"Here, drink this."
"This… what is it?"
"Didn't your eye get injured? This will heal you."
Naruto pulled out a small red vial, its liquid glowing like crystal.
Uchiha Shisui hesitated, then accepted it. But instead of drinking right away, he chuckled and pulled out a bottle of his own. Floating inside was an eyeball.
"Wait—didn't Danzo gouge out your eye?" Naruto asked.
Shisui smirked. "I figured clones would be too easy to see through, so I met Danzo with my real body. But I wasn't about to hand him my actual Mangekyō Sharingan. I swapped it out with a normal eye. Even if he stole it, he got nothing."
Shisui placed the preserved eye back into its socket. When he opened his eyes again, the familiar blood-red Sharingan gleamed back at Naruto.
Aside from the faint scars, he looked perfectly normal, even a little sly.
Naruto smiled to himself. Good. Shisui isn't as naïve as people think. If Shisui had truly handed over his eye knowing what Danzo was planning, Naruto would have doubted letting him into the Red Sun Society.
Shisui finally downed the potion. The glass vial dissolved in his hand like mist, startling him.
Moments later, his expression shifted to shock. His body warmed, wounds knitting themselves closed. Even the hidden injuries from years of training and combat—the ones he thought would shorten his lifespan—were quietly erased. He looked at Naruto with eyes full of gratitude.
Naruto then pulled out another bottle and handed it to Uchiha Itachi.
"I'm not injured," Itachi said softly. "This is too precious for me to waste."
"No," Naruto insisted firmly. "You need it."
Something about Itachi gave Naruto a sense of frailty, as if hidden sickness clung to him. Better to fix it now, he thought.
Itachi drank without another word. Warmth spread through his body, followed by a sharp tingling across every limb. His eyes widened in disbelief—his supposedly "perfect" health hid more damage than he knew. Old strains, internal weaknesses, even minor illnesses all melted away.
When it passed, he felt like a new person—lighter, unshackled, overflowing with vitality.
"This is incredible," Itachi murmured, stunned.
Naruto nodded. "Keep your heads down for now. Danzo will definitely suspect you're still alive, Shisui. We'll regroup later and figure out how to help the Uchiha through this storm."
The three agreed on a time and place for their next meeting, then parted ways.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, word of Uchiha Shisui's "death" had thrown the village into chaos. Shinobi walked the streets tense and silent. Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage was buried in headaches left behind by the mess.
At the Root base, Danzo raged.
"Damn that Shisui! How dare he trick me with a fake Mangekyō Sharingan? This is just an ordinary One Tomoe Sharingan!"
When he first got the eye, he hadn't looked closely, too elated by what he thought was his prize. Now, inspecting it again, he realized he had been duped.
CRACK!
He crushed the useless eye in his hand, face contorting in fury.
"Shisui, you're not dead. Think you can fool me with a fake death? Impossible! Even you, Shisui—Konoha's so-called loyal prodigy—are just another scheming Uchiha. Your clan is rotten to the core. They all have to die. Every last one of them."
The more he thought about it, the more his hatred burned. He vowed to wipe out the Uchiha clan entirely.
"Danzo!"
A voice boomed as Sarutobi Hiruzen strode straight into the Root base, backed by Anbu ready to strike. Not even Danzo's subordinates dared to stop him—this was the Hokage.
Hiruzen loomed over his old comrade, fury in his eyes. "You attacked Shisui!"
Danzo's face hardened, but his excuse was ready. "Shisui tried to assassinate me. I defended myself."
"Itachi reported that you stole one of his eyes," Hiruzen shot back.
"I… took an eye, but—"
"Enough." Hiruzen cut him off coldly. "Hand over Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan. Step down from Root. Resign as elder advisor. Until then, you will remain confined to reflect on your actions."
Danzo stiffened. He couldn't admit the truth—that he never even got the Mangekyō in the first place.
"I don't have it—" he tried to protest.
"Not another word," Hiruzen snapped. His killing intent pressed down like a weight. "Hand it over, or remain in confinement. Remember this, Danzo: I am Hokage."
Hiruzen turned to leave but paused at the doorway. He glanced back, eyes shadowed with both anger and doubt.
"Kotoamatsukami… Danzo, what did you plan to use it for?"
Without waiting for an answer, he stormed out.
Danzo stood frozen. Now he understood. Hiruzen wasn't angry over Shisui's death—it was the ability itself. Kotoamatsukami, the ultimate genjutsu, a power that could bend anyone's will. No leader could tolerate someone wielding such a threat at their side, not even an old ally.
Danzo's expression twisted with rage.
"Shisui… with that one move, you've sown distrust between me and Hiruzen. You'll regret this. I swear it."
In the depths of Root, Danzo's voice echoed, cold and venomous.
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