If you truly want to kill someone, the best way isn't a blade—
It's to crush their faith.
Like telling a kid there was never any Ultraman Tiga in the first place.
And right now, broken Uchiha Shisui was living proof.
After Ren's genjutsu forced him to "see" what was coming—
the Uchiha massacre, his own miserable end, and the filthy games Konoha's leadership would play—
Shisui's so-called Will of Fire didn't just crack.
It rotted from the inside out.
A moment later, Shisui—collapsed on the ground—started laughing hysterically.
Blood ran down his cheeks from empty eye sockets.
His faith was gone.
And without it… what was left?
Was it sadness? Despair?
No.
It was worse.
It was the slow, soul-deep torture of realizing you'd been a tool all along.
A knife in the hands of men who smiled while they sharpened you.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's "trust" wasn't trust.
It was a leash—control—using Shisui to suppress, then eventually erase, the Uchiha.
Shisui's laughter turned into a choke.
Then a scream.
"Ren!"
"Kill me!"
"Kill me right now!"
His face twisted with madness.
"I don't want anyone laughing at me—!"
"I don't have the face to meet the Uchiha!"
"I'll be waiting in hell for Konoha's leaders…"
He wheezed out the last words, then slumped—hollow and dead inside.
A heart that had already died.
Ren nodded calmly.
"Fine."
Strangely, watching Shisui fall apart didn't disgust him.
It felt… satisfying.
The Uchiha's biggest traitor—gone.
Even Ren found it hard to believe how cleanly it ended.
"Your body still has value," Ren said quietly.
"So I won't be leaving you intact."
A blade hissed.
Ren swung Murakumogiri once—casual, precise.
Slash.
Blood sprayed.
Shisui didn't even manage a scream.
He was cut in two like livestock—dead before his body finished falling.
Ren didn't spare the corpse another glance.
He sealed the pair of Mangekyō Sharingan into a container, then smiled faintly.
"Now…"
"Time to deliver two gifts."
"One to the Uchiha."
"One to Konoha's Third."
Night fell over Konoha.
A full moon hung high—its light oddly pale, almost eerie.
In the village center, the Hokage Tower still blazed with lamps.
As expected, the Third Hokage was "working late."
In the shadows, ANBU watched the office windows with reverence.
"The Third Hokage really is incredible…"
"Working himself to the bone for Konoha."
"We have to protect him no matter what."
Then—
Thud.
Something dropped near the front of the tower.
The ANBU's eyes sharpened.
"Move!"
"Check it!"
They vanished in a blur.
Inside the Hokage's office—
Hiruzen sat behind his desk, smoking, brows drawn tight.
By now, Shisui should have returned.
So why hadn't he come?
Nearby, Danzō—eyes closed like he owned the place—finally spoke.
"Hiruzen."
"Shisui didn't turn on you, did he?"
His tone was mockery wrapped in silk.
"Uchiha are all trash."
"The sooner they're gone, the better."
"He won't." Hiruzen exhaled smoke slowly. "I trust Shisui."
"There must be a reason."
"We'll wait."
Danzō's eyelid twitched.
"Fine."
"We'll wait…"
But inside, Danzō was boiling.
Because he'd already laid the groundwork.
The moment Shisui left this building after his report—
Root would strike.
And Danzō would take what he wanted most.
Kotoamatsukami.
Power like that didn't belong in Shisui's hands.
It belonged in his.
Minutes passed.
Ten.
More.
Hiruzen smoked until the room stank—
and still, Shisui didn't arrive.
Danzō's patience snapped.
"Enough."
He stood abruptly, voice turning cold.
"I'm going to the Uchiha district."
"What if Shisui was restrained by his own clan?"
Before Hiruzen could answer—
Knock. Knock.
An ANBU stepped in, visibly shaken.
He dropped to one knee, voice trembling.
"Hokage…"
"Shisui… he may be dead."
Silence.
Hiruzen's pipe slipped from his fingers and hit the floor with a dull clink.
His body went rigid.
His mind refused to accept it.
Dead?
Shisui?
Danzō's face twisted, fury flashing.
"What nonsense are you spouting?!"
"In Konoha, who could kill Shisui silently?"
"Are you joking?!"
"It's true!" the ANBU blurted, panic rising. "Shisui's body… is outside."
Dead silence.
Hiruzen and Danzō stared—frozen, disbelieving.
Outside?
A Mangekyō user.
Konoha's strongest genjutsu specialist.
Dead… and dumped at their doorstep?
Who could do that?
Even Fugaku couldn't—
Not like this.
Not in Konoha.
Not without a war starting immediately.
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