"No!"
Aburame Torune shook his head. "I can just expand the range further."
With that, Aburame Torune formed Hand Seals with both hands. The Chakra insects scattered around him instantly dispersed in every direction.
As the Chakra insects around him gradually grew more numerous, Hagoromo remained motionless.
Had he been discovered?
No. If they had really found him, they wouldn't have merely expanded the Chakra insects' detection range.
Had he triggered the Chakra insects' innate vigilance by focusing his perception directly on Aburame Torune just now?
So was Torune trying to pressure him into getting nervous and exposing an opening?
As these thoughts flashed through Hagoromo's mind, he noticed that the Chakra insects, which had still been spreading outward, were all flying back.
Hmm?
What was going on?
The next second, a single Chakra presence entered Hagoromo's perception range.
Sensing the size of that Chakra, Hagoromo narrowed his eyes slightly.
Shisui Uchiha had appeared!
Hagoromo looked through the branches and leaves at the sky and saw that it was almost dusk.
Shisui Uchiha was on his way to Naka Shrine. After entering the dense forest,
his brows immediately furrowed. He could sense many eyes in the woods watching him.
Just as he was about to stop, however, he found those gazes gradually disappearing.
Shisui Uchiha flipped up onto a high treetop and crouched with his knees bent, watching with a solemn expression as a ninja slowly emerged before him.
Aburame Torune stepped forward slowly, his hands held in a jutsu seal, while Chakra insects continually returned to his body.
Yamanaka Ta spoke from beside him. "Shisui Uchiha, Lord Danzo wants to see you."
Shisui Uchiha didn't answer. Instead, he looked around before fixing his gaze on Aburame Torune and demanding:
"Did you kill them?!"
Aburame Torune froze at the question, then said coldly, "Lord Danzo wants to see you. Come with us."
As soon as Aburame Torune finished speaking, several Root ninja appeared around Shisui Uchiha using the Body Flicker Technique, surrounding him.
"Slaughtering ninja from your own village is a grave crime."
Shisui Uchiha shouted angrily, preparing to form Hand Seals and take down the men before him.
"Stop!"
Yamanaka Fū hurriedly called out, "Shisui Uchiha, are you trying to betray the village?!"
Shisui Uchiha paused at those words. Although he had no such intention,
the higher-ups were already wary of the Uchiha Clan.
If he attacked here, the Council of Elders would use the incident as a pretext to put even more pressure on the Uchiha Clan.
Seeing Shisui Uchiha hesitate, Yamanaka Fū hurriedly spoke again:
"They've only been knocked unconscious. After all, Root's operations can't be allowed to be discovered."
As he spoke, Yamanaka Fū gestured with his eyes to Aburame Torune beside him.
Aburame Torune nodded in confirmation, then stepped back and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique.
A second later, he reappeared in the same spot, carrying an Anbu Ninja in his hand.
"You can take a look."
With that, Aburame Torune tossed the Anbu Ninja down in front of Shisui Uchiha.
Shisui Uchiha glanced to either side before jumping down.
He went over to the Anbu Ninja lying on the ground and reached out to feel his neck.
He has a pulse. He's still alive...
Shisui Uchiha stood up and looked at Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fū, who had come over to him.
"Lead the way."
Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fū exchanged a glance, then led Shisui Uchiha away in another direction.
The Root ninja who had surrounded him also left one after another using the Body Flicker Technique.
Only after sensing the group gradually recede into the distance did Hagoromo leap over to the Anbu Ninja, who was still lying on the ground.
Hagoromo frowned as he looked at the Anbu Ninja. He had seen the man's mask before; he was said to be a veteran who had joined the Anbu several years ago.
Even so, Hagoromo crouched down and removed the Anbu member's mask from the chin.
Then Hagoromo gripped his chin and forced his jaw open, exposing his tongue.
Just as I thought...
The Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal.
The mouth was the gate of calamity; the tongue was the blade that cut a man down.
It was a Cursed Seal and Sealing Jutsu that Danzo placed on Root ninja. Whenever a Root ninja was controlled by Genjutsu or tried to reveal Root's secrets,
the curse would activate and kill the person bearing it.
Shimura Danzō's reach really is long. And from the looks of it, Hiruzen doesn't even know?
Hagoromo stood up and shook his head. He wasn't interested in the matter, though he would need to be more careful when carrying out Anbu missions from now on.
For now, he was going to watch Shisui Uchiha have his Mangekyo taken from him.
He might even be able to make things unpleasant for Danzo.
Following behind Aburame Torune and the others, Shisui Uchiha observed his surroundings and realized...
They were in the Naka River basin, near Naka Shrine.
In the evening light, Shimura Danzō sat on a rock with his eye closed, resting.
"Lord Danzo, we've brought Shisui Uchiha."
Aburame Torune stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and spoke respectfully.
Shimura Danzō slowly opened his one exposed eye and looked at Shisui Uchiha, who stood before him.
No, it would be more accurate to say he was looking at Shisui Uchiha's eyes.
Shisui Uchiha felt slightly uncomfortable under Danzo's gaze, but he still asked:
"What is it, Lord Danzo?"
"It's almost time for the gathering. I need to carry out Lord Hiruzen's mission."
Shimura Danzō rose, walked up to Shisui Uchiha, and said coldly:
"If you used your Dōjutsu on Uchiha Fugaku and persuaded the Uchiha Clan,
but nothing changed in the village, what would you do?"
Shisui Uchiha frowned at the question and answered without the slightest hesitation:
"Lord Hiruzen has already promised me that he will change the village's usual practices."
"Heh..."
Hearing this, Danzo gave a mocking smile, seemingly scoffing at Hiruzen Sarutobi's and Shisui Uchiha's naivety.
"But what if someone as suspicious as me had no intention of changing so easily?
"What would you, Shisui Uchiha, do then?"
Danzo's words made Shisui Uchiha's heart tighten.
That's right. If the Council of Elders doesn't agree, can Hiruzen push it through?
"But, Lord Danzo..."
"When that time comes, will you use your Kotoamatsukami on me, an elder, too, Shisui Uchiha?"
As Danzo spoke, he moved closer to Shisui Uchiha.
Shisui Uchiha lowered his head slightly and tried to object. "No, I..."
But Shisui Uchiha, momentarily distracted by the question, failed to notice the greed in Shimura Danzō's eyes as he drew ever closer.
"I'll take your Sharingan!"
Danzo's frenzied tone, combined with his left hand reaching for Shisui's eye as he leaned forward,
finally snapped Shisui Uchiha out of his daze.
"Sorry!"
Before the words had left his mouth, both of Shisui Uchiha's eyes turned into red Sharingan, and he cast a Genjutsu on Shimura Danzō.