Upstream on the Naka River, atop the waterfall cliff.
"Who's there, Shisui?"
White Dove sensed someone approaching, so he lifted the Anbu mask he was wearing, revealing Itachi's face.
Well, he knew both of them very well. He couldn't play Itachi for a long time, but for a short while, there would hardly be any major flaws.
The key was that Shisui was in no state to scrutinize him closely.
"It's me, Itachi!"
A figure emerged from the woods.
"Shisui, your eye!"
White Dove looked at Shisui's bloodied, hollow right eye in "shock." Astonishment, disbelief, and all sorts of emotions appeared on his face one after another...
He had to admit, he was quite good at acting. At the very least, the pretty-boy actors from before he crossed over couldn't hold a candle to him.
"I went to see Danzo just now. He took my right eye, and he won't spare my left one either. Clearly, he's trying to protect Konoha in his own way!"
With a single sentence, Shisui turned Danzo's seizure of his right eye into an attack on him "for the sake of protecting Konoha."
That was some serious spin!
If the Shinobi World had anything like the Leshan Giant Buddha, it would probably have to make way for him to sit there.
"What are you going to do now?"
White Dove asked with "concern."
For the Itachi he was impersonating, this was the appropriate reaction.
"I can't go back to the clan. My people already resent the village, and Danzo's actions would make them take revenge on it!"
"If the village falls into internal conflict, the other villages will take the opportunity to attack. So no one can know that Danzo attacked me!"
"Itachi, the responsibility of protecting Konoha and upholding the Uchiha name is yours from now on!"
Shisui explained the situation he was facing.
Well, all he could say was that it took years of serious mental illness for this kind of "blaming the victim" mentality to develop.
He was clearly the victim, yet he kept thinking about the village's higher-ups who had attacked him.
Even a dog wouldn't be this loyal!
That was why White Dove had chosen to give up such a powerful fighter and join forces with his enemy, Danzo, to send Shisui to his death.
A useless ally was more disgusting than a formidable enemy.
No matter how strong or terrifying his enemies were, White Dove wouldn't feel the slightest fear.
But having an ally who constantly dragged him down... That was why he had to secure the home front before dealing with outside threats. First, he needed to get rid of Shisui, the "useless ally."
"Shisui...!"
White Dove's thoughts raced, but he kept acting, as if he had sensed that Shisui intended to die. He started forward to stop him, only for Shisui to hold him back.
"Itachi, don't stop me!" Shisui said, his tone full of relief. "I have no other choice. But if it's you, I know you can protect the village and the Uchiha name. I'm entrusting you with this eye!"
As he spoke, Shisui thrust his right hand into his eye socket and tore out the only eye he had left.
"Too bad there's no background music!"
Looking at the bloody left eye in Shisui's palm, White Dove's heart couldn't help but race.
That eye was a "Kage Level pass." It could not only give him Kage-level combat strength, but also light the way for him to awaken the Mangekyo.
He didn't want to awaken the Mangekyo through extreme emotions.
Though it could make his strength soar, it would also drive his emotions to extremes. Just look at Obito, Shisui, and Itachi. They were practically all half-mad.
Madara and Fugaku were positive examples. The Mangekyo hadn't twisted their wills.
Knowing that, White Dove would much rather advance through careful study and training than be pushed into awakening the Mangekyo by a shock.
In the original story, Itachi used a Ninja Crow to take the Mangekyo, but White Dove had no Ninja Crow, and he couldn't use a Ninja Pigeon either. So he stepped closer, ready to take the eye from Shisui's palm.
Just as his hand was a hair's breadth from the eyeball,
the Mangekyo right in front of him suddenly disappeared.
"You're not Itachi?"
Shisui faced White Dove with his bloodied eyes tightly shut, as if he could see him that way.
Keep in mind, losing his sight wouldn't make a ninja lose his combat ability like an ordinary person. Fighting blind was a required skill, too.
White Dove watched Shisui retreat two steps, stopping just a few meters from the waterfall cliff. His brow furrowed instinctively, but he didn't deny it. Instead, he asked outright:
"...How did you know?"
Given Shisui's personality, he wouldn't test him for no reason. The fact that he'd said it meant he had truly spotted a flaw.
"Your scent!"
Shisui didn't beat around the bush.
"I already used medicine to get rid of my scent!"
As White Dove asked, he thought back and confirmed that he had disguised his scent when putting on the disguise.
