Danzo made his move, Shisui in danger!

"Clan Head, Danzo sent for me..."

Early the next morning.

Shisui came to Bai Ye with a conflicted expression. Yesterday, he had thought tonight's outcome was already settled.

Since Bai Ye had agreed to this, Shisui had been confident it would not happen.

That meant he seemed to have won his bet with Bai Ye.

But now, things were completely different from what he had imagined.

If Bai Ye had not told him yesterday, and if the Uchiha and Danzo had not been on such bad terms...

Shisui would have wondered whether Danzo had told Bai Ye.

Otherwise, only one night had passed. It had not even been ten hours since their conversation ended.

Yet Danzo had sent someone to fetch him first thing in the morning.

At that moment, Shisui felt like little more than a clown.

Just yesterday, he had confidently assured Bai Ye that this was absolutely impossible.

Yet barely any time had passed before it happened.

Remembering his agreement with Bai Ye, Shisui immediately went to discuss it with him when Danzo sent for him.

Bai Ye was hardly surprised by Shisui's words.

After all, today was the day Danzo would choose to make his move.

If he did not act today, he probably would not have another chance.

After all, once the clan grounds were returned...

And the Uchiha moved into the central district, arranging a quiet little clan massacre for them would become virtually impossible.

The Anbu could not completely seal off the surrounding area.

Once someone discovered it, the Uchiha situation would take an unpredictable turn.

So before the land exchange, they would kill Shisui Uchiha first.

Then they would find a way to stall for time and finally ignite the conflict between the Uchiha and the village.

Finally, they would find an opportunity to wipe out the Uchiha, just as before.

It smacked of burning their bridges, but from their perspective, they had started out scrambling to react.

Now, they had completely lost control of public opinion. Manipulating it had been their greatest strength, but because of the Shinobi World Daily, public opinion in Konoha was no longer like before.

It was no longer entirely under their control.

It was not as though Danzo had not launched the Konoha Daily, but it simply could not compete!

For starters, the content Danzo published was not what people wanted to read.

It was nothing but a jumble of nonsense, including news even Danzo himself found hard to believe.

After buying it once or twice, the villagers naturally stopped wanting to pay for it.

After all, the Shinobi World Daily carried not only news from Konoha, but also rumors from other villages, plenty of stories they enjoyed, all sorts of useful knowledge, and military analyses.

One could say there was now no one in Konoha who did not want to read the Shinobi World Daily.

Its daily sales were high, and it had even established markets in other villages.

The Uchiha had firmly seized control of public opinion.

As for the supposed Uchiha threat they had once pushed so hard...

After Bai Ye reformed the Uchiha and sent the Military Police Force for training, the villagers realized the problem was not the Uchiha themselves, but the people doing that job.

Anyone would go mad doing it.

So they could not help feeling a little more sympathy for the Uchiha.

Combined with the way Bai Ye had recently handled matters involving the villagers and other clans...

It also made people realize how ridiculous the Uchiha threat theory was. The other clans and villagers did not actually reject the Uchiha all that much.

So after losing on that front...

The only card Hiruzen Sarutobi and his people still held was war.

First, they had to make the now-united Uchiha distrust one another again.

Just as in the anime, where the Uchiha believed Itachi had killed Shisui, further sharpening the tensions within the clan.

Otherwise, if the Uchiha remained united, the village would truly struggle to deal with them.

That was why Danzo would naturally choose to act now.

If he missed this opportunity, there would be no next time.

Besides, the most crucial factor was Kotoamatsukami!

After learning about Kotoamatsukami, Danzo probably could not bear to wait another moment.

"Shisui, just go straight there. Leave the rest to me."

"Don't you need to go over there, Clan Head?!"

Shisui meant the Hokage's Office.

Today, they were supposed to go there and reclaim their land.

Shisui was a little surprised that Bai Ye was actually willing to go with him.

"If I don't go with you, how will I catch the show?! Things over there probably won't be able to continue afterward anyway. I'll go with you, and you'll understand when the time comes!"

Bai Ye shook his head and spoke slowly.

He had even prepared a video camera.

