Crow had been ready. He pushed off with his toes and leaped into the air.
But that was exactly the moment Shin-getsu had been waiting for.
"Shisui-senpai!"
Shisui understood at once.
Body Flicker Technique Burst.
He appeared behind Crow and brought his blade down.
Crow twisted around to block.
Clang!
Sparks flew.
The moment Crow blocked Shisui, Shin-getsu had already flicked out a wire and wrapped it around the black Sealing Box.
He yanked hard!
The box slipped free.
A Root shinobi tried to snatch it.
Shin-getsu's Three-Tomoe locked onto the man's eyes.
Genjutsu!
The Root shinobi's body stiffened.
The next second, the box landed in Shin-getsu's hands.
"Got it."
Killing intent surged in Crow's eyes.
"You're dead!"
Ignoring Shisui's short blade, he forcibly turned and charged at Shin-getsu.
Squish!
Shisui's blade slashed open his back.
But Crow still didn't stop.
He wanted to kill Shin-getsu!
Shin-getsu's gaze turned icy.
That was Root.
They were willing to throw away their lives for a mission.
But unfortunately for them,
he wasn't the little kid from yesterday who could only fight desperately anymore.
Shin-getsu opened the Sealing Box.
Inside was a row of glass containers.
Three scarlet Sharingan floated quietly in preservation fluid.
In an instant, every Uchiha present went berserk.
"The Sharingan!"
"They really are the Sharingan!"
"Root!"
"I'm going to kill them!"
Shisui's pupils trembled violently.
Shin-getsu picked up one of the containers and looked coldly at Crow.
"You'd throw your lives away just to hide these?"
Crow didn't answer. He kept charging.
Shin-getsu simply raised the container high.
"Shisui-senpai."
"Are you still going to hold back?"
Shisui's expression finally changed.
The gentleness vanished.
Killing intent emerged.
In the next instant, Shisui's speed surged.
His Body Flicker Technique was so fast that it left afterimages.
Crow had just reached Shin-getsu when Shisui appeared at his side.
His short blade swept across.
Squish!
An arm flew through the air.
Crow staggered.
Shin-getsu seized the opportunity and released Lightning Style: Earth Flash again.
Crackle!
Crow's legs went numb.
Shisui held his blade against Crow's neck.
"It's over."
Crow suddenly smiled.
"Too late."
Shin-getsu's expression changed.
"Get back!"
Boom!
An explosion suddenly erupted deep inside the hideout.
A huge pillar of fire shot into the sky.
Root had activated its self-destruct.
But Shin-getsu didn't look at the explosion.
He stared at Crow.
Because Crow hadn't been talking about the hideout self-destructing.
He'd meant something else.
Shin-getsu abruptly activated [Causality Retrospection].
The scene rewound.
Three minutes earlier.
Before evacuating, Crow had used his blood to activate a Communication Talisman.
The message wasn't headed to Root.
It was headed to...
Shisui.
No.
To be precise, it was information about Shisui.
Shin-getsu's pupils contracted sharply.
"Shisui-senpai!"
Shisui looked at him.
Shin-getsu's voice was cold.
"You've been targeted."
Shisui froze.
The next instant, the system notification sounded.
[Key Destiny Node triggered ahead of schedule.] [Shisui's Eye Seizing Crisis begins ahead of schedule.] [Countdown: Three days.] [Mission Objective: Stop Danzo from taking Shisui's Mangekyo.] [Mission Reward: Mangekyo Evolution Clue, 15,000 Causality Points or more.]
Shin-getsu's gaze turned razor-sharp.
It was finally here.
Shisui's crisis.
In the original story, Danzo took one of Shisui's eyes, driving him to throw himself into the river.
Now, because Shin-getsu had kept tearing Root open, Danzo's plan had been brought forward.
Shisui looked at Shin-getsu and asked gravely:
"What do you mean?"
Shin-getsu looked back at him, his Three-Tomoe slowly rotating.
"From now on,"
"don't meet Danzo alone."
"Don't trust any private summons from the Hokage's leadership."
"Don't leave the Uchiha's sight."
Shisui's expression shifted.
"What exactly did you see?"
Shin-getsu spoke one word at a time:
"I saw someone who wants your eyes."
Rumble!
The glow from the explosion at the distant hideout lit up the night sky.
