Chapter 61 - Chunin Exam: Collapse
"Just give up and die," Deidara said as he looked down on Itachi from his flying clay bird. "You're the worst match-up for me, Itachi."
Little balls of clay spilled down from the bird's mouth and Itachi flickered across the field, avoiding the mini-bombs as they exploded on his tails. White dots invaded his vision, so small that he might have missed them if not for his Sharingan.
Itachi held up his fingers to his mouth and released a gust of wind, blowing the micro-bombs away right before they could explode. The heat waves assaulted his face as the explosion sent rocks and dust flying, but Itachi ignored all of that and turned his attention back to the blonde-haired man laughing with smugness.
"Ha, what can you even do without genjutsu?" Deidara must have been waiting to say that when Itachi's first genjutsu failed to work on him just a few minutes earlier. To Deidara's credit, Itachi was surprised for a moment, to think he had trained his eyes to specifically counter genjutsu, he was touched. But then again, it was always naive to think that the same trick would work twice on an opponent.
Insects made of clay poured down from the bird's mouth and burrowed themselves into the ground, caging Itachi with a field of invisible landmines.
What could he even do without genjutsu, without the ability to hide in fabricated lies? Itachi asked himself as he made the hand seals and pressed his palm onto the ground. Lightning chakra surged from his hand, rushing into the ground and expanding into a giant web of electrical currents.
The electricity turned the clay bombs into duds as it roamed through the ground, making the landmines Deidara had set up as useless as clay dolls made by preschool children. Before Deidara could even let out a curse, Itachi's lightning web converged and rushed up, catching the wings of his clay bird, making it tumble in surprise.
Itachi shot out a series of shuriken and kunai next, attaching some to ninja wire. The projectiles arrived in front of Deidara in the blink of an eye, forcing him to summon up an array of clay clones to block the attack.
The sharp metals etched themself into the clay figures and then streams of fire travelled up the wire, crashing into the clones and baking it black.
The clay bird finally had enough of the damage from the lightning and fire as its wings cracked. Deidara had no choice but to discard the bird and jump down, but not before sending the clay bird crashing towards Itachi, rigged to explode upon contact.
A loud explosion sounded at where Itachi stood, reducing everything in a five-meter radius into an empty crater. Deidara narrowed his eyes at the remains of his bombs and saw nothing but a few black feathers swaying in the dust.
Quickly, the Iwa missing-nin turned around and caught Itachi standing some distance away. "I didn't know you're good at Lightning Releases."
It was true, Itachi wasn't that good at lightning chakra manipulation when he was in Akatsuki. It wasn't one of the chakra nature that he had an affinity for. Instead, he relied on genjutsu and fire jutsu, both of which would be a terrible match-up for Deidara's skills, as things currently stood.
However, after a year living with an expert on Lightning Releases where all Itachi could do was observe the techniques being practiced hundreds of times, he was bound to learn something.
Quietly, Itachi pushed the soldier pill down his throat and felt his empty body being filled again with chakra. He wouldn't last long, that much, he knew. His body was like a broken vessel, even with healing chakra from Katusyu and the soldier pill, his chakra reserve would still be exhausted faster than normal.
That was why he opted to use genjutsu and bukijutsu as much as possible, where the expenditure of chakra was minimized. However, as Deidara said, that wouldn't flow here.
Still, Itachi raised his head against his opponent and said, "I don't know about me, but Sasori is definitely not having a good time."
As soon as he had said those words, a crimson arrow pierced through the air in the corner of their vision. The arrow broke through the defence of the humanoid puppet that was holding Sasori's body, incinerating the protective shell into a pile of ashes.
The real Sasori was forced to escape at the last second, his red hair swaying as he landed in the field littered with metallic projectiles and poison-laced senbon, all of which had missed their target earlier, leaving not a single scratch on Maiko who was standing a little further away.
No matter how life-like Sasori made his puppets to be and how precise he was at controlling them, they couldn't match up to the flexibility and agility of the top-tier shinobi. Under Maiko's taijutsu and sharingan, dodging those attacks was nothing compared to the battle she had to endure with the reincarnated Nidaime and Shodaime.
Still, the battle wouldn't end that easily. Sasori had many tricks up his sleeves, for example, the human puppet of the Sandaime Kazekage that he summoned a moment later.
"I don't think you have time to be worried about Sasori," Deidara pushed the words out with his mouth while gritting his teeth in anger. He didn't have much respect for Sasori, just like how Sasori couldn't care less about Deidara, but at least they knew that the first side to suffer a defeat would be at a disadvantage of two against one.
To that, Itachi just pulled out more projectiles and interlaced them in his fingers. What could he do without genjutsu? Well, let's find out.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Before I was twelve, human puppets used to be my biggest trauma. Of course, it soon got displaced by something else, but the mention of Sasori's human puppetry stayed in my memory.
Still, a little trip down the memory lane was all it stirred in my mind, as I laid my eyes on the puppet covered with the skin of the black-haired Kazekage, with iron sands starting to pour out of his mouth.
From the destruction of his humanoid shell of a puppet, Sasori had realized that normal projectile weapons wouldn't work on me. Therefore, he wasted no time transitioning into the Iron Sand Ninjutsu that allowed the Sandaime Kazekage to make his name.
My swords rattled by my waist, shaking in unease. They felt the magnetism and with a single command from Sasori, my swords would cease to move the way I wished. Immediately, I took them off and threw them into the storage seal wrapped on my arm. In the process, I took out a soldier pill and tucked it into the pocket by my chest.
My chakra wasn't drained, but it was getting there soon.
"You don't seem surprised at the fact that puppets can use Kekkei Genkai," Sasori said all of a sudden as if displeased by the lack of impact his puppet made.
"... Am I supposed to be?" I asked, somewhat confused.
To that, Sasori let out a mocking laugh and shook his head. "No appreciation for the true art just like Itachi. You Uchiha truly are unsalvageable in your taste."
"They are the deceased, they are not playthings," I said without an ounce of emotion. Perhaps there was a trend with the missing-nin that I had met, from Danzō who saw my slaughtered clansman as nothing more than a tank full of Sharingan, to Orochimaru who toyed with Edo Tensei with pride, and then Sasori, who was fascinated with human puppetry in the name of art.
There was no importance being placed in 'life', and thus, no respect and fear were given to 'death'.
"You dare call my art mere 'playthings'?" Somehow, that was the word that ticked Sasori off.
