Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"What, what, what a beautiful and powerful force this is!"

In his pursuit of eternal life, he needed a vessel, a physical body to hold his soul, a tool to help him achieve eternal life. And now he discovered that there was no more perfect vessel than the Uchiha clan. The Sharingan's beautiful and powerful energy was so captivating.

Even though his [Reanimation Jutsu] has the problem of a weakened soul, it doesn't mean that just anyone can use genjutsu to subdue him. His own problems cannot overshadow the power of the Sharingan!

It's hateful that those old good-for-nothings in the Uchiha clan didn't fully utilize the power of the Sharingan, which led him to misjudge the Uchiha's potential. He had a treasure trove but didn't go in, and all he found after running around was just mediocre trash. But it's not too late to realize that now.

"There is a flaw in your mental consciousness."

Shisui stared at Orochimaru, his crimson eyes seeming to see right through him.

"The disharmony between mind and body... is it a forbidden technique? The reason why forbidden techniques are forbidden is because they are a double-edged sword, harming both the user and the attacker." These words were not spoken to Orochimaru, but rather a reminder to himself that being obsessed with forbidden techniques does not only bring benefits, but also unseen drawbacks.

Orochimaru used himself as a case study to give Shisui a vivid lesson.

As he spoke,

Shisui transferred the half of the katana he was holding in his right hand to his left. His right shoulder had been pierced by the katana Orochimaru had hidden in the sea, and now he couldn't lift his arm at all. He could only use his left hand to hold the katana and end Orochimaru's life. All that nonsense he said before about sending Orochimaru to Konoha Prison was just empty talk.

It would be too troublesome to capture these extremely dangerous rogue ninjas alive.

He also disliked using the power of Kotoamatsukami to cleanse and manipulate the consciousness of others. Moreover, he noticed that Orochimaru seemed to have serious problems with his mental consciousness due to his research on forbidden techniques, which also led to some inexplicable strangeness. Rather than risking a long journey to escort him back to Konoha, it would be better to execute him here and there.

Anyway, it's fine to kill someone as wicked as Orochimaru.

then,

Shisui swiftly and cleanly slashed at Orochimaru's long, pale neck that didn't look human at all. To ensure that Orochimaru wouldn't break free from the genjutsu, Shisui didn't add any wind-style chakra or other means to the blade to enhance the slashing power.

There are two ways to break an illusion.

Depending on the caster, there are two types: non-eye-based genjutsu can be broken by disrupting the flow of chakra within the body, while eye-based genjutsu can only be broken by having someone else disrupt the flow of chakra.

If wind-style chakra is wrapped around the blade, it's like helping Orochimaru break free from the shackles of the Shackles Technique.

That's not what Shisui wanted to see.

but,

Just before Shisui's blade touched Orochimaru's neck, he heard a whooshing sound from afar. Obscured by the sea breeze and waves, even Shisui only heard the sound as it drew closer. His eyes blazed with crimson light, his surging ocular power suppressing Orochimaru's consciousness. The broken half of his katana slashed down at Orochimaru's neck with even greater speed.

The next second, blood splattered.

Shisui beheaded Orochimaru once again. Unlike the previous snake clones, this time Orochimaru's neck gushed blood. However, Shisui's face showed no joy, only a sense of helplessness and regret at his failure. There were ten holes in Orochimaru's neck as he fell into the sea below.

Ten finger bones were deeply embedded in Orochimaru's body.

Before Shisui could cut off Orochimaru's head, these finger bones, imbued with intense chakra energy, pierced Orochimaru's neck. The external chakra disrupted the flow of chakra within Orochimaru's body, which had been restrained by his eye power.

In that instant, the long snake in Orochimaru's mouth swallowed the long sword back, and at the same time, a small white snake was spat out of his mouth. When Shisui severed Orochimaru's neck with a single stroke, the small white snake also fell into the sea.

Did they escape?

Shisui, still holding the dripping blood from the tip of his sword, looked around but saw no trace of it. Instead, Orochimaru's corpse and head began to weather into ashes and were swallowed by the waves. Apart from the katana still stuck in Shisui's shoulder, all that remained was the brat standing on the beach not far away.

Orochimaru,

They've already fled.

