The Price of a Third Path

The ruins reeked of rotting wood.

Shisui clenched the classified scroll tightly in his hand, his knuckles whitening from the force. He took a deep breath, raised his head, and met Lin Feng's gaze. The shadows of half-collapsed beams were reflected in his Sharingan.

"We're going to the Hokage Office right now."

His voice was soft, but brooked no argument.

"Once Lord Third knows Danzo's true face, he'll stop everything."

After saying that, Shisui tucked the classified document into his robes and stepped toward the half-collapsed doorway of the ruins.

Lin Feng stretched out an arm and blocked his path.

His arm lay across Shisui's chest, while the Curse Seal beneath his sleeve throbbed faintly. The air abruptly tightened.

"Move."

Shisui's voice turned cold.

Lin Feng did not move. He stared into Shisui's eyes, his voice low and restrained. "Lord Third has known all along."

"You have no proof."

Shisui answered as quickly as a reflex. His body tilted slightly forward, facing Lin Feng in confrontation, while decayed floorboards beneath their feet gave faint groans.

"This classified document is the best proof." Shisui raised the scroll, urgency tightly suppressed in his voice. "As long as Lord Third sees it, Danzo's plan will be called off. You don't understand. The Hokage has always worked to maintain the village's balance. He can't possibly allow something like this to happen."

Lin Feng's gaze did not waver.

"You're still lying to yourself, even now."

He spoke each word slowly.

"Danzo dared draft something like this because he knew that even if Lord Third saw it, he would only lock it in a drawer—because he needed Danzo to suppress the Uchiha. You know that's the unspoken understanding within the Hokage's Anbu."

Shisui's Sharingan activated without his realizing it.

Scarlet light flared in the dim ruins, and oppressive chakra surged out like a tide. Lin Feng felt that power press down on his shoulders. Stirred by it, the Curse Seal on his left arm sent a stabbing pain from his collarbone to his shoulder blade.

"That's just your guess."

Shisui forced himself to remain calm, but cracks had already appeared in his voice.

"Lord Third would never—"

"Before you woke up today, you kept repeating one sentence while you were unconscious."

Lin Feng interrupted him, his tone as calm as if he were stating a fact.

"You said, 'Lord Third... he knows...'"

Shisui's pupils suddenly contracted.

"That was... that was sleep talk. It doesn't mean anything..."

"Did you hear yourself?" Lin Feng stepped half a pace closer, his gaze drilling into Shisui's Sharingan. "I didn't make that up. It was the truth that, in the deepest part of your mind, you had no choice but to admit!"

Shisui's body visibly shook.

The tomoe in his Sharingan began to spin, and the oppressive force of his chakra abruptly intensified. Lin Feng felt the Curse Seal on his shoulder blade burn like a branding iron, but he did not retreat.

"You're not protecting the village."

Lin Feng lowered his voice further, but every word cut like a blade.

"You're protecting that dream in your heart—that 'Lord Third will surely uphold justice.' But this dream has nearly cost you your eyes, your life, and the entire Uchiha clan's future!"

"Shut up..."

Shisui's voice turned hoarse.

"You don't understand what it means to bear the Will of Fire..."

"Then tell me." Instead of backing down, Lin Feng pressed forward. "At the coup meeting, the elders hinted that Lord Third had noticed long ago. You were there. You heard it. Danzo dared write the Living Body Transplantation Technique into a classified document—do you really think Lord Third knew nothing?"

Shisui's breathing became erratic.

He wanted to argue.

But flashes of those meaningful silences at the coup meeting, the elders' hints, and the spies Lord Third had sent to watch them crossed his mind.

His defenses began to crumble.

"The Hokage definitely didn't know Danzo wanted to take my eyes."

He gritted his teeth and persisted, but his voice had grown so low it sounded as if he were trying to convince himself.

"He definitely didn't know..."

Lin Feng watched him.

Watched the struggling light in those Sharingan.

Shisui suddenly turned and activated the Body Flicker Technique.

His figure vanished within the ruins.

