A few days earlier.
At Konoha's border, Ao of the Hidden Mist Village led several elite ninja in a small-scale sneak attack on Konoha.
Halfway there, two team members suddenly collapsed with a thud, clutching their heads and screaming as they rolled around in agony.
"What are you making such a fuss about?! Shut up!"
Ao shouted loudly. His Byakugan was one of a kind in the Ninja World, an imported specimen.
The two Chunin seemed deaf, their screams not diminishing in the slightest.
Ao's brows drew together, and his expression darkened.
"Genjutsu? When were they caught in it?"
Before he could finish, a terrifying chakra pressed in from ahead, shoved straight in his face like a blatant provocation.
"Byakugan!"
The veins around Ao's right eye beneath his eyepatch bulged, and every Konoha ninja several miles away came into view.
"This is—!"
Ao's heart skipped a beat. He turned and threw out a command to his subordinates: "Retreat!"
The people beside him froze. "But, Captain..."
"Stop talking. Up ahead is Konoha's Body Flicker—Shisui Uchiha. Our little group is no match for him."
They hurriedly carried the injured men and retreated cleanly along the way they had come.
"That should keep the Hidden Mist Village quiet for a while."
In Konoha's direction, Shisui watched Ao's retreating back and chuckled.
Several team members gathered around to flatter him.
"Your reputation really does the trick, Captain."
Shisui waved a hand and said with a grin,
"Everyone did their part. You've all worked hard keeping watch here for so long. Let's head back and report in."
"Yes!"
As soon as the words fell, several of them vanished with a Body Flicker.
Shisui Uchiha was no ordinary man.
He was a descendant of Kagami Uchiha. When the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had divided the Uchiha Clan back then, this branch had been among the first drawn to the Hokage's side.
In terms of strength, he was unquestionably the foremost expert in the Uchiha Clan. Even Itachi Uchiha had admitted he was inferior to him.
When Itachi had first awakened the Sharingan, Shisui had already become a Jonin, and the name Body Flicker Shisui had spread throughout the Ninja World.
Three more years passed, and Shisui's abilities stood firmly at the threshold of Kage Level—far beyond what ordinary Kage Level ninja could compare to.
After Shisui submitted his mission report, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and told him,
"You've worked hard. Go back and take a few days off."
In Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, Shisui Uchiha was the best candidate to control the Nine-Tails in the future.
He trusted his teacher's judgment.
Tobirama Senju had despised the Uchiha so deeply, yet this man who had spent his whole life as a politician had kept Kagami Uchiha by his side. That alone was enough to show that he genuinely trusted this branch of the Uchiha.
"Third Hokage, I have a favor to ask of you."
Shisui suddenly spoke, saying this to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for half a second, then nodded.
"Go wait for me on the roof. I'll come up once I've assigned the missions."
Delight flashed across Shisui's face. He nodded, then vanished with a Body Flicker.
A hint of gravity flickered in Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes—Shisui's Body Flicker Technique sent chills down his spine every time he saw it.
Around noon.
Shisui and Hiruzen Sarutobi met on the roof of the Hokage Building.
Shisui dropped to one knee and spoke respectfully.
"The Uchiha and the village have always been suspicious of each other. I really can't stand watching it any longer."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood with his back to him, frowning.
This kid isn't planning to side with the Uchiha, is he?
"I feel the same way." Hiruzen Sarutobi lowered his voice.
Shisui raised his head, his tone as firm as an oath.
"I want to rebuild the trust between the Uchiha and the village. Can you entrust this mission to me?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted sharply. He turned to stare at Shisui and asked tentatively,
"You want to stop taking regular missions?"
Shisui nodded. "Yes. Please, I need some authority."
Waves surged in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart—what cards did this man hold that made him dare boast that he could ease the relationship between the Uchiha and the village?
Without revealing the slightest flaw, he smiled at Shisui.
"All right, I understand. Publicly, I'll say I've sent you out on a secret investigation mission. If you run into trouble, invoke my name. If anything happens, I'll cover for you."
Shisui was overjoyed. Thinking that the Third had believed in him, he quickly said, "Thank you, Third Hokage!"
Without even turning his head, Hiruzen Sarutobi tossed out one sentence.
"When I see you, I think of an old friend—Kagami Uchiha."
Hearing the Third mention his grandfather, a rush of closeness welled up in Shisui's heart.
"You flatter me."
Before his words had faded, Shisui flicked his wrist, and a kunai shot toward the rock wall behind the Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi jumped in fright and looked up at Hokage Rock.
A blond-haired brat was pinned to the rock face by the kunai, paint bucket still in hand, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Old geezer! I was kindly helping make your statue look better, and you had someone shoot me! Bastard, the Hokage is trying to kill someone!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at his statue, painted to resemble a colonel, and the veins on his forehead throbbed wildly.
"Naruto! Shouldn't you be at the academy at this hour?! Why are you here?!"
"What's so interesting about school?" Naruto struggled desperately while flipping Hiruzen Sarutobi the middle finger. "I can't do any of those simple ninja techniques, and every day at school I have to watch Sasuke putting on airs. I'm not going."
At last, the kunai ripped Naruto's clothes, and Naruto let out a strange shriek as he fell straight from Hokage Rock.
Shisui flashed over with a Body Flicker and caught him.
As though he did not appreciate it at all, Naruto shoved Shisui away and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I don't need you to save me!"
With that, he jumped off the roof of the Hokage Building and ran off at full speed.
Shisui Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi were left staring at the utterly defaced Hokage statues, both their faces dark as thunder.
The instant Naruto ran out of Shisui's sight, the mischievous look on his face vanished.
"Can you do it, Kurama?"
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