"Um, I am truly sorry about that," Yugao Uzuki said, her face flushing red as she spoke to Kakashi Hatake.
The expressions of the other companions weren't much better. After all, under the influence of that power just now, they had involuntarily...
Kakashi shook his head calmly. "Do not dwell on it. It was merely a genjutsu used by the enemy. It wasn't real."
He fixed his gaze on the sky with his Sharingan. "Rather than worrying about such imaginary things, we should think about how to handle the situation in front of us."
"What is... happening?"
Yugao Uzuki and the other Hidden Leaf companions who had regained their senses looked on, their eyes filled with disbelief. Even though everyone present was considered an elite ninja of the Hidden Leaf, they still found this scene impossible to accept.
The entire village of tens of thousands of people was smiling as they severed their own heads. They allowed the spraying blood to carry their souls, drawn by some unknown force, toward the blood-red moon in the sky.
The ravens let out hideous cries, omening the opening of the gates of hell. Yet, in the eyes of these souls dominated by fear, that blood moon was the gateway to the Divine Kingdom. The cawing of the ravens was a beautiful send-off, and the blood was the Lord's guidance.
Everything was proceeding perfectly. As long as they reached the Lord's Divine Kingdom, disaster, fear, and misfortune would never fall upon them again.
In this manner, thousands of streams gathered from the blood, converging into Mori Shiraishi's lone eye like an inverted firework. An apocalyptic aura diffused from that single eye, staining the entire night sky red.
"Captain, what should we do?" Hayate Gekko instinctively looked toward Kakashi.
Since Kakashi's combat power was the strongest and he was the commander of this mission, it was only right for him to make the decision. Feeling the eyes of all his partners on him, Kakashi's heart felt heavy.
Although he did not want to abandon the mission, his hands trembled just recalling the illusions in his mind. He hadn't just seen his father; he had seen the girl he killed on the battlefield and the disappointed looks of his deceased friends.
Rin... Obito...
"Kakashi-senpai?" Yugao Uzuki suddenly touched Kakashi's shoulder, giving the latter a start.
"Captain, what's wrong?" Hayate Gekko looked at him with concern. If even Kakashi couldn't hold on, what would they do?
Fortunately, after wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Kakashi regained his composure.
Is it because I stared at that eye for too long? The calmed Kakashi analyzed the situation quickly. Everyone else was fine; only he had been using the Sharingan to observe that blood eye to find its weakness, which led to him falling under the genjutsu. It was a close call; it would have been disastrous if he were alone.
"That eye casts a genjutsu on anyone who gazes at it. Be careful," Kakashi pulled down his forehead protector, covering his Sharingan.
Hearing this, the others quickly averted their eyes, not daring to look at the eye any longer.
"Next, the mission is canceled. All units, retreat. This is no longer within our capacity to handle."
Kakashi gave the retreat order decisively. If they stayed any longer, they might not even be able to guarantee their lives, let alone complete the mission.
"Understood."
None of the nine people present opposed him. Kakashi wasted no time and immediately used the Summoning Jutsu to call forth a pug wearing a Hidden Leaf forehead protector.
"Kakashi, this is..."
Pakkun sniffed the moment he was summoned, nearly choking on the thick scent of blood. He then looked toward the sky and asked a soul-searching question: "Kakashi, what is this?"
Kakashi had no time to explain. He recorded the intelligence into a scroll as fast as possible and handed it to Pakkun.
"There's no time to explain, Pakkun. I'm counting on you to take this information back."
Seeing Kakashi's serious expression, Pakkun knew it was a grave matter. He bit the scroll and said, "Leave it to me. Don't worry."
Kakashi nodded to Pakkun and then released the summoning. This way, even if something happened to them, Pakkun could report the information to the Hidden Leaf.
"Fortunately, this thing doesn't have the ability to affect space yet," Hayate Gekko said with some relief. Otherwise, whether this information could be sent back would be a problem.
"Alright, alright, let's get out of here quickly," Yugao Uzuki urged. She truly did not want to stay here for another minute!
"Mm," Kakashi nodded, then gave a Hidden Leaf hand signal for alertness and retreat.
At that moment, the eye in the sky, having absorbed a massive amount of blood, suddenly began to expand uncontrollably. To describe it, it was like cancer cells—growing frantically without purpose or shape!
The crimson eye, covered in bloodshot veins, also grew rapidly. The apocalyptic, heavy atmosphere nearly made it impossible for Kakashi and the others to breathe.
"Pick up the pace!"
Kakashi stopped worrying about being on guard and ordered everyone to flee at maximum speed. Behind them, after absorbing enough blood, a giant sphere of flesh finally took shape, hanging high in the blood-colored sky in place of the moon.
It looked exactly like... a demon's eye!
Furthermore, this bizarre eyeball had two pairs of grey fleshy wings supporting it as it floated in mid-air. As the giant ball of flesh opened, countless terrifying bloodshot cracks spread from the center of the dark eye, covering the entire body.
A decaying, terrifying aura instantly erupted like a tsunami, enveloping the fleeing Hidden Leaf ninjas. In an instant, they stopped in their tracks as various horrific memories involuntarily surfaced in their minds. All of them were swallowed by a tide of fear.
Are we still being targeted?
Kakashi turned around. The giant blood eye was peering at the world like a deity. He didn't hesitate; he threw out shuriken to injure all his companions, using physical pain to temporarily pull them out of their terror.
"I will stay behind to stall this guy. Everyone else, scatter and flee immediately. Remember, do not look back."
Kakashi spoke with absolute certainty. Those present were all highly trained ninjas and knew how serious the situation was. They didn't delay and immediately fled in different directions according to their usual drills.
Kakashi, meanwhile, revealed his Sharingan again while stabbing a kunai into his own arm to maintain a clear judgment of the situation on the battlefield.