In a place like the Shinobi World, where all kinds of detection methods abounded, scent was an important tell.
Konoha had two great clans, the Inuzuka Clan and the Aburame Clan, that could exploit this. And if you counted the smaller clans, there were plenty of others who could spot a flaw by scent.
So scent was an indispensable part of any disguise. White Dove certainly wouldn't make that kind of mistake.
"No. You don't have the scent of a Ninja Crow. Itachi and I raised this flock of Ninja Crows together, so both of us have their scent on us!"
As Shisui answered, he was also thinking through his options. He wasn't foolishly chatting away.
Throughout the whole exchange, his right hand held the Mangekyo securely, leaving no opening at all. He clearly knew what White Dove was after.
He wanted to keep White Dove from acting recklessly.
If it had been Itachi, Shisui would have entrusted him with the Mangekyo. But if it was anyone else, he would protect it with his life.
"I see..."
White Dove could only laugh wryly. No matter how thoroughly he had thought things through, he could never have anticipated that.
Shisui hadn't caught the scent earlier because he hadn't gotten close enough. But White Dove had approached in person to take the Mangekyo instead of using a Ninja Crow, which let Shisui pick up on the flaw.
It was frustrating, to say the least.
Fortunately, White Dove had prepared for this, so he just needed to buy some time and let his setup take effect.
The key was to keep Shisui from having a chance to send the Mangekyo away.
"Shisui!"
White Dove returned to his own voice.
Hearing it, Shisui's expression changed dramatically.
"How is this possible? White Dove, you've sided with Danzo..."
He thought Uchiha White Dove had sided with Danzo and come to take the Sharingan on his orders.
"No, don't get the wrong idea, Shisui. That old dog Danzo can't order me around. We're just working together, each getting what we want!"
White Dove didn't want to be mistaken for Danzo's subordinate.
As if Danzo were worthy of that!
If Danzo were his "foster father," maybe.
His Ninja Blade was made for "stabbing foster fathers."
"I see..." Shisui secretly breathed a sigh of relief. At least White Dove hadn't sided with Danzo. "If you're willing to work with the village, why not go to Lord Hokage? Don't you know Elder Danzo is prejudiced against the Uchiha?"
"No. Danzo's prejudice is at least out in the open. He's easier to deal with than that hypocrite Sarutobi Hiruzen. Besides, only Danzo can help me get what I want. And when we fall out later, I can kill him!"
To keep Shisui's attention and stop him from noticing what he was doing, White Dove had just revealed a major secret.
He'd bluntly called Sarutobi Hiruzen a hypocrite and made it clear that he would eventually turn on Danzo.
"What? You... Ah!"
Shisui was about to ask more when his body suddenly went numb.
Zzzt!
Blue currents spread across the area like a web.
At the nodes of the current were metal objects shaped like Kunai.
Dozens of metal Kunai formed the nodes, allowing the current to flow and flicker between them, creating a magnetic field.
That's right. This was White Dove's strongest Lightning Release, Ten Thousand Lightning Heavenly Prison... in a simplified form.
His S-rank Lightning Release was a large-scale composite ninjutsu. It was incredibly troublesome to use, but its potential was proportional to its difficulty.
This was just a small test.
The Kunai weren't ninja tools. They were tools made from magnets and ground into shape.
Using these magnetic Kunai as nodes allowed him to create a sustained lightning net that paralyzed Shisui's body.
Shhk!
With a crisp cutting sound, the right arm holding the Mangekyo was severed at the elbow.
Before it could even fall to the ground, White Dove had already caught it as if teleporting, then immediately put some distance between himself and Shisui.
Even with Shisui paralyzed by Lightning Release, White Dove wouldn't stay near him a second longer than necessary.
Better safe than sorry!
In a place as dangerous as the Shinobi World, any carelessness could lead to defeat or death.
Caw!
But just then, something happened that infuriated White Dove.
A crow descended from the sky and snatched away a slip of paper from Shisui's remaining left hand. A design had been drawn on it in blood.
"Not a chance!"
Even though White Dove didn't know what was written on the slip of paper, he couldn't let this threat escape.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Several Kunai shot through the air.
Clang, clang, clang!
Shisui seemed to regain his ability to move. With what little strength he had left, he threw several Shuriken and knocked away the Kunai White Dove had launched at the crow.
But by protecting the Ninja Crow, he had put himself in danger.
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