Chapter 259: Final Sage of Six Path

Heavy panting…

Accompanied by the sound of labored, sorrowful breathing, a hand reached out from the rushing river, pressing against the moss-covered, slippery rock face. A young man desperately pushed himself up, rolling his body out of the water.

Cold liquid slid down his face, thick and faintly smelling of fish. Shisui could no longer distinguish whether it was water or blood.

The night wind brushed his skin.

Earlier, at dusk, Shisui had seen the golden sunset hanging in the sky.

But now, hours later, the sun had long set.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Shisui could no longer see the starry sky above.

—His eyes were hollow, blood mixed with river water flowed down his face and the proud eyes of the Uchiha clan had been gouged out.

Tap, tap, tap.

Footsteps came from one side of the riverbank, much heavier than usual.

Shisui made no movement, only lying there quietly.

"From the moment I ambushed you until now, you haven't said a word." A clear and pleasant girl's voice reached his ears, "I thought you'd at least curse me, call me a heartless witch."

Ruri sat down beside the barely alive boy, resting his head on her lap. "Have you fallen into such despair and rage that you don't even bother to curse?"

"But Shisui, no matter what, I must have your two Kotoamatsukami."

"One to hypnotize Ryoma, and one to deal with Sensei. Oh, but you probably don't even know who Ryoma is..."

Shisui suddenly turned his head, his dark, empty eye sockets facing Ruri, his voice unexpectedly calm.

"Even if it means killing a comrade, you still want my eyes."

"If you're willing to go to such lengths, killing our sensei, I no longer care about the reasons. It's just… just…" He paused, then continued, "How do you know I wouldn't have sided with you?"

'How do you know that when you asked to borrow my eyes to fight our sensei, I wouldn't have stood on the same side as you? You must understand, only members of the Uchiha clan can fully unleash the power of the Sharingan.'

'After all these years of life-and-death experiences, don't you realize? Besides the village, the most important thing to me is...'

Ruri silently closed her eyes, feeling the vial containing Shisui's eyes burning hot in her pocket.

'Because my connection with Yuto is a secret I never wanted you to find out.'

"After all these years, you still can't stop boasting, you brat." The white-haired girl pretended to smile, lightly flicking Shisui's forehead. "I'll give you a bit of chakra, enough to let you drift downstream."

"In about three days, the village will find you. By then, the news of 'Ruri betraying the Leaf' will have spread throughout the entire shinobi world..."

"Wait at our team's secret base next month. If all goes well, I might return your eyes."

'What if things don't go well?' Shisui didn't ask, and Ruri didn't say.

The simple bamboo raft was finally built. As Ruri moved Shisui's body onto it, the young man with empty eye sockets suddenly spoke.

"You and sensei are quite alike."

The girl's heart skipped a beat.

"From the very beginning, you were always like him."

"You both liked to sit under the eaves, lost in thought. You both added two spoons of vinegar to your ramen. Sometimes, you'd even say random things like, 'It's raining, better take in the laundry.'"

"I never understood why, just like I never understood why sensei betrayed the village and slaughtered his clan, or why you'd go to any lengths to kill him."

"But I've always felt that your hearts aren't as cold as you make them out to be."

"Six years ago, on that Crimson Night, sensei spared those who didn't resist. Now, you've spared me."

"Ruri…" Shisui's voice grew softer, "Being a shinobi is such a painful thing."

The white-haired girl shook her head with a bitter smile. With a light push, the bamboo raft carrying Shisui drifted downstream.

Bathed in the moonlight and starlight, Ruri watched the raft float farther and farther away. Suddenly, she saw Shisui raise his right hand, waving with all his strength.

—On the boy's wrist, tied to it, was a strand of silver-white hair.

Ruri couldn't help but lift her foot, but half a second later, she forced herself to stop. She bit her lip so hard that she could taste the metallic tang of blood.

"…Idiot."

...

...

A week later, at the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.

"Is it… finally over?" Ruri drove the kunai into Kitsu's chest, twisting it to shatter his heart.

With the real body dead, the remaining clones were also eliminated. No one could bind her anymore. The cage was destroyed, and only the free sky remained.

'Next, I need to erase my tracks. Oh, and Shisui. I have to return his eyes… but… what kind of person should I become in this world from now on? I...'

Her long-held wish had been fulfilled, but she was lost, not knowing what lay ahead.

However, this confusion and joy didn't last long before a great upheaval shook the world.

She saw the sky split open like a waterfall, countless flames illuminating the night sky, as if the entire starry expanse was crashing down.

It was the result of an enormous amount of chakra burning through the atmosphere.

The earth trembled, and a long-haired man leapt out from the cracks in the ground, carrying the aura of the pure land as he returned to the world.

At the next moment, Yuto appeared almost instantly in front of her.

"Such a beautiful plan, Ruri. As expected of a part of me."

There wasn't a trace of anger in Yuto's eyes. In fact, his gaze showed admiration and even pride.

Boom!

With the release of his eye power, the white-haired girl's body was torn apart.

Ryoma Kuroki, Kitsu Yoshihiro, Natsume Mahiro, Ruri Mochizuki.

Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki, Kaguya, Hyuga.

Five bloodlines merged at that moment, unleashing the power of the ancestor of the chakra.

And thus, the final Sage of the Six Paths was born.

(End of Chapter)