Douyang's backup plan: Who was the killer?

"These eyes of mine will definitely find the real killer who murdered Uchiha Itachi."

Douyang blinked, and a single tomoe appeared in his scarlet eyes.

Had overwhelming grief over Itachi's death awakened his Sharingan?

Kakashi and Shisui exchanged glances, the same thought arising in their minds.

Both knew something about the Sharingan and saw nothing amiss.

At that moment, Uchiha Douyang looked at Itachi's headless corpse and said, "The enemy killed Uchiha Itachi, cut off his head, and took it away, but didn't destroy his body. Why?"

Shisui came back to his senses and said gravely, "Removing the head was meant to prevent the analysis team from searching his brain for information about the killer. As for why the body wasn't destroyed, I suspect the killer wanted to enrage the Uchiha and provoke a conflict between the Uchiha and the village."

"The Uchiha Clan's young heir was killed at the village gates and beheaded. Such blatant humiliation... Douyang, are you confident?"

Kakashi nodded in agreement as he looked at Uchiha Douyang.

"People lie, but corpses don't."

Douyang crouched down and began examining the body.

"Itachi suffered a heavy blow to the chest. His sternum was fractured, and his heart's meridians were shattered... That blow alone would have killed any shinobi. But strangely, there are no injuries anywhere else on his body. In other words... a one-hit kill?"

Disbelief covered Douyang's face as he continued his analysis.

"Stranger still, some chakra remains in Itachi's body. Judging by the time of death, he had ample chakra when he died. That means he didn't engage the enemy in a desperate fight to the death. The relatively undisturbed snow nearby also supports this."

Kakashi and Shisui exchanged looks, realizing the gravity of the situation.

There was a saying in the Shinobi World: if you encountered an Uchiha alone, you had to flee.

And who was Uchiha Itachi?

He had gone onto the battlefield at four, graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven, awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan at eight, and passed the Chunin Exams alone at ten.

Everyone acknowledged his excellence.

Kakashi was Itachi's superior and friend, while Shisui was his older-brother figure and mentor in life. Both knew his abilities inside out.

Itachi had already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan the previous year.

Even three or four ordinary jonin attacking together might not have been able to defeat him.

But there had been only one enemy.

And that enemy had defeated Uchiha Itachi in an almost overwhelmingly one-sided fight.

There were only two possibilities: the enemy was either a supreme expert-a Kage-level powerhouse-or... someone Itachi knew well.

Shisui pressed his fingers against his temples, his scalp tingling.

Neither possibility was good news.

Moreover, Shisui had sparred with Uchiha Itachi many times and understood his strength even more deeply.

Even an ordinary Kage-level expert couldn't have killed Itachi in such an overwhelmingly one-sided fashion.

He leaned more toward the enemy being someone Itachi knew well.

Just then, Douyang turned Uchiha Itachi's body over, and a sharp intake of breath suddenly rang out.

"Douyang, what else have you found?"

Shisui hurriedly leaned over to look.

"Look here."

Douyang blew gently, scattering the snow on the ground and exposing a stone buried in the dirt.

Douyang picked up Itachi's fingers and examined them closely before saying solemnly,

"There's blood on the stone. Judging by the fresh dirt between Itachi's fingers, he clearly scratched at it repeatedly.

I suspect Itachi left something on the stone before he died. Perhaps... a code?"

"Let me."

Clang!

Shisui Uchiha drew the short sword from his back and gently flicked it, prying the stone out of the snow.

The three focused their gazes on it.

On the back of the stone was a design drawn in blood: an irregular circle with a small black dot inside it, near the right side.

"Even though he was no match for the enemy, he left us a valuable clue before he died."

Kakashi's eye lit up, but then he held his chin and studied it intently. "But can either of you tell what this code means?"

Uchiha Douyang pondered briefly and said, "I think this 'circle' is the killer's face."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Then what does the little black dot inside the circle represent?"

Shisui Uchiha activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and examined it more closely.

"Senior Kakashi, Douyang, look carefully. That little black dot has a tail that's difficult to see with the naked eye... It's a tomoe!"

Douyang deliberately put on a look of sudden realization. "In the Uchiha Clan, the tomoe represents the Sharingan. Itachi wanted to tell us... the enemy had one Sharingan?"

Shisui Uchiha frowned deeply and murmured to himself, "The enemy had only one Sharingan. Someone like that..."

Whoosh!

Something suddenly occurred to him, and he turned to look at Kakashi, an odd expression in his eyes.

"Captain Kakashi, aren't you going to explain?"

Surprise and panic flashed through Kakashi's exposed right eye.

The person who killed Uchiha Itachi was either a Kage-level expert or someone Itachi knew well.

Now the new clue indicated that the enemy had one Sharingan.

Kakashi already fit two of those traits.

"It wasn't me!"

Kakashi repeatedly raised his head and argued, "I was on a mission all day yesterday. Tenzo can vouch for me."

Tenzo was a Wood Release shinobi whom Kakashi had rescued from the Root Base a year earlier. The Third Hokage had then recruited him into the Anbu, where he joined Team Kakashi.

Shisui shook his head.

Kakashi's explanation did not satisfy him.

Witnesses could be bought off.

And Kakashi could have used a Shadow Clone to carry out the mission while his real body assassinated Uchiha Itachi.

"Personally, I'm willing to believe you, Captain Kakashi. But with so much evidence pointing at you, if this reaches Lord Hokage, are you really going to defend yourself with this supposed witness?"

"..."

Kakashi fell silent.

How had an investigation into the killer ended up pointing at me?

The problem was that he couldn't even defend himself.

He felt utterly wronged.

Uchiha Douyang, the mastermind behind it all, also felt Kakashi was being badly wronged, so he spoke up in his defense.

"Shisui, I think you've wrongly accused Captain Kakashi."

Shisui's expression was grave, and he remained silent.

Once a shinobi let emotions sway him, he could no longer make accurate judgments.

"Douyang, it's precisely at a time like this that we need to stay calm. I also hope I've wrongly accused Captain Kakashi, but with so much evidence pointing at him, I can't think of another suspect."

"..."

The corner of Uchiha Douyang's mouth twitched slightly.

Naturally, Uchiha Douyang had planted that stone, but heaven was his witness: he had never intended to frame Kakashi.

"Douyang, Shisui."

Just as Uchiha Douyang was about to say something, Kakashi Hatake spoke gravely.

"Haven't you noticed that the tomoe Itachi drew is on the right side of the circle? That means the killer's Sharingan is his right eye, while mine is my left."