"Is it not?" I mocked back and what greeted me was spikes of iron sand flying towards me. Every movement of these obsidian spikes was being recorded in my vision, carved into my brain by the Sharingan. Calmly, I dodged the attacks and appeared a few meters behind the puppeteer.
However, before the arrow of flame would materialize in front of me, a bundle of wooden arms shot out from the human puppet and interrupted my jutsu. My feet pushed off the ground as I flickered away, leaving the unstable cluster of fire to explode amongst the wooden arms.
Nails of iron sand rain down on my path, making sure that I couldn't halt my step to use my ninjutsu. I didn't know what kind of fighter the Sandaime Kazekage was in his lifetime, but in the hands of Sasori, he was transformed into the ultimate ranged weapon, pressuring the enemy to run for their lives, never giving them a chance to counterattack.
The scattered iron sand pulsed slightly on the ground, but it felt like it was reverberating in my heartbeat. Instinctively, I activated Jinrai and let the lightning coursing through my body. A spark of lightning was left in my place as the scattered obsidian sands extended into countless needles. It would have pierced hundreds of holes into my body, dripping in the poison that was making a purple glint.
Sasori widened his eyes at my disappearance. A rush of wind breathed down his neck as he turned around, and the glow of my silvery blade sliced down.
The moment my blade connected, I felt the inorganic texture that was supposed to be his neck. It was as tough as metal and my blade only managed to etch itself a centimetre into his 'skin' before he pushed himself back and swung his puppet forward, with blades of scythe already spinning at its joint.
Silver chakra faded as quickly as electricity circulated in my body and I moved out of his way before the spinning scythe could shred me to pieces. The smell of electricity lingered in the air as I appeared in another direction and this time, my blade was covered with a thin layer of lightning.
I sliced the blade down at his fingertips. Just like his neck, his fingers were also tough and inorganic. But that didn't matter as lightning chakra travelled to his fingers, leaving scorch marks in its path before connecting with the chakra thread at his fingertips, disturbing the only connection between Sasori and his human puppet.
The chakra threads wavered and the movement of Sandaime Kazekage was halted for a second. However, before I could attack again, Sasori's fingers moved just fast enough to release a poisonous cloud that engulfed him and the Kazekage. Without any other choice, I had to leave. Tsunade-sama was not here to deal with my carelessness.
Exhaustion weighed down on me as my body yearned for the nourishment of chakra. I only thought for a moment before throwing the soldier pill into my mouth. When the Iron sand gathered above the cloud of purple poison, growing into a mass of branches accompanied by a burst chakra from the Kazekage puppet, my last bit of uncertainty was gone.
"It's quite unfortunate. In terms of the power and speed of long-range ninjutsu, you and I are like clouds and dirt." I heard Sasori's voice when I summoned up a dome of earth wall to protect myself before the forest of iron sand could crash down on me.
Amidst the falling branches of iron sand, Sasori saw the spikes piercing through the earth dome without mercy, stabbing into the human figure inside as rocks and dust were sent flying.
However, before suspicion could fully materialize in his mind, a barrier of red rose below his foot. He took a step back, narrowly avoiding the thin veil of flame that sprung up in the blink of an eye. However, his beloved puppet was not so fortunate, as the crimson barrier sliced through its body right in the middle.
"Uchiha Kaenjin: Collapse." The thin red veil expanded and exploded in an instant, consuming the body of Sandaime Kazekage in rage, eating through everything it had touched like a hungry beast that couldn't be satiated.
The earth clone that was on the black spikes disintegrated into a pile of dirt. My Earth Releases might have been limited, but I never cut corners when training with Fuyuki. After all, earth walls and earth clones were the basics of the basics. Nobody expected me to be the master of Earth Releases, but at least my techniques needed to be useful when it counted.
When the firestorm cleared, Sasori rose from the pile of ashes, brushing off the half-burnt puppets that he had summoned as his shield. His clothes were burnt off, along with some of his 'skin'. I saw his body modified as a puppet and the core that served as his proof of living, the origin of his chakra.
Somewhere on the other corner of the plane, Itachi was holding Deidara at bay, skillfully avoiding his blasts with replacements and clones, while disabling his explosive creatures with lightning and shattering his clay with fire.
It wouldn't last long. He was riding the high of the soldier pill, just like I was. With his health, the effect of the stimulation would wane off faster than normal. Despite all that, he was still calm and meticulous, with confidence in his movement that seemed to piss his opponent off greatly.
Just for a second, I felt Itachi's chakra expanding, poking me lightly. I got it, I wanted to reply, but he didn't really need my answer.
"You were saying something about my long-range ninjutsu?" I cocked my head at Sasori, whose anger turned into mania and mania turned to laughter.
"You destroyed my favourite puppet, you bitch," Sasori stared at me with his emotionless eyes as more puppets arose from behind him and flew to the sky, connected to him with chakra threads coming out of a compartment of his chest. "Now die so I can turn you into a puppet as payment for your insolence."
"This is the Performance of a Hundred Puppets. If you try to run away again using that little trick of yours, I will turn these puppets on Itachi. I don't think he's having a good time against Deidara," Sasori threatened as he sent the puppets flying towards me.
Fine by me. The ninjatō popped out of my storage seal and landed in my hand as I moved in to embrace my enemy.
With the state of my chakra, large-scale ninjutsu could only be used in times of emergency. I ducked as one of the puppet's poison-laced blades sailed past my head. Pivoting around my right foot, I kicked a puppet away and stabbed another on my side, letting wild lightning stream from the blade to the puppet, breaking it into pieces.
Three puppets zoomed in on me and I flipped into the air to avoid their attacks. I landed on them a moment later, weighing down their clashing blades. Without a break in my motion, I slashed in a wide arc, collapsing them one by one with the lightning-infused blade.
However, when my blade arrived at the third one, the white lightning bounced off its surface as my blade embedded itself into the joint of the puppet. It was made of insulating materials reinforced to withstand electrical damage, I realized immediately.
The puppet twitched under my blade as it swiped its other arm that was modified into a blade. At the last second, I brought the sheath of my ninjatō up and blocked the sharp sword that was dripping poison down its edge.
I could hear Sasori's laughter from the side. He knew that lightning was my best option in terms of dismantling the puppet. Just cutting off their body parts wouldn't work, the whole structure needed to be blasted into pieces.
