"Don't move! Drop your weapons!"
More than a dozen ANBU wearing cat masks suddenly appeared, surrounding Shisui and Itachi.
Though they were dressed alike, Shisui knew these were the ANBU directly under the Hokage.
Seeing the two Uchiha before them and the Root Division corpses scattered all around, it was hard to imagine the ANBU wouldn't jump to conclusions.
"Put your weapons down. We're all on the same side."
Minato Namikaze spotted Shisui at a glance. Though he didn't know much about the smaller Uchiha beside him, he chose to trust Shisui.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
At the order, the ANBU all retreated and began securing the area, leaving Minato and Shisui room to talk.
"You sure know how to surprise me every time. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Now that he held the Hokage's authority, Minato Namikaze could naturally recognize that the bodies around them belonged to Root Division members.
"Lord Hokage, Shimura Danzo has defected."
Minato Namikaze: "???"
"Danzo coveted our Uchiha Sharingan, so he tried to abduct Itachi and me. That would make it easier for him to study the power of the Sharingan, and since Itachi is the son of Clan Head Fugaku, he could also use him to keep the village in check."
That was the explanation Shisui and Danzo had come up with in the short time they had. Now that the village was bound to learn about what had happened, they needed a reasonable account.
Just then, an ANBU stepped forward to report, confirming Shisui's story.
"Lord Hokage, the guards at the village entrance just sent word that Shimura Danzo wounded several shinobi on guard duty and escaped from the village."
"So Danzo really did defect..."
Even after it was confirmed, Minato Namikaze was still stunned.
As the village's Hokage Advisor, Shimura Danzo wielded immense power.
And with Danzo's backing, the Shimura Clan had grown stronger by the day. There was no reason he should have fled.
Yet the fact remained that Danzo had escaped from the village.
"But what about all these Root Division members? Did you kill them all?"
If Minato Namikaze himself had been here, he would have been confident he could wipe out the entire Root Division using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But Shisui was only eight years old. Even with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, he could at most be as strong as an elite Jonin, nowhere near Kage Level.
Yet there were at least five Jonin in Root Division, not to mention Danzo, who was nearly Kage Level.
"I dealt with them using this eye."
There was no point lying to someone clever, especially since the Uchiha Clan and Minato Namikaze had already tied their interests together.
"Is that... a Mangekyō Sharingan?"
This was the first time Minato Namikaze had ever seen a Mangekyō Sharingan with his own eyes. He studied Shisui's eye closely, trying to spot what made it special.
"The genjutsu ability of this eye is very powerful. Just looking at it, I can feel a mental force trying to invade my mind."
After observing it for a while, Minato Namikaze looked away. Apart from its Mangekyō pattern, he hadn't noticed anything else unusual.
"But why is only your left eye a Mangekyō?" Minato asked curiously. He had never seen a Uchiha awaken one in only a single eye.
Minato's question made Shisui's heart skip a beat.
If my Kotoamatsukami hadn't just gone into cooldown...
Just after he had used Kotoamatsukami on Shimura Danzo, Shisui's right eye had gone into cooldown.
During the cooldown, he couldn't activate the Mangekyō in his right eye; it could only maintain its Three-Tomoe Sharingan form.
Unless he could transplant Hashirama Cells, the cooldown would last around ten years. That meant Shisui wouldn't be able to activate his right eye's Mangekyō for the next decade.
As it happened, Shisui did have Hashirama Cells. He still had the White Zetsu corpse he had intercepted from Uchiha Madara earlier, and hadn't dealt with it yet.
But Shisui had no talent for research and had no idea where to start.
"During the fight against Danzo and Root Division, I overused my eyes. My right eye reverted from the Mangekyō to the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and I don't know if it'll recover." Only Shisui knew the truth about his Mangekyō, so he didn't mind telling a little lie.
"Ah, the village failed to protect you."
Minato Namikaze, unaware of Kotoamatsukami's properties, believed him and blamed himself for Shisui losing a Mangekyō.
"Lord Hokage, this isn't your fault. It's all Danzo's doing."
"I only hope you'll keep the matter of my Mangekyō Sharingan a secret. If the clan learns I lost one because of Danzo, they certainly won't let it go."
Shisui was being utterly selfless, considering the situation entirely from Minato's perspective.
The Uchiha Clan hadn't produced a new Mangekyō Sharingan in nearly a hundred years. If the Hawk Faction learned that Danzo, the Hokage Advisor, had destroyed Shisui's Mangekyō, they would certainly demand retribution.
The Uchiha's hatred would inevitably spread to Minato Namikaze as Hokage, as well as the other villagers.
"...All right. I'm sorry you have to bear this, Shisui. If there's anything you want, tell me. I'll do my best to make it up to you."
At that moment, Minato Namikaze saw Shisui as a man who bore the Will of Fire, just like his grandfather, Kagami Uchiha.
Shisui had also saved Kakashi, Obito, and Rin before, and the Uchiha Clan had worked hard to help Minato win the Hokage election. Minato Namikaze felt he owed Shisui far too much.
Don't worry. I'll give you a chance to repay me.
But Shisui still comforted Minato aloud. "Lord Hokage, wherever the leaves fall, the Will of Fire will burn on. Giving everything I have for the village—that's my ninja way."
Uchiha Itachi: "???"
Beside them, Itachi stared at Shisui with wide, innocent eyes. The disbelief in his gaze seemed like a silent accusation against the world.
At just four years old, Itachi had experienced too many ups and downs in a single day. The adult world was too complicated. At that moment, he didn't want to grow up.
Shisui noticed Itachi's reaction, of course, and decided to leave as soon as possible, leaving the rest to the ANBU.
"Shisui, you really are..."
Minato had seen too many people who talked about the Will of Fire while secretly doing despicable things. In his eyes, Shisui was one of the rare few who truly put the Will of Fire into practice.
"Lord Hokage, it's only what I should do." Shisui quickly cut Minato Namikaze off, afraid he might give himself away if the conversation continued.
Shisui: "Itachi has been away from the clan for a long time. I'm sure Clan Head Fugaku must be worried. I'll return to the clan with Itachi first. If you need to pursue the rogue ninja Danzo afterward, I, Shisui Uchiha, will gladly help."
Danzo: "That's not what you told me earlier."
"Uh, all right. I hadn't considered that. Shisui, you two can leave first. I'll take care of things here." Minato Namikaze quickly replied apologetically. Even he hadn't realized that Shisui had already branded Shimura Danzo a rogue ninja.
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