Chapter 26
"Let Shisui come here! He once told me that he had a way to prevent the coup and preserve peace."
At once, an Anbu vanished with a swift whoosh to summon him.
Not long after, Uchiha Shisui entered the Hokage's office. Inside, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at the head of the long table, flanked by Shimura Danzō, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu. Their expressions were heavy with suspicion.
"Shisui, you will attend the Uchiha gathering tonight," Hiruzen instructed, his pipe in hand.
Shisui knelt respectfully, raising his head. "If Fugaku-sama insists on leading a coup, then… I will use Kotoamatsukami to change his mind."
"What is this dōjutsu?" Danzō's single eye narrowed, curiosity gleaming. Koharu and Homura also leaned forward, listening closely.
Shisui hesitated, remembering Uchiha Makoto's warning not to trust Danzō too much, then answered cautiously: "It is a Mangekyō Sharingan ability that allows me to enter a person's mind and alter their will… so subtly they believe the decision is their own."
Hiruzen's gaze hardened with expectation. Danzō, however, was struck with a flash of awe—and greed.
"I will try to convince Fugaku to choose coexistence with the village," Shisui promised.
Danzō's face betrayed nothing, but Homura and Koharu exchanged a brief glance of calculation.
"The Uchiha are still vital to Konoha. We cannot afford to lose them," Hiruzen said firmly. "I'll send Anbu to support you, Shisui. The peace of the village depends on this."
"Yes, Lord Third." Shisui bowed deeply and withdrew.
As he walked through the dim corridor, unease gnawed at him. Really… can the words of Hokage outweigh the shadows cast by Danzo?
The clan's isolation, the distrust of the village, the true instigator behind the rift—it was Shimura Danzō, pulling strings from the dark. Yet Shisui still hoped: if Fugaku could be swayed, if the clan could reconcile, perhaps even Itachi and Sasuke's brotherhood would remain unbroken.
But before he could take more than a few steps outside, a Root operative materialized before him.
"Wait. Danzō-sama wishes to speak with you."
Shisui's chest tightened. At last… I knew this would come. Kotoamatsukami is too dangerous. If Danzō means to erase the clan, he would never ignore me.
The Root ninja gave him a location and disappeared. Shisui leapt toward the appointed place, tension tightening his muscles despite his battle experience.
The sun dipped westward—it was already late afternoon. The Uchiha assembly would begin soon.
Prepared for anything, Shisui landed at the meeting point. Danzō stood with his back turned.
"What is this about, Danzō-sama?" Shisui asked warily.
"It's nearly time," Danzō replied, turning to face him. "What happens if you use your dōjutsu on Fugaku? The Uchiha might be pacified… but the village's distrust of them will remain."
"Hokage-sama promised me he would seek reconciliation. The Third will not abandon us," Shisui answered firmly.
"Even if Hiruzen believes in peace, the villagers' fear of your clan won't vanish overnight," Danzō pressed. "So what then? When suspicion festers again?"
Shisui's fists tightened. "…We just need more time."
Danzō stepped closer, voice cold as steel. "And what if you turn your Kotoamatsukami on me as well? Will you rob me of my will for the sake of your clan?"
"Danzō-sama, what are you implying?" Shisui's voice sharpened.
Danzō moved suddenly, his bandaged arm twitching. "I'll accept your Sharingan instead."
Shisui's eyes flared scarlet. In an instant, he cast a genjutsu, forcing Danzō's body to crumple limply to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Danzō-sama," Shisui muttered. "It's only a simple illusion. You'll wake up shortly."
But he did not relax his guard. To think a man who had survived alongside Hiruzen through two great wars could be felled so quickly—it was too easy.
Suddenly, his senses screamed. Multiple chakra signatures closed in rapidly.
"Root…" Shisui cursed, spinning—just as Danzō's fist slammed into his gut. He coughed blood violently.
"You're fast, Shisui… but your eyes are mine now," Danzō said, his tone darkly satisfied.
Yet when he reached for him, his hand grasped only empty air. Shisui's figure shimmered, then reappeared ten steps away in an instant, Mangekyō blazing.
Danzō froze, his breath caught. "That speed… Body Flicker of that level… You truly live up to the name Shisui of the Body Flicker."
Even as he praised his enemy, Danzō's intent only hardened. Those eyes… with them, I will control the Uchiha and safeguard the village my way.
Shisui was still shaken. A moment ago, he was certain his genjutsu had forced Danzō to collapse—he had felt the man's chakra falter, seen his body fall. That was no mere shadow clone; it had been Danzō himself.
"As the so-called genius of the Uchiha clan," Danzō rasped, standing tall again, "you truly don't know the forbidden jutsu born of your own bloodline?"
"Izanagi—the ultimate dōjutsu. A technique that rewrites reality itself. Any injury, any death received in its span is nothing more than an illusion, a fleeting dream… while the Sharingan that casts it is sacrificed."
Shisui's eyes widened. The very existence of Izanagi was taboo knowledge, whispered of in secret clan records. To see it before him in the hands of an outsider made his blood boil.
With a deliberate gesture, Danzō unwrapped the bandages covering his right eye. Beneath, a three-tomoe Sharingan gleamed. Even as Shisui glared, the tomoe began to blur, then vanish—the cost of the forbidden art.
"Danzō… where did you get that Sharingan?" Shisui demanded, his voice sharp with fury. He had been warned by Uchiha Makoto to watch Danzō closely, but now that he saw it with his own eyes, his anger erupted.
He spoke Danzō's name without honorifics, stripping away all pretense of respect.
That eye meant one thing: Danzō had desecrated an Uchiha corpse, or worse, stolen it from the living.
"This Sharingan," Danzō said coldly, "once belonged to Uchiha Kagami—your ancestor, a man who once fought beside me and the Second Hokage. But rest assured, soon enough your eyes will join it. Your power will serve Konoha through me."
At his signal, several Root operatives burst from the surrounding brush, their patterned masks glinting. They moved in perfect, silent formation, trained assassins bred for ambush.
"So… it's come to this after all," Shisui muttered, his Mangekyō flaring to life.
He inhaled deeply and expelled his chakra in a massive inferno. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" The Great Fireball roared forth, illuminating the dusk.
"Suiton—Suigadan!" several Root ninja countered, their combined Water Release tearing into the flames. Steam and smoke exploded into the clearing, whipping up dust and wind that obscured everything.
"Where is he?" one Root agent barked as the haze began to settle. Shisui's chakra signature had vanished completely.
"Find him," Danzō ordered sharply. "He cannot be allowed to escape. We must claim his eyes before Hiruzen catches wind of this."
The Root scattered instantly, following faint traces through the forest.
Elsewhere, another figure waited in silence. Uchiha Itachi crouched in the shadows, an ANBU mask hiding his face. His Sharingan gleamed faintly behind the eyeholes. He had been the operative Hiruzen sent to support Shisui. But what he witnessed only deepened the storm within him.
Shisui… please be safe.
Meanwhile, at the Uchiha compound, the clan gathering prepared to begin. Uchiha Mikoto stood near the entrance, worry clouding her gentle features. Beside her, Uchiha Fugaku stood rigid, his face stern, eyes sharp as steel.
"Itachi has not yet arrived," Mikoto whispered, scanning the darkening streets.
"He will," Fugaku replied in his cold baritone. "Tonight, the future of the clan will be decided."