"The Sannin... are really hard to kill!" Shisui looked at the still-dripping blade in his hand and shook his head helplessly. The crows that were cawing in the sky gathered again and transformed into bird clones, coming behind Shisui and carefully pulling the katana stuck in his shoulder.

Then, the series of actions—stopping the bleeding and bandaging—were performed with practiced ease and skill.

However, such a severe injury, rather than something that could be easily treated with a bandage, meant that Shisui was temporarily unable to perform any strenuous movements with his right arm. This made Shisui realize that his mission to find the Six Paths Ninja Tools had probably been completely botched, and he couldn't continue the search in this condition.

Putting everything else aside, if Orochimaru were to make a comeback, it wouldn't be so easy to capture his true form. In that case, we would probably have to rely on the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Furthermore,

He still had questions in his mind, just as Orochimaru had asked him before. He was equally curious about what Orochimaru was doing in this remote, impoverished place in the Land of Water. His intuition told him that Orochimaru's purpose was highly likely to overlap with his own. As for whether his intuition was accurate…

Their gazes fell upon Kimimaro, who stood on the beach in a fighting stance.

"Do you want to fight me?"

Zhi Shui walked over slowly, not getting too close.

He hadn't forgotten the scene of Orochimaru's neck being pierced with ten bloody holes. That kind of power was extremely threatening to him. If he wasn't careful, even he would suffer a loss, even though Kimimaro looked like a seven or eight-year-old child.

But when he was seven or eight years old, he was already fighting for survival on the battlefield.

Therefore, he would not underestimate Kimimaro at all.

"I won't let you go after Lord Orochimaru."

Kimimaro had sharp white bones protruding from his palms, elbows, shoulders, and knees. The small man looked like a weapon of war, and his intense and fierce killing intent proved that he was not just a pretty face.

Moreover, judging from what this kid said, it seems that he chose to stay behind voluntarily to cover Orochimaru's retreat.

If it weren't for Kimimaro's intervention, which allowed Orochimaru to break free from Shisui's genjutsu, Shisui might have actually had a chance to kill Orochimaru! Having witnessed Orochimaru's various bizarre methods, Shisui no longer dared to guarantee that he could kill Orochimaru.

Regardless, Kimimaro's loyalty is truly admirable.

but,

When Orochimaru fled, he made no attempt to take the brat with him.

Shisui still held the broken katana in his left hand. He didn't draw it, but merely glanced at Kimimaro. The gaze from his crimson eyes met Kimimaro's resolute eyes.

"Magic - Dragon's Sleep Technique"

Kimimaro, whose mental consciousness was still very immature, had no resistance to Shisui's illusion.

His protruding bones retracted, and he fell backward, lying on the beach in a deep slumber. The bird clone stepped forward and carefully lifted this person, who was likely the last surviving member of the Kaguya clan, which had been wiped out. The [Shikotsumyaku] bloodline limit, like the Sharingan, is a unique mark in the ninja world.

Even though the Kaguya clan had been silent for a long time,

However, Shisui did some research before coming to the Land of Water.

"Let me see what Orochimaru has been doing in the Land of Water."

Shisui endured the pain in his shoulder until his clone pried open Kimimaro's eyelids. He then projected his eye power into Kimimaro's unguarded mind. Perhaps due to his young age, or perhaps because he was Orochimaru's vessel, there was no seal or anything like that placed in Kimimaro's mind.

This made Shisui's search work much easier.

It didn't take too long.

In those few memories, Shisui saw the bleak impression of Kimimaro being raised as a weapon by his clansmen, saw Kimimaro being bewitched by Orochimaru and leaving the Land of Water with Orochimaru, and thus saw the locations of many of Orochimaru's lairs. Unfortunately, most of this information was useless.

Given Orochimaru's experience and caution, Kimimaro is most likely to abandon these dens he knows about.

Skipping over the memories of Orochimaru's lair, Shisui saw Orochimaru's purpose in coming to the Land of Water. Orochimaru came for the corpses of the two former Cloud Village's "Lights of Light." Orochimaru did indeed find the corpses of the Gold and Silver Brothers, and he also looted all the other seemingly valuable corpses.

The intuition of Zhi Shui unfortunately came true.

His mission was practically impossible to complete.

