Danzo: You're an Uchiha!

Pfft—

Danzo was sent sprawling backward in a wretched fall, clutching his right shoulder tightly.

A large chunk of flesh was missing from his right shoulder, yet strangely, no blood flowed out.

His eyes were still filled with shock. For an instant just now, he seemed to have seen his teacher...

In more ways than one!

"Who are you?"

Danzo forced himself to remain calm as he began sizing up the person before him.

An orange spiral mask, a black robe patterned with red clouds...

Suddenly, something occurred to him!

"What is your relationship with Orochimaru?"

"That rotten snake?"

The figure hidden beneath the mask spoke in a hoarse voice, making it impossible to tell who he was.

"Come to think of it, I should thank him for his records. He probably wouldn't be pleased, but at least they let me watch quite a show."

"You..."

Danzo's expression turned even colder. He had never expected Hyuga Makoto's intelligence to be true.

Orochimaru had actually joined an organization?!

What made it even harder for him to accept was that someone had actually stolen a look at Orochimaru's files?

His scalp tingled. To deal with Shisui, he had deliberately disabled the barrier in this area.

It was meant to keep them from being discovered, yet now he had become the prey?!

"But it doesn't matter."

The Mysterious Person spoke indifferently, his gaze fixed on the Sharingan in Danzo's other hand.

"I still need some other materials. I'll have to trouble you, then."

As he spoke, Chakra surged through his body.

An indescribable aura brimming with nature rippled around him. This power was utterly unfamiliar to Danzo, yet also somewhat familiar!

This feeling seemed a little like one of the First Hokage's powers?

"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!"

Danzo did not dare dwell on it. He immediately formed hand seals.

With a breath, the accumulated Chakra shot forth like bullets!

Yet the Mysterious Person merely glanced at them, his ninja blade tracing dazzling arcs through the air.

The rapidly approaching Chakra wind bullets were instantly knocked away without a trace.

"Such perception?"

Danzo was startled as well. Every slash was clean and decisive, and each one dispersed his wind bullets.

That level of perception immediately made him think of something!

"Could it be..."

Buzz—

But the Mysterious Person had already closed in. As Danzo dodged backward, he quickly formed hand seals again!

"Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!"

The massive high-pressure wind sphere surged forward, but the Mysterious Person calmly raised his ninja blade.

Whoosh—

The wind sphere split in two instantly, crashing into the surroundings and making the valley rumble!

And the sharp blade cut directly across Danzo's body.

Specks of blood sprayed through the air. If he had not reacted so quickly, that strike would not have ended so simply!

"So it really is an Uchiha..."

His expression was incomparably grim. Even though the man's face was completely hidden by the mask, he trusted his own judgment.

Only the Uchiha's Sharingan could accomplish something like this!

"Are you planning a rebellion?!"

"?"

The Mysterious Person paused slightly, then accelerated again and charged before Danzo in an instant.

"If you say so."

The hoarse voice came with a razor-sharp blade, forcing Danzo to dodge awkwardly.

But he had barely avoided it when the ninja sword wrapped around him again like maggots clinging to bone!

"Besides, don't you have a Sharingan too? It's just that..."

You used it for Izanagi. Otherwise, I wouldn't have dared show myself!

After all, there was a chance the Sharingan could see through the Transformation Jutsu...

Obviously, this Mysterious Person was Hyuga Makoto!

After sending his Shadow Clone back, he had rushed over at once.

A valley with a ninja shrine and two giant Buddha statues was far too recognizable. He had come here to check it out as a child.

At first, though, he had not dared act recklessly. This was no joke!

However, when he used the Tenseigan and discovered that the barrier here had been shut down, that Danzo had sent all of Root to hunt down Shisui because he was fighting on his "home turf,"

and that after obtaining the Mangekyo, Danzo was so excited that his guard was lowered, while the Chakra in his body had begun to grow unstable from losing the Sharingan...

Hyuga Makoto immediately realized that this was his best opportunity. This time, the advantage was his!

"But I need to move quickly too, in case trouble comes..."

With that thought, he attacked even more fiercely, making it harder and harder for Danzo to fend him off.

"This can't continue..."

Danzo dodged another attack, his expression turning grim.