Quickly, I flickered away before the puppet could strike me again. But before I could take a breath, hordes of puppets loomed down on me, mixed in with those that were immune to my lightning, unable to be separated based on appearance.
A field away, I heard Deidara's voice full of contempt. "It won't work, Itachi, I see through your genjutsu. All of it!" The illusion was dispelled in an instant as he caught my brother from behind. Raising his hand, he was ready to ignite the bombs in the shape of birds that were sent to Itachi.
It happened all at once. A wave of fire dragons appeared behind Sasori, forcing him to move his army of puppets to block the sudden attack. The origin of that fire jutsu was Itachi as chakra flowed from his hand pressed into the ground to the fire dragons that had broken through the earth.
At the same time, a flash of electricity moved across Deidara's face. Survival Instinct forced him to move his body back by an inch as my blade sliced across his left eye.
"... my eye. My eye, ahhh!" In a fit of panic, Deidara activated all his bombs, enveloping himself in countless explosives, trying to kill someone, anyone around him. Not that it caught me given that I dashed back to Sasori in the speed of lightning, nor Itachi, who could see every bomb there was using his sharingan.
Itachi told me that even though Akatsuki worked in teams, each member cared very little for the other and they would rather fight on their own, even moving to injure their teammates if they happened to interfere.
Therefore, we played along, feeding into their perception that we would fight the two of them as separate battles. After all, a surprise was called a surprise because it only worked once.
"What the hell did I say earlier?" Sasori yelled at me in rage, not for his injured teammate, but the fact that I disregarded his threats and used Jinrai and that a dozen of his puppets were destroyed by Itachi's fire jutsu.
I counted in front of me, between the ones I destroyed earlier and the ones that were incinerated by Itachi's ninjutsu, there were about fifty left. Silently, I pushed the ninjatō back into its sheath and rushed forward.
Just a little bit of chakra, I reminded myself as memories of that night of the summer festival flashed through my mind. On the bridge over the Naka River and under the flashing fireworks, the lotus flower bloomed for the first time.
I pushed my palm into the body of a puppet and let the yin-chakra fire bloom into a tiny lotus inside the puppet. The puppet fell back at the force of my strike and at that moment, the lotus flower exploded, burning the structure of the puppet from inside, setting it ablaze.
Behind me, Itachi's chakra spread out to envelop Deidara, who flinched at the apparent genjutsu. Just then, a crow flew by him with unnerving red eyes.
"Genjutsu: Kai!" He yelled in a panic as his chakra bursted out from his body. But nothing changed, the crow continued to charge at him, its beak right towards his eye.
There was never a genjutsu - Itachi only made it seem like he cast one. In terms of blurring reality and illusion, Itachi was an expert. For Deidara, who relied on his trained eye to discern the reality from genjutsu and gained pride and confidence from such an ability, once the protection was taken away from him, he was thrown into a fit of panic.
The window of panic would only last for a little while before Deidara regained composure, and Itachi wasn't going to let it go to waste.
In front of me, I pushed through a dozen puppets or so, setting the crimson lotus ablaze inside the puppets, turning them into nothing but a pile of dust. The number of puppets that were left functional dwindled by the seconds and suddenly, I felt the control over the puppets slowed down.
A cord drenched in poison sailed past me, its tip missing my skin by a centimetre. Sasori had turned his attention away from controlling his remaining puppets and instead, moved to the mechanisms modified to his body.
Well then, that makes things easier. A stream of water blasted towards my face as I disappeared in a flash of lightning. The propeller attached to his hip started spinning as he moved across the field at a high speed, trying to deter me from getting close to him.
Too slow, to both Sharingan and Jinrai. Out, in, withdrew, convert, and expand. Lightning chakra withdrew from my limbs as I appeared at his side, dodging the spinning blades at an angle.
Under his widening gaze, I struck my palm into his core and allowed the mixture of yin and fire chakra to flow from my arm to his inorganic body.
In the span of a breath, a lotus flower bloomed from his body, bigger and more ferocious.
At the birth of the lotus, the entirety of his core was seared by the concentrated flame. At the flower of death, violent flames erupted, incinerating the rest of his puppet body.
I heard the sound of flesh being pierced through as I turned around, seeing the tip of a kunai emerging out of Deidara's neck. Itachi stood behind him as he pushed the kunai deeper and deeper until only a dying breath remained for the blonde-haired man.
It was quite a change of pace, I'd say, that we were finally facing enemies that could be killed by normal means.
On the verge of death, Deidara brought his hand to his chest as his body turned into the colour of over-baked clay. Under the sharingan, both Itachi and I could see the sudden rise of the chakra as it all converged to his left chest.
"Let go!" I yelled at Itachi as I locked Deidara's body with my left eye. Black flames started to burn from his left chest, at the most concentrated point of his chakra while Itachi flickered to my side.
Blood slowly dripped from my eye as I let Amaterasu burn through his body until nothing was left. We simply couldn't risk it, with Deidara's ability being explosions.
Suddenly, my leg went weak as I closed the Mangekyou, feeling a large chunk of chakra being drained from my body, not that there was much left in the first place. Itachi caught me before my knee could drop to the ground. As I leaned on his body, I wiped the blood off of my left eye.
"The Jinchuuriki," I reminded Itachi as I steadied myself. Without a word, Itachi dragged me along as he flickered to the Suna siblings who were hiding at the edge of the battlefield.
I shouldn't really be surprised when we caught them planning to run away. There was a slight awkwardness in the air as we landed in front of them. Temari stared at me, her mouth opened, wanting to say something, but nothing seemed to be appropriate.
The Jinchuuriki boy, Gaara, had already recovered enough to summon up a veil of sand around him and his siblings. That was good, it meant that he was holding more control over his power than the beast inside.
"I'm gonna make this short. Those guys with the black robes with red clouds? They are from an organization called Akatsuki, who planned to capture all the Jinchuuriki and extract the tailed beasts, and that includes you," I said to the red-haired boy before he could attack us. Perhaps it was the sheer amount of information coupled with what they just saw, the rageful boy Gaara, halted his movement and looked at me with confusion.
"What do you want to do now?" In the end, it was Temari who asked the question.
"Come back with us to Konoha so we can keep you safe. At least until Suna sends for people to negotiate," I answered and it was immediately met with the girl's doubtful eyes.
