Boom!!
The moment the corpse was engulfed by the fiery explosion, their taut bodies instinctively reacted, instantly Shunshin-ing away from the blast without hesitation.
Looking at the completely destroyed corpse in the distance, then at Hyuga Kawa's subtly changed expression, Uchiha Shisui's heart pounded furiously.
"Sure enough, Hyuga Kawa didn't realize I broke his genjutsu, nor did he imagine I witnessed the entire process of him extracting the Byakugan and then destroying the evidence..."
"What a shame."
As he pondered, Uchiha Itachi's murmur came from beside him. Shisui instinctively turned his head, seeing Itachi's face filled with lingering fear and regret.
"What did Itachi see in the genjutsu?" Shisui wondered. "It must have been Mugen himself igniting the explosive tags to take them down with him."
At this moment, Hyuga Kawa also turned around, a regretful expression on his face.
"It's a shame we couldn't retrieve the body, otherwise we could have extracted information," he sighed.
Watching his slightly exaggerated acting, Uchiha Shisui, who believed he had seen through him, couldn't help but twitch an eye, but still cooperated, "As long as the person is safe and the mission is complete."
Uchiha Itachi, standing beside them, frowned as he looked at Hyuga Kawa, seemingly about to say something, but noticed Shisui's gaze and silently swallowed the dissatisfied words at the tip of his tongue. He had originally wanted to question Hyuga Kawa why he hadn't intervened.
"Hmm, that's all we can do. Take the body back."
Hyuga Kawa extinguished the flames, retrieved the charred corpse, placed it in a scroll, and tossed it to Shisui, saying helplessly, "I wasn't much help on this mission; I'll report to Lord Third."
With that, his figure vanished first. Uchiha Shisui and Itachi exchanged glances and silently followed him.
By evening, the three finally returned to Konoha. Hyuga Kawa exchanged a few brief pleasantries, then parted ways with Shisui, heading to the Hokage Office to report.
After he left, Shisui and Itachi went to the Naka River.
"Shisui, what's going on?" Uchiha Itachi asked urgently.
"Don't rush," Uchiha Shisui shook his head and said in a deep voice, "First, recount the entire process of our battle with Mugen Hyuga."
Hearing this, though puzzled, Uchiha Itachi recounted everything he had experienced.
"Just as I thought."
After listening to his account, Uchiha Shisui's gaze flickered, scanning the deep darkness around them, as if confirming whether certain unseen threats had truly left.
"Hyuga Kawa concealed his genjutsu abilities."
Once he confirmed they were alone, he stated directly, "Everything you saw before was genjutsu. A few real minutes were cleverly replaced. He actually extracted Mugen's Byakugan."
At these words, Uchiha Itachi first froze, then his pupils suddenly constricted, and a chill like an electric current instantly coursed through his entire body!
Everything he saw was genjutsu?!
If anyone else had said this instead of Shisui, Uchiha Itachi would never have believed it so easily. For a genius like himself, an Uchiha, to be subjected to genjutsu by a Hyuga without realizing it—what a low-level joke.
But since the words came from Shisui, he had to believe them.
"What does Hyuga Kawa intend to do by concealing this ability?"
Alarm surged in Uchiha Itachi's heart. He took a deep breath, looking at Shisui with a serious expression, and said in a low voice, "We must report this to Lord Third."
With that, he turned to leave, but was suddenly pulled back by Shisui's arm.
"Wait, Itachi."
"Shisui, we have to be quick, that guy—"
Uchiha Itachi was about to say something, but the moment he turned to look at Shisui, the expression on his face suddenly changed, his heart feeling as if it had been tightly squeezed by a hand.
"You, your eyes..." he blurted out.
There, in Uchiha Shisui's crimson eyes, three tomoe rapidly spun, deformed, and merged, finally condensing into an unprecedented pattern, exuding a chilling aura.
A shudder from the depths of his bloodline instantly seized Itachi!
"These eyes are called the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Shisui's tone was calm, but his gaze was exceptionally profound. He softly said, "Do you know why the Sharingan is called the 'Eyes that Reflect the Heart'?"
"W-why?" Itachi's voice was dry, lost in thought.
"Because once an Uchiha clan member awakens the Mangekyo Sharingan, they awaken a special dōjutsu based on what is in their heart."
Uchiha Shisui said deeply, "And after awakening these eyes, I gained control of a dōjutsu called 'Kotoamatsukami'."
"This dōjutsu allows me to directly invade an opponent's mind and permanently alter their will, without them even noticing."
Alter, will?
