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Heshu stared blankly at Shisui, who was walking towards him like a man sleepwalking.
What kind of dream are you having? Heshu wondered.
This wasn't dreaming. This was suicide. He'd never seen anyone walk right up to him like this before.
And…
Heshu was seriously starting to doubt Shisui's mental state. The precious Kotoamatsukami—Shisui had used it twice. On him.
Heshu said nothing.
"Once we return to Konoha… everything will go back to how it was," Shisui murmured, voice soft, his eyes shimmering with a gentle, hopeful light. He kept moving closer. "No more war. No more conflict…"
Heshu remained silent.
Maybe it's time he faced reality.
Shisui's step faltered.
Blood, drip by drip, began to spill from the corner of his mouth. It hit the earth below.
His head lifted, confusion clouding his eyes. Disbelief.
Shinsō had pierced his chest. Crimson bloomed rapidly across his shirt.
"Heshu…" Shisui's mouth opened. More blood welled up. A trembling hand rose, reaching out.
He'd been prepared for this. Using Kotoamatsukami on Heshu… he'd only given it a fifty-fifty chance. This outcome wasn't unexpected.
"Shisui!"
Ayako was there in an instant, catching his slumping body. Her eyes burned red at the sight of the bloody hole in his chest.
"You're not the Hokage!" she shouted at Heshu, tears welling. "The Hokage would never hurt us!"
Her words were a test. A desperate one.
Heshu raised a brow. "Of course I'm not. I am Tsukimi Heshu. The 'Hokage' you hold in your hearts was just an illusion I crafted. A fantasy I let you indulge in."
His voice was cold, matter-of-fact. "From the beginning, there was no Fifth Hokage. Only the real me, wearing a mask."
Ayako gritted her teeth. She couldn't believe he could say something so cruel, so final. The warm, indulgent smile of the Hokage from her memories was fading, blurring. All that remained was the cold, mocking face of Tsukimi Heshu.
"Shisui! Shisui!"
Heshu hadn't held back. Shinsō had gone straight through the heart.
The light in Shisui's eyes was dimming. He stared in Heshu's direction, his gaze a tangled mess of regret and longing.
Knowing Shisui, Heshu thought, he's probably blaming himself for my betrayal.
"Heshu…" Shisui whispered, blood bubbling on his lips. "I'm sorry… If only…"
If only I had met you… before you met Madara…
The world blurred. Heshu's form grew faint. Then, nothing but cold, empty black.
Hearing is the last sense to go.
Ayako's sobs filled his ears. Juri's choked shouts.
And… Heshu's voice.
"Don't apologize to me."
Heshu watched the body fall.
Juri laid Shisui down gently. He stood, facing Heshu, his eyes holding the same stubborn resolve Shisui's had.
"I believe Shisui and I shared the same will," he declared. "He, like me, wanted to bring you back to Konoha!"
A scornful laugh escaped Heshu. "Then your end will be the same."
A bitter smile touched Juri's lips. "Dying by your hand… just like Shisui… that wouldn't be so bad."
"Juri!" Ayako cried out.
He looked at her, earnest. "This is a bond between the three of us. I want to be the one to write the ending to our story."
He was telling her not to interfere.
Ayako clenched her jaw. "Fine! Don't you dare die!" She knew, better than anyone, the monstrous power standing before them. Her form vanished.
In the distance, the Ten-Tails' battle with the Allied Shinobi Forces raged on. The air was thick with dust and the iron scent of blood. A cool evening breeze scattered the lingering aura around Heshu.
He looked at the Uchiha before him, expression lazy. "You're no match for me."
It didn't need saying. They both knew.
Juri smiled, a rare, nostalgic expression. "I know. Ever since we were kids, I was never a match for you or Shisui. Gave up trying to catch up years ago."
He sighed. "I thought… you'd both wait for me. Looks like I was wrong. Both of you… left me behind."
His expression hardened. "But I'll repair the bond between us. We were a team. No matter how the world changes, that never will!"