"Suna had just attacked Konoha. If you're in my position, would you believe that Konoha just wants to keep Gaara safe?" There was brewing anger in the girl's voice, she must have thought I had taken her for a fool.
"Oh, Suna will pay for the damage they caused Konoha, but that doesn't change the fact that your brother is being hunted by Akatsuki. Even if we let you go, can you keep Gaara safe before reconvening with the Suna forces posted at the border? Would those forces be able to protect Gaara?" My cold voice doused her anger as she eyed Baki's body, half-buried under the rocks caused by our earlier confrontations with Sasori and Deidara.
Baki had probably planned to take them to the sentinels posted at the border, composed mostly of medical-nin and sensor shinobi for the purpose of healing the forces and relaying updates back to Suna. However, Temari had just seen how effortless Sasori could kill Baki, meaning that the sentinel forces were no match for the power of an Akatsuki missing-nin.
"Konoha Anbu is here. I won't make them seal Gaara's chakra if you all promise to not cause any trouble." True to my words, Teams of Anbu Konoha appeared from the direction of the village, all trained in the use of tailed-beast suppression seals and mobilized as soon as possible after seeing my signal.
"Konoha is the best place to protect all of you right now, at least until Suna takes us seriously enough to send a force that can withstand Akatsuki's assault," I concluded for the girl and left the judgement to the Suna genin.
Temari glanced at Gaara, the scar on his forehead had healed, leaving only a smudge of blood. Gaara looked back, eyes not bothering to hide his murderous intent, telling her that he could take on us if it came down to it. Temari flinched a little under her brother's gaze, but eventually, she steadied herself and looked back at Gaara.
"We'll leave with you, but you best keep your words about not restraining Gaara." Temari decided in the end, eyes staying on Gaara. After all, her decision didn't matter as long as Gaara refused to comply.
It was strange, Temari and Kankuro feared their younger brother, but the girl had chosen to place the safety of her brother above the rules taught by her village and take a gamble with us. Gaara, who could have just attacked us by transforming into the tailed beast, decided to halt his instinct because his siblings were in the way.
"Captain …" Falcon whispered behind me, asking me if I was serious about not sealing the One-Tail Jinchuuriki. I raised a hand to stop him and said to the Suna genin. "That's settled. As long as Gaara doesn't transform to attack us, we won't move to seal him. Likewise, if you had an ounce of intention to attack Konoha again, we will stop you."
We would have to keep him in one of the empty Root bases underneath the forest, but basic hospitalities as 'guests'? That, we could provide.
It was all going so well, until a circle made of black lines extended from Itachi's feet, forming a teleportation array in the blink of an eye.
"It's Sasuke," Itachi only had the time to say before the reverse summoning array was activated. He had left a crow summoning with Sasuke a few days prior that could activate a reverse summoning to bring Itachi to him if it saw and sensed certain people - like Orochimaru and Tobi.
"Go, Anbu is here," I told him, pushing him along before the summoning would be voided.
"I'll be back soon!" His voice got cut off as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was then that my left eye twitched. Immediately, my Mangekyou sprung into action, catching the distortion in space and the glint of orange that popped out of it.
Splat. Something was dropped in front of us. It was a body dressed in the Kazekage's attire, but his face was missing under the auburn hair.
Everything seemed to turn silent for a moment before Temari let out a whisper of disbelief, " … Father?"
I raised my head and saw Tobi stabbing a kunai towards Gaara's head. His movement didn't make sense, because the sand already rose up to protect Gaara, deflecting the kunai back.
Right, the sand.
For a second, it seemed that the world was tumbling upside down as I grabbed Temari and Kankuro and expanded Susanoo from my body. The silver rib cage formed into the shape of a giant before a strong force slammed into us, sending me, the Suna sibling, and several Anbu enclosed in my Susanoo flying.
Susanoo made a loud thump as it crashed into the ground before I could steady it. The perpetrator? It was the screeching monster the size of a house, his sand-cladded figure emitting the crimson glow of blood lust.
Whether it was the danger, the threat, or just a burst of emotion that he didn't even know he had, Gaara's control over One-Tail had fully snapped, allowing the beast to exploit his rage and anger for nothing but destruction.
"Konoha killed the Kazekage!" Temari screamed behind me as Falcon and Raven restrained her and her brother with force.
"We didn't kill your father. It was Orochimaru who disguised as the Kazekage during the tournament. The real Kazekage wasn't even in Konoha." I barely had the time to give the girl an explanation before the giant beast pranced at me. Susanoo raised its arms to defends against One-Tail's claws, but the force still shook me inside out.
Suddenly, the giant wavered as I clutched onto my bleed eyes, forcing them to stay open and draw up all the chakra I could, draining my already depleted chakra reserve at an alarming rate.
The Sand Monster shifted his head a little and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared in front of my Susanoo.
"Scatter!" I shouted at the Anbu agents littered around the battlefield. I caught the beast as he swung its tail towards a group of Anbu with a speed that was unlike any other One-Tail rampage that I had seen before.
The spikey tail of sand halted in the air as time froze around it. I felt the enormous amount of chakra imprisoned in Kannon Bosatsu, struggling to break free. Not even a few seconds later, it broke free and continued its destructive path, but not before the Anbu agents finally got out and retreated.
I couldn't help but let out a few coughs before I choked down the blood in my mouth. Before I could even let in a breath, the beast turned again and swiped his sand-filled claw at me. The claw scratched the surface of the silver Susanoo as I opened the defence at the last moment.
The claws dug into the silver giant as I tried to straighten my body under the pressure. But despite everything, there was nothing I could do but watch as his tail extended and stabbed into another group of Anbu who was just trying to support the sealing from the side. The next moment, red splashed all over my vision.
Gaara's rage was directed towards Konoha, so we had to stop the rampaging beast here before it could rush into the village.
In this battered field filled with the growl of One-Tail and the smell of blood, I saw Tobi swirling into existence.
Psychopath. That was all I could say about him. He came here, dropped Kazekage's body - who was probably killed by Orochimaru a few days prior, based on the state of his corpse - just so he could send One-Tail into a rampage. What now? I couldn't fathom how that could help with his tailed-beast abduction. It wasn't like he could teleport this giant monster away. Someone had to subdue the beast.
As if seeing through my confusion, Tobi raised a hand and tapped his mask from the side, his finger pointing to the three-tomoe sharingan exposed through the hole.
Suddenly, I understood. He wanted me to tame it for him using the Mangekyou.
