I Jumped, But Not All the Way

"Shisui, what happened to you?! Your right eye?!" Itachi's voice was icy, his eyes blazing with killing intent.

Shisui trudged forward sorrowfully with his back to Itachi, twitching as he said, "I... Danzo didn't trust me..."

Shisui really was twitching. He was practically about to laugh himself insane.

"Kotoamatsukami's power is too great. He feared that one day, I would use Kotoamatsukami on him and help the Uchiha Clan launch a coup, so..."

Forcibly suppressing his laughter, Shisui turned to look at Itachi. "At this point, there's nothing more I can do."

"I'm counting on you, Itachi. I'll leave everything to you. Please protect the honor of the Uchiha Clan and the village."

Itachi processed the overwhelming amount of information before asking a moment later, "Shisui, what do you plan to do now?"

"I think that if I die, it should slow the Uchiha Clan's coup plans and buy you some more time."

"No, I will Zetsu absolutely never allow you to do that!" Itachi growled.

"The two of us will join forces and take your right eye back from Danzo!"

Shisui shook his head. "There's no need anymore. Even if we get my eye back, when the village and the Uchiha Clan come into conflict, which side are we supposed to protect?"

Shisui had started out acting, but somehow, he gradually became immersed in it. The conflict between the village and the clan, the higher-ups' distrust of him...

Somewhere deep down, he felt as though this scene of parting with Itachi had happened before.

Perhaps if Kakashi had not been around, he really would have chosen to kill himself, throwing all the responsibility onto Itachi. That did seem like something he would do.

"Anyway, thank you for being with me. But I can only walk this far with you, Itachi."

Shisui had reached the cliff's edge and smiled at Itachi.

"Don't, Shisui!"

Itachi felt as though the pain in his heart had made it impossible to breathe. A blazing fire burned in his chest, but his overwhelming fury had nowhere to go.

"If you're my friend, then don't stop me."

Shisui leaned backward and fell off the cliff.

"Shisui!"

Itachi shut his eyes. Anger, unwillingness, pain, and countless other negative emotions battered his heart without end. At last, the shackles binding the Uchiha Clan were broken.

Itachi felt as if something inside him had shattered. A terrifying power surged from throughout his body into his eyes, as though something new was being born.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a large black pinwheel appeared within the blood-red color.

"Shisui, don't worry. I will inherit your will and protect the honor of the village and the Uchiha Clan."

Itachi was overwhelmed by grief. Today, he had lost a dear friend, someone as close as family.

But at that moment, he suddenly saw a head pop up over the edge of the cliff.

Itachi: "???"

"Cough, cough, well... I just wanted to see whether you'd awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan after I died."

Seeing that he had been discovered, Shisui said awkwardly, "Well, as long as you awakened it, that's good. That's good. I'll continue jumping now."

Kakashi, watching the two from a distance, nearly laughed himself to death.

At first, Shisui had complained that Kakashi had made his disguise too over the top, yet he had gone and added all sorts of scenes himself, acting utterly miserable.

Itachi was still grieving, and before even two seconds had passed, Shisui had poked his head out and said, "I just wanted to see whether you'd awaken it, so I'll continue jumping now." It was absolutely hilarious.

Itachi was a mess in the darkness. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and looked down the cliff, only to see Shisui still hanging from the cliff face.

Itachi: "..."

Shisui felt a little creeped out as Itachi stared straight at him without saying a word.

"Come up," Itachi said coldly.

"Oh..."

Shisui nimbly jumped back up. After thinking for a moment, he tried to explain, "I actually did jump off the cliff. I just didn't fully jump."

"What exactly is going on?"

The large pinwheel in Itachi's eyes began to turn. It seemed that if Shisui could not provide a convincing explanation, he intended to use his dojutsu.

Itachi's icy Ki made Shisui shudder. Without a shred of Ki, he immediately sold Kakashi out.

"It was all Kakashi's idea. He wanted me to fake my death and stimulate you into awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan."

Kakashi was dumbfounded. Wait, Itachi had not even said anything yet, and Shisui had already sold him out?

"Come out, Kakashi-san!"

Kakashi obediently leaped over from afar and stood beside Shisui with an embarrassed look.

"You two... Hmph!" Itachi snorted coldly. "Was playing me that amusing?"

"We were wrong, we were wrong." The two hurriedly admitted their mistake.

Although Itachi's Ki was cold, he actually felt relieved after letting out a Ki.

It was good that Shisui was all right. Otherwise, bearing the fate of the Uchiha Clan alone would truly have left him unable to catch his Ki.

"What exactly happened?" Itachi asked.

Kakashi told Itachi everything about Danzo's plot to take Shisui's Sharingan, and also explained how Shisui had used Kotoamatsukami on Danzo.

Itachi frowned deeply as he listened. "There are two problems right now. First, how do we explain this to the Third Hokage? If Danzo starts behaving abnormally, the Third Hokage cannot possibly fail to notice."

"Second, Shisui used Kotoamatsukami on Danzo, which means there is no way to stop the Uchiha Clan's coup."

"We'll take it one step at a time," Kakashi said. "First, Shisui and I need to explain things to the Third Hokage."

"We must make this clear. We can't let the Third Hokage harbor any misgivings, because Shisui's ability... is too overbearing," Itachi warned.

If they did not explain it properly, and the Third Hokage started wondering whether Shisui might someday use Kotoamatsukami on him too, then the Uchiha Clan truly would not be able to remain in the village.

"Of course," Kakashi said. "Also, regarding Shisui's fake death, I intend to keep it going."

"Huh?" Shisui, the person involved, looked utterly bewildered.

"Just as you said earlier, your death can indeed make the Uchiha Clan postpone their coup plans. So you should stay dead for a while longer."

"Uh..." Shisui spent every Tenten day with Kakashi and had picked up many of his catchphrases.

"There's no time to lose. Let's go to the Hokage's Office now," Kakashi said seriously. "There's a world of difference between explaining ourselves first and explaining after the Third Hokage discovers it."

Itachi nodded. "Kakashi-san is right. Shisui, the two of you should go quickly."

Kakashi and Shisui were both famously fast men in the village, and they soon arrived at the Hokage's Office.

But the moment they entered the Hokage's Office, they found Danzo was there as well.

The Third Hokage turned to look at Kakashi and Shisui. "What are you here for?"

"We... have something to report to you," Kakashi said hesitantly.

"Perfect. Danzo also says he has something to report to me. Then you can all speak together."

The Third Hokage's expression was impossible to read, and Kakashi suddenly felt uneasy.