Causality Retrospection

Shin-getsu had been reading for less than an hour when a knock sounded at the door.

Knock, knock.

The rhythm was light.

Shin-getsu looked up.

"Who is it?"

A gentle voice drifted in from outside.

"It's me, Shisui."

Shin-getsu's eyes flickered.

Shisui was here.

He stood up to open the door.

Outside, Uchiha Shisui still wore his gentle smile, carrying a parcel of medicine in his hand.

"I heard you awakened your Two-Tomoe Sharingan at the training ground today."

"Congratulations."

Shin-getsu took the medicine.

"Thank you, Shisui-senpai."

Shisui walked into the room, his gaze sweeping over the scrolls on the table.

"Starting to study these?"

"Yes."

Shin-getsu did not hide it.

Shisui nodded.

"Foundations are important."

"The stronger the Sharingan becomes, the less you can afford to neglect the basics."

He finished, then suddenly laughed. "Though, your progress is truly a bit frightening."

Shin-getsu looked at him.

"Is Shisui-senpai here to test me?"

Shisui was taken aback, then gave a wry smile.

"You are still as direct as ever."

Shin-getsu said calmly, "Directness saves time."

Shisui sat down and said earnestly, "I am not here to test you."

"I just wanted to warn you."

"After word of your Two-Tomoe spreads, more people will be watching you."

"The clan will value you."

"The village will also value you."

"That is not necessarily a good thing."

Shin-getsu nodded.

"I know."

Shisui looked at him.

"You know?"

Shin-getsu said, "If I remain weak, others will treat me as a specimen."

"If I become strong, others will treat me as a threat."

"The only difference is the way I die."

Shisui fell silent.

These words were too heavy.

And too true.

He suddenly did not know how to offer comfort.

Because Shin-getsu was right.

This was the current situation of the Uchiha.

Weak clansmen might be treated as targets for bullying.

Powerful clansmen, however, would be feared by the higher-ups.

Shisui said softly, "That is why you must be even more careful."

"Especially Root."

Shin-getsu raised his eyes.

Shisui continued, "Although there is no evidence, you should know in your heart what happened last night."

Shin-getsu asked, "Do you also think it was Root, Shisui-senpai?"

Shisui did not answer directly.

"I can only say that Lord Danzo has never trusted the Uchiha."

Shin-getsu smiled.

"See? Even you say so."

Shisui sighed.

"But the more that is the case, the less you can afford to be impulsive."

"If you take the initiative to provoke Root, you will only give them an excuse."

Shin-getsu did not refute him.

He knew Shisui was offering a sincere warning.

Although Shisui was naive about many things, he was not stupid.

He knew Root was dangerous, and he knew Danzo could not be trusted.

It was just that he still hoped to resolve problems through peaceful means.

Shin-getsu suddenly asked, "Shisui-senpai, what if Root comes to test me again?"

Shisui's gaze sharpened.

"Did you discover something?"

Shin-getsu shook his head.

"No."

"It's just a guess."

Shisui said in a low voice, "If there is truly danger, notify the clan immediately."

"Do not try to hold out on your own."

Shin-getsu looked at him and said calmly, "What if there isn't enough time?"

Shisui said earnestly, "Then survive."

"As long as you survive, leave the rest to the clan."

Shin-getsu's heart stirred slightly.

These words sounded much better than "trust the village."

It seemed that yesterday's conversation had indeed influenced Shisui.

At the very least, his first reaction was no longer to tell Shin-getsu to trust the Hokage, but to trust the clan.

The system notification sounded.

[Host has continuously influenced a key character: Uchiha Shisui.]

[Uchiha Shisui's perception of the Uchiha stance has deepened.]

[Obtained Causality Points: 300.]

[Current Causality Points: 300.]

A flash of satisfaction crossed the depths of Shin-getsu's eyes.

Although it wasn't much, it proved the direction was correct.

Shisui could not be forced.

A person like this had to be shown reality bit by bit.

As long as he was no longer naive enough to think he could solve everything with Kotoamatsukami, there was a possibility of changing Shisui's death.

Shisui did not notice the change in Shin-getsu's mood.

He stood up and said, "I will be patrolling near the clan grounds for the next few days."

"If you notice anything unusual, you can come find me."

Shin-getsu nodded.

"Alright."