Taming the beast was exhausting and dangerous. I supposed it made sense that he didn't want to do it himself when there was someone who could fulfill that purpose. The worst part, with how things were, he didn't seem to give me a choice.
I turned around and caught the dots running towards us in the direction of the village. With a deep breath, I ordered Falcon, "Retreat and gather the surviving Anbu. Remain at a safe distance from the tailed-beast while I try to tame it with the Mangekyou. Kakashi will be here soon, I saw his ninken. He will take over the command to stop Tobi from claiming the Jinchuuriki. Understood?"
"Understood!" With the gravity of the situation, my words were final. None of the Anbu behind me wasted any time as they carried the Suna genin and cleared out of the battlefield.
I glanced towards Tobi one last time, seeing the glint of amusement in his sharingan, before turning my Mangekyou towards the One-Tail.
The silvery warrior disintegrated as I directed all my energy into grabbing the consciousness of the Sand Beast in front of me and threw him into my mindscape along with myself.
Unlike that time with Saiken, there was no welcome, nor was there any desire for chit-chat as One-Tail crashed into my arena full of Torii gates. With a growl that sounded like the harsh wind in Suna's dessert, a wave of sand crashed down at me accompanied by blades of winds that sliced across my skin.
Without a word, I slapped my hand into the still water, feeling it turning into a rumbling wave as it rushed towards the tanuki, dispersing the sand waterfall and overflowing his body.
My mindscape seemed to vibrate with me as the Mangekyou pattern shined brighter and brighter. Tendrils of sand rose from the ground, stabbing into my body with searing pain. I blinked, and volts of lightning dropped down from above, breaking the sand tethers one by one.
I pointed at the One-Tail and the icy blue Narukami fell down from above and pierced through his sand-filled body. With a rumbling sound, a Torii gate stabbed down, pinning his tail in place.
My body was shaking, in pain, in exhaustion, in whatever, it was hard to tell. One-Tail continued to attack me with barrages of sand, trying to crush me, drown me, or impale me. But I kept my eyes on him, bringing down the Torii gates one after another as the layer of still water crawled up upon his body, glued him down and restricting his movement.
Suddenly, I felt my Mangekyou shaking in anger. Intruder, it screamed. For the third time today, I saw the orange mask that invaded my vision, making me pause in my movements as my mind went blank from the shock.
The mindscape of a Mangekyou user was terrifying. To survive here, one needed something that was equally as terrifying as the Mangekyou.
Finally, I saw the pattern in Tobi's Mangekyou. It was the same as the one in Kakashi's left eye.
"Why are you interfering?" I asked in a raspy breath, feeling my mindscape riled up to defend against another intruder. One-Tail was shaking through its restraints as it stumped on the ground. Without care, Tobi placed his hand on a Torii gate and the wooden structure was incinerated in a second.
If I failed, then Tobi would have to tame the beast himself, exposing him to a vulnerable position in front of Konoha's shinobi. By then, reinforcements from Konoha would fully arrive, and with or without me, they would restrain the beast and rid Tobi of any chance of stealing the Jinchuuriki.
I couldn't understand why he would do such a thing, just like I couldn't understand why he had the same Mangekyou pattern as Kakashi.
"I decided that something else is more important. One-Tail, we'll get another chance, but letting you die in such circumstances, the chance might not come again." Tobi said as he dodged the water tendrils trying to grab him.
Waves of sand interrupted our conversation as I redirected my attention to One-Tail, pushing the Torii gates down further into his body. I raised another one from the battlefield, only for a giant fireball to crash into it, burning it into broken cinders.
"What circumstances!" I yelled as Tobi emerged from the sand. The red glow on the Torii gates was fading. One-Tail was already doing enough damage to my mindscape, draining the power of my Mangekyou little by little. Tobi's presence was just aiding in the deterioration of the battleground.
"Killed because of a greedy power known as the Tailed-beast, murdered by your own duty towards Konoha." Tobi entertained me as I sent a wave of fire towards him. The flame burned through his robes as he dodged. However, a spike of sand rose below his feet, taking away half of his arm.
"Oops. Like I said, greedy." Tobi shook his arm and paid it no attention. Despite that, he could very well die here if he wasn't careful. One-Tail wasn't picky with its targets. "It's unfortunate, I don't want to do this to the blood of my own, but Maiko, you've become too important to too many people. Only with your death in this way, will they finally understand the truth of this world."
Clenching my fist, I sent another wave of water towards him, trying to glue him down along with One-Tail. Tobi jumped up, landing on the Torii gate pinning down the tail of the giant creature. I sucked in a breath as he grabbed the wooden structure, weakening it with fire.
"... you shouldn't have replaced her for him …" The snippets of his words hang over the air as One-Tail broke free of my Torii gates and swung his spiky tail towards me. Two Torii gates dropped down in front of me as I tried to block the hit, but the whip of sand swung through the wooden pillars right into my body.
If it were a real hit, a lot of things would have been broken. But it was not, so the only thing remaining was pain.
I laid on the ground, half immersed in the pool of still water. I felt my airway being crushed as my body trembled with every draw of breath. Beneath this layer of liquid, I could see the ground cracking, like a premonition for an earthquake.
"Your Mangekyou power, Kannon Bosatsu, was it? Goddess of Mercy, a fitting name." For god's sake, Tobi just wouldn't stop talking. "How did the story go? Kannon delayed her ascension to help others reach their enlightenment. But who has the power to save you?"
"It's just a stupid name. Fuck off." I found the strength to move my arm in his direction, despite the feeling that my body was breaking off into pieces. The Mangekuou pulsed and a pillar of fire erupted at where Tobi stood, raging outwards as it expanded into an engulfing firestorm. It forced Tobi to run and set the One-Tail ablaze before it could escape the clutch of my Mangekyou, making the creature screech in pain.
Another fireball gathered in front of Tobi as I raised my body from the water, but before it could be fired off, Tobi seemed to widen his eyes in surprise and his presence disappeared from my mindscape in the blink of an eye.
Maybe he ran out of Mangekyou, or maybe someone pulled him out and forced him back to reality, I couldn't care less.
In this battered battlefield, pyramids of sand started to form in the air, hovering over me and the giant Tanuki.
"I don't suppose we're gonna talk, do you?" Just out of politeness, I asked. Of course, the answer was 'no' as One-Tail let out another deafening growl. "Fine by me. Finally some peace and quiet around here."
