Chapter 69: The Death of Uchiha Itachi
Late at night, Itachi arrived at the designated location in the Forest of Death. He activated his three-tomoe Sharingan and scanned his surroundings.
A torch flickered to life in the darkness.
Neji emerged from the trees, a Tenseigan glowing in his eyes. "You came, Itachi."
"I came for an answer. What is the future of the Uchiha?"
"If you were to die," Neji said calmly, "and your death could save the Uchiha, would you do it?"
A sense of unease washed over Itachi. A trap.
"Don't tell me you brought me here to kill me."
"If you hadn't come," Neji said, "I would have had to find another way. But I was right about you."
"Why?"
"Your death will unite the two factions of your clan. Fugaku will abandon his last illusions about the village and launch a coup. And that will be the Hidden Cloud's opportunity."
Itachi's blood ran cold. This wasn't about the Chunin Exams. His goal is to instigate a civil war, to weaken Konoha so the Cloud can invade.
He couldn't have known that Neji's true goal was to save the Uchiha.
"You've said too much, Neji."
Another voice came from the darkness.
Yugito emerged from the trees, a body with a leopard mask slung over her shoulder.
Itachi's heart sank. If the heir to the Uchiha clan was found dead in the Forest of Death alongside a Root ANBU, the fragile peace between the Uchiha and the village would be shattered. Konoha would be plunged into chaos.
He had no chance of escaping both Neji and the Jinchūriki of the Two-Tails.
He shouldn't have been so naive.
He turned and ran.
Yugito was on him in an instant, a blur of motion.
A cold wind howled through the trees.
Two kunai shot out from the melee, collided in mid-air, and changed trajectory, flying straight at Neji's head.
Just before they hit, a blue light flashed in his eyes, and the kunai stopped, held in place by an invisible force, before clattering to the ground.
[Tenseigan Lv3 (14/2000), Abilities: Cursed Mandala Sealing Heart, Chakra Receiver Rosary, Repulsive Force, Attractive Force.]
The battle raged in the darkness.
Neji looked up at the moon, then he, too, joined the fray.
The cold moon hung high in the sky, a silent witness to the silent night.
Itachi's body was discovered the next morning by a patrol team. A kunai was embedded in his head, his eyes were gone. Nearby, they found the body of a Root ninja in a leopard mask.
The news of his death sent shockwaves through the Uchiha. Fugaku, his face a mask of rage, ordered a strike of the Military Police Force and then, with dozens of his clansmen, he marched on the Hokage's tower.
Hiruzen met him at the entrance. "Fugaku, I've already confirmed it. The masked ninja found at the scene was indeed from Root. But I want you to remain calm. If Root had done this, they wouldn't have left a body. This is a frame-up."
"There's another explanation," Fugaku said, his voice cold. "That they were trying to be too clever and deliberately left a body to throw us off. A few days ago, Uchiha Tekka went missing while on patrol. And now, Itachi is dead. Who in this village has the ability, and the audacity, to kill two of the strongest Uchiha? Was this not done on your orders?"
Hiruzen was speechless. Tekka went missing? Could it really be Danzō?
"Lord Hokage," Shisui said, stepping forward from the crowd of Uchiha, "regardless of who is responsible, this is a major failure on the part of the village."
Seeing the exhaustion and anger in Shisui's eyes, Hiruzen knew how serious the situation was. Shisui had always been loyal to the village. If even he was questioning him, the rest of the Uchiha would be on the verge of open rebellion.
"Shisui," he said, his voice grave, "it has been less than twelve hours since Itachi's death. The scene is still fresh. Go there now. Perhaps you can find some clues. I give you my word, if the killer is indeed from Root, no matter who he is, he will be severely punished."
Shisui's expression softened slightly. He didn't believe Hiruzen had ordered the hit. The Third Hokage was the only one in the village leadership who had ever shown the Uchiha any leniency.
After he had left, Hiruzen called for Yamato. "Go to Root. Tell Danzō to drop everything and come to my office, immediately."
Fugaku then sent most of his men back to the clan compound, ordering them not to act without his command.
Shisui arrived at the scene in the Forest of Death. There were few signs of a struggle. A single, charred tree, a dozen or so scattered kunai and shuriken, and a large, dark stain of dried blood.
Itachi had been killed with almost no resistance.
Shisui's face hardened. He knew Itachi's strength. He had awakened his three-tomoe Sharingan last year. Even Shisui himself, without using his Mangekyō, would have had a hard time against him. The killer had to be Kage-level.
He activated his Mangekyō and scanned the ground. He saw a small, brown rock with scratch marks around it. He pried it up with his ninjatō.
On the back, drawn in blood, was a circle, with a single dot near the right side.
In his Mangekyō's vision, the dot was a single tomoe.
"The enemy has a single Sharingan... Kakashi? No, the dot is on the right. Kakashi's is on the left. If it's not him, and it's related to Root, then it can only be... Danzō?!"
The thought sent a chill down his spine. Danzō's right eye had been blind for decades. But that was a perfect reason to transplant a Sharingan.
"Are you accusing me, Hiruzen?" Danzō snarled.
"A Root ninja was found at the scene of Itachi's death. How do you explain that?"
"It was a frame-up," he said, his voice calm. "My Root has made many enemies over the years. Someone is trying to use the Uchiha to get rid of me." He was furious. He had always been the one to frame others.
At that moment, Shisui burst into the room.
"Shisui, what did you find?" Fugaku asked.
"The killer is not from Root, clan head," he replied, his face an emotionless mask.
Hiruzen let out a breath of relief.
But before Danzō could even gloat, Shisui was in front of him in a Body Flicker, his hand reaching for the bandage over his right eye.
Danzō was too slow to react.
"Uchiha Shisui, are you committing treason?!" he roared, grabbing his wrist.
But the Shisui in front of him was an illusion. The real one was already behind him. A sharp pain shot through his abdomen as Shisui's fist sank into his gut, and then another, even sharper pain, as his right eye was gouged out.
"Uchiha Shisui, you insolent...!"
He saw the three-tomoe in Fugaku's eyes spin, transforming into a three-bladed pinwheel.
The Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Fugaku, calm down," Hiruzen said, stepping between them.
"Lord Hokage," Shisui said, his voice cold as he held up the bloody eye, "this is my clan's three-tomoe Sharingan. Do you know where Danzō got it?"
Hiruzen was speechless.
Shisui then threw the blood-stained rock onto the desk. "Lord Hokage, Shimura Danzō brutally murdered Uchiha Itachi. I want to know, what are you going to do about it?"