Deterrence at Konoha's Border and Graffiti on Hokage Rock

What happened a few days ago.

Along Konoha's border, Ao of the Hidden Mist Village led several elite ninja in a small-scale sneak attack against Konoha.

Halfway there, two team members suddenly collapsed with a thud, clutching their heads and screaming as they rolled about in agony.

"What are you making such a fuss for?! Shut up!"

Ao roared, his Byakugan being a one-of-a-kind item that had made its way out into the Ninja World.

The two Chunin seemed to have gone deaf, their screams not diminishing in the slightest.

Ao's brow furrowed, and his expression darkened.

"Genjutsu? When were we hit?"

Before he could finish speaking, a terrifying wave of chakra pressed down from ahead, coming straight at his face like a deliberate show of force.

"Byakugan!"

The veins around Ao's right eye beneath his eyepatch bulged as every Konoha ninja several miles away came into view.

"This is—!"

Ao's heart skipped a beat. He turned and threw out a single command to his subordinates: "Retreat!"

The people beside him froze. "But, Captain..."

"Enough nonsense. Up ahead is Konoha's Body Flicker—Shisui Uchiha. We don't have nearly enough men to face him."

The others hurriedly carried the wounded and retreated cleanly along the path they had come from.

"The Hidden Mist Village should behave itself for a while after this."

From Konoha's side, Shisui watched Ao's retreating back and chuckled.

Several team members gathered around him and flattered him.

"Your name really does carry weight, Captain."

Shisui waved a hand and said with a smile,

"Everyone did their part. You've all worked hard keeping watch here for so long. Let's head back and report in."

"Yes!"

The moment he finished speaking, they all used Body Flicker and vanished.

Shisui Uchiha was no ordinary man.

He was a descendant of Kagami Uchiha. When the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had divided the Uchiha Clan, this branch had been among the first drawn to the Hokage's side.

In terms of strength, he was unquestionably the foremost expert of the Uchiha Clan. Even Itachi Uchiha had admitted he was inferior to him.

When Itachi had only just awakened his 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 had firmly entered the threshold of Kage Level—far beyond what an ordinary Kage Level ninja could match.

After Shisui reported the mission, Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and said to 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 Clan so deeply, yet despite being a politician all his life, he had kept Kagami Uchiha by his side. That alone was enough to show that he had truly trusted this branch of the Uchiha Clan.

"Third Hokage, there's something I'd like 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 rooftop first. I'll come up once I've assigned the missions."

Delight flashed across Shisui's face. He nodded, then vanished with Body Flicker.

A trace of gravity flashed through Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes—Shisui's Body Flicker technique was terrifying every time he saw it.

At noon.

Shisui and Hiruzen Sarutobi met on the roof of the Hokage Building.

Shisui dropped to one knee and spoke respectfully.

"The Uchiha Clan and the village have always been suspicious of each other. I really can't stand watching it anymore."

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood with his back to him, his brow creasing.

Was this kid planning to side with the Uchiha Clan?

"I feel the same way." Hiruzen Sarutobi kept his voice low.

Shisui raised his head, his tone as firm as an oath.

"I want to rebuild the trust between the Uchiha Clan and the village. Can you entrust this task to me?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils suddenly contracted. He turned to stare at Shisui and asked probing him,

"Do you want to stop taking regular missions?"

Shisui nodded. "Yes. Please, I need some authority."

Waves churned in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart—what cards did this kid have up his sleeve to dare claim he could ease the relationship between the Uchiha Clan and the village?

Without showing the slightest crack in his expression, he smiled at Shisui.

"Alright, I understand. I'll tell everyone you've been sent out by me on a covert investigation mission. If you run into trouble, use my name. If anything happens, I'll cover for you."

Shisui was overjoyed, believing the Third had placed his trust in him. He quickly said, "Thank you, Third Hokage!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi did not even turn around as he tossed out a sentence.

"Seeing you reminds me of an old friend—Kagami Uchiha."

Hearing the Third mention his grandfather, warmth surged through Shisui's heart.

"You flatter me."

Before his words had even faded, Shisui flicked his wrist, and a kunai shot toward the stone wall behind the Hokage Building with a whoosh.

Hiruzen Sarutobi jumped in surprise and looked up at Hokage Rock.

A blond brat had been pinned to the rock face by the kunai. He still held a bucket of paint and wailed loudly,

"You old fart! 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 stared at his statue, which had been painted to look like a colonel, the veins on his forehead throbbing.

"Naruto! Shouldn't you be at school at this hour? What are you doing here?!"

"What's so fun about school?" Naruto struggled desperately as he raised his middle finger at Hiruzen Sarutobi. "I can't learn any of those simple ninja techniques, and every day at school I have to watch Sasuke put on airs. I'm not going."

At last, the kunai tore through Naruto's clothes, and he shrieked as he fell straight down from Hokage Rock.

Shisui used Body Flicker to catch him.

Naruto acted utterly ungrateful, shoving Shisui away and raising his voice at the top of his lungs.

"I didn't need you to save me!"

With that, he jumped from the roof of the Hokage Building and ran off.

Leaving Shisui Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi standing there, staring at the utterly disfigured Hokage statues with faces as black as thunder.

The moment Naruto ran out of Shisui's sight, the mischievous expression vanished from his face.

"Can you do it, Kurama?"