None of You Are Getting Away!

The day before the Uchiha gathering.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow twisted into a dead knot.

Kotoamatsukami.

That brat Shisui had not only awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but also this legendary genjutsu.

It could control a target without them noticing, making them think they were acting on their own ideas.

Such a dangerous thing falling into Uchiha hands had already shattered Root's control threshold three times over.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone was knocking outside.

The wrinkles on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face shifted, and that hesitant, spineless expression piled back onto his face.

"Hiruzen, I heard those Uchiha people are gathering again?"

Danzo swayed in, one half of his face covered.

Hiruzen Sarutobi spread his hands, looking helpless.

"I know about the gathering, but they say it is a clan ritual. I cannot exactly stop them."

Danzo's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head, brimming with contempt.

"A ritual? Who cannot see what they are thinking? They are fanning the flames among their clansmen, stirring up hatred toward the village! They are using that resentment to tighten the clan together, obviously paving the way for rebellion!"

The Third glanced at Danzo's smug face and silently gave him a thumbs-up. Yes, yes, you are smarter than anyone.

Of course, he could not say that aloud. He merely lowered his eyelids and said weakly,

"I will nip this in the bud, Shisui."

Danzo's neck stiffened. He turned around and saw that the door had opened at some point, with Shisui Uchiha standing beside him.

"Shisui Uchiha?"

Danzo narrowed his eyes.

They had been discussing how to deal with the Uchiha, yet he had allowed an Uchiha clansman to eavesdrop from behind them. Was he brain-dead?

But once the Third told him about Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, the waves in Danzo's mind overturned the heavens.

There was such a handy little treasure in this world?

His thoughts drifted involuntarily to his right eye, where the Sharingan of Shisui Uchiha's grandfather, Kagami Uchiha, was embedded.

Without that eye, he would have died countless times along the way.

The grandson was actually even fiercer than the grandfather. Not only had he awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but he had also gained Kotoamatsukami.

The fire in Danzo's heart burned fiercely. If he could dig that thing out and put it in his own eye socket, it would be ten thousand times more useful than scheming against a mere Uchiha clan.

Even more laughable, Hiruzen Sarutobi, that idiot, actually wanted to use that eye against the Uchiha. How did he know Shisui had not already used Kotoamatsukami on him?

Danzo was so tempted he was nearly smoking. Hiruzen Sarutobi saw it all and was secretly overjoyed, though his face revealed nothing.

"I will have Fugaku Uchiha take the path of coexistence with the village."

At that point, Danzo's mind was filled entirely with Kotoamatsukami. As long as he held that thing in his hands, making the Third muddleheadedly hand over the Hokage position would not be difficult.

"Even if Fugaku alone changes his mind, that will not erase the anger of the entire Uchiha clan, will it?"

When Danzo said this, the contempt in his tone nearly splashed onto the Third's face.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled with narrowed eyes.

"It will. As long as the Uchiha are willing to compromise, we will make concessions as well. In the future, we will gradually improve the Uchiha's treatment. Sooner or later, the knot between both sides will be untied."

"This is my only hope. I will arrange for an ANBU member to support you from behind. I am counting on you, Shisui."

Hearing that the Third was willing to solve the Uchiha's problems at the root, the last of Shisui's hesitation exploded away. A picture of the Uchiha living peacefully and happily in Konoha had already unfolded in his mind.

His blood rushed upward. He lowered his head in acknowledgment, then withdrew with force in his steps.

Danzo rose as well.

"Fine. Since you have made your decision, then that is that."

With that, he slipped out of the Hokage Building as though oil had been smeared beneath his feet.

The Third gazed at the now-empty meeting room and leisurely packed a pinch of tobacco into his pipe.

Having lived to his age, what he was proudest of was that he had never personally done anything to harm ninja clans or villagers.

He only needed to put on that soft, home-defending posture.

Root's tentacles would automatically sweep away all the filthy matters that troubled him.

The Hidden Cloud Village incident three years ago had been the same. He had merely laid out the facts to the Hyuga: none of the clans wanted war anymore, and Hidden Cloud Village's fists were now exceptionally hard.

He let them choose how to proceed.

But there was one thing he could not understand. The Uchiha had actually appeared out of nowhere and taken the blame for the Hyuga.

He always felt that ever since he had entangled the Hyuga with the Jinchuriki, nothing had gone smoothly.

When he thought of the little mustache Naruto had drawn on his face the day before yesterday, another burst of anger rose in his heart.

"Hmph. Once I have the Uchiha capable of controlling the Nine-Tails in my grasp, what is one little fox brat worth?"

The sun rolled westward, and the sky began to darken.

Before the stone steps of a shrine, Shisui Uchiha stood at the entrance.

The person opposite him was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. It was Danzo.

"Lord Danzo, what are your orders? The gathering is about to begin."

In the darkness of a corner of the shrine, a stone quietly trembled, its movement subtle enough to deceive the eye.

Beneath the torii gate of Canaan Shrine, Danzo half-squinted and spoke to Shisui.

"If you use genjutsu to control Fugaku and persuade the Uchiha, but the village remains unchanged as before, what do you intend to do?"

Shisui froze. Danzo's abrupt turn left him somewhat confused, and he immediately retorted,

"Lord Hokage promised that things would change."

Looking at the Uchiha before him, so pure to the core, Danzo felt a moment of envy toward Hiruzen Sarutobi. How had such a simple-minded fool not ended up under his command? He was far too easy to fool.