His Sharingan whirled madly. He leaped high. "Fire Style: Blazing Storm Dance!"
A colossal fire dragon, twisting and spinning at incredible speed, roared towards Heshu.
A golden beam coalesced in Heshu's hand. It swallowed the flaming dragon whole.
A barrage of shuriken filled the air around Heshu next.
"ROAR!"
From within the golden light, the fire dragon erupted—bigger, fiercer, blazing towards Juri in the sky.
A deep violet skeletal giant erupted from the ground. Its massive arm swung, severing the dragon's head.
"ROAR!"
The Susano'o, now wielding a giant axe, raised it high and brought it crashing down towards Heshu.
CRACK!
The rock beneath Heshu's feet shattered from the sheer pressure before the axe even landed.
Heshu was already airborne. A golden net expanded from his palm, spreading, stretching, until it blotted out half the sky. It ensnared the violet axe, holding it fast.
Heshu hung in the air, motionless. Behind him, black and red energies swirled and merged.
"Hollow Technique: Purple."
Lightning crackled over his form. The sphere of distorted void—Purple—howled forth. Space warped. Everything in its path turned to dust. It shot towards the violet giant.
BOOM!
A massive mushroom cloud erupted.
The shockwave cleared the clouds above. The night sky, now empty save for a few scattered stars, was oppressively dark.
"Cough!"
In the crater below, fissures still spiderwebbed outwards.
Uchiha Juri lay at the center. Blood gushed from his mouth.
Amplified by the Infinity state, the destructive power of Purple had multiplied. It had shattered the Susano'o's armor in an instant.
Juri twitched a finger. A sharp, agonizing pain shot through his entire body. His internal organs, fragile against such force, had been pulverized.
He stopped struggling. Lay still.
The night was quiet. The world felt distant. In this moment, he saw himself with startling clarity.
He never had a heart as grand as Shisui's… or the Heshu of old.
That Heshu wanted to create peace. Shisui wanted to help him protect it.
Uchiha Juri? He wasn't that noble. He just wanted to protect Shisui and Heshu. Anyone outside that circle… he never felt much for them at all. Wanting to protect Konoha? That was only because it held their memories.
He was just an ordinary guy with a bit more power. All he wanted was to guard the people he cared about.
And in the end, even that small hope was shattered.
A shadow fell over him.
"Here to finish me?" Juri asked, a weak smile on his lips.
Heshu shook his head. "No. You in this state… holds no interest for me. Compared to ending you, I'd rather see what you become trapped in an illusion."
"Illusion?" Juri's vision swam. "Why, Heshu? Why chase something so… empty? Why…" A tear traced a path from the corner of his eye, disappearing into his hair.
"Juri," Heshu said softly, "in the illusion, you'll find all the answers you seek."
Then he was gone.
On the other side, Obito's battle with Kakashi had also concluded.
Heshu reappeared beside Madara.
A spatial ripple tore through the air. Obito's battered body slammed onto the ground. He gasped, body trembling, face slick with sweat and blood.
"He's finished, then?" Madara sat calmly, unmoved. "A shame. I wanted to have my final showdown with Hashirama before becoming the jinchūriki."
"No choice now." Madara raised a hand, beginning a sequence of hand seals.
"AAAGHHHH—!"
A scream tore from Obito's throat. His face contorted in pure agony, veins bulging in bloodshot eyes.
From his right arm, countless black chakra rods erupted. A dark, shadowy substance began creeping across half his body.
"My body…!" Obito could feel it—the loss of control.
"Now," Madara said, a smile spreading. "Use Rinne Rebirth on me."
Once Black Zetsu fully controlled Obito and forced him to sacrifice his life for the technique, he, Madara, would cast off this Edo Tensei shell and regain a true, living body.
Heshu stood beside him, watching silently. In the end, he was Madara's man.
Madara glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Heshu's lack of reaction pleased him greatly.