Cameras existed in the Hokage World.

He would record the scene and see how Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi tried to talk their way out of it.

"All right!"

Shisui nodded in agreement, then got up and headed to Root.

Watching him leave, Bai Ye began making plans. This would be the moment to overthrow Hiruzen Sarutobi's rule.

No matter what Hiruzen Sarutobi planned to do next...

He had everything ready and waiting for him.

This plan had come together so suddenly that he had not told anyone yet.

But there was no need. He could act ahead of time and settle everything himself.

Walking through the clan grounds...

Shisui looked at his clansmen, whose faces were now lit with brilliant smiles.

He also wondered whether this might be the right choice after all.

"Itachi, what's wrong? You look like something's weighing on your mind..."

Itachi had been waiting here for Shisui since early morning.

Seeing his expression, Shisui asked in confusion.

He had arranged to meet Uchiha Itachi this morning.

But what puzzled Shisui was that Itachi seemed troubled today, his face heavy with worry.

"It's nothing, Shisui..."

Itachi closed his eyes wearily, his feelings complicated.

The main reason was Madara Uchiha.

Yesterday, when he met the man who claimed to be Madara Uchiha, he had not believed him.

But after sensing his formidable strength and ocular power, and hearing secrets that even he knew little about...

Itachi had begun to waver.

He had spent the entire night thinking about it.

The Masked Man's appearance had also left Itachi deeply unsettled.

What were they even holding on to?!

And what exactly were the Uchiha so happy about?!

Didn't they know they were drawing ever closer to destruction?!

He could also feel his closest friend beginning to change.

Was this Uchiha Clan really the one he wanted?!

Uchiha Itachi lowered his head. The three tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, almost seeming to link together.

Although Shisui had said nothing, Itachi was no fool. He could tell that Shisui might already have abandoned his old beliefs.

Instead, he had chosen to stand with Bai Ye.

And for Itachi, that path might already have ended in complete failure.

After the Masked Man approached him yesterday and told him those things, Itachi had begun wondering what purpose his existence now served...

To change the Uchiha?!

But did the Uchiha still need him to change them?!

He felt that the Uchiha of today had little to do with him anymore.

Those who could not recognize themselves or face the darkness would ultimately fall into darkness as well. In his eyes, that was exactly what the Uchiha had become.

Little did he know that the village had never been the only force targeting the Uchiha.

"Itachi, maybe there's just been too much going on lately. Get some more rest. The Uchiha are getting better now. I believe it won't be long before we no longer have to wear ourselves out like this!"

Shisui offered him some comfort. He thought there had simply been too much happening lately.

Perhaps Itachi needed some rest as well.

Everything would get better afterward.

At least, in Shisui's eyes, everything truly was improving under Bai Ye's current approach!

Hearing Shisui's words, Itachi opened his mouth, but ultimately swallowed what he wanted to say.

Perhaps Shisui thought everything was getting better.

But had his closest friend, who had strayed from their original purpose, really chosen this?!

The clan, the clan-always talking about the clan. Had Shisui become so narrow-minded now too?!

Itachi opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing more.

Perhaps what he said no longer mattered now.

At the Hokage's Office.

Aside from the three Uchiha elders, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the two elders under his leadership, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura...

The heads of many of the village's clans had also gathered.

Hiruzen Sarutobi seemed to want witnesses for this matter, so he had summoned representatives from all the major clans.

Once nearly everyone had arrived, he turned to Uchiha Hui and the other two and asked, "Where's Bai Ye?! Hasn't he arrived yet?!"

How strange...

Where was he?!

As Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke, an indescribable unease stirred in his heart.

Something wasn't right, was it?!

He had been planning to discuss some conditions with Bai Ye.

Who could have expected things to turn out like this?!

Come to think of it...

Where had he gone?

If Bai Ye didn't come, how were they supposed to negotiate those conditions?!

Could he negotiate directly with these three instead?!

"He has some things to take care of, so he hasn't arrived yet. We can begin talking first!"

Uchiha Hui spoke slowly.

In truth, he had no idea what Bai Ye had gone to do.

