"Stop it, Itachi. You've done enough. All this is meaningless now."
As soon as these words were heard by Itachi he jumped away, suspecting an imposter was at play here to fool him. He immediately suspected Danzo as only he knew things from behind the scenes and he was also low enough to do this.
However, he did not receive any attack, instead, he saw a blindfolded man, standing calmly and staring at him. "Who are you? Why are you disguised as Shisui?"
Shisui smiled and replied, "Are you not able to recognise me, Itachi? Has your memory become so foggy with time? I hope you took good care of my eye."
Itachi became certain that it was Shisui now, nobody except he knew what Shisui did with his remaining eye. Itachi was in disbelief, "But... you died... I saw it with my own eyes."
Shisui nodded as he walked closer to him, "And I had thought the same, but surprises come in unexpected ways. I was saved by Lord Dama and was in a coma for the coming year. He not only saved me but also helped me train so I can live without eyes."
Itachi was shocked, however, he still didn't let down his guard, "Then what have you been doing all this time?"
"Trying to bring peace to the world, my friend. I am following Lord Dama, as he uses his methods to stop overly arrogant villages and turn them modest. You don't need to do all this, Itachi. You can stop now. Lord Dama is supremely strong, nothing matters in front of him. This invasion that is planned, this won't work either." Shisui tried to make his friend take the right path again.
"Destroying half of Konoha was his peace?" Itachi asked.
"And he's rebuilding it. You don't know why he destroyed it, if you did, you'd also agree to it. Just like how you agreed with my view on the Uchiha clan." Shisui argued.
Itachi saw it was fair enough, there was always something going on behind the back that most people don't know. He sighed and looked at Sasuke, he was groaning in pain on the ground. So Itachi quickly kneeled to heal him.
"Forgive me, Sasuke. I did what I did for the peace and security of this village. If what Shisui said is really true, then I will give you your answers soon. Until then, do not remember me." He suddenly made Sasuke fall unconscious.
Shisui walked beside him, "What are you going to do now? Konoha has a new Hokage and the elder council includes Lord Dama, you don't have to fear Danzo for now. In fact, it is Danzo who should be afraid."
"I fear not Danzo, but what he might do in the path of his destructive dreams. He has one of your eyes already, the damage he can cause is unprecedented." Itachi reminded him.
His fears were real. Kotoamatsukami was a Mangekyo Sharingan ability that affects any individual within the user's field of view. It can be used to manipulate people by giving them false experiences, making it seem as if they were doing things of their own free will.
In theory, this was the highest level of Genjutsu and had the power to affect a large number of people since it does not require eye to eye contact.
Shisui sighed, "I... I understand, but don't worry. Lady Monari has told me she can stop Danzo even before he casts his Genjutsu. In fact, I have a lot of concerning news for you. The eye-sockets of many dead members from the Uchiha Clan were found to be empty by Lady Monari. This means that either it was Danzo or the one who helped you that took them. Who was with you?"
Itachi answered without much thought, "He said he was Madara Uchiha."
If Shisui had eyes, he would blink stupidly, "What? This isn't possible. Madara is dead. And even if he was alive, he'd be as old as a withered tree."
Itachi nodded, even he didn't believe his helper that night totally, "I understand your concern. It could very well be some other Uchiha, with a Mangekyo Sharingan. But what matters here is that the Akatsuki is here to catch the Jinchurikis, they want to use all the tailed beasts to destroy the world, to create a false sense of peace as the country will heal. This is what the head of the Akatsuki thinks. He is a mad man, but his ultimate desire is for peace. I do not know what his history is, it must not be very good."
Shisui wasn't worried, "Don't worry, that's for Lord Dama to worry about. He had ordered us to help the people in the village. Why don't you come with me, Itachi, I will introduce you to Lady Monari, the strongest Uchiha to have ever existed."
Itachi was surprised with this proclamation, "Even stronger than both of us?"
"Yes, since we both can't boast that we're more than a century old with various skills and a Mangekyo that does not deteriorate. She can teach us a lot of things, Itachi." Shisui said. He wanted to take Itachi with him.
But, Itachi had his worries, "I don't know if I can be forgiven for the crimes I have committed. I have killed too many people and just being forgiven like this is not good and goes against what you described Lord Dama as. The village already thinks I am the main culprit who killed the Uchiha clan, so I can not have a place here."
