Uchiha Shisui had released himself from the Edo Tensei's control.
His plan was simple. Since the mistake had already been made, he had to find a way to atone for it. How?
There were still three Uchiha left. He would make them coexist peacefully with the village. He would change the will of Konoha's Hokage and have them accept the remaining members of his clan. In a few decades, the Uchiha could prosper once more.
But it was incredibly difficult. For rogue ninja to be welcomed back into the village was nearly impossible. But he had Kotoamatsukami—that heaven-defying power to change a person's will.
The Edo Tensei could reconstruct a dead body, and a blinded eye could be restored as well. The blindness caused by the Mangekyo Sharingan wasn't due to some rule of the universe, but was a physiological blindness, more like a one-time overdraft of all future ocular power.
That was why Madara, after using Izanagi and going blind, had slowly recovered after transplanting Hashirama's cells. Obito had also recovered after transplanting White Zetsu's cells.
For a reanimated body, given enough time, Kotoamatsukami could also recover from blindness. The original ten-plus years might be shortened to three to five.
After releasing himself, Shisui quickly severed the parts of his body that were being burned by Amaterasu. After leaving the flames, his body regenerated, good as new.
He then bowed to Fugaku and, with a Body Flicker, vanished from the scene.
On the other side, Itachi could no longer hold on. His ailing body, combined with his years of relying on genjutsu and a chakra supply insufficient to power a Gundam, had pushed him to the brink of exhaustion. His Susanoo had already degraded from its second form to its first.
At his wife's repeated urging, Fugaku finally moved. But just as he was about to go and save Itachi, the remaining Uchiha clansmen, who had moved at some point, intercepted him.
They stared at Fugaku with eyes full of hatred. They couldn't interfere in the Gundam battle. The only thing they could do was hope to delay their clan head long enough for Itachi to be killed.
"Lord Fugaku, do you still want to save that unfilial son of yours? The son who slaughtered his own clan?" a dozen clansmen glared at him.
If Fugaku was determined to save him, they couldn't stop him. None of them had ever imagined that their clan head had hidden such immense power during his lifetime. The Mangekyo Sharingan... something so many coveted and could never obtain, yet he had kept it hidden until his death.
Fugaku froze. His son did deserve to die. At least, he and his wife didn't blame him, but their clansmen could never forgive him.
"You failed your clan in life, sitting by and watching as your people were slaughtered! Now that you're dead, are you going to fail us again?" an Uchiha woman shrieked at him.
"Fugaku... Lord Fugaku, it's enough. We are all dead men. We shouldn't interfere in their affairs," an elder sighed. He was older than Fugaku, a three-tomoe jonin who had died on the night of the massacre.
"Uchiha Nagi is also a member of the Uchiha clan. He is now avenging us. What reason do you have to stop him? Is it just because the one who destroyed us is your son?"
"Don't forget, as a father, you have already given what you should have in life. But as a clan head, you have not yet paid your debt to us. You have not fulfilled your duty as our leader."
Sigh...
Tears streamed down Fugaku's face as he looked into the distance. He truly did owe his clansmen a great debt. If he hadn't just meekly waited for death back then, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
Itachi couldn't hold on any longer. Even the first form of his Susanoo had dissipated. Blood and tears streamed from his eyes as he panted, dodging Nagi's Gundam.
Finally, he was caught by the Wood Style Nagi controlled.
"Uchiha Itachi, do you have any trump cards left? Now would be the time to use them," Nagi said. Even now, his eyes were still closed. The Transparent World allowed him to perceive his surroundings without the use of his Mangekyo.
Tsukuyomi? Sorry, his eyes were closed. Even if Itachi's ocular power could penetrate the chakra-construct of the Susanoo, it would be blocked by his eyelids.
Izanami? Sorry, the conditions weren't met. Izanagi? That offered a hope of escape, but even when Obito used Izanagi, it didn't last more than ten minutes. Danzo's only lasted one. How long could Itachi maintain it? As long as Nagi waited patiently for ten minutes, Itachi would have to die again.
Not everyone could maintain Izanagi for as long as Madara, especially not Itachi, who hadn't even transplanted White Zetsu cells.
"May I make one request?" Itachi said calmly.
"Oh? Let's hear it," Nagi replied with a smile.