These four words hit Itachi's heart like a heavy hammer, and a deeper chill surged forth. Even the genjutsu Hyuga Kawa used on them only trapped them in illusions he set, but Shisui's dōjutsu could actually alter will?!
Didn't this mean...
"It's not possible."
As if seeing through his thoughts, Uchiha Shisui shook his head, "Once this technique is used, it takes a very long time before it can be used again, which is why I haven't used it yet."
"However, this is the effect of the left eye's 'Kotoamatsukami.' The right eye's 'Kotoamatsukami' is continuous."
"While it can't alter will in one go like the left eye, it can unknowingly control their will by interfering with their chakra, and it can be used multiple times without needing too much time."
As Shisui explained his dōjutsu, Uchiha Itachi gradually calmed down. Combining his recent experience with Shisui's dōjutsu ability, a bold guess suddenly emerged in Itachi's mind.
He sharply looked up at Shisui, meeting those eerie eyes, and said in a deep voice, "Shisui, are you perhaps thinking of..."
"Yes, this was inspired by Hyuga Kawa," Shisui nodded. "If Kotoamatsukami is used, even Lord Fugaku, who possesses the 'Evil Eye,' wouldn't be able to resist."
"As long as I implant the will to 'be loyal to the village and abandon the coup,' he will actively stop the coup, and Lord Fugaku will genuinely believe it was his own idea from the bottom of his heart."
"This is what I consider the perfect solution."
Here, he paused, and said in a low voice, "However, because Lord Fugaku is your father, that's what makes me very hesitant..."
"No!"
Before he could finish, Uchiha Itachi interrupted him, shaking his head without hesitation, "As long as it can stop the coup, any price is worth it. You don't need to consider me."
With that, he looked at Shisui with shining eyes: "If these eyes are the 'Eyes that Reflect the Heart,' then what you were thinking when you awakened them must have been the hope that no more conflict would arise, right?"
"This, too, is my long-cherished wish."
No bloodshed, no sacrifice needed! As long as he could stop his clan's coup, as long as he could avoid meaningless conflict, even if it meant manipulating his own father's mind, he would not hesitate!
"I knew you'd agree," Uchiha Shisui sighed in relief and said in a deep voice, "But before that, we still need to report Hyuga Kawa's genjutsu to Lord Third..."
With that, he turned to look towards the Hokage Office in the distance.
At the same time, in the shadow of a tree canopy several hundred meters away from the two, the shadows of the branches and leaves subtly swayed.
A Root ninja, ordered to monitor Uchiha Itachi and Shisui, was lurking. His specially trained sensing ninjutsu was fully focused on capturing the faint whispers in the distance.
And Uchiha Shisui's dōjutsu sent a shiver down his spine.
Although Uchiha Shisui and Itachi spoke of using this dōjutsu on Uchiha Fugaku, who knew if they might suddenly change their minds and turn to control Konoha's higher-ups?
"This terrifying ability must be reported to Lord Danzo immediately!"
With this thought, the alarm bells rang loudly in the Root ninja's mind. He concealed his presence, preparing to quietly withdraw.
However, just then, a pure white figure, without any warning, emerged from the tree trunk behind him.
Pfft.
A sharp arm instantly pierced the Root ninja's heart. He lost consciousness before he could even let out a muffled groan.
Meanwhile, the White Zetsu's form began to twist and deform. Moments later, a figure with an appearance and aura identical to the slain ninja appeared in his place.
He perfectly took his place, continuing to quietly "monitor" the distance.
The process was silent and incredibly fast.
A distorted vortex appeared in space, and Uchiha Obito's figure emerged. Black Zetsu also appeared, half of his body rising.
"Kotoamatsukami..." Obito murmured with a solemn expression. "To think there's such a terrifying dōjutsu."
As if suddenly remembering something, he turned to look at Zetsu beside him.
"Why hide Shisui Uchiha's dōjutsu ability?"
Obito frowned and asked, "With Danzo Shimura's old man's suspicion and greed, once he knows about Kotoamatsukami's ability, he will undoubtedly choose to kill Shisui Uchiha."
"If we want Uchiha Itachi to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, wouldn't it be enough for him to witness Shisui's death then?"
"No," Black Zetsu's hoarse voice responded, "Uchiha Shisui's value is very high. We currently lack usable tools, and his dōjutsu might have miraculous effects."
"Besides, who said that awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan can only happen by witnessing a friend's death?"
Here, his voice paused, and his tone became profound, carrying a chilling, cruel playfulness: "Itachi, doesn't he still have a father and mother?"
"What could be more intense, more complete, and more reliable than the mental shock produced by personally ending the lives of one's closest relatives for the 'greater good' one firmly believes in?"