White Dove: Shisui, I am Itachi!

At the upper reaches of the Naka River, atop the waterfall cliff.

"Who is it? Shisui?"

White Dove sensed movement, so he lifted the Anbu mask he was wearing, revealing the face of Itachi.

Hmm, he was very familiar with both of these individuals. While playing Itachi for a long time was impossible, doing so for a short duration meant there would be almost no flaws.

The point was, Shisui had no heart to observe carefully right now.

"It's me, Itachi!"

A figure walked out from the woods.

"Shisui, your eye!!"

White Dove looked at Shisui's bleeding, empty right eye socket in "shock," with expressions of disbelief and other such emotions appearing on his face in succession.

It had to be said that he had a knack for acting; at the very least, based on the performance he displayed, those "little fresh meat" idols from before he transmigrated wouldn't even be fit to tie his shoes.

"I went to see Danzo just now. He took my right eye, and he won't let my left eye go either. Clearly, he is prepared to protect Konoha in his own way!"

With a single sentence, Shisui turned the fact that Danzo had stolen his right eye into an act of "protecting Konoha."

It could be said that this was truly a masterclass in whitewashing.

If there were a Leshan Giant Buddha in the ninja world, it might have to step aside and let him take the seat.

"Then what should we do next?"

White Dove asked with "worry."

Given the Itachi persona he was currently playing, this reaction was the only logical one.

"I cannot return to the clan. That would cause the clansmen, who are already dissatisfied with the village, to seek revenge because of Danzo's actions!"

"Once the village falls into civil strife, other villages will seize the opportunity to strike. Therefore, it must never be known that I was attacked by Danzo!"

"Itachi, the responsibility of protecting Konoha and safeguarding the honor of the Uchiha is now entrusted to you!"

Shisui explained the situation he was facing.

Hmm, one could only say that this kind of "victim-blaming mentality" was impossible to develop without a decade or more of serious illness.

Clearly the victim, yet he was constantly considering the village higher-ups who had attacked him.

Even a dog wouldn't be as loyal as this guy!

Therefore, this was the reason why White Dove chose to abandon such a powerful combat asset and instead chose to join forces with the enemy, Danzo, to send the man to his death.

A pig-teammate is more disgusting than a god-tier opponent.

No matter how strong or terrifying the enemy he faced, White Dove would not feel a shred of fear.

But if there was a pig-teammate by his side constantly holding him back, that feeling... thus, to pacify the outside, one must first settle the inside; he would clear away this "pig-teammate" Shisui first.

"Shisui...!"

Thoughts raced through White Dove's mind, but his performance did not stop. As if he had sensed the other's intent to seek death, he just moved to stop him when he was blocked.

"Itachi, don't stop me!" Shisui said with a tone of relief: "I have no other way, but if it is you, you will surely be able to protect the village and the honor of the Uchiha. I entrust this eye to you!"

While speaking, Shisui's right hand ruthlessly stabbed into his eye socket, plucking out his only remaining left eye.

It's a pity there's no BGM!

White Dove watched the bloody left eye in the other's palm, his heartbeat inevitably quickening a few beats.

Because this thing represented a "Kage-level pass." Not only could it provide him with Kage-level combat power, but it could also illuminate a clear path for his own evolution into a Mangekyo.

He was unwilling to take the path of entering the Mangekyo through extreme emotions.

Although that could cause a leap in strength, it would also make his emotions extremely volatile. One only had to look at the states of Obito, Shisui, and Itachi to know it was a path to total madness.

The positive examples were Madara and Fugaku; they had not been twisted by the Mangekyo.

Knowing this, White Dove was naturally more willing to slowly research and train to evolve his Mangekyo rather than being stimulated into awakening it directly.

In the original plot, Itachi used a Ninja Crow to receive the Mangekyo, but White Dove had no Ninja Crow, and he couldn't use a Ninja Pigeon. So, he stepped forward slowly, preparing to take the Mangekyo from the other's palm.

Just as his hand was a hair's breadth away from the eyeball.

The Mangekyo, which had been within reach, was abruptly pulled back.

"You are not Itachi?"

Shisui, his blood-flowing eyes tightly shut, faced White Dove as if he could see him.

Note that ninjas do not lose their combat effectiveness after losing their sight like ordinary people; blind fighting and the like were mandatory courses.

White Dove watched Shisui, who had retreated two steps and was now only a few meters from the waterfall cliff, his brows furrowing instinctively. However, he did not deny it and instead asked directly:

"...How did you know?"

Given Shisui's personality, he certainly wouldn't test him without reason, so his speaking up meant he had truly discovered a flaw.

"The scent!"

Shisui did not keep him in suspense.