After Shisui left, the room fell silent once more.

Shin-getsu sat back in his original spot and had just prepared to continue reading the scroll when his brow suddenly furrowed.

Something was wrong.

It was too quiet.

The sound of patrolling footsteps outside had vanished for a brief moment just now.

Although it lasted less than ten breaths.

Shin-getsu's perception was far sharper now than it had been before.

Such an anomaly could not escape him.

He slowly raised his head, looking out the window.

The sky had already begun to darken.

Under the eaves in the distance, a black cat leaped lightly across.

It looked ordinary.

Yet, Shin-getsu's [Causality Perception] vibrated slightly at that very moment.

The danger was not intense.

But it was certainly present.

It was not killing intent.

It felt more like a probe.

A cold glint appeared in Shin-getsu's eyes.

Has it begun?

The Root's probing had come faster than he had anticipated.

He did not act immediately.

Instead, he lowered his head and continued flipping through the scroll, acting as if he had noticed nothing at all.

After a while, he stood up, picked up a medicine packet, and walked toward the backyard.

There was a well in the backyard.

He looked as if he were preparing to draw water to decoct his medicine.

And the moment he pushed the door open to step out, a figure in the shadows of the roof, nearly blending into the night, moved slowly.

The speed was very slow.

The presence was suppressed to an extremely low level.

If he were an ordinary Two-Tomoe user, he might not have necessarily detected it.

But Shin-getsu was different.

[Causality Perception] allowed him to sense the existence of danger in advance.

[Combat Intuition] allowed him to instinctively judge the opponent's position.

And the Two-Tomoe Sharingan allowed him to catch that trace of unnatural movement in the shadows from the corner of his eye.

Shin-getsu did not look up.

He walked to the well and set down the medicine packet.

Then, he slowly bent over.

It looked as if he were preparing to draw water.

The person in the shadows did not move.

They were very cautious.

Shin-getsu sneered inwardly.

The intruder did not intend to kill him.

Otherwise, that would have been the perfect opportunity to strike.

The opponent was observing his reaction.

They might even be looking to obtain a sample of his blood or chakra.

That made things easier.

Shin-getsu reached out and gripped the well rope.

The next instant, his fingertips silently hooked onto a thin steel wire hidden in a crack in the stone by the well.

He had set this up the moment he moved in.

Last night's events had taught him a lesson.

One must never be without a contingency plan for their residence.

Especially in Konoha.

The most dangerous place in Konoha was never outside the village.

It was the shadows within the village itself.

Shin-getsu gave a violent tug.

Whoosh!

In the corner of the backyard, a row of tiny bells vibrated in unison.

Strangely, however, no ringing sound followed.

This was because the insides of the bells had been stuffed with cloth.

Their true purpose was not to sound an alarm.

Instead, they served to pull the steel wires connected to the other end.

Beneath the eaves, an inconspicuous kunai suddenly sprang forth, shooting straight toward the shadows on the roof.

The person in the shadows reacted with lightning speed, immediately pulling back.

The kunai grazed the hem of his garment as it flew past.

It missed.

But hitting the target was never what Shin-getsu intended.

The tail of the kunai was connected to another thin wire.

The moment the shadowed figure retreated, his ankle stepped right into the second wire loop.

Click.

A faint tightening sound echoed.

The intruder realized it instantly, pulsing chakra through his foot in preparation to snap the wire.

Yet, at that very moment, Shin-getsu looked up.

His eyes were scarlet.

His Two-Tomoe Sharingan activated.

[Causality Retrospection] triggered.

In an instant, the world before Shin-getsu's eyes seemed to rewind for a brief moment.

He saw the trajectory of that figure's movements over the last ten minutes.

The opponent had approached from the western roof.

He had entered the blind spot the moment the patrol team turned away.

He had paused briefly at the third tile on the roof ridge.

There, he had left behind a small sealing tag used for eavesdropping.

Afterward, he had circled to the space above the backyard.

Hidden in his right sleeve was an extremely thin senbon.

The tip of the senbon was coated in medicine.

Not a lethal poison.

A paralytic.

His goal must have been to draw blood.

"Found you."

Shin-getsu's gaze turned icy.

Instead of charging at the person on the roof, he suddenly turned around and threw a shuriken.

The target was not the enemy.

It was the third tile on the roof ridge.