Naruto Immersive Replay, The Curse of the Sharingan

Crimson replaced black eyes, and eerie patterns slowly rotated. You remained seated, your posture unchanged, only your voice became unusually calm, "Third Hokage, I didn't want to drag you into this."

"!!!" Hiruzen was terrified. He wanted to resist and call for help, but the invisible power of his eyes had already entangled his mind and consciousness.

Your abilities are far greater than he imagined; just how much are you hiding?

"Shisui is dead, his body was burned by Danzo." Your voice, like a final judgment, was imprinted deep in Hiruzen's consciousness, word by word. "I was just an innocent victim in this incident."

"And you, you know nothing."

As you spoke, Hiruzen felt as if he were being set by rules, his thinking began to become rigid, and his understanding of certain things was forcibly distorted.

It seems like everything you do is reasonable, Danzo is the culprit, Shisui is dead... This kind of perception overwhelmed his original judgment like a tidal wave.

how so?!

It's not like Kotoamatsukami (a deity from heaven), but more like bewitching... a deeper, more subtle form of mental manipulation.

In the last second before Hiruzen Sarutobi's consciousness blurred, his heart was filled with endless regret and chill.

He was still regretting how he could have allowed a dangerous person like Madara Uchiha to grow up in the village...

Finally, his eyes became vacant, and he slowly sat back down in his chair, as if the excitement and doubt he had just felt had never happened.

The heavy wooden door to the Hokage's office closed behind him, shutting out the tranquility inside, which had been altered by an unseen force.

The expression on your face instantly vanished, returning to its indifferent look tinged with weariness and sadness.

Kakashi and Itachi, who had been waiting outside, walked towards you as soon as you came out.

"How is it?" Itachi spoke first, his tone filled with undisguised concern.

Shisui's death was a huge blow to him, and you, as the person Shisui risked his life to protect, now occupy an extremely important place in his heart.

Although Kakashi didn't speak, the worry in his exposed Sharingan was clearly visible, revealing his state of mind.

His feelings for you are more complex, mixed with the shadow of a deceased friend, pity for the younger generation, and a concern that even he himself has not yet fully understood.

You looked up, your gaze sweeping blankly over the two of them, and answered Itachi's question in a hoarse voice, "It's nothing."

Then you made a request that surprised both of them: "I want to see Danzo."

Go see the culprit who killed Shisui? What do you want to do? Question him? Seek revenge?

“He’s in the interrogation room,” Kakashi finally spoke, his voice slightly low. “Do you need him to stay with you?” He was worried that you might lose control of your emotions, or that Danzo might act desperately.

Itachi didn't expect Kakashi to pay so much attention to him. This initiative to offer companionship goes beyond the usual care a senior shows to a junior.

He observed your reaction, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

You seemed still lost in your own emotions, shaking your head with a stubborn detachment in your voice, "I can manage on my own."

Kakashi wasn't surprised by your rejection. Given your personality, it would have been strange if you had agreed. He's long been used to your independence and unapproachability.

“Alright,” Kakashi didn’t insist, but exchanged a glance with Itachi. “We’ll take you there.”

Kakashi and Itachi thoughtfully led you to the oppressive interrogation room door, the heavy iron door seemingly separating two worlds.

Before you went in, Itachi looked at you and said solemnly, "If you need any help, you can come to me anytime."

This is the Uchiha clan's promise, and also the inheritance of Shisui's will.

Kakashi chimed in, succinctly adding, "Me too."

You looked at them, nodded slightly, accepting their kindness, and without further hesitation, pushed open the interrogation room door and stepped inside.

As they watched your figure disappear into the darkness behind the door, an indescribable unease lingered in their hearts.

The sound of the iron gate closing echoed clearly in the empty corridor.

The interrogation room was dimly lit, with only a single lamp casting a pale white halo. Danzo was bound to a chair with special chakra shackles, his right eye wrapped in thick gauze, and his face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

Hearing the door open, he looked up and saw the person he least wanted to see; his single eye was filled with resentment.

"So it was you, you little madman!" Danzo's voice was hoarse with anger and humiliation. "I had no idea what tricks you and Shisui were up to! You actually tried to frame Root!" He still firmly believed that he was innocent and had been tricked by you and Shisui, who might still be alive.

You remained silent in the face of Danzo's roar and accusations.

