Naruto Immersive Replay, The Curse of the Sharingan

Tao Hua could feel the vibration in his chest. When he said, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay here," his heart was pounding wildly against his ribs.

"Are you stupid?" Tao Hua roared, tears mingling with blood as she slid down her cheeks. "This is hell, a place where people die!"

Liangying's Sharingan shone brightly in the darkness. He cupped Taohua's face in his hands, his thumb wiping the warm liquid with a gentle touch that was unlike that of a ninja. "So what if it's hell? I'll be with you."

“No wonder Lord Tobirama said…” Momoka leaned weakly against Ryoei’s chest, listening to his vibrant heartbeat, “You Uchiha are all a bunch of crazy people who love!”

Liang Ying did not refute. The night wind blew through the gaps in the isolation tent, lifting his loose black hair. In the distance came the groans of the dying, reminding him that this place was still a living hell.

"A madman?" Liangying smiled silently.

He recalled the Uchiha ancestors in the clan's historical records who went mad with love.

Tobirama Senju was right; the Uchiha clan was indeed insane. They always gained the power to protect love while losing their beloved.

This is the cruelest curse, and also the most affectionate destiny.

Tao Hua's body suddenly convulsed, and she spat out a mouthful of black blood onto Liang Ying's clothes. Liang Ying hurriedly wiped the blood from her lips, only to find that faint green lines were beginning to appear on his hands as well.

The infection has already begun.

"Look..." Tao Hua grabbed his wrist with a bitter smile, "Even you..."

Liangying suddenly lowered his head and kissed her. The kiss was clumsy and desperate, but it made Taohua's eyes widen. She had fantasized countless times about her first kiss with this second young master of the Uchiha clan, but she never thought it would be in the quarantine zone shrouded in the shadow of death.

"I don't care." Liangying's thin lips were cracked from the high fever, but he stubbornly pressed them against Taohua's burning forehead. "I stopped caring a long time ago."

Tao Hua's vision blurred; she couldn't tell if it was tears or sweat. She only felt Liang Ying's voice, sometimes near, sometimes far, "Remember our mission in the Tea Country? You disguised yourself as a flower girl..."

“I remember…” Tao Hua smiled faintly, “You…pretended to buy flowers…but paid three times the price…”

Liangying hugged her even tighter, their body heat mingling through the thin fabric of their clothes.

His voice began to tremble, "Back then, I thought... after the war... I would take you to see a real sea of ​​flowers..."

Tao Hua's voice drifted like a dream, "The first time I saw you... was on the battlefield, you stood in a sea of ​​fire... as beautiful as a painting..."

Liangying's Adam's apple bobbed. He remembered that day when Taohua's kunai grazed his cheek, leaving a scar that has not faded to this day.

At the time, he only felt anger; now, he thinks it might have been a mark left by fate.

Tao Hua's hand suddenly touched the scar, her fingertips icy cold. "I...did it on purpose..."

She gave a sly smile, like a child who had just pulled off a prank, "I just wanted... for you to remember me..."

Tao Hua suddenly gripped his collar tightly. Liang Ying looked down and saw the light in her eyes fading.

Fear overwhelmed him like a tidal wave. He frantically channeled his chakra into Momoka's body, but it was like throwing stones into the sea.

"Liangying..." Taohua's voice was as light as a feather, "Sing a song...for me..."

Liangying's throat tightened. He was never good at singing, but at this moment he trembled and hummed an old Uchiha lullaby, a tune that his mother, Aki, often sang.

The offbeat melody drifted through the lifeless quarantine zone, eerie yet tender.

Tao Hua's lips curled up slightly, and her fingers gradually loosened, but Liang Ying held them tightly at the last moment.

"Don't sleep..." Liangying's voice was broken, "Just hold on a little longer... please..."

"Liangying..." Blood trickled from the corner of Taohua's mouth, "I...I'm so cold..."

"Sleep," Liangying hugged her tighter, her voice incredibly gentle, "I'm right here."

Tao Hua's eyelids grew heavy, and in the last moment before she fell into darkness, she saw Liang Ying's kaleidoscope pattern. The intricate patterns were breathtakingly beautiful, as if they wanted to absorb her soul and treasure it.

“Madman…” she murmured again, this time with a smile.

Liangying lowered her head and gently kissed Taohua's forehead, silently answering in her heart: Yes, I'm crazy for you.

The sound of the Nanga River could be faintly heard, like a distant requiem.

