Chapter 209: Sword Splits the Starry Firmament
In response, Franklin neither confirmed nor denied it, merely nodding faintly. Within the range covered by his divine sense, the suppression on the sword aura instantly vanished.
At the same time, endless spiritual energy continuously poured into the sword aura, causing its length to expand without cease, and its slashing speed to surge to the absolute extreme in an instant.
The six-thousand-kilometer range covered by divine sense was crossed in just over ten seconds. With an unstoppable momentum, the sword aura shot toward Blue Star at terrifying speed.
Uchiha Shisui, who observed this scene with his Sharingan, widened his eyes. His gaze was filled with a yearning for the unknown and fear of overwhelming power.
"You're cheating. This sword aura is on a completely different level from the one just now."
Watching Uchiha Shisui beside him lose his composure and rationality out of fear, Franklin smiled faintly.
"I thought you wouldn't say something this childish. Now that I see it, aren't you quite young? Then why do your thoughts sometimes resemble those of an old man?"
Hearing Franklin's words, Uchiha Shisui immediately realized the shift in his own mentality. He exhaled softly and looked at Franklin with a serious expression.
"What exactly is your goal? Could it really be to unify the ninja world? What does that have to do with whether the Uchiha clan is destroyed or not?
"You clearly could have stopped all of this and prevented them from killing each other. Why did you remain indifferent? Isn't peace built from small to large?
"If you can't even guarantee peace within a single village, what meaning do the things you say have? They're nothing more than your own delusions—delusions with no basis whatsoever."
It was the first time Franklin had experienced being persuaded by someone else, and he found the feeling rather pleasant. He placed one hand on Uchiha Shisui's shoulder, and in the next instant, the two of them appeared atop the Hokage Rock in Konoha.
Now standing upon the land itself, they could already feel a faint pressure descending from above. This caused Uchiha Shisui, who had lifted his head to the sky, to look extremely grim.
Facing his furious glare, Franklin merely smiled slightly and agreed.
"Mm, what you said is quite right.
"But according to the development of this world, you were supposed to die. The annihilation of the Uchiha clan was inevitable, and I was never meant to appear here.
"But now that I've appeared, and I saved you, part of the future has already changed. The future of this world has changed—and that's unfavorable to me.
"So I must correct this mistake. You can think I'm selfish, or sick—it doesn't matter. The reality is that I gave you a choice.
"Die according to the original course of events, or follow the result of our wager and help me unify the ninja world, creating a more peaceful future.
"The choice has always been in your hands. Aside from not allowing you to change history, I have never forced you to do anything."
Looking at Franklin's indifferent attitude, Uchiha Shisui, his Mangekyō Sharingan activated, stared fiercely at him.
In just the time it took to speak, Franklin—who had already expanded his divine sense—felt five sword auras enter its range, each one so vast that their limits could not be detected.
Under deliberate suppression, the speed of the sword auras had slowed considerably, yet they were still terrifyingly fast.
"Let's do a one-minute countdown. The result of the wager will soon be decided.
"If you lose, I'll make proper arrangements for Konoha and the Uchiha clan.
"Of course, if you win, and Blue Star is split into five parts, then I win. From then on, you'll listen to me, and the Uchiha clan will cease to exist within the next few days."
Boundless pressure pressed down from above. Ordinary people throughout the ninja world had already begun to feel chest tightness, shortness of breath, and discomfort all over their bodies.
Those with higher concentrations of Divine Tree bloodlines had already perceived the five terrifying sword auras overhead—vast beyond sight—blotting out the sky as they descended toward the ground.
At this moment, Uchiha Shisui was already starting to regret making this wager with Franklin. In his eyes, Franklin was nothing more than a monstrously powerful yet utterly irrational madman.
Just as his thoughts were in utter chaos, a flash of golden light appeared. Minato Namikaze emerged not far from the two of them.
His expression was incomparably serious. In an instant, he arrived at their side.
"Lord Franklin, were those five white lights in the sky your doing? What exactly are you planning?"
Seeing the concern in his eyes, Franklin smiled and explained, "A wager. If I win, Shisui will join the Akatsuki from now on. If I lose, I'll help him protect the Uchiha clan."
"Then what exactly is the wager? How do you determine victory or defeat?"
After hearing Franklin's detailed explanation, Minato Namikaze's eyes widened in disbelief. He glanced at Uchiha Shisui, who was still hesitating in a daze, and immediately stepped forward, slapping him awake.
"What are you still standing around for? Are you still hesitating over who wins or loses? If those five sword auras come down, does it even matter whether the Five Great Nations are split apart or not?"
Uchiha Shisui naturally understood this logic as well. He let out a soft breath and looked straight at Franklin.
"In truth, I had already made up my mind long ago. For the stability of the village, sacrificing the Uchiha clan wasn't unacceptable—but that was a thought I had before dying.
"Now I'm clearly still alive. I could clearly rely on Kotoamatsukami to change everything as it is now, yet I can no longer do so. That makes me deeply unwilling to accept it.
"As for the wager, I admit defeat. Withdraw those five sword auras. Otherwise, once everything happens, it'll be too late. Nothing will have any meaning anymore."
As the two of them looked toward him, Franklin directly spread his hands.
"Do you think I have a way to stop attacks I've already released? That's impossible, right?"
As Franklin finished speaking, the speed of the five sword auras suddenly increased. In just ten seconds, those massive sword auras had already reached the outskirts of Blue Star's atmosphere.
From afar, they tore open the planet's atmosphere, and boundless might spread in all directions across Blue Star. The shadow of death loomed over every living being.
Beside Franklin, both Uchiha Shisui and Minato Namikaze widened their eyes, staring fixedly at him.
Uchiha Shisui's blood-red eyes were locked onto Franklin's gaze, trying to find even the slightest trace of deceit.
But after staring for a long time, all he saw in Franklin's eyes was excitement and curiosity toward the power of the sword auras.
It was as if everything those five sword auras were about to do to Blue Star did not matter to him in the slightest.
"So you couldn't stop this in the first place, and that's why you started this wager.
"You weren't trying to intimidate me—you genuinely wanted to see whether your attack could split Blue Star apart, didn't you?"
His true thoughts having been laid bare by Uchiha Shisui, Franklin smiled and nodded.
"That's right. You guessed correctly. After all, a wager needs a result. Otherwise, you'd always have some lingering resentment.
"So I figured I might as well go all the way and make you completely understand my resolve."
At this moment, Minato Namikaze's eyes were filled with disappointment and regret. He wanted to say something to Franklin, but in the end, he gave up and vanished from the spot in an instant.
Uchiha Shisui collapsed directly onto the ground. Looking at the endless sword auras that had already pierced through the atmosphere and continued pressing down, his eyes were filled with confusion and despair.
A deafening roar rang out. The entire planet of Blue Star trembled violently. Earth and stone were thrown into the air, mountains collapsed, gravity went haywire, and boundless freezing air poured into Blue Star from beyond the torn atmosphere.