He simply stood quietly in the dim light, and under Danzo's astonished and uncertain gaze, he activated his dual Mangekyou Sharingan.

Danzo's single eye suddenly contracted, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head; he had witnessed the terrifying power of those eyes before.

You took a step forward, stepping into the center of the light's glow, and stared into Danzo's terrified eyes. "Shisui, you killed him. Everything was your doing."

Danzo wanted to refute, wanted to roar, but he felt his thoughts becoming chaotic, and some of his firm beliefs beginning to waver and blur...

The details of the ambush, the whereabouts of Shisui... it's as if an invisible hand is forcibly nailing the label of 'murderer' to his soul.

Inside the interrogation room, only Danzo's heavy, struggling breathing and your crimson Mangekyou Sharingan in the dim light remained.

Kakashi and Itachi, standing outside the door, had no idea what was happening inside.

They could only sense a chilling chakra fluctuation emanating from the crack in the door, and their hearts clenched at the same time.

Dim light streamed in from outside, illuminating your slightly pale face. The metal shackles around your neck restricted most of your strength, especially for someone who had just overused their Kaleidoscope powers.

Forcibly setting rules for Danzo's consciousness consumed far more energy than expected. When he left the interrogation room, he felt a strong wave of dizziness, his vision began to darken at the edges, and his steps became unsteady.

The moment the interrogation room door opened, under the tense gazes of Itachi and Kakashi, you couldn't even take two steps before collapsing forward.

"Nagi!" The two exclaimed almost simultaneously, reacting quickly. In a flash, they caught you on the left and right. Your hands were icy cold, and they could feel your slight trembling.

What happened? What's going on inside? What's wrong with your body?

A series of questions instantly filled Itachi and Kakashi's minds. Kakashi subconsciously checked Itachi's pulse. Although it was weak, it was still relatively stable, more like exhaustion after severe overdraft of mental energy and chakra.

They carefully helped you to sit down on a bench in the corridor. After Shisui's death, you seemed even more depressed.

This is the shared feeling of Itachi, Kakashi, and indeed everyone who has ever come into contact with you.

However, upon closer observation, one can discover a contradictory temperament: the outward expression of sadness conflicts with the inner indifference.

You started to show some emotional expressions, such as the tears you shed in the ward just now, and the unease you showed while you were unconscious.

But these expressions always have a sense of disconnect, like a carefully practiced mask, or some kind of stress response, rather than a natural expression from the heart.

They all believe that Shisui's death dealt you a huge blow, causing your personality to become more eccentric and unpredictable.

This explanation is reasonable and most likely to evoke sympathy and tolerance.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi learned that you had fallen into a coma again, he specially granted you a month of sick leave.

"Let her recover properly in the hospital and adjust her mood before returning to the Anbu." Hiruzen's instruction carried an almost indulgent gentleness, a subtle contrast to his previous wariness of you.

So, you naturally ended up in the intensive care unit of Konoha Hospital again.

Because you have consumed a lot of your pupil power, your mind is in a sensitive state due to excessive depletion, and you have been plagued by nightmares for several days.

Dreams are bizarre and fantastical, but they always have one thing in common: you can always dream of a pair of golden eyes staring at you.

Those eyes were huge, cold, and pure, like the gaze of a god, devoid of any emotion, only absolute rationality and supreme majesty.

Being watched by those eyes makes you feel like an ant, with all your secrets exposed.

And accompanying those golden eyes, a voice always whispers, like a spell, echoing again and again in the abyss of dreams, "Stop pretending, be your true self..."

The voice was seductive, yet also carried a knowing mockery.

My true self?

You've lived with layers of pretense for so long that you've almost forgotten what your true self is like.

You are lost in your own memories.

It was much earlier, long before he joined the Dark Side, and even before the Haruno family adopted him.

Danzo captured you at Root for the second time. Why? Perhaps it was the unusual signs on you, or perhaps he simply wanted to completely control this 'unstable element'.

Faced with three months of abuse and imprisonment at the root, endless torment, and the dual pressure of physical and psychological exhaustion... at a point on the verge of collapse, a dormant force was finally awakened.

You have awakened a special bloodline limit.

The dazzling golden light was like liquid metal, or like flowing fire with life.

Your subconscious tells you that this is the Metal Escape Technique, a power that transcends conventional escape techniques.