"I want my parents to be the ones to end my life," Itachi said, looking into the distance, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes.
Uchiha Nagi didn't speak. He simply formed hand seals. The controlled Mikoto and Izumi soon arrived at his side.
"Let the ones you love send you on your way."
Izumi had only a two-tomoe Sharingan, and Mikoto a three-tomoe. Neither could resist Nagi's control. They each took a kunai and slowly walked towards Itachi.
"Mother... Izumi... To die by your hands... perhaps it's for the best. That night... the blade that stabbed you... I've had nightmares about it for years."
Mikoto looked at her son with eyes full of sorrow. Her husband's spirit had been broken; he no longer thought of saving him. And she herself could not resist.
"Izumi, I'm sorry. For Konoha, I fell into darkness. If I go to hell, I will atone for what I've done. If there is a next life, I will make up for my mistakes."
Thwip!
Thwip!
Two kunai plunged into another's body. It was Kisame. He had somehow gotten away from Kimimaro and, at the critical moment, had saved Itachi.
"Itachi-san! Run! I'll hold them off!" Kisame was covered in blood. His fight with Kimimaro had wounded him badly. The Shikotsumyaku's physical defense was too great a counter for his Water Style.
Uchiha Nagi brought his sword down, but Kisame unleashed a massive water jutsu to block the Susanoo.
"Water Style: Great Water Prison Technique!"
Kisame used the last of his chakra to unleash a massive water prison, trapping both himself and Nagi's Susanoo inside, while sending Itachi far away.
"Itachi-san! You must live!"
"Trying to escape? In your dreams," Nagi said sarcastically. Itachi was an spent force. Even if Kisame had saved his life, he couldn't get far. He couldn't even fly. Nagi could just use his Magnet Style to take to the skies. How could Itachi escape?
"Kisame, your actions are completely pointless."
[Amaterasu]
The black flames shot out, hitting Uchiha Itachi. Kisame's water prison was completely useless against it; water could not extinguish the flames of Amaterasu.
"Ahhh!"
Hit by the flames, Uchiha Itachi was powerless to move. His Amaterasu was not the same as Nagi's. Once hit, he had no way to extinguish these flames.
Slowly, the fire consumed Itachi's body, from head to toe, turning him to ash.
"Itachi-san!"
Kisame let out a cry of grief, but he too was out of chakra. His fight with Kimimaro had completely drained him. He had never imagined that he, the Tailed Beast Without a Tail, would be pushed to such a state by a boy in his teens.
His opponent's chakra reserves... even after Samehada had absorbed half of them, they had recovered faster and faster as the fight went on. Kisame even suspected that by the end of the fight, Kimimaro's chakra had returned to its initial, full state.
How utterly absurd.
"Kisame, if you are willing to surrender, I can consider sparing you," Nagi said, a flicker of appreciation for his talent in his heart. Kisame was indeed a very powerful ninja.
He had never lost a one-on-one fight against a Tailed Beast. If he had known about Guy's abilities, it's doubtful even the Seventh Gate would have been enough to defeat him.
The reason he had lost to Kimimaro was, one, Samehada had accidentally absorbed sage energy, and without the sword that could drain a Tailed Beast dry, Kisame had lost his greatest asset.
Second, Kimimaro, having transplanted the Byakugan, had not only fully recovered but had even taken a step further, showing signs of evolving towards a sage's body. All of Kisame's various ninjutsu had been rendered ineffective.
"Hehe, I would never betray anyone," Kisame said, clapping his hands together. He summoned several sharks within the water prison and commanded them to devour him.
Uchiha Nagi did not stop him. He respected a strong warrior's decision.
After Kisame was devoured by his own summoned sharks, the Great Water Prison, without a supply of chakra to sustain it, dissolved.
"It's over."
Fugaku watched as his son was burned to ash by Amaterasu. Amaterasu was the flame of vengeance, and Uchiha Nagi was avenging the Uchiha clan. Was this the arrangement of fate?
A white light appeared. Fugaku's mind went blank. His Edo Tensei was being released. He was returning to the world of the dead.
"I'm sorry, everyone. My son and I... we have brought too much trouble to the Uchiha clan."
Fugaku apologized to the remaining members of his clan. They looked at him with complicated expressions. Itachi was dead. Their revenge was complete.