The First Hokage's cells inside him were consuming too much of his focus and Chakra. That was extremely unfavorable for him!

And this man was too dangerous. He could come and go from Konoha at will, and he was connected to Orochimaru.

"Most importantly, this man may be an Uchiha..."

Danzo made his decision. He had to pass this information on!

But at that moment, Hyuga Makoto's blade came slashing down again.

"Isn't it a little inappropriate to lose focus at a time like this?"

"Hmph!"

Watching the swift slash bear down on him, Danzo gritted his teeth and immediately raised his hand to meet it.

At the same time, his hand opened swiftly, revealing Shisui's Sharingan as it silently met the incoming blade!

"Hm?"

Even Hyuga Makoto froze for a moment at the sight. He immediately angled his blade aside, avoiding a direct collision between the sword edge and the Sharingan.

At the same time, he grabbed Danzo's hand and forcibly gouged out the Sharingan.

Then he drove a vicious kick into Danzo's abdomen!

Bang—

With a dull thud, Danzo was sent flying backward, though a vicious glint appeared in his eyes.

Though it pained him to lose the Mangekyo, he still had Shisui's other eye!

"An Explosive Tag..."

Hyuga Makoto's gaze sharpened. Naturally, he had noticed the condition of the eye in his hand!

"Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere Wave."

At that moment, Danzo formed hand seals again.

Saplings had already sprouted from his shoulder, but he still completed the technique!

"Tch, this old bastard..."

Hyuga Makoto looked at the dense barrage of high-pressure wind spheres. How could he not know what Danzo was thinking?

This guy was trying to run!

And even as he fled, he had not forgotten to destroy this Mangekyo and the chunks of flesh on the ground. He also intended to use this technique to call reinforcements from Konoha!

"But I should thank Orochimaru..."

Tsunade had once stomped out an Explosive Tag with her foot. Hyuga Makoto could not compare to Tsunade, but he could still delay the explosion!

He lightly tapped the Explosive Tag. In an instant, the burning tag froze, and he tore it off in one swift motion.

At the same time, his figure flashed toward the chunk of flesh on the ground, while the high-pressure wind spheres and the Explosive Tag erupted at that very moment.

Boom—

In an instant, a violent explosion thundered through the valley!

Chunks of rock kept falling from the cliff walls as massive clouds of dust engulfed the entire valley.

Yet within the dust, a small figure flashed out in an instant before vanishing once more...

The moon rose silently above a cliff not far from the Uchiha Clan Compound.

Having just dealt with Root's ninja, Shisui stood with his back to Uchiha Itachi, speaking weakly yet calmly.

"The Uchiha coup can no longer be stopped. Once civil war breaks out, the other villages will surely exploit the opening. War may be unavoidable."

"Shisui..."

Uchiha Itachi murmured, but Shisui's voice remained even.

"I originally intended to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the coup, but Danzo took my right eye. He doesn't trust me. He's determined to protect the village in his own way."

As he spoke, Shisui turned around. His remaining Sharingan was still scarlet, yet filled with helpless despair.

"I'm afraid he won't spare my left eye either, so before that..."

As he spoke, he reached for his own eye.

"I'm giving this eye to you. You're the only trusted friend I can rely on. Protect the future of Konoha and the Uchiha."

"..."

Uchiha Itachi stared blankly at the scene. Only after a long while did he close his eyes, and a crow descended from the sky to land on Shisui's hand.

The instant it seized the Sharingan, it turned into scattered feathers and vanished.

"I'll take it. What are you going to do?"

Uchiha Itachi asked in a low voice, only to suddenly see Shisui take several steps back, reaching the edge of the cliff.

"If I die, the situation should change somewhat. I've already left a suicide note."

"Wait, Shisui!"

Uchiha Itachi truly panicked then, but Shisui continued backing away.

"Don't stop me, Itachi, if you're still my friend..."

Before his words had even faded, Shisui leaped off the cliff. Uchiha Itachi lunged forward to grab him, but they missed each other by inches.

Uchiha Itachi watched helplessly as Shisui's body fell. An overwhelming agony frantically tore through his mind.

His eyes turned scarlet, and the three tomoe began spinning rapidly!

At the bottom of the cliff, a pair of eyes silently watched it all...