Death was imminent, but at this moment, in this tiny, fluorescent hell, they possessed the eternity of the entire world.

"Liangying...you bastard..."

The whispers dissipated in the putrid air, and as the torch illuminated that corner, Lengxi's breath caught in his throat—

Then he saw them.

Uchiha Yoshihide sat against the wall, holding Senju Momoka tightly in his arms. The two were in the same position as sleeping lovers, except that their bodies were covered with the bluish-green patterns unique to the plague, making them look like living things.

Tao Hua's face was pressed against Liang Ying's chest, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall, Liang Ying's chin resting on the top of her head, her arms forming a protective arc.

They died, but their beauty was breathtaking.

Leng Xi's knife clattered to the ground. He staggered forward and found a glass bottle neatly arranged to Liang Ying's right, inside which floated a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan eyes.

It was Uchiha Suku's eyes, still as vibrant as ever in the specially prepared nutrient solution, the three tomoe slowly rotating, as if still watching over the world.

There was a note under the container, the handwriting so neat it didn't seem like it was written by a dying person:

[Give Su's eyes to Elder Nagi. Whoever finds them first, we hope to be cremated as a final farewell. We would be very grateful.]

Leng Xi's fingers trembled uncontrollably. He recognized the handwriting; Liang Ying had used it to write his mission report by the campfire last night.

A spark landed on the corner of the paper, and he smiled and said, "It's alright."

The corner of that paper does indeed have scorch marks now, like a mockery of fate.

In the distance came the faint groans of the infected. Leng Xi mechanically put away the container and the note, and took out a signal flare specially made by her tribe.

As the fuse was lit, he took one last look at the two embracing figures. In the fluorescent light, Liangying seemed to be smiling, and Taohua's fingers were still hooked around his clothes.

The signal flare whistled as it soared into the sky, exploding into a scarlet Uchiha fan above the quarantine zone. Leng Xi retreated to the wall, watching her shadow stretch and distort, overlapping with the silhouette of the lovers.

The first to arrive was Tobirama Senju, whose eyes narrowed sharply when he saw the two people on the ground.

"Second Brother—!"

Uchiha Gen's cries were heart-wrenching. He was held back tightly by Izuna and Kiyo. From the Senju side came the suppressed sobs of the female ninjas. Even the usually cold and hard Tobirama turned his face away.

No one speaks.

Fluorescence, green stripes, a still chest—all of this is more powerful than any explanation.

"Do as he says," Ban suddenly said, his voice hoarse.

Tobirama Senju turned his head sharply, his eyes filled with naked shock. Cremation? In the quarantine zone? This was tantamount to declaring that the two had died from the plague.

Hashirama pressed down on his younger brother's shoulder and slowly shook his head.

His gaze fell on Liangying's arm that was wrapped around Taohua, where there was an old scar left by Taohua's kunai.

Now that the owner of the scar and the one who created it have both died, it seems like a kind of fulfillment of destiny.

Huo He silently took off his haori and covered the two of them.

The fabric was quickly soaked in fluorescence, turning an eerie bluish-green color.

“Use my Fire Release.” Izuna stepped forward, his voice so soft it was as if he didn’t want to wake them. “Ryoei-nii…likes flames that are hotter.”

Ban took the container and note from Lengxi. His fingers trembled almost imperceptibly when they touched the glass bottle. The eyes inside once belonged to Nagi's younger brother, and now they were about to return to her hands.

What an ironic cycle.

Izuna's hand seals were more perfect than ever before, and the Great Dragon Fire Technique roared out, but it was not the usual orange-red, but a kind of almost transparent azure blue.

The moment the flames engulfed the two, the green patterns suddenly twisted violently. Strangely, the two in the firelight did not distort or deform; instead, they seemed to be plated with a layer of gold.

Tao Hua's hair billowed in the heat, and Liang Ying's clothes fluttered; for a moment, they seemed about to stand up hand in hand.

The Senju medical ninjas began to sob softly, while the Uchiha remained as silent as iron, with only the firelight flickering in their eyes, evaporating the tears they were trying to hold back.

Leng Xi suddenly remembered the force with which Liang Ying patted his shoulder for the last time—so heavy, yet so light.

As the flames died down, only two skeletons remained embracing in the ashes, their green markings having vanished with the intense heat.

Hashirama stepped forward, clasping his hands together. Madara stood still, the glass container in his hands reflecting the embers, dividing his face into two halves of light and darkness.