Standing beneath the firelight, Shisui felt a bone-deep chill for the first time.
"Someone wants my eyes?"
Shin-getsu didn't beat around the bush.
"Yes."
Shisui fell silent for a moment.
"Danzo?"
Shin-getsu looked at him.
"Who else would dare?"
Shisui gripped his short blade tightly.
Uchiha Tekka had just arrived. Hearing those words, his face twisted with fury.
"What?"
"Danzo still wants to go after Shisui?"
"Has he lost his mind?"
Shin-getsu sneered.
"He's always been crazy."
Tekka looked at Shisui and snapped:
"Shisui, you're not going to say we should trust the village and the Hokage again, are you?"
Shisui didn't answer.
Before, he might really have said there wasn't any evidence yet, and they shouldn't jump to conclusions.
But what about now?
The Root hideout.
The Night Owl Plan.
The Sharingan Preservation Fluid.
The list of missing clan members.
And the three Sharingan in the Sealing Box before them.
All of it was right there.
Could he still keep lying to himself?
Shisui lowered his head and looked at the Sharingan in the Sealing Box.
They weren't ordinary organs.
They were the eyes of his clansmen.
They belonged to Uchiha who had once been alive.
And Root had stored them in a box as if they were mere objects.
Shisui slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, there was far less gentleness in his gaze.
"Shin-getsu."
"Why are you certain they'll come after me?"
Shin-getsu answered directly:
"Because your eyes are the thing Danzo wants most."
Shisui's pupils contracted.
"What do you know?"
Shin-getsu looked around.
"This isn't the place to talk."
Fugaku arrived with his people.
When he saw the Sharingan in the Sealing Box, his expression darkened ominously.
"Take them back to the Uchiha Clan Grounds."
"Seal all the evidence."
"Shisui, Shin-getsu, come with me."
Tekka immediately asked:
"Clan Head, what about the Root prisoners?"
Fugaku replied coldly:
"Take them."
"Anyone who tries to seize them will be treated as having attacked the Uchiha."
Dog, the Anbu Captain, hurried over as well.
"Clan Head Fugaku, the Root prisoners should be handed over to Lord Hokage."
Tekka drew his sword at once.
"Hand them over to the Hokage?"
"So they can be silenced?"
"Have you forgotten what happened just now in front of the Hokage Building?"
The Anbu Captain fell silent.
He had no way to forcibly demand the prisoners this time.
The Uchiha had the Sharingan in their possession.
This matter was already impossible to contain.
Shin-getsu looked at the Anbu Captain.
"You can come along."
"Record everything."
"But the Uchiha will keep watch over the prisoners for now."
The Anbu Captain glanced at Shin-getsu.
He was only nine, yet he could already make decisions outright in a situation like this.
Even more astonishingly, Fugaku hadn't objected.
What did that mean?
It meant Shin-getsu's standing within the Uchiha had already changed.
The Anbu Captain said gravely:
"I'll report the truth to Lord Hokage."
Shin-getsu replied coolly:
"You'd better."
Then he turned and left.
Uchiha Clan Grounds.
The underground chamber beneath Naka Shrine.
Only five people entered this time.
Fugaku.
Shisui.
Tekka.
Shin-getsu.
And Uchiha Yashiro.
The Sealing Box sat in the center.
Three Sharingan floated in preserving fluid, their crimson glow painfully vivid.
Tekka clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.
"Clan Head."
"We can't endure this anymore."
"We have enough evidence."
"The Night Owl Plan, the Sharingan, the Root prisoners."
"We should summon the whole clan right now and tear Root apart!"
Yashiro added in a grave voice:
"Clan Head, Tekka is right."
"Root isn't just spying on us anymore."
"They're feeding on the bodies of Uchiha."
Fugaku didn't answer right away.
He looked at Shisui.
"Shisui, what do you think?"
Shisui was silent for a long time before finally speaking.
"Root must pay the price."
Tekka's eyes lit up.
"Good!"
"Finally, you're talking sense!"
Shisui paid no mind to Tekka's sarcasm.
He only looked at Shin-getsu.
"But I want to hear Shin-getsu out first."
Everyone turned their eyes to Shin-getsu.
Shin-getsu didn't beat around the bush.
He looked straight at Shisui.
"Your eyes are Mangekyo, aren't they?"
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