Three-Day Countdown

The wooden door of the safe house was pushed open.

The night and the damp chill from Naka Shrine rushed into the room together, and Shisui appeared in the doorway.

Lin Feng sat cross-legged beside the hidden compartment, the pale green chakra patterns from the medical ninja tool on his arm slowly fading. He raised his head, and their gazes met in the dim room.

In that instant, each understood the choices the other had faced over the past few hours.

The heaviness from before the stone tablet at Naka Shrine still lingered in Shisui's eyes. Though the Curse Seal patterns on Lin Feng's arm had been suppressed, the faint pain transmitted in reverse continued.

"Three nights from now."

Shisui closed the door, his voice kept low.

"Danzo will attend the Uchiha Clan Council as the Hokage aide—that will be the window when the archive room's defenses are weakest."

Lin Feng's eyes sharpened abruptly.

"In other words, we have to infiltrate and secure the evidence while also suppressing the Clan Council in those few hours."

"Not just that."

Shisui walked to the hidden compartment and sat down cross-legged.

"Itachi said that if a preemptive strike failed, he would stop the coup in his own way."

Lin Feng tapped his knee lightly with a finger.

"He didn't explain what that way was?"

"No." A nearly imperceptible tremor entered Shisui's voice. "But I saw the look in his eyes before the stone tablet at Naka Shrine."

Lin Feng fell silent.

The air carried the lingering herbal scent of the medical ninja tool, mixed with the dampness of night dew Shisui had brought in with him.

"So when you came back, you weren't only considering the infiltration plan." Lin Feng spoke slowly. "You were also considering the possibility of Itachi becoming another variable in the plan."

Shisui nodded.

Lin Feng raised his arm, the Curse Seal patterns faintly visible beneath his skin.

"The Curse Seal has been suppressed, but the reverse transmission is still there. Danzo knows roughly which direction you're in at every moment—when we act, he'll lock onto you immediately."

"Then let him lock onto me."

Shisui's tone was unnervingly calm.

"This is the only way to make the archive room's core area briefly slip from his attention."

Lin Feng's fingers stopped moving.

"You mean I infiltrate deep into the archive room alone, while you hold Danzo back head-on at the Clan Council?" His voice sank. "That isn't a distraction. You're making yourself bait."

"Do you think I'm acting on impulse?"

Shisui took out a Cipher Scroll from his robes and slowly unrolled it beside the hidden compartment. It was densely marked with gaps in Root's outer defensive lines, patrol shift times, and the precise coordinates of dozens of Crow surveillance points.

"When I set up this Crow Surveillance Network six years ago, I was already waiting for the moment when someone would have to stand at the front."

Lin Feng stared at the dates marked on the scroll.

The earliest timestamp was from six years ago.

He remembered that when Shisui had set up those surveillance points around Root's perimeter, he had not yet suffered Danzo's attack or lost that eye. Yet even then, Shisui had been preparing for the worst.

"You've been waiting for this moment for six years?"

"Not waiting to die." Shisui's finger traced across the scroll. "Waiting for the moment when someone would have to stand at the front and survive."

Lin Feng silently took out a hand-drawn structural sketch from the hidden compartment and spread it beside the Cipher Scroll. It was the internal layout of the Root Archive Room that he had reconstructed from the memories of the Chapter 38 pursuit—the outer defense zone, the middle Scroll Vault, and the Forbidden Technique Records Room deep within.

Shisui overlaid the Crow surveillance coverage map over the sketch.

Their fingers moved across the paper at the same time.

"Here." Shisui pointed to a spot on the map. "When Danzo leaves Root for the Clan Council, the outer defenses will change shifts at the same time. The Crow surveillance points recorded three shift changes, and each one had a seven-minute gap."

"The archive room's middle level requires passing through the Scroll Vault." Lin Feng's finger moved along the structural sketch. "The Scroll Vault has three layers of seals that trigger alarms, but I remember that whenever Danzo entered himself, the alarms would temporarily go dormant."

"Because the system recognizes the Curse Seal marker on his body," Shisui continued. "When Danzo enters, he shuts down the outer alarms, then activates them again when he leaves. If he's at the Clan Council, the system will remain in a half-dormant state."

Lin Feng's finger moved to the deepest part of the sketch.

Several words were marked there—"Must be neutralized with the blood of someone other than the caster."

His finger stopped.

Shisui stopped writing as well.

"The defensive technique deep in the archive room." Shisui's voice became slow and clear. "According to the intelligence Itachi provided and the memories you brought back from the pursuit, there is a forbidden technique ward activated with Danzo's own blood. Even when Danzo leaves, the technique will keep operating. To neutralize it, we need the blood of someone other than the caster."

Lin Feng withdrew his finger.

"In other words, the infiltrator has to deliberately bleed before that technique."

"Not just that." Shisui raised his eyes to look at him. "The instant the technique is neutralized, Danzo will sense it immediately. He'll head for the archive room at once—unless someone creates enough of a disturbance outside that he can't break away."

His gaze fell upon the Curse Seal mark on his own arm.

"And he'll prioritize tracking the signal on me."

The air in the safe house froze for several seconds.

Lin Feng spoke, his voice soft.

"So the bait plan is this: you hold Danzo back head-on at the Clan Council, and I infiltrate deep into the archive room alone."

Shisui nodded calmly.

"I'm ready."

"Since six years ago..."

"Since six years ago," Shisui interrupted him. "But not with the intention of dying."

Lin Feng's fingers tightened on the sketch.

Shisui looked directly into his eyes.

"I won't move forward with the intention of dying anymore—this time is different. This time, while I draw Danzo's attention, I need you to bring out every piece of evidence intact."

He paused.

"My life isn't a sacrifice. It's part of the plan. I'm trusting my back to you, Lin Feng."

Lin Feng was silent for a long time.

The pale green glow of the medical ninja tool had completely faded. The Curse Seal patterns lay quietly beneath the skin on the inside of his arm. In the distance beyond the window, torchlight from the Uchiha Clan Grounds seeped through the cracks.

He spoke.

"Three nights from now, I won't let you stand there for nothing on the archive room side."

The corner of Shisui's mouth lifted slightly.

Then he stood and walked to the window, looking toward the gathering firelight in the Uchiha Clan Grounds. Cries from the radicals drifted faintly over, like the sound of waves in the distance.

"When Danzo discovers that I'm not dead and not under his control, he won't care about the Clan Council's procedures or the Third Hokage's stance anymore." Shisui's voice came from the window. "He'll directly judge me to be a threat."

Lin Feng carefully rolled up the structural sketch and Cipher Scroll.

"So the success of our plan depends on whether his reaction in those few seconds is shock or decisiveness."

"If he's shocked enough, you'll have time." Shisui's silhouette was especially clear in the window's shadow. "If he attacks immediately, I can at least block the first wave."

The countdown had begun.

Three nights from now, the defensive technique zone deep within the Root Archive Room, Danzo standing at the front of the Uchiha Clan Council, the Curse Seal tracking signal inside Shisui, Itachi controlling the radicals' emotions within the Clan Grounds—everything would converge at the end of those three days.

Lin Feng placed the scroll in the hidden compartment.

"The Clan Council three nights from now is the only time window."

"And the only point of convergence." Shisui turned around. "We'll each make our preparations."

The torchlight outside grew brighter still.

The pressure of the countdown shrouded the entire safe house. The sound of their breathing intertwined in the quiet night. Then, they both withdrew their gazes and began the final three days of waiting.