"Prepare the body for burial," Tobirama suddenly said, a hint of softness in his voice that he himself didn't realize, "according to the rites for husband and wife."

The Uchiha looked up in shock, only to see that the Senju clan leader had already nodded in acquiescence.

With red eyes, Izuna silently took out a white cloth he always carried with him, which was used for the burial of the Uchiha.

As the ninjas of both clans lifted the inseparable skeleton together, a drop of water fell onto the ashes.

No one could tell which Senju or Uchiha it came from, just as no one could explain why the high wall built by hatred could be so easily shattered by love.

Ban took one last look at the scorched earth, then turned and left. His black robe swept across the ground, raising a small clump of ash. Perhaps Liangying's finger bone or Taohua's hair were in there, but it didn't matter anymore.

Importantly, the eyes in the container will regain their sight in Nagi's eye sockets; importantly, after tonight, the waters of the Naga River may flow in a different direction.

"Big brother..." Izuna's voice came from behind, tinged with a rare sob.

Ban didn't respond. He was just wondering if Liangying had seen that future in his final moments, where flames purified all filth and love transcended all hatred.

Hashirama Senju walked to Madara's side, and the two clan leaders stood side by side, watching the poignant cremation together.

"They..." Hashirama began, then choked up, finally only whispering, "They are beautiful."

A cherry blossom fell on Ban's shoulder. He reached out to brush it away, but his fingertips were covered in ash.

At that moment, Ban suddenly understood Liangying's choice; some things are indeed more important than life.

The sound of the Namga River carried the flying ashes into the distance. On this night, love proved its existence in the most tragic way, and death was just another form of eternity.

Love died, but love also won.

Chapter 71 Eternity

Uchiha Kakuzo stepped on the wet riverbank pebbles. He shouldn't have lingered here. The clan leader's orders were clear: any living creature that approached the riverbank should be killed without exception.

But when he heard the faint sobbing, he involuntarily stopped in his tracks.

Curled up on the riverbank, his thin body trembled like an abandoned cub. His eyes narrowed, and his Sharingan glowed faintly in the darkness. He was dressed in Senju's attire.

Reason told him he should leave immediately, or simply end it all, but the child's crying sounded so much like a voice from his memory, a voice he could no longer hear.

"Hey, you thousand-armed brat..."

He crouched down and reached out to touch the child's shoulder.

At this moment——

A mouthful of scalding blood splattered on his face, and the metallic, pungent smell of blood instantly filled his nostrils.

Huo He's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could react, the child slowly raised his head, revealing a face covered in green plague patterns, and gave him a strange smile.

The blood in the fire core instantly congealed. Oh no.

He could feel the blood, the toxins of the plague, seeping wildly through his skin. His cheeks began to burn, and it felt as if molten lava was being injected into his veins, the burning sensation spreading throughout his body.

"Fire Core, where have you run off to again?"

Uchiha Setsuna's voice came from not far away, filled with his usual irritability and impatience. Fire Core froze, then abruptly turned and roared, "Don't come any closer!"

Their steps faltered for a moment, and the two stood facing each other in silence, a few steps apart.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone on Huo He's face, and in that instant, the green veins that grew wildly like vines were finally visible emerging from beneath Huo He's skin, like some kind of living thing, slowly devouring his life.

His pupils contracted sharply in an instant, and his fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on the knife hilt.

"...Fire Core?"

Huo He did not answer; he simply stood up slowly, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"It seems... this time I'm really going to die."

On the fifth day of the plague, the ancestral land was filled with the acrid smell of burning corpses, and even the wind carried the bitterness of ashes.

The paper door was suddenly pulled open with a piercing sound.

Madara Uchiha stood backlit, his red armor still bearing traces of undried blood, his Sharingan eyes filled with an unfathomable gloom.

He silently removed his armor, his body beneath the dark blue clan robe taut like a bow, every muscle line etched with weariness and suppressed rage.

"I'll go wash up first." His voice was hoarse, as if it had been ground by grit. When he placed a glass bottle on the table, his fingertips made a crisp sound as they touched the glass. "These are Su's eyes. Chuan Lan will come over later to transplant them for you."

Your fingertips trace tiny cracks on the scroll.

Na Liangying—

The glass bottle sat on the table, the nutrient solution inside glowing with an eerie blue light. A pair of Sharingan eyes floated within, their pupils still in the contracted state before death. The familiar eye patterns were unmistakable.

Now that Ban has returned with those eyes, the answer is obvious.