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Itachi came out of the reverse summoning expecting that everything was going to hell. What he didn't expect to see was Orochimaru with a side of his body completely charred, looking just as surprised to see Sasuke as Sasuke was surprised to see him.
It was then that Itachi realized that Orochimaru didn't end up here by choice.
The confusion only lasted a second as Orochimaru burst out a laugh. "I see that we've both been screwed by Tobi, Itachi. He dropped me in front of young Sasuke so that you would come. Let me guess, you were with Maiko, and now she's alone."
"Walk away, Orochimaru, I'll let you pass this time," Itachi said without any emotion. Behind him, Sasuke opened his mouth, but eventually, he decided to gulp down his questions.
It would be the logical option. Orochimaru looked like he desperately needed some rehabilitation and Itachi didn't have time to waste here. However, soon, he was reminded once again that 'logical' meant nothing to a missing-nin with no standards.
"No," Orochimaru replied with a smile. "Tobi has something planned and it's something bad. For what you Uchiha had done to me, I want nothing more than to see it happen."
Itachi didn't bother wasting more time 'reasoning' with Orochimaru. A flurry of shuriken shot out from his fingers before they got blocked by the hordes of snakes that flew out of Orochimaru's sleeve.
If Orochimaru didn't want to take the easy way out, Itachi would just have to beat him up until he did.
A flock of crows rushed out from behind him, covering Orochimaru's vision in a cloud of black. Being a recurrent victim of Itachi's genjutsu, Orochimaru wasted no time in dissolving into the ground. A flash of electricity sliced across the ground, forcing Orochimaru out of the earth, and Itachi drove a kunai into his other shoulder.
Orochimaru's shoulder sagged in like dough as a snake shot out of his mouth, pushing Itachi back with fangs that almost licked his neck.
Itachi was well aware of the fact that he was attacking more aggressively than what his chakra and stamina would allow. Blood gathered in his throat and he had to push it down despite the disgusting and painful feeling. One couldn't show any weakness when facing Orochimaru, not when it was his nature to feed on weaknesses.
Itachi lit a handful of kunai on fire before sending them out towards Orochimaru. The sharp projectiles sailed past the man's body, digging into the ground. Just then, a web of electricity fanned out towards them, igniting the dimming fire, sending out blasts that made Orochimaru stumble in his footing.
Itachi looked back and saw Sasuke with his hand on the ground, some sparks of electricity discharging from his arm. Sasuke's sharingan pulsed as he caught the snake sannin in his pupil.
A burst of chakra rushed from Orochimaru's body amidst the heavy breathing, shattering the genjutsu before Sasuke could even fully cast it. But Itachi's chakra had already trickled in, mixed in with Sasuke's, using it as a cover to seep past Orochimaru's defence.
Itachi raised his fingers and blew out three chains of fire dragons, letting it crash into Orochimaru while he was disoriented by the genjutsu. At the last moment, Orochimaru broke out of the illusion and stepped back, escaping the full force of the fire chains.
"Narukami!" A bolt of lightning raced down from the sky, fueling the fire and turning it into an explosion that engulfed the escaping figure. When the smoke cleared, a snake as thick as a human coiled around Orochimaru while burn marks covered his skin.
Itachi set his right eye on the man, forcing it to turn into the Mangekyou. He had enough of something called 'Orochimaru' and perhaps some Amaterasu would finally rid them of him once and for all.
However, his eyes paused once he saw the object in Orochimaru's hands. It was a pair of eyes with red and black patterns on its irides, sitting in a solution-filled bottle.
"Have fun dealing with Tobi. You Uchiha can go ahead and curse each other. I'm out of here." Orochimaru said, throwing the glass vessel up in the air as his snake summon rose up and opened its giant mouth.
Itachi's body moved on its own, rushing to catch the pair of eyes pillaged from their father before it could be crushed by the poisonous fang just inches away. His fingers wrapped around the glass bottle as he turned his body and kicked the snake in the eye.
Catching a kunai that slid out of his sleeve, he stabbed the snake through its brain as it fell to the ground. When he raised his eyes again, Orochimaru was already gone, blending into Konoha's ground, slipping towards the village wall.
Itachi narrowed his eyes at Orochimaru's chakra signature. That kind of escape plan was amateurish under his sharingan, but both of them knew that he wouldn't bother with the chase. Not when the massive chakra of One-Tail had bursted out in the distance a few minutes ago, exactly where Itachi had left Maiko.
"I don't know what the hell is going on because nobody ever tells me anything. But I'm coming with you." Sasuke called out to him as Itachi turned around. His eyes went to the glass vial in his hand before Itachi could place it in the storage seal.
"We must hurry." It only took Itachi a second to make the decision. Given what had happened, it might be better for them to stick together. Raising his arm against exhaustion, Itachi placed the cat mask over his face and let himself blend in with the rest of the Konoha Anbu.
Before the shinobi in the area could converge, Itachi and Sasuke flickered across the street, leaving nothing behind except the glow of the red sharingan and a glance of the Anbu cat mask.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"Yamanaka-san, can you get Nara-san to take over for me again." Kakashi thought that he was way over the age of being stubborn. From the silence he was getting, others thought so too.
"Didn't you already send Anbu over?" That question must have come from Nara-san. Five minutes ago, He did send whatever Anbu he could find when the cloud of flame combusted in the distance. 'Red Cloud' was a signal for Akatsuki.
"I don't think they're enough." Kakashi answered, knowing full well that 'instinct' was never a satisfactory reason as to why he was pushing aside his duty when the battle had finally reached its last stage. A few more minutes and it would finally end as reports of all the areas filled in.
But something told him that a few minutes was already too late.
"I will take full responsibility for my decision," Kakashi said in his head. A moment later, Yamanaka-san replied, sending out a message to every team leader. "Nara-san will take over the command temporarily. Report the outcomes and casualty to him as soon as possible."
"Thank you. Please send more Anbu over as they become available. Jiraiya-sama as well, once he confirmed Naruto's safety." Kakashi made the last note as he headed towards the location where the fire arrow exploded. He summoned up his ninken in the process, asking them to scout ahead.
"You think it's that bad?" That must also be a question from Nara-san. At that moment, Kakashi didn't have a confident answer. However, when the large signature of chakra erupted in his vision, he had an answer.