Before leaving, Bai Ye had not explained anything. He had only told them to go ahead and negotiate first, and that he would join them later.

So Uchiha Hui could only use that explanation to gloss over the matter.

"I see..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe, a bad feeling suddenly rising in his heart.

There was a reason he had summoned so many clan heads and Elite Jonin today.

On the one hand, he wanted to show everyone that they would honor their promises-or at least appear to do so!

On the other, he wanted to gather all these people in one place.

That would also make it easier for Danzo to act.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi had not expected Bai Ye to be absent at a time like this.

Now, he felt a headache coming on, along with a little regret.

Had he known, he would not have tacitly approved Danzo's plan so quickly.

If the Uchiha discovered it-no, if the villagers discovered it-he would be in a difficult position afterward.

"Then let's begin!"

He could only take things one step at a time. Hopefully, he was just overthinking this...

Hiruzen Sarutobi could only comfort himself with the thought that he was worrying too much.

Meanwhile, Hyuga Hiashi, seated nearby, was also somewhat puzzled.

He could not understand what Bai Ye was planning this time.

Surely he wasn't too afraid to show up for something this important?!

If he had chickened out...

That really would be something of a joke!

The Hyuga Clan had already returned all that land to the Uchiha, and Bai Ye had made those promises before.

He had originally hoped to let the Uchiha take the lead.

But what if Bai Ye didn't dare come, or the eventual negotiations failed to produce the desired results?

Wouldn't all his earlier sacrifices have been for nothing!?

"This atmosphere really is strange... Relations between the Uchiha and the village will probably become even more unpredictable..."

Shikaku Nara felt a headache coming on.

In truth, he would much rather the village and the Uchiha coexist more peacefully.

But after this incident, he figured relations between the two sides would grow even more tense.

And Bai Ye was actually late for something this important.

Shikaku didn't know what that meant, but he had a feeling there was more to it.

After leaving the Uchiha Clan Compound,

Shisui followed the Root ninja all the way to Root's headquarters.

Bai Ye, trailing behind Shisui, followed him inside and infiltrated Root's headquarters.

The few Hidden Guards at the entrance were easily dealt with using the Mangekyo Sharingan's genjutsu.

He followed them all the way into the Main Hall.

At that moment, Danzo watched from the seat of honor. Bai Ye sensed dozens of Root members of varying strength concealed around them.

Clearly, Danzo had already made his preparations to seize Kotoamatsukami. No matter what happened today, he intended to obtain that ocular technique.

After getting a rough sense of how many people were nearby, Bai Ye refrained from acting immediately and instead waited for Danzo to make his move.

Seated in the place of honor,

Danzo appeared calm, but his heart brimmed with undisguised greed.

To Danzo, now that Shisui had come here, obtaining Kotoamatsukami was a certainty.

Watching Shisui, Danzo did not rush to attack. Instead, he began talking to him about the Uchiha.

His purpose was to make Shisui lower his guard.

But after exchanging only a few words with Shisui, he could no longer restrain himself. His desire to get his hands on Kotoamatsukami grew stronger by the moment.

During a pause in their conversation, when Shisui seemed to have turned his attention away from him, he lunged straight for Shisui's eye.

As Shisui's eye drew closer and closer, Danzo could no longer conceal the greed in his own eyes.

But Shisui had been on guard all along, so naturally, Danzo's surprise attack could not catch him.

Shisui blocked Danzo's attack with a backhand motion, then thrust his kunai straight into him. A moment later, seeing Danzo die so easily beneath his kunai, a flicker of surprise crossed Shisui's face.

He went down that easily!?

Even Shisui was taken aback. But before he could think any further, Danzo's corpse vanished in an instant, and Danzo's hand was already closing over Shisui's right eye.

H-how could this happen!!!?

The three tomoe in Shisui's eyes began spinning wildly. He was certain he had not fallen under a genjutsu.

Then why had that felt so real?

I killed Danzo.

Wait!!!?

Danzo and Orochimaru had researched the Sharingan!!!!

Bai Ye's earlier words immediately flashed through his mind.

And in the next instant, an ability came to mind.

Izanagi!!!?