Shisui's Invitation

Early morning, safehouse.

The last wisp of blue smoke from the oil lamp drifted out through the crack in the window.

Lin Feng blew out the wick. With a flick of his fingers, he removed the message tied to the crow's leg on the windowsill.

The slip of paper was light.

The handwriting was familiar.

Shisui.

"At three this afternoon, Naka Shrine, under the pretext of seeking guidance in ninjutsu."

There was no signature and no unnecessary wording.

Lin Feng rubbed the paper between his fingertips. After confirming there were no hidden sealing formulas, he flipped his hand, and the note turned to scraps that fell into the charcoal ash in the corner.

Outside the safehouse, the sunlight was bright.

He pushed open the door and stepped out at an unhurried pace, but his gaze had already swept across the eaves, the treetops, and the street corner.

The counter-tracking markers were intact.

No one had touched them.

Lin Feng withdrew his gaze, turned into an alley, and headed toward Naka Shrine.

Naka Shrine, before the stone steps.

Lin Feng arrived twenty minutes early.

Rather than approach directly, he circled around to the western slope beside the shrine, crouched in the shadow of an old pine, and quietly observed for a full ten minutes.

The area around the shrine was very quiet.

Birdsong, wind, falling leaves.

There were no unusual chakra fluctuations, nor any deliberately muffled breathing.

Lin Feng rose to his feet, brushed the dust from his knees, and walked toward the stone steps.

The steps were long.

The bluestone slabs were covered in moss, while shade from the trees blocked most of the sunlight.

When Lin Feng reached the thirty-seventh step, a faint rush of wind sounded beside his ear.

The next second, Shisui stood three steps behind him.

"Lin Feng, you came early."

A gentle smile rested on Shisui's face, making him look like nothing more than a passerby they had happened to encounter.

"Senior Shisui invited me to seek guidance in taijutsu. Naturally, I wouldn't dare be late."

Lin Feng turned around and gave a slight bow.

Shisui smiled and pointed toward the woods behind the mountain. "It's quiet there. It will be a good place to demonstrate some new ideas I've had about the Body Flicker Technique."

Lin Feng nodded and followed behind him.

One ahead and one behind, they passed through the corridor along the shrine's side and entered the depths of the dense forest behind the mountain.

The woods were quiet.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled patches of light and shadow across the ground.

Shisui stopped and turned around.

The smile on his face faded somewhat.

"Lin Feng, I've recently had some new ideas about the Body Flicker Technique, and I'd like to hear your thoughts."

Shisui looked at him, his tone calm.

"Last time, in the Forest of Death, I saw that your taijutsu foundation was quite solid. Perhaps we can exchange pointers."

Lin Feng was slightly taken aback.

But a trace of understanding soon flashed through his eyes.

"Senior Shisui is too modest. My Body Flicker Technique is still rudimentary. Being able to seek your guidance is more than I could ask for."

He paused, meeting Shisui's eyes directly.

"However, Senior chose Naka Shrine specifically. This should be more than a simple ninjutsu exchange, shouldn't it?"

Shisui fell silent for a second.

Then he smiled.

It was a smile carrying both appreciation and helplessness.

"Since you've asked so directly, I'll be frank."

Shisui walked to a large tree and placed a hand against its rough bark.

"I heard about what you said at the recent clan meeting—'retreat in order to advance.' Do you know that many clan members think Konoha has bought you off?"

Lin Feng did not avoid the question.

"I know."

He took a step forward, his voice calm.

"But the Uchiha are like a blade watched by everyone. The more it is brandished, the more likely it is to bring about the disaster of a broken blade."

He looked at Shisui, his gaze earnest.

"The outsiders' fear of the Sharingan runs deeper than we imagine."

Shisui's hand against the bark stilled.

He turned to look at Lin Feng, and for the first time, a complicated emotion welled up in his eyes.

It was not probing, nor was it wariness.

It was resonance.

"Fear..."

Shisui murmured the word, his gaze falling on the shifting light filtering through the distant leaves.

"You're right. I've seen the way too many ordinary villagers' eyes change when they learn that my surname is Uchiha."

His voice was soft.

"What they fear isn't me, but these eyes."

Lin Feng looked at his profile without saying anything.

After several seconds of silence, Lin Feng spoke slowly.

"If fear continues to build, it will eventually become destruction."

He paused.

"Senior... what do you think the Uchiha's ending will be?"

Shisui's shoulders tensed slightly.

He did not answer immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes, his gaze returning to Lin Feng.

"I won't let that ending happen."

His tone was resolute, though beneath that resolve lay helplessness and exhaustion.

"Lin Feng, I need someone who can understand this path."

Shisui looked directly into his eyes.

"Starting next week, every Wednesday at midnight, here. I'll teach you practical combat. You must grow stronger."

Lin Feng did not hesitate.

"I understand. Only you and I will know about this."

Shisui nodded.

He turned around, sweeping his gaze toward the edge of the woods, and lowered his voice.

"Recently, Danzo's Root has set its sights on me."

"So I can't meet with you often. I can only use this kind of 'ninjutsu exchange' as a pretext."

"You need to be careful of the people around you, and careful of the paths you take."

Lin Feng nodded silently.

He understood what Shisui meant.

The two of them discussed a few more matters concerning the feel and application of the Body Flicker Technique. Their voices returned to normal, as though this were an ordinary ninjutsu exchange.

Then Shisui left first.

Lin Feng remained where he was and waited three minutes before walking out of the woods.

He followed the same route down the shrine's stone steps.

The sunlight was still bright.

But Lin Feng's steps paused when he reached the shrine's exit.

His gaze did not move, but from the corner of his eye, he caught an incredibly slight disturbance in the crown of a tree to the southeast.

It was the rhythm of human breathing.

Someone was watching him.

Lin Feng's expression remained unchanged as he continued forward without even quickening his pace.

He memorized the location's details—the top of the tree crown, where the leaves on the third thick branch to the left were trembling abnormally.

Root agents.

But they did not make a move, which meant this was surveillance, not an arrest.

Lin Feng left the shrine grounds. Rather than return directly to the safehouse, he turned toward the Forest of Death.

He needed to confirm something else.

The edge of the Forest of Death.

Lin Feng stopped beside the roots of a dead tree, crouched down, and brushed aside the loose soil with his fingers.

The counter-tracking marker he had buried there—a fallen leaf marked with a kunai—was intact.

But the soil beside it showed clear signs of having been disturbed.

Someone had inspected this place within the last two hours.

Lin Feng stood and patted the dirt from his hands.

His identity had been exposed.

Or rather, from the moment he left the safehouse that morning, Root had already picked up his trail.

Shisui was right.

Danzo had already set his sights on them.

Lin Feng did not panic, nor did he leave at once. Instead, he carefully examined the footprints and traces around the marker, noting the enemy's physical traits—large shoe size, even stride length, likely an adult with extensive reconnaissance experience.

He stood and turned toward the deeper parts of the Forest of Death.

Since someone was already following him, he would take another route.

At the very least, he would make the person tailing him work a little harder.

Lin Feng vanished into the shadows of the trees.

Sunlight spilled over the grass at the edge of the Forest of Death, leaving only the rustling of wind through the leaves in the air.

Everything returned to calm.

But beneath that calm, undercurrents had long begun to surge.