Kakashi had only heard of Maiko's tale of taming a tailed-beast, but he never saw it in action. Still, he knew immediately what Maiko had done when he saw the rampaging beast halt his movement and settle into a state that could even be called 'tranquil'.
Maiko knelt in front of One-Tail, looking as peaceful as a virtuous statue, if not for the blood dripping down her face.
Suddenly, the beast shivered ever so slightly as the menacing energy broke out of the facade of tranquillity. Kakashi looked around and locked his eyes at the culprit - the man cladded in the Akatsuki robe, hidden behind the orange mask.
Kakashi's sharingan warned him of the danger - another Mangekyou. Tobi was interfering with Maiko's battle against One-Tail.
Maiko had told him that in general, different Mangekyou abilities couldn't be used at the same time. If Maiko wanted to use Kannon Bosatsu, she couldn't use Amaterasu. Likewise, if she was using her eyes to tame the beast, she couldn't use Susanoo to protect herself.
If Tobi was using his Mangekyou to mess with Maiko's mindscape, then it was likely that he couldn't activate his phasing ability at the same time.
Kakashi made the hand seals as he rushed past the Anbu standing guards. A bolt of white lightning shot out of his hand, zooming towards the figure hiding in the shadow, disengaging himself from all the danger on the battlefield.
Hakuryuu was faster than all of his lightning jutsu, but it wasn't unavoidable for something who had the Sharingan. Tobi turned at the last possible second and Hakuryuu pierced through his shoulder and dyed it red, missing his heart by a few inches.
Kakashi flickered in front of Tobi with a lightning-charged kunai. He slashed the blade down the man's torso, only for it to pass through his body like it was made out of air.
Just then, their eyes met, and Kakashi felt his heartbeat stopped as oxygen seemed to leave his lung.
It was like staring into a mirror, on those nights where he couldn't control the surge of emotions that came with the transformation to Mangekyou.
A second of pause could mean a lot of things in battle. A shift of wind brushed against his back, but his clogged brain wasn't fast enough to catch what that meant.
By the time he turned around and saw the One-Tail whipping his tail in a shaky movement, right towards the person of his hatred, it was already too late for him to move.
An earth wall rose right before it collapsed, followed by the sound of flesh being torn through.
Maiko knelt in serenity as blood splashed all over her body. But it wasn't her blood. The tail had pierced through the earth wall and the person who summoned it, stopping right before it could touch Maiko.
One-Tail's movement was once again halted and wrapped in a facade of tranquillity as Maiko regained her control over the beast. Falcon raised his head slowly to look at Maiko, while blood poured out of his chest.
He tried to open his mouth, but every movement of his muscle seemed to remind him of his body that would soon expire.
The last breath was taken. No words could be said, just as there was no one there who could hear.
"It's deadly to be distracted in battle." Kakashi moved to the side as a kunai slid down his skin, making a bloody cut on his arm. Once again, he came face to face with Tobi, seeing the same Mangekyou pattern being reflected in his right eye.
"Where did you get that eye?" Kakashi found himself asking as he flicked away the kunai aiming towards his face. Quickly, he bent down and kicked his leg up, only for it to pass through his midriff unobstructed.
"Hehe, take a guess," Tobi said in a cheerful voice as he caught Kakashi's leg that had passed through him and pulled, tumbling his balance. Kakashi touched the ground and pivoted around his hand, raising his body to slam his elbow into Tobi's throat.
Like countless times before, Tobi phased through his attack, moving his body to the side so that Kakashi's arm completely slipped through. In the blink of an eye, Tobi's kunai arrived at his neck. Clink, Kakashi managed to stop the kunai with his arm guard, leaving a dent on the metal surface.
He moved his body to let my arm through faster … It was then that Kakashi went through everything he had seen so far about Tobi. A moment later, he realized the 'rhythm' in Tobi's attacks: Whenever he attacked, he had always waited until Kakashi's strike was completely phased through.
The intangibility that came from his phasing ability couldn't coexist with the need to solidify themselves for attacks.
Therefore, for Kakashi to land a hit on Tobi, he had to be taking a hit.
Breaking away from Tobi's kunai, Kakashi took a few steps back. There was a pause in their breathing as the world turned silent. Then, he charged in again.
His kunai passed through Tobi's neck, not even the electricity could touch his flesh. Kakashi swore that he could even see mockery in Tobi's Mangekyou when he tried the same thing over and over again. It was never a fair fight to begin with, when only one of them could make the attacks connect.
Kakashi's body fell forward due to the unmitigated momentum, catching that moment, lightning flashed in Tobi's fingertips as he brought it forward, straight to his heart. Kakashi was not foreign to lightning jutsu. Just with one look, he knew that it was meant to damage his heart muscle.
Still, Kakashi waited, as inconspicuous as he could. A fraction of a second before Tobi could connect with his chest, Kakashi grabbed his hand and the wild electricity scorched his own arm immediately.
At the same time, Hakuryuu shot through Tobi's chest. Only by the sheet acuity of the sharingan that Tobi managed to move his critical organs out of the way, leaving a scorching hole at the side of his ribs.
Tobi released Kakashi's damaged arm and fell back, holding onto the wound on his chest as blood soaked through his robe
Suddenly, a whirlpool appeared from his eye - something so familiar, yet so foreign - as a barrage of projectiles shot out of his eye.
Kakashi only had the time to slap his hand on the ground to raise up a few earth walls before the sound of metals striking hard surfaces filled his ears like a symphony of death.
Not even a second later, Tobi phased through the earth wall with a sharp blade towards his eye. Kakashi made the seals for Hakuryuu and he made sure that Tobi could see it. As he predicted, Tobi had chosen to phase through him instead of attacking.
Before the battle between them could continue, a giant tongue assaulted Tobi, forcing him to phase himself through the attack and retreat to safety. Behind them, Jiraiya had arrived with his giant toad summon.
Gamabunta shot out a puddle of oil towards Tobi. Despite phasing himself through the attack, he still got some oil on his feet from the splashes. Clusters of Hōsenka arrived next, igniting the oil on fire until the cloud of red and orange covered their vision. Somewhere behind Jiraiya, Itachi and Sasuke had arrived as well.
"We'll meet again," Tobi said, not in his disgustingly cheerful voice, but a serious voice that promised retribution. His words hung in the air as he sucked himself through the whirlpool that originated from his Mangekyou.
