let Hanataki crush the bones in his wrist. He didn't stop. He threw himself forward, into Hanataki's space.
Surprise flashed in Hanataki's eyes. Pinpricks of light glowed at his fingertips.
Thwump.
The wet sound of flesh pierced by something sharp echoed in Hanataki's ear.
His whole body froze. He stared at Shisui, who had impaled himself on his outstretched hand.
His pupils dilated.
His vision flooded with a scene not his own.
A black, viscous sea. A blood-red moon.
A bizarre pattern spun. From Shisui's eyes, it burned itself into Hanataki's mind.
"Kotoamatsukami…"
Hanataki murmured.
Shisui coughed up a mouthful of blood. His eyelids grew heavy.
This was as far as he could go.
So… I can't accept this.
He hadn't even gotten to see Tsurugi one last time.
His hand went limp, falling to his side.
Hanataki withdrew his bloodied hand from Shisui's chest. He stared at his own palm, silent.
[Host? Host?!]
The system panicked.
Had the host's will really been overwritten?
This Corona Mode Clone, Hanataki, was controlled by Tsurugi. If his will changed…
An eerie silence stretched.
The system's metaphorical heart pounded.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Masako's eyes were pools of blood. She charged, heedless of everything.
A beam of light lanced through her chest.
She stiffened. Her vision blurred.
A single tear traced a clean line down her dusty cheek. Then her body folded, lifeless, to the ground.
"Fuck me!"
Hanataki blurted out.
Dammit!
Shisui saved the fucking Kotoamatsukami for him?!
Son of a—
The corner of his mouth twitched.
With the Six Eyes, even the strongest genjutsu, the Kotoamatsukami, could be analyzed and dismantled.
But he genuinely hadn't expected Shisui to use that hax-tier skill on him.
"All dead?"
He looked at Shisui, who had essentially committed suicide-by-proxy.
[Life signs for all three have ceased,] the system reported, its own panic subsiding.
Hanataki surveyed the carnage and rubbed his chin. "What do you think would happen if I… just left it like this?"
[…] The system was speechless.
The host truly had no heart.
Two of the three dead were his teammates. One was his die-hard fan.
Hanataki stood there for a long moment. Then sighed.
"Too kind for my own good."
Golden orbs of light bloomed in his hands. They floated gently, sinking into the chests of Shisui, Juri, and Masako.
On a cellular level, change whispered through them.
It wouldn't heal their gaping wounds. But it coaxed the cells around their hearts back to a faint, flickering activity.
A heartbeat, so faint it was almost inaudible, tapped a weak rhythm in three separate chests.
The golden light dissipated.
The clearing stood empty.
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