Unless he can kill Orochimaru and take the things back, but if he misses this opportunity, hunting Orochimaru again will not be an easy task.

"Orochimaru... Sigh!"

Shisui reached up and touched his injured shoulder, sighing, "What bad luck!"

[139. Chapter 139 Crow, Bones, White Snake, White]

Shisui once again passed through the curtain and entered the still-open set meal shop. The little girl in charge of serving customers stopped halfway through her "Welcome to our restaurant" speech. Seeing this customer who had returned and who carried a strong smell of blood, she turned pale with fright.

He is a ninja.

This guest is a ruthless ninja!

The little girl's heart was filled with fear. The Mist Ninja had a truly terrible reputation in the Land of Water because of their cold-blooded methods and behavior. They were not much better off than the Uchiha clan in Konoha in the past. Especially in such remote rural areas, not only the Mist Ninja, but to be precise, the existence of ninjas had been demonized.

Ruthless killers, cruel and merciless, and fond of eating children... This is how the little girl perceived things.

The terrified little girl was like a rabbit in the jaws of a tiger, too scared to move, standing there trembling.

"My stir-fried udon noodles shouldn't be cold yet, right?" Shisui sat down in his previous seat, while Kimimaro, whom he had been carrying, lay flat on the two chairs opposite him, still immersed in the genjutsu and not yet awake. "If possible, could you please bring my stir-fried udon noodles over as soon as possible?"

Shisui revealed her gentlest smile.

He knew he had just fought Orochimaru and was covered in blood, looking quite frightening. But he was really hungry, tired, and in pain, and now he had a burden on him. At this moment, his biggest wish was to eat something delicious and drink some hot soup.

The little girl's face was still pale and bloodless, but Shisui's smile did have some effect.

He nodded stiffly, like a wooden statue, towards still water.

With stiff, mechanical steps, I walked into the kitchen. About ten seconds later, an elderly man with gray hair and a slightly hunched back came out carrying a tray with steaming hot stir-fried udon noodles, red bean soup with rice cakes, roasted pork, and fried chicken cutlet.

"Please enjoy your meal, sir."

The old man was extremely respectful.

"I'll leave this town after I've eaten."

Zhi Shui understood why the old man was so respectful. He had encountered similar situations more than once when he was on a mission. He knew that instead of saying something like "I'm not a bad person, I have no ill intentions, I'm just here for a meal," it would be more reassuring to say that he would leave as soon as possible.

The old man silently bowed his head in respect, then backed away.

Shisui sighed silently and then turned her attention back to the belated lunch.

The boy lying on the chair let out a meaningless groan. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and his eyelids slowly opened. His emerald green eyes rolled around blankly. After about five or six seconds, he recalled his previous memories and saw Shisui eating red bean soup with rice cakes across from him.

Kimimaro suddenly sprang up.

The pale bones in the palm protrude.

However, just before he could attack Shisui, Shisui, who was eating red bean soup with mochi, looked up and cast a [Shackle Technique] without any warning, pinning Kimimaro to the spot and rendering him immobile. Only after Kimimaro had swallowed the sticky mochi did he speak:

"If you want to keep sleeping, I can guarantee you'll have a very, very long dream. If you don't want to keep dreaming, then take that thing back from your hand. The choice is yours."

After saying that,

Shisui immediately removed the shackles and picked up a long piece of rice cake to eat.

Kimimaro stood still, the phantom pain of the metal wedges driven into his body still lingering in his mind. However, what stopped him from attacking was not this small, false pain. He simply didn't want to continue sleeping. Besides, he knew that he was no match for the guy in front of him who had defeated Lord Orochimaru.

To be honest, the action I just took was nothing more than a natural stress response from my body.

Of course, Kimimaro didn't know what a stress response was, but he knew what he was thinking. His brilliant mind quickly came to the conclusion that he was no match for Orochimaru. As the vessel chosen by Lord Orochimaru, he couldn't easily risk his life.

then,

Kimimaro obediently sat down in the chair opposite Shisui, his eyes wide as he watched Shisui eat. His serious gaze made Shisui extremely uncomfortable; his manners while eating red bean soup with mochi were already less than elegant, and now this 'spectator' had to take over…

Are you hungry?