Kakashi's left eye stung in pain as the space in front of them returned to nothingness. But it was not the time to worry about that. All of them turned their attention to the silent battle between Maiko and One-Tail.
There was a fragile balance that stretched between them. They couldn't even risk moving Falcon's body for the fear that it would break this peaceful facade.
"Sealing team, report to Jiraiya-sama and reorganize the sealing formation." Kakashi forced himself to calm down as he gave out the order. Whether Maiko's attempt to tame One-Tail was successful or not, the One-Tail would be sealed. It was only a matter of difficulty and how much they had to sacrifice.
Time passed so slowly as Kakashi counted the seconds. By the number sixty, a Mangekyou pattern appeared in One-Tail's eyes, painting the tri-petalled flower for everyone to see.
Slowly, the sand that built up the giant creature dissolved into the air. Layer by layer, the sand peeled off, until finally, the red-haired boy could be seen again. Jiraiya's seal reached out to him immediately, followed by countless others, sealing the boy's chakra without any mercy.
"Nee-chan!" Some distance away, Sasuke rushed to his sister, catching her falling body that was about to crash into the ground like a broken doll. "She's not waking up." The boy muttered as panic seeped through his voice. He looked up, trying to find an answer from Kakashi, from Itachi.
"Let's bring her back to Tsunade-sama. She'll be okay." Itachi said as he knelt down beside his siblings, helping Sasuke bring Maiko's body up.
"Really?" Sasuke asked. Something told him that things might not be that simple. He had seen how Maiko had fallen into a coma for two days after taming Six-Tail. The process of taming One-Tail could only be worse.
"Really." There was nothing else Itachi could say and Sasuke stopped asking because it was just pointless. Itachi nodded at him behind the cat mask, before taking his sibling away back to the village.
Kakashi walked to their position a moment later. Falcon's body had fallen to the ground after the giant creature of sand had faded away. Kakashi knelt down in front of his former subordinate and friend in Anbu. Gently, he swiped his hand over Falcon's face and closed his eyes.
"I'm sorry," Kakashi whispered. A moment later, he added, "Farewell."
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
My body trembled as a feeling of loss hit my heart.
For a second, I couldn't breathe as my eyes erupted in pain. I didn't know what I had lost, but just that I had lost something important.
My mindscape was dying. Wooden remains of Torii gates littered around the field, the cracks beneath the layer of still water had already extended into a spider web. Another pyramid of sand dropped down from the sky and I forced the water to rise and slap it to the side. The dense pyramid made another crack on the floor as it fell, but I paid it no attention.
With a grunt, I forced a Torii gate to rise and stabbed it through One-Tail's forearm. The red glow was dimming by the seconds, showing the weakening suppressive power of my mangekyou. Taking a breath, I lit the Torii gate on fire and One-Tail screeched in pain. This was my own fire, my own power, so the Torii gate wasn't destroyed like when Tobi attacked it.
Around me, the Torii gate lit up in fire one by one as I pushed them into the giant body of the sand demon.
"It's time to let go," I told the creature as the Torii gates weighed down on One-Tail, pinning his limbs, tail, and head into the water.
"You try just 'letting go' after you've been sealed for decades!" For the first time, One-Tail replied in words, albeit with much rage.
"I'm sorry, but not today." Water crawled up his entire body, enveloping One-Tail as he struggled to get out. But the Torii gates held him steady, burning his body with the flames.
The rageful scream of One-Tail got muffled by the layer of water until finally, the creature lost the energy to struggle. My mindscape had returned to peace as I watched the shape of One-Tail disintegrating from my mind, telling me that he was being successfully sealed in real life.
Soon, he was gone, leaving me alone in this broken space, filled with the remnants of destruction.
I collapsed onto the water-logged surface. Nothing seemed to move at this point. I saw the Mangekyou pattern above, the shine was almost gone as if its energy had been sucked dry.
"Sorry, it has come to this," I said to the Mangekyou - the entity that had tried to protect and aid me throughout my battle. As soon as I said my last words, the floor started to shatter, breaking apart at the cracks.
Suddenly, fear filled my mind as Tobi's words resurfaced from my memory. He said I had to die because I was too important to too many people. So what kind of pain would I put my loved ones through by embracing death?
Even now, the pain of losing something without even knowing what I had lost coursed through my body and soul, even more so than the sensations of physical pain I had experienced when taming the One-Tail.
The still water soaked my body, soothing my mind and healing my pain. "Shisui* …" I muttered with a hitched breath as the platform started to break into pieces of rocks. The ground was tilting and my body started to slip down its surface.
By sheer instinct, I clawed on the ground, digging my fingernails into the rock, trying to drag myself back up against the force of gravity.
"Please …" I whispered, feeling blood running down my hands before it got covered by the water. But nothing could change the broken landscape as I fell through the cracking platform, seeing countless rocks crashing down alongside me.
"Please! Wait for me to come back!" I yelled with everything I had as darkness engulfed me.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
This casualty report summarizes the series of events that occurred on July 8th, including but not limited to the Suna-Oto Invasion, the assault by Orochimaru, and the attempt of One-Tail abduction by Akatsuki members Sasori, Deidara, and Tobi, collectively known as "Chunin Exam Incidents".
Konoha casualty number: 32 (19 killed, 12 heavily injured, 1 in coma)
The breakdown is as follows:
Protection of village against Suna-Oto force: 15 (9 killed, 6 heavily injured)
Against Orochimaru (Hokage Rock): 0
Suppression of Nine-Tail (Arena): 0
Suppression of One-Tail (Arena): 7 (3 killed, 4 heavily injured)
Against Akatsuki (East of Village): 0
Suppression of One-Tail (East of Village): 10 (7 killed, 2 heavily injured, 1 fallen into coma without obvious physical reasons)
Additional note: Among known enemies, Sasori and Deidara were confirmed to be dead; Tobi and Orochimaru were confirmed to have escaped.
A/N: Ahh finally, Chunin Exam is done, the bulk of it anyway. Again, any bug is my fault. I have taken (a lot of) creative liberty with the Mangekyou and whatnot. Tobi being a confusing entity for everyone but also a diligent preacher about his ideals, props to him for that. Orochimaru suffering at the hands of Uchiha 24/7, evil or not.
*Shisui's name can be translated to 'Still/unmoving water'. Whether Maiko was reminded of Shisui by the feature in her mindscape, or if Shisui's influence helped shaped her mindscape, probably a little bit of both.