Change

"...This is far enough, Itachi."

Shisui suddenly spoke, stopping Itachi as he continued carrying him away. The two came to a halt at the edge of a cliff.

Supporting Shisui, Itachi surveyed their surroundings and said uneasily, "The terrain is open here, with nowhere good to hide. Have you made other preparations...?"

Before Itachi could finish, Shisui straightened up. He looked at Itachi and shook his head. "No need to keep watch. There are no more ambushes or pursuers."

"Really?"

Hearing that, Itachi breathed a sigh of relief. "Then wait here. I'll go tell the medical team to send someone over right away..."

But Shisui reached out to stop Itachi from leaving. By now, he had regained his composure. "Danzo took my eye."

At those words, Itachi stopped in his tracks.

"The Uchiha Clan's coup is almost beyond stopping. Ever since the Nine-Tails' Attack, the village has isolated the Uchiha Clan because the suspect possessed the Sharingan. Danzo's attack proves that people within the village don't trust me either. Under these circumstances, even if the Third Hokage wishes to preserve peace, he can accomplish nothing alone." Shisui calmly analyzed the situation for Itachi, as though he were not the one gravely wounded. "I intended to use my Mangekyō Sharingan's Kotoamatsukami to set things right, but even if I survive now, I no longer have enough ocular power to change the situation."

"Moreover, the changes Kotoamatsukami's power could stir in people's desires now pose an even greater threat among the village's leaders than the Uchiha Clan's coup. When that happens, not only will other nations exploit our weakness, Konoha itself will fall apart."

"I want to entrust my left eye to you, Itachi." As he spoke, Shisui pressed his hand against his eye socket. His fingers dug deeper, and he tore out his own eye!

Yet even that excruciating pain, beyond an ordinary person's comprehension, failed to change his expression. His face remained calm.

Watching this, Itachi was deeply moved. Just as Shisui understood Itachi better than anyone else in the world, Itachi understood his closest friend's thoughts.

Just as he had always lived by the Will of Fire, he was still burning himself away to protect the village.

A crow flew down from the sky and shattered between them in an instant. Along with the crow, the Mangekyō Sharingan in Shisui Uchiha's hand disappeared.

"I've received it." Itachi gazed at his closest friend, whose closed eyes were still bleeding relentlessly, his heart shaken.

Now Shisui had no one he could trust except Itachi, yet he was still giving everything he could for the village. What path was he truly seeking?

"Itachi, have you found your answer?" Though he had lost both eyes, Shisui asked as though he could still see the confusion on Itachi's face.

"I..." Itachi hesitated.

"I see... Itachi, I'm sorry I can't keep searching alongside you." Shisui waited a moment, but no answer came from his friend. He felt a twinge of regret, though he did not show it. "I'm going to die now, because my death will be an important part of changing the course of the Uchiha rebellion. Though no one in the clan is willing to acknowledge me, everyone knows I'm the strongest in the Uchiha Clan. Even those Radicals believe, to some extent, that once the coup begins, I'll still join them out of loyalty to the clan. That belief is like a spark. Once it ignites in people's hearts, there's no stopping it."

"The mission I accepted before Lord Hokage was to prevent this internal conflict, and I will fulfill it through my death." Shisui stopped at the edge of the cliff. "Itachi, don't stop me. There's no need to. You're my best friend, and the companion I could never have hoped to better. Follow my path and forge ahead toward the future you believe is right. Whatever the outcome... I believe in you."

"One more thing. Be careful of Danzo. He has a strange technique that can alter reality, very much like our clan's secret technique... Unless you have to, don't approach him!"

Having said his piece, Shisui Uchiha threw himself backward into the abyss beneath Itachi's gaze, bloodied tears streaming from his Sharingan.

He was so resolute, so accepting. But was his determination to protect the village truly that powerful, or had his heart already died completely?

Itachi did not know. All he knew was that the instant Shisui fell into the abyss, his own body shot forward as though beyond his control. Uchiha Itachi, who had always kept his emotions hidden, shed two trails of bloody tears as he watched his closest friend's body plunge farther and farther down.

His outstretched hand froze in midair. He knew Shisui would not take it. If Shisui saw what he was doing, he would only be more disappointed.

And in that instant, the three tomoe in Itachi's eyes spun wildly, and a blade-shaped Mangekyō Sharingan gleamed scarlet within them.

Then Itachi rose and left without drawing anyone's attention. He quietly returned to the clan compound, as though none of this had anything to do with him. He simply approached the door to his father's room and, through the thick door and walls, softly said, "Shisui Uchiha is dead."

Then he quietly departed.

The faint sounds that had been coming from the room gave way to deathly silence.

Itachi did not know how many people were inside, but he knew those words would change the Uchiha Clan tonight. At the very least... they would douse their fevered minds with a deluge of cold water and leave a Sword of Damocles suspended over their heads.

After Itachi left, Root ninja tracked them to the cliff. They looked at the blood on the ground and the bottomless drop, then fell silent for a moment. "Search below. Alive, we need to see him. Dead, we need his body."

The next day, at almost the same time, Shimura Danzō within Root and the Third Hokage at his desk in the Hokage's office both received an unexpected, chilling answer—

"Shisui Uchiha's body was not found!"

The Masked Man was seated in a chair, with a strange figure, half white and half black, standing beside him. Both were looking at Shisui Uchiha, who lay stretched out on the table.

"Konoha's Body Flicker Shisui? You saved him?" Zetsu's voice was hoarse and grating, but his surprise was still audible.

"That's not quite accurate. At least for now... he isn't out of danger yet. He could die at any moment, so I wouldn't say I've saved him." The Masked Man answered coldly, never taking his gaze off Shisui's body.

"True. And I have to remind you, if you don't make a decision soon, he really will be beyond saving. You need a new ally to deal with that fellow in Kirigakure, don't you?" Zetsu chuckled, then continued, "But my intelligence indicates that no one can shake his loyalty to Konoha. Besides, his injuries are worse than yours were back then, and without Madara's help..."

"Shut up. I know." The Masked Man cut off Zetsu's mockery. He rose and approached Shisui, narrowing his eye at the chest that had almost stopped rising and falling. Then he thrust his hand straight through Shisui's heart!

Still unconscious, Shisui stopped breathing in an instant.