The next instant, he had rushed outside and stood beside a broken wall before the dark forest, where a rainstorm loomed.

Lin Feng chased after him.

Lead-gray clouds hung low in the sky. Wind swept through the forest, carrying the scent of earth and rain. Shisui stood with his back to him, his shoulders heaving violently.

"How far are you going to push me?!"

Shisui turned and roared. Though the rain had yet to fall, wet streaks already marked his face.

Lin Feng stopped five paces away.

He did not move closer.

He merely spread open Danzo's classified document in his hand, his voice calm to the point of cruelty.

"Danzo set up the Living Body Transplantation Technique long ago. The Curse Seal has already locked onto both our locations. If Lord Third truly wanted to stop this, Root ninja would not have appeared on the forest path carrying orders like these."

He paused.

"You understand Konoha's political workings better than I do. Danzo's Root has survived this long not because Lord Third couldn't see it—but because he chose not to."

Shisui leaned against the broken wall and slowly slid down to sit.

The scarlet in his Sharingan faded.

Only black pupils remained, gazing up at the leaden sky.

Silence.

After a long while.

"I... I've been deceiving myself all along."

His voice sounded as though every ounce of strength had been drained from it.

For the first time, he admitted that Lord Third had known and yet had not saved him.

Lin Feng said nothing.

The wind passed through the broken wall, stirring the dead leaves on the ground.

Shisui closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, the innocence in them had completely faded.

"Fine. Even if Lord Third knows... even if he truly didn't stop it..."

He raised his head and looked at Lin Feng.

"Then tell me, what can we still do? Turn ourselves in to the Anbu? Or storm Root directly?"

There was no longer any struggle in his voice.

Only a clear-minded man searching for a way out.

Lin Feng crouched in front of him.

"Strike first. No matter how cunning Danzo is, he has an Achilles' heel—the Root Archive Room. It holds all the evidence of his hidden crimes. As long as we make those things public, even Lord Third will have no choice but to deal with him."

Shisui fell silent.

At last, the rain began to fall.

Raindrops the size of beans hammered against the broken wall and struck both their shoulders.

"But I have conditions."

Shisui's voice became clear amid the rain.

"First, the plan cannot endanger Konoha's fundamental security."

Lin Feng nodded.

"Second, while gathering evidence, we cannot kill ninja from our own village unless they will kill us if we do not."

"Reasonable."

"Third, if Danzo's accomplices implicate matters that could shake the village's foundation, we report them separately. No public executions."

Shisui stood, looking down at Lin Feng, who was still crouched on the ground.

"You agree to those three terms, and I'll stake my life on your plan."

Lin Feng stood as well.

Rainwater dripped from both their hair.

"Deal. My goal was never to destroy Konoha. I just want that old man to crawl out of the shadows he's hiding in."

Shisui extended his right hand.

Lin Feng clasped it.

The instant their palms met, the resonance of the Curse Seals sent a stabbing pain through them. Lin Feng felt the Curse Seal on his left arm twitch like a living thing, and a flash of pain crossed Shisui's brow as well.

But neither let go.

"I'll be watching you."

Shisui's voice was quiet, yet filled with unwavering resolve.

"If you cross the line... my Sharingan won't hesitate."

"Likewise."

A faint smile tugged at Lin Feng's lips.

"I need your Body Flicker and genjutsu, but I need those eyes that dare face the truth even more. From now on, we're partners standing on a blade's edge."

Shisui released his hand.

He turned and looked toward the depths of the forest, in the direction of the Root base.

The torrential rain came crashing down.

It washed over the shattered walls of the ruins and the dried blood on their bodies.

Lin Feng stood at his side.

The Curse Seal continued to stab with pain under the rain's stimulation, and his chakra pathways spasmed intermittently. His strength was already nearing its limit.

But for the first time, he felt that he was no longer alone.

Shisui withdrew his gaze and formed a temporary alliance seal before the broken wall with a ninja hand sign.

Lin Feng formed the same seal.

Their hand signs crossed in the rain.

What had been forged was more than a plan.

It was the weight of entrusting their lives to each other from this moment onward.