"But even if the Third mediates, the villagers' wariness toward you will not disappear in a day or two."

Danzo's mouth kept moving.

"I know, but given enough time, naturally..."

"Besides, someone as suspicious of everyone as me would not change my mind easily. If it truly came to that, what would you do with me?"

Danzo lowered his head so Shisui could not see the expression on his face.

Shisui felt his chest tighten at those words, his mind turning chaotic. If he had encountered such words back where he came from, he would have cursed right back: What are you arguing for?

But he was not made of that stuff.

"Lord Danzo..."

By now, Shisui had sensed something wrong about the other man's aura. He had just opened his mouth, intending to say something to pull things back.

Danzo's next words cut off his voice directly.

"Would you put Kotoamatsukami into my head too, when the time comes?"

Danzo's usually narrowed eyes suddenly widened like bronze bells, locking tightly onto Shisui.

It felt as though someone had gripped Shisui's heart. "I..."

That had indeed been what he planned.

"I will be taking that Sharingan of yours."

Danzo's hand shot toward Shisui's eye socket like an eagle's claw.

But Shisui had long sensed something off about him. With his abilities, he easily locked Danzo's arm in place halfway through the motion.

His Sharingan turned, and genjutsu struck. Danzo's head tilted, his body went limp, and he blacked out on the spot.

"Sorry. It is only ordinary genjutsu. You will wake up soon."

Leaving those words behind, Shisui turned and headed toward the Uchiha gathering.

Yet the Danzo behind him vanished like a ghost.

A solid, real Danzo appeared directly in front of Shisui, blocking his path. His fist slammed into Shisui's stomach like an iron pillar.

His feet left the ground, leaving Shisui no chance to react. A swift, ruthless combination followed, and one Sharingan was dug straight from his eye socket.

Izanagi.

Shisui trembled from head to toe in pain, staring at Danzo with his empty eye socket, his face filled with ghostly horror.

Danzo wore a cold smile as he unwrapped a layer of bandage from his head, revealing the Sharingan beneath, which was slowly fading into a ghastly white.

"Sharingan."

Shisui's voice seemed squeezed out of his throat.

Danzo's face was expressionless.

"Now it can take the place of this eye. Do not hide the other one either. Hand it over."

Before his words ended, more than a dozen Root figures emerged and surrounded Shisui completely.

Blood surged into Shisui's head. His fingers moved as swiftly as string tricks, and within a second, a ninjutsu formed. A ball of flame erupted from his mouth. "Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu."

This C-rank ninjutsu, common as dirt in the Uchiha clan records, exploded from Shisui's hands with the force of world-ending destruction.

But Root's men were no ordinary trash either. Several Water Release Jonin formed hand seals at once and unleashed Water Release: Water Shockwave.

Fire and water collided head-on, creating a cauldron of churning white vapor that swallowed half the battlefield in mist.

Taking advantage of that opening, a stone by Danzo's feet was struck by the moisture and burst into a black shadow.

"Rasengan."

Naruto kept the shout buried in his throat.

The tightly condensed chakra struck Danzo's right hand, the one clutching the Mangekyō Sharingan, with tremendous force.

"What?"

All color drained from Danzo's face as the Sharingan flew from his hand.

The black shadow caught the Sharingan in one sweep and bolted in the opposite direction from Shisui.

"You old bastard tried to screw me over. If you come at me, I have to return the favor."

Having gotten what he wanted, Naruto howled at the Nine-Tails within his mind.

The little knowledge he had of the plot had proven useful on the day Shisui returned to the village. He had spent an entire day turning Konoha upside down before finding this shrine where Shisui lost his eye.

Relying on the plot memories in his head, he had turned into a stone here and squatted for a full day and night, all for this moment.

At last, he had caught up in time.

The item was in his hands.

Using that surprise Rasengan, then taking advantage of the second of chaos caused by Fire Release and Water Release clashing, he had finally snatched Shisui's Sharingan.

Dancing on the edge of a blade, Naruto was so pumped by the thrill that he wanted to throw back his head and howl. Of course, he was not stupid enough to actually do that.

The foundation he had built through years of hard training, combined with his intimate familiarity with the plot, all poured into his feet. Chakra clung desperately to the soles of his shoes as he ran for his life.

Behind him, the fog dispersed. Danzo clutched his smashed right hand in utter confusion, looking left, then turning to look right.

His mind suddenly connected the pieces. He sprayed saliva at the equally stunned Root ninja.

"What are you standing around for? Chase them!"

"Yes!"

The force originally pursuing Shisui immediately split into two groups, one chasing Shisui and the other Naruto.

Naruto plunged headlong toward a training ground.

Beneath the waterfall at the training ground, Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, and Kiba Inuzuka, those truants, were squatting beside a small stream grilling fish.

The Naruto catching fish in the river looked real from head to toe.

"Naruto, have you caught anything yet?"

Kiba Inuzuka was getting impatient and shouted.

Naruto in the water grinned.

"Almost."

Before he could finish, a black shadow crashed down from the sky, grabbed the Naruto in the river, and plunged into the forest.

"Naruto."

Shikamaru and the others were so shocked by the scene that their eyes nearly popped out.

Several masked Root members flashed past them immediately afterward, chasing after the black shadow.

The two ANBU assigned to watch Naruto were completely dumbfounded.

Their hearts jolted.

"Fuck, chase them."