Chapter 28 Reaction of the Parties
There was a loud tremor echoing through the forest.
"Iroha, look—what was that noise?"
A young Konoha Chūnin turned to his comrade.
Hyūga Iroha, only fifteen, was a newly promoted member of the Barrier Team. As a branch member of the Hyūga clan, his Byakugan was highly valued for surveillance. He straightened at the order, veins bulging at his temples as he activated his dōjutsu.
"Yes, senpai!"
His field of vision expanded instantly. With the Byakugan's farsight, he swept across the canopy.
"What… such massive chakra. Multiple signatures converging… and several already eliminated. Who are they?"
Iroha's eyes tracked the clash. Men in patterned masks—Root ANBU—were engaging a single opponent. That opponent was cloaked inside a towering green giant, its skeletal frame and armored hand cleaving through ninjutsu.
Then, as if sensing his gaze, the shinobi inside turned his head. Crimson tomoe glared directly back—Sharingan. For an instant, Iroha's breath caught in his throat.
This chakra… this dōjutsu… It's him. Uchiha Shisui—the one they call "Shisui of the Body Flicker."
Sweat formed on his brow. The sight of that green giant technique left him shaken.
"It's Shisui Uchiha," Iroha muttered to his senior, voice tense. "He's fighting against Root operatives under Danzō-sama's command!"
The older ninja frowned. He had long heard rumors that Danzō distrusted the Uchiha. But to see Root openly clashing with Shisui? It was beyond belief.
"The Uchiha… whatever their arrogance, they've saved comrades countless times on the battlefield. To see this…" He clenched his fist, conflicted.
"I'll inform Hokage-sama immediately. Keep observing with your Byakugan."
He vanished in a shunshin, leaving Iroha alone with his sight fixed on the titanic clash.
...
In truth, he wasn't needed.
At that very moment, deep inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen had already felt the disturbance.
A colossal chakra signature surged within the village. His aged eyes narrowed.
Shisui…? This pressure is unlike the boy I've known. Could this be his true Mangekyō power?
The boy he had watched grow had now become a man wielding power on par with legends. Hiruzen's chest swelled with both pride and sorrow.
But who could be forcing Shisui to such lengths?
Before he could move, a crow flitted through the open window and alighted on his desk, dropping a slip of paper.
"Things have changed. Danzō and Root are in motion. —Uchiha Itachi"
Hiruzen's pipe slipped from his lips, smoke curling into the silence. His face hardened.
"Danzō…" he murmured. "…what am I to feel toward you now?"
The door opened. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu entered hurriedly.
"Lord Hokage!" Homura's voice was sharp. "Reports from the Barrier Team—Shisui Uchiha is clashing with Danzō's Root at the village's edge. He's using a technique unlike any we've seen—a towering humanoid construct."
A new ninjutsu? Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeply.
"Summon Nara Shikaku. Assemble the Konoha Barrier and Intelligence squads. Lead them to the battle site."
He rose slowly, pulling off the robes of the Hokage to reveal the uniform of his youth. A black battle suit stretched across his frame, green armored plates on his shoulders and arms, the kanji for "Fire" emblazoned proudly on his back. Twin ninja pouches and protective gear gleamed faintly under the lamplight.
It had been years since he had donned these. He flexed his fingers.
"…How nostalgic. Are you ready as well?"
The smoke at his feet burst apart, and the Monkey King Enma appeared in a swirl of chakra.
"Who's the opponent this time, Sarutobi? An Uchiha child—or Danzō himself?"
Hiruzen's expression didn't waver. He extended his hand. Enma understood, transforming into the adamantine Nyoi Staff. The Third Hokage gripped the weapon firmly.
"My opponent is anyone who endangers the Leaf. Uchiha, Danzō, it matters not. If peace is threatened—I will lay down my life to protect it."
With those words, the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves surged forward, a warrior once more.
...
Elsewhere, another man froze mid-step. Nara Shikaku, scarred and weary, had already pieced the situation together.
"The Uchiha… and Danzō." He sighed, rubbing his temple. "What a troublesome mess."
He glanced down at his son.
"Shikamaru, when I get back, I'll teach you another shogi lesson."
The boy tilted his pineapple-shaped head, puzzled at his father's sudden gravity. Surely something important was happening.
"Troublesome…" he muttered, retreating toward his room. Better to nap than waste energy worrying.
"Shōgi or anything like that just sounds troublesome… wouldn't it be better to just stay lazy?"
Shikamaru muttered, but his father, Nara Shikaku, was already deep in thought, stroking his chin.
Who is the opponent this time? Shikaku pondered.
Regardless, he knew the matter would ultimately be resolved by the combined efforts of the Konoha Intelligence Division, the Barrier Corps, and—above all—the Third Hokage himself. With that certainty, he turned on his heel and stepped out of the house, duty pulling him back to the village center.
...
"What happened? Did that tremor just now come from outside the village?"
Inside the Uchiha compound, clan members had gathered in haste. The assembly hall was filled with agitation, voices overlapping in suspicion and fear.
"What about Shisui and Itachi? They're Uchiha too, so why haven't they appeared here with us?"
"Tch… don't forget, both of them serve directly under Hokage's ANBU. For all we know, they could already be lying in ambush, waiting for us to walk into their trap!"
"Impossible!" another retorted sharply. "Shisui is Uchiha through and through. I've completed missions alongside him—I know the man's pride. He would never betray his own clan."
"Exactly. To accuse Shisui and Itachi without proof is to sow discord among ourselves. We are Uchiha—our greatest strength comes from our unity, not suspicion."
"Then explain it—if they aren't here, where are they?"
The bickering escalated until Uchiha Fugaku, the clan head, pressed his fingers to his temple, suppressing the urge to snap. He was about to intervene with the authority of his Sharingan when, at that very moment, Uchiha Itachi appeared at the entrance to the meeting grounds.
"It's Itachi! Where's Shisui?" voices rang out.
But Itachi did not respond to their cries. Expression cold, eyes sharp, he strode directly to his father's side. His gaze swept across the assembly—an entire clan of crimson tomoe staring back at him—and in those dark pupils burned a mixture of disappointment and contempt.
"You are all blind," Itachi's voice cut through the hall like steel. "Blinded by pride, by the narrow vision of a family that thinks only of itself. You cannot even see the true shape of the world beyond these walls."
"What did you say?!" one of the elder Uchiha, his own Sharingan spinning with three tomoe, stood in anger. "Itachi Uchiha—do you even consider yourself one of us anymore?"
Itachi's eyes did not waver.
"While you wasted your days here plotting rebellion and whispering grievances, it was Shisui who carried the burden of both the village and the clan. It was Shisui who risked his life to find a path where Konoha and Uchiha could coexist in peace. It was he who confronted the darkness that festers within Danzō and his Root."
His words hung heavy in the hall.
"Even now," Itachi continued, "Shisui is fighting with his life on the line against Danzō and his forces outside the village walls. And you? You sit here in safety, debating nothing but empty pride and suspicion."
The clan members froze, faces shifting from doubt to alarm.
"What? Shisui is… fighting Danzō?" someone whispered in shock.
Before anyone could demand answers, Itachi's form suddenly flickered—and vanished with a soft crack. The figure that had spoken so coldly dispersed into smoke.
"A shadow clone…"
The hall fell into silence. For the first time in years, the proud voices of the Uchiha were muted. Members exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of Itachi's words pressing down upon them.
And then—one after another—pairs of scarlet eyes glowed to life, illuminating the hall in the fading twilight. The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, burning like embers, reflected their turmoil and their defiance against the uncertain night.
.