[Ding! Favorability of target Madara Uchiha has reached 80!]
Heshu's gaze flicked over Madara dismissively.
Obito stared in Madara's direction. He'd always known the man couldn't be trusted. But he'd had no other path.
The black shadow consumed half his face. His other eye locked onto Heshu.
Heshu stared back, impassive. His eyes held a cold, detached pity—the most chilling expression of all.
"Now is the time to repay your debt, Obito!" Madara commanded. A faint white light began to emanate from his Edo Tensei form.
"What's happening?"
"What are they doing over there?"
The anomaly around Madara drew shouts from the Allied Forces.
Hashirama, maintaining the barrier, frowned deeply. "Is that… the forbidden jutsu of the Six Paths? Rinne Rebirth?"
"Rinne Rebirth?" Naruto turned to him, confused.
"A technique that sacrifices another's life to resurrect oneself," Hashirama explained.
"What?!" Naruto's eyes widened. "So that guy… Madara… is trying to come back to life?!"
"Correct!" Hashirama nodded firmly. "We cannot allow that to happen!" A fully resurrected, even stronger Madara would be a nightmare.
"Young man! You're inside the barrier! Stop the person on the Ten-Tails' head from completing that jutsu!" Hashirama yelled.
"Right!" Naruto's expression turned deadly serious. He knew what was at stake. He and Sasuke shot forward simultaneously.
"Can't reach Obito in time, so you're coming for me instead?" Madara, mid-ritual, turned his head. Hashirama and Tobirama's shadow clones were closing in.
He looked at Heshu beside him. "Handle them."
He knew Heshu was strong. He hadn't even seen his full power yet.
"Understood."
Shinsō left its sheath. A silver-white beam of light extended infinitely.
Tobirama's clone, caught off guard, was pierced and dissipated.
"It seems we must first defeat the girl guarding Madara!" Hashirama said.
Tobirama's gaze settled on Heshu. "The kunoichi Hiruzen praised so highly… I expect she won't be weak."
"Wait!" Hashirama suddenly stopped. He looked towards the Ten-Tails. Heshu also paused.
"What's going on?" Madara mused lazily, chin in hand. "Obito's life signs… vanished. The ritual was interrupted. Uchiha Obito has been killed."
Who could have killed Obito that fast?
Heshu's gaze snapped to the Ten-Tails. Information flooded his mind, piecing it together.
"Minato Namikaze killed Uchiha Obito," he stated.
He guessed Minato had left a Flying Thunder God mark on Obito during the Nine-Tails attack. That mark never fades. Minato could have teleported instantly to Obito's side to disrupt the ritual.
"And now?" Heshu looked at Madara. "What's your next move?"
Madara merely smiled. "Now… there is a 'next move' for the 'next move.'"
Heshu said nothing. To become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, one needed a living body. As long as Madara remained in this Edo Tensei state, the plan—his and Black Zetsu's—would fail. Madara becoming the jinchūriki and initiating the Infinite Tsukuyomi was the crucial step. The step where Kaguya Ōtsutsuki would be reborn through him.
"Actually," Heshu said suddenly, a slight smirk touching his lips as he looked at Madara. "Perhaps there's no need to worry."
"Hmm?"
Madara followed his gaze back to the Ten-Tails.
The beast let out a shrill, piercing shriek. Its colossal form… was beginning to shrink.
"What is this?" Tobirama frowned.
"It seems… we underestimated Obito," Heshu remarked.
In his vision, the Ten-Tails' body dissolved completely. A pure white sphere floated in the air.
POP.
A sound like shattering glass, crisp and clear, echoed.
The white sphere cracked. Then broke apart.
A familiar face emerged, bathed in an otherworldly light. White, horned, and floating.
"He became the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki after all," Heshu said, his voice flat. "Obito."
Obito was the jinchūriki. Which meant he wasn't dead.
And as long as Obito lived, reviving Madara was just a matter of timing.
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