"Then follow Lord Dama, he may punish you, but also show you a path to redemption. He has too much work to do in this world, even if he can force people to live in peace, he can not keep an eye everywhere. You killed the Clan as you had no option, Danzo took that peaceful option from you. Yes, you could have let the children live, but in the hands of the village and the third Hokage, who was an enabler of Danzo, those children would have suffered a fate worse than death.
Only if... we knew Lord Dama back then… Anyway, pick Sasuke and follow me."
...
Tsunade was busy fighting Deidara and Konan. Both of her enemies could fly in the sky and it created a lot of problems for her. The main attacker was Konan while Deidara was throwing various bombs at her from the sky.
It didn't hurt her much but it was annoying since she couldn't focus on Konan. On top of that, she was worried about using her explosive strength as she was in a heavily populated district and people were still evacuating.
All she could do was jump in the sky and fight for a few seconds before falling. That wasn't very effective, and from how her enemies were fighting her, she realised they were just trying to waste her time.
Truth be told, Tsunade knew her shortcomings. She knew that she lacked real physical abilities. Her most praiseworthy skill was medical ninjutsu, but she couldn't even perform that as her fear of blood takes over her body, even right now it was scaring her, but she persisted somehow.
Fighting alongside Jiraiya and Orochimaru, it was obvious to her from long before that her best physical ability was her explosive strength, but it didn't do much helping in most scenarios.
*BOOM*
Another explosion fell on her side, throwing her off. She was injured, but she couldn't give up. ~It'd be a shame if I were to die today, hah... I'll be called the weakest Hokage ever. I need to win... and get stronger... I can't allow myself to be a failure... I can't...~
So she mustered all her strength and stood up again, facing her enemies. All she was waiting for was for people to leave. However, just then her gaze was attracted to a threatening voice coming from the sky.
...
Jiraiya had realised this too. He fought Sasori and the puppet of 3rd Kazekage while dodging attacks from 5 paths of pain. It was a losing fight for him as he bled profusely from many wounds on his body.
"This is not what I taught you, Yahiko," Jiraiya spoke.
As if they were simple lifeless dolls, they continued to attack. Jiraiya was slowly losing this fight and he had no idea how long he could continue.
~My life has been nothing but a failure... I haven't finished my book... and nor have I found the Child of Prophecy yet... I still need that date with Tsunade... it'd be a shame if I died today...~ He thought to himself and tried to push himself.
...
In the sky, Pain was hovering in the air, looking down at the village and its many clouds of explosions.
By far the most damage was done by Deidara. But he was disappointed that he had not yet gotten a signal that the two Jinchuriki had been found. Hence, he decided it was enough waiting.
As he knew, even if Jinchuriki died, the tailed beasts would appear again. And he felt that it was easier to catch them in the wild than waste time here and let Shiroken return. That would spell doom on the whole Akatsuki.
Hence, he raised his arms to perform his strongest technique, one that could destroy the whole village in a matter of seconds.
He shouted his proclamation to the village. To make them feel fear, the sense of doom. "ACCEPT PAIN! KNOW PAIN! Those who do not know pain will never know what true peace is... I will never forget Yahiko's pain."
"From here on out... THE WORLD WILL KNOW PAIN... SHINRA TENSEI!"
He raised his arms in the air dramatically, awaiting the uprooting of the village that had cast pain on the countries whose only sin was to be near their borders. The pain that Amegakure faced all these years, the pain that his precious friends felt all these years... this was a payback, disguised as a means to peace.
However, seconds passed.
One
Two
Three
Yet, nothing happened. The vast destruction he expected didn't appear, even when he had used his ability correctly. He glanced at his hands in confusion.
And all of a sudden, a voice came from above him. He immediately looked up and saw a figure floating. Pain's eyes contracted, his worst fear came true... ~No... I still have not brought peace. They still don't know my pain.~
Shiroken silently stared down at him with his red shining eyes, as if looking down at a lesser being who dared to touch his possessions. With a mocking voice, Shiroken urged him, "Go on, give it another try. Maybe then it will work. Let me see how you show them 'PAIN'"
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JUST A LITTLE PEEK AT THE STONES!
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