Uchiha Nagi waited for ten minutes. Seeing that Itachi did not revive again, he thought it over. Danzo's Izanagi had lasted one minute. Obito's dematerialization and Izanagi together hadn't lasted more than ten minutes. It seemed Itachi was truly dead.
After all, he had never transplanted White Zetsu cells. His revival time couldn't possibly be longer than Obito's.
"Everyone, the matter of the Uchiha clan is over. If you wish to return to the world of the dead, I will release the Edo Tensei."
The many members of the Uchiha clan were silent. Finally, one person stepped forward. Uchiha Nagi nodded and released the Edo Tensei.
One by one, with a mixture of complex emotions, the Uchiha clansmen dissolved into white light and returned to the Pure Land.
With Itachi dealt with, and the revenge exacted, both mentally and physically, Uchiha Nagi let the remaining Uchiha, who were only chunin and jonin in strength, go.
After all, he didn't rely on the dead for his meals, nor did he rely on them for his battles. If it weren't for Itachi's unique circumstances, he wouldn't have even bothered to summon them.
Even Mikoto's Edo Tensei was released, and she was allowed to return to the world of the dead.
The only thing that puzzled Nagi was that Shisui, after a brief period of despair, had used Kotoamatsukami on himself and then fled.
But with only one eye, what could he hope to accomplish?
Nagi was a little confused. A reanimated body, to heal a blinded Mangekyo, would still need several years. But the Edo Tensei body couldn't be maintained for that long. He had done experiments.
Although the Edo Tensei cheated death, providing immortality, invulnerability, and infinite chakra, all things in the universe were still subject to the most basic laws.
These reanimated dead would weaken a little each day. Over time, even without eating or drinking, they would eventually fade away.
"Oh well. Doesn't matter. Kimimaro, how are you? Are you hurt?"
Nagi looked at Kimimaro, who was walking towards him.
Aside from his tattered clothes, his body was as white as jade. The defense of his Shikotsumyaku was getting higher and higher. Now, if Kimimaro released a bone shield at full power, not even Nagi's Sun Breathing could break it.
"I'm fine, Sensei. Oh, right, this is the Seven Swordsmen blade that Kisame used. See if it's of any use to you." Kimimaro handed his prize, the Seven Swordsmen blade, to Nagi.
"It's badly injured. Hehe, this greedy fish ate your sage energy, didn't it? That's why half its body turned to stone," Nagi said, taking the sword.
He saw that over half the blade had indeed petrified. Samehada was constantly lolling its great tongue, breathing with difficulty.
In Nagi's hands, it seemed to sense that he could save it. An emotion like a husky begging its master was transmitted from the hilt to Nagi.
At the same time, it extended its long hilt, wagging it like a husky's tail, begging its new master to take it.
The corner of Nagi's mouth twitched. This sword... it really was exactly like a husky. Not just in intelligence, but in personality as well.
"I can save your life. But from now on, you must obey your master. Absolutely no betrayals, you understand?"
Hearing that it could be saved, Samehada's hilt wagged excitedly from side to side, like a husky's tail.
Otsutsuki Urashiki was beginning to question his life. Why were the people of this shinobi world so strong?
He had encountered danger several times and had used his Rinnegan's future sight to escape. But that Pain's eyes were also Rinnegan. Why was he so special?
And each of his bodies had a different ability. The Deva Path's power was no less than his own. He couldn't even use Chibaku Tensei.
The Naraka Path's soul extraction... he didn't have that either. Otherwise, in his own world, his companion wouldn't have spent a whole day trying to extract the Nine-Tails from Naruto's body, only to die by the father and son's Rasengans in the end.
And another embarrassing incident: he had once tried to extract the Nine-Tails, only to be burned by the overflowing Nine-Tails chakra. The noble Otsutsuki clan...
The thought of how many times he had set out, only to be so humiliated, filled him with rage.
"This time, I'm going to the Cloud Village. Aside from that strange ninja tool, there are no strong individuals there. I won't give them time to talk. I'll just raze the village to the ground, blow everyone up, and then find the Eight-Tails."
Otsutsuki Urashiki muttered to himself, "Even if I blow up the Eight-Tails, it doesn't matter. It'll just revive in a few years anyway."
At that moment, a dark shadow slowly appeared behind Otsutsuki Urashiki...