"She actually recovered?"
Uchiha Igaku, who had been watching from the sidelines, was astonished to see the girl he had controlled actually brought back to consciousness by Uchiha Gin's voice. This move had been unexpected and seemed to disrupt his plan of using the girl to annihilate the Uchiha clan.
"Though I have other options."
With a fleeting glance at Uchiha Gin, the elder's face showed a brief struggle before his eyes turned an inky black, lifeless and void. His eyes shifted patterns, and a shadow emerged from Uchiha Gin's own, slowly moving toward the Kaguya clan.
As Kaguya Josuke regained control of himself, he warily eyed the two young Uchihas from afar. Recognizing that the battle was now beyond salvage, and realizing that Uchiha Tajima would have seen through their diversionary tactics, he decided the best course was to retreat before the young Uchihas could react.
"Going somewhere, Elder Josuke?"
A ghostly voice echoed in his ear, and when he turned, he saw nothing. Preparing to leave, he then noticed a black head emerging from his own shadow, which, with a sinister grin, melted into him, bringing back the familiar, dreaded sensation of control.
"Hahaha, young Uchihas! Have you decided on your last words?" came a deranged shout as Kaguya Josuke, now exuding violent energy, brandished two massive bone blades, rushing toward them.
Frowning at Josuke's onslaught, Uchiha Gin, who was weakened by his overuse of the Mangekyō, was left with limited chakra. Struggling, he carried the girl and managed to dodge the initial attack, landing at a safe distance.
"Are you just going to dodge, brat?"
Kaguya Josuke taunted, his face twisted in madness. Refusing to back down, Uchiha Gin activated his right Mangekyō Sharingan, locking onto him. Sensing he was the target, Josuke shifted quickly, evading a black flame that would have otherwise struck his chest, sacrificing his right arm to the Amaterasu flames, which soon reduced it to ash.
A desperate escape attempt, Uchiha Gin thought grimly. Lacking enough chakra to keep using his Mangekyō, he set down the girl carefully and, biting his lip, unsheathed his rarely used blade. He let the three tomoe spin in his eyes—time to showcase a different kind of Uchiha prowess.
Using his Dance of the Bone technique, Josuke lunged toward Gin. With the clarity and predictive ability of his Sharingan, Gin dodged and countered Josuke's attacks with finesse. However, Josuke, growing frustrated, abandoned his weapon, instead summoning bone spikes from his body and charging at Gin in a brutal, close-range assault.
While Gin and Josuke were locked in fierce combat, Uchiha Igaku, watching from afar, sensed that Uchiha Tajima and Uchiha Hiro were approaching fast.
Smiling coldly, he thought, "Finally, it's time for you to feel my pain."
With a surge of malevolent energy, Josuke suddenly paused, retracting his bone spikes.
Startled, Gin looked warily at him, unsure what new threat he posed.
Then Josuke, wearing a grim smile, placed his hands on the ground. Sensing the impending release of a powerful jutsu, Gin rushed to the girl, intending to get both of them out of range.
As he approached, his sharpened Sharingan noticed something that made his blood run cold.
His aunt and her three children were still lying unconscious, dangerously close to where Josuke's jutsu would hit.
Gin, now burdened with the weakened girl, ran as fast as he could to reach his family. However, his worst fears were realized as Josuke unleashed his deadly technique.
With the Dance of the Thousand Bones, bone spires erupted across the ground in a kilometer-wide radius, engulfing Gin's aunt and her children.
A devastated scream tore from his throat.
"No!"
Simultaneously, Tajima, who had just arrived in time to witness the horrifying scene, let out his own anguished cry.
Ignoring the bone spires that tore into his own flesh, Gin rushed to his aunt's side, breaking through the forest of bones alongside his uncle Tajima.
But when they reached her, the sight that met them shattered their spirits: she and the children lay lifeless, impaled by the relentless spikes.
"Ahhh!" Tajima screamed, wracked with pain as he knelt beside his family, torn apart by grief.
The intense surge of agony activated his Sharingan, the tomoe within his eyes spinning until they fused, transforming into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Uchiha Igaku, watching Tajima's breakdown, laughed maniacally, tears streaming from his eyes. "Finally, you've tasted the agony of losing those you love!"
He turned to Kaguya Josuke, now under his control, and commanded, "Finish Uchiha Tajima."
But just then, a salvo of kunai forced Josuke back, marking the arrival of Uchiha Hiro, who froze at the sight of the carnage. His eyes darkened with rage as he took in the devastation.
Silently, Gin looked up, his Sharingan changing again, leaving a solitary black dot within his crimson gaze.
As the dot spun, he released Amaterasu, a torrent of black flames consuming Josuke in an instant.
Josuke, however, clad himself in his own bone armor to protect against the deadly fire, narrowly evading death.
"Return, now," ordered Igaku, pleased at the devastation he had wrought.
As Josuke regained consciousness, he felt an ache where his arm had once been and stared around at the haunting bone forest.
Before he could grasp what had happened, a soft but menacing voice drifted to him from the shadows, and a red moon descended into his vision, casting an eternal night around him.
-
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