The abandoned temple outside Konoha Village. Two massive, painted Buddha statues at the entrance stood like weathered skeletons in the twilight, moaning and groaning in the night wind. The air was thick with the decaying scent of stale incense ash, rotten wood, and damp earth.
Withered yellow weeds stubbornly poked through the rubble and debris, only to be weighed down by the night dew.
Twelve figures, like ink seeping from the ground, merged silently into the various shadowy corners of the temple ruins.
They wore uniform dark tight-fitting combat suits and expressionless animal masks-
Behind the eyeholes of the masks was a void deeper than the night.
Their presence was suppressed to the extreme, as if they were part of the shadows themselves, even their heartbeats were barely audible.
Only the occasional glint of kunai or sword from their sleeves or waists betrayed the cold killing intent.
Tatsuma hid behind a half-collapsed giant pillar. Countless tiny kikaichu writhed silently within his wide sleeves, forming a disturbing black shimmer.
Yamanaka Fu concealed himself behind the only remaining half-wall of the temple, his hands forming the hand seal for the initial stage of the Mind Body Switch Technique. His spirit, like an intangible spider web, quietly covered this dead silent battlefield.
Danzo stood alone on the relatively open rubble clearing in front of the temple.
The moonlight outlined his somewhat stooped yet sinisterly oppressive figure. The heavy bandages wrapping his right arm and right eye appeared particularly glaring under the clear light.
He was like a venomous spider waiting at the center of its web, patiently awaiting its prey to step into the final trap.
A faint sound of rushing air approached from afar. A figure, like a swift wind merging with the night, landed steadily a few steps away from Danzo after a few leaps.
It was Shisui.
He wore the Uchiha Clan's distinctive dark blue high-collared clan attire, a short sword strapped to his back, his left eye bandaged. His face was calm, but a trace of barely perceptible worry lingered between his brows.
That single black eye, inherited from the Uchiha's bloodline, was clear and bright under the moonlight, not yet ignited into crimson.
"Advisor Danzo," Shisui gave a slight nod, his voice steady, carrying a polite respect for the village's upper-echelon, "Might I ask the important matter requiring a meeting so late at night?"
Danzo's single eye slowly turned behind the gap in his bandages, scanning Shisui like a cold probe.
He did not answer Shisui's question. Instead, he threw out a question like a poison-tipped dagger, his voice dry and rasping, striking straight at the core: "Shisui, I ask you once more. If you ultimately still fail to change the Uchiha Clan's will to rebel... what will you do then?"
Shisui's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He took a deep breath of the cool autumn night air, his gaze meeting Danzo's single eye frankly. His voice was firm and clear: "If it truly reaches an irreparable point… for the peace of the village, I will use 'Kotoamatsukami.'"
He paused, his tone carrying a weight almost sacrificial.
"I will change the will of the most core, most radical Ninja within the clan, extinguishing the flames of rebellion at their root."
"This is the last resort. The Third Hokage has also promised that once the threat from Uchiha Clan is eliminated, he will fully promote integration, allowing the Uchiha Clan to truly become an indispensable part of Konoha."
"Integration? Promise?" Danzo let out a very soft, deep mocking laugh, "What a naive thought, Shisui. Even if your Kotoamatsukami changes the Uchiha's will, making them as docile as lambs... are suspicion and fear in people's hearts so easily erased?"
"People like me, like those villagers and Ninja who experienced the Nine-Tails Attack and witnessed the terrifying power of the Sharingan... can your miraculous eyes easily wipe away the shadows in their hearts?"
His voice suddenly rose, carrying a deliberately provocative sharpness and a cold probe: "If I still cannot trust the Uchiha, if I still believe those eyes are the root of disaster! Will you also use your supreme Genjutsu to 'change' my will?"
"Turn me, too, into a puppet of your will?!"
This heart-piercing question exploded like a thunderclap!
Shisui shuddered violently. A flash of shock and disbelief instantly passed through his clear eye!
He had never imagined Danzo would question his bottom line so blatantly!
This was no longer an inquiry, but the most malicious accusation!
At this critical moment of mental shock, when his guard showed a sliver of an opening-
Danzo moves!
The stooped figure erupted with a terrifying speed utterly incongruous with his age!
His left hand shot out like a striking snake, tearing through the air with a sharp shriek, aiming straight for Shisui's remaining right eye!
This strike was ruthless, cunning, and utterly without warning!
It was precisely striking while Shisui was distracted, aiming for the kill!
However, he was facing [Body Flicker] Shisui!
The shock in Shisui's eyes instantly turned into sharp, cold light!
Facing this fatal sneak attack, his body seemed to predict the attack trajectory. With speed beyond visual capture, he merely slid half a step to the left!
Simultaneously, Shisui's right hand shot out like lightning, precisely seizing Danzo's wrist!
"Advisor Danzo!" Shisui's voice was as cold as a blade, filled with the anger of betrayal and immense pressure, "You have gone too far!"
Before the words faded, Shisui's clear black eye instantly ignited!
The scarlet light erupted like hellfire!
Three black tomoes spun madly within the blood-colored pupil, instantly transforming into a complex and profound pattern.
A pinwheel-shaped Mangekyo Sharingan!
"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"
A single glare!
An intangible, formless, yet spiritually distorting terrifying Ocular Power, like a bursting dam, surged through their connected gazes and savagely crashed into Danzo's mind!
Danzo's body stiffened violently!
It was like being hit by an invisible giant hammer!
The sinister intent and calculation in his single eye instantly froze and scattered!
He felt as if his soul was being forcibly ripped out and thrown into a scarlet purgatory. Countless distorted illusions and fear emanating from the depths of his soul instantly overwhelmed him!
His body lost control, stiffening in place like a puppet.
Shisui looked at Danzo, who was instantly subdued by the genjutsu, with a flicker of complexity in his eye.
The anger was not completely subsided, but the killing intent was ultimately suppressed by reason.
He released his grip on Danzo's wrist, his voice carrying a warning and a trace of barely perceptible fatigue: "The Genjutsu will lift soon. I hope you will reconsider your actions, Advisor Danzo."
He no longer looked at the rigidly standing Danzo, turning to leave.
His silhouetteappeared somewhat lonely and heavy in the twilight.
He just wanted to leave this place full of conspiracy and betrayal as quickly as possible.
Just as he turned, his mind slightly relaxed due to anger and disappointment-
A sudden change occurred!
Danzo, who should have been pinned in place by the Genjutsu, had a strange Chakra Fluctuation suddenly erupt from the gap in the bandages covering his right eye!
Izanagi!
Shisui only felt the scene before him bizarrely blurred!
The Danzo who was originally behind him now appeared before him like a ghost!
A withered hand, wrapped in blood-stained bandages, reached out like a demonic claw from hell. With a shriek that tore through the air, it stabbed with precise ruthlessness towards Shisui's completely unprepared right eye!
Shisui's pupil contracted sharply!
'Wha-!'
'He had broken free from the Mangekyo's Genjutsu? How was that possible?!'
Squelch!