"I have already used medicinal powder to eliminate the scent on my body!"

As White Dove asked, he recalled his own preparations, confirming that he had also masked his scent while disguising himself.

In the ninja world, where various detection methods emerged one after another, scent was an incredibly significant flaw.

Konoha, for instance, had the Inuzuka Clan and the Aburame Clan, both major clans capable of exploiting this; if one counted the smaller clans, there were far too many ways to be exposed through scent alone.

Therefore, scent was an absolutely essential part of any disguise, and White Dove would certainly never make such a mistake.

"No, it is that you do not carry the scent of the Ninja Crows. This flock of Ninja Crows was raised by Itachi and me, so we both carry their scent!"

While Shisui answered, he was actually contemplating a countermeasure; he was not speaking foolishly.

Throughout the entire process, his right hand held the Mangekyo firmly, leaving absolutely no opening, clearly aware of what White Dove's ultimate goal was.

This was to make him hesitate to act!

If it were Itachi, Shisui would have entrusted the Mangekyo to him, but for anyone else, he would protect the Mangekyo with his life.

"So that's how it is..."

White Dove felt a mix of frustration and amusement, for no matter how thoroughly he had considered things, he could never have anticipated this.

He hadn't gotten too close earlier, so Shisui hadn't smelled him, but because he had approached personally instead of using a Ninja Crow to retrieve the Mangekyo, he had allowed Shisui to sniff out this flaw.

It was truly depressing.

Fortunately, White Dove had contingency plans for this, so he needed to stall for time to allow his setup to take effect.

The key was not to let the other party have a chance to send the Mangekyo away.

"Shisui!"

White Dove reverted to his own voice.

Upon hearing his voice, Shisui's expression changed drastically.

"How is this possible? White Dove, you actually defected to Danzo..."

He assumed Uchiha White Dove had defected to Danzo and was acting under his orders to seize the Sharingan.

"No, Shisui, do not misunderstand. That old dog Danzo cannot command me; we are merely in a cooperative relationship, each taking what we need!"

White Dove did not want to be seen as a subordinate of Danzo.

Did that man even deserve it?

If it were a "foster father," perhaps.

His ninja blade was, after all, "specialized in stabbing foster fathers."

"I see..." Shisui quietly breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he hadn't defected to Danzo, it was fine. "Since you are willing to cooperate with the village, why not go to the Hokage? Do you not know that Elder Danzo has a prejudice against our Uchiha?"

"No, Danzo's prejudice is at least out in the open; he is easier to deal with than that hypocrite Sarutobi Hiruzen. Besides, the things I want can only be obtained through Danzo, and I can always kill him when we eventually fall out!"

To distract Shisui and prevent him from noticing his small movements, White Dove dropped a bombshell.

He openly called Sarutobi Hiruzen a hypocrite and indicated that he would inevitably turn against Danzo sooner or later.

"What, you... ah!"

Just as Shisui was about to press for more, he suddenly felt his body go numb.

Zzzzt!

Blue electrical currents covered the area like a spiderweb.

The nodes of these currents were kunai-shaped pieces of metal.

With dozens of metal kunai acting as nodes, electricity flowed and flickered between them, forming a magnetic field.

That's right, this was the simplified version of White Dove's strongest Lightning Style: Ten Thousand Lightning Heavenly Prison.

His S-rank Lightning Style was a large-scale composite ninjutsu, incredibly troublesome to execute, but its potential was proportional to its difficulty.

This was merely a small demonstration of his skill.

These kunai were not standard ninja tools, but props polished from magnets.

It was precisely because of these magnetic kunai that he could form a sustained lightning net to paralyze Shisui's body.

Slash!

With a crisp cutting sound, Shisui's right hand, which held the Mangekyo, was severed at the elbow.

Before the arm could even hit the ground, White Dove caught it with a movement akin to teleportation and immediately put distance between them.

Even with the opponent paralyzed by Lightning Style, White Dove would not linger for a single extra second.

Better safe than sorry!

In a place as dangerous as the ninja world, any negligence could lead to defeat or death.

Caw!

But at that very moment, something that left White Dove feeling deeply frustrated occurred.

A crow descended from the sky, snatching the scrap of paper—marked with a pattern drawn in fresh blood—from Shisui's remaining left hand.

"Don't even think about it!"

Even without knowing what was on the paper the crow had taken, White Dove would not let such a hidden threat escape.

Swish! Swish!

Several kunai tore through the air.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

As if his mobility had suddenly returned, Shisui forced himself to fire several shuriken, knocking down the kunai White Dove had aimed at the Ninja Crow.

But by protecting the Ninja Crow, he had left himself in danger.