Chapter 276 - Morbid

Driven by despair and rage, you wield this power, turning the roots upside down. Golden blades, chains, barriers... wherever they pass, destruction follows, leaving blood everywhere, from enemies to your own.

When you finally collapse from exhaustion, what you see are the Konoha high-ranking officials who have rushed to the scene after hearing the news.

They look at you with a mixture of fear and greed—fear of this unknown and powerful force, and greed for the potential benefits of controlling it.

With Hiruzen Sarutobi's tacit approval, cold, black metal shackles were placed around your neck.

A powerful sealing force instantly surged through your body, forcibly suppressing the power you were not yet fully familiar with.

You tried countless methods: using kunai to pry open, using chakra to impact, even attempting to corrode with a weak metal-style technique... but nothing worked. The shackles seemed to have grown into your very bones.

Later you learn that these shackles were invented by Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin, specifically to imprison special bloodline limits or tailed beast powers.

He himself had already defected from Konoha and his whereabouts were unknown.

Power is imprisoned, and freedom is restricted.

At first, you are very irritable. Wherever you are, objects will be shattered by an invisible force. The atmosphere is so oppressive that it is suffocating. Nothing is stable. You resist everyone getting close.

It was Pharmacist Nonou, the kind and gentle orphanage director, who took the initiative to approach you.

Unlike others who harbor ulterior motives, Nono uses boundless patience and warmth to gradually melt away the icy thorns around you.

You thought the headmistress was special to you, and you began to rely on that warmth, like a moth yearning for light. You would secretly imitate Nono's smile and be happy all day because of a single compliment from her.

That was one of the few bright spots in a bleak life.

But Nono treats all children the same; her gentleness is universal and equal, like the sun shining on the earth, not just on you alone.

This realization was like a bucket of ice water, extinguishing the faint flame that had just ignited in your heart, and your attitude towards Nonou quickly turned from intimacy to indifference.

You can't stand this 'sharing' and crave companionship, but the thought that the children in the orphanage are taking away Nonou's attention from you makes your heart gnaw at by an intense resentment.

You've always known that you seem a bit abnormal, with extreme emotions, a love that makes you want to live and a hate that makes you want to die, and a frighteningly strong possessiveness.

I've thought countless times about whether or not to kill all the children in the orphanage.

This dark thought, like a nightmare, tempts you, so that Nono's gaze will always be on you, and that warmth will belong only to you.

But when you look in the mirror at your eyes that are gradually becoming empty and numb, reason tells you that you should stay calm.

You're afraid you'll really turn into a monster who only knows how to kill, and you're afraid to see the disappointment in Nono's eyes.

To avoid things getting out of control, you choose a solitary life.

She was unwilling to get close to those children, locking herself in her own little world, and unwilling to accept Nono's warmth anymore. As long as she didn't get it, she wasn't afraid of losing it.

In the second year at the orphanage, the war finally ended.

Another group of children arrived at the orphanage; they were war orphans, among them was Dou.

You learn from the other children that the headmistress intends to adopt a boy named Kabuto, who seems well-behaved and intelligent, and is very much loved by Nono.

So when you see the children bullying Dou, you choose to ignore it, you even... rejoice in seeing Dou being bullied, a dark, disgusting pleasure quietly grows within you.

But the children misunderstood. When they saw you standing not far away, looking at them coldly, they thought you were there to back them up, and they scattered in fear.

Even Dou thought so. He looked at you timidly, his eyes filled with gratitude and a hint of fear.

How ridiculous, you mocked in your heart.

And you went along with it, offering no explanation and tacitly accepting the identity of this protector.

You don't want to be friends with Kabuto. Seeing Kabuto always reminds you of Nono's "great love" and the sense of loss of not being able to possess it all.

But Dou wouldn't let it go.

Like a fool, no matter how indifferent or indifferent you are, Dou always follows behind you, like a cautious little tail.

He would share half of the candy he had finally gotten with you, and he would clumsily tell jokes to try to make you happy, even though it always ended in an awkward silence.

Your heart is not made of stone.

As Dou clumsily approaches you day after day, you probably soften your heart and agree to let him get closer to you, allowing him to stay at a distance that is neither too close nor too far.

Dou will always give you the best of everything: a clean handkerchief, an interesting picture book, a piece of pastry he can't bear to eat... It's as if he wants to present you with all the good things he has.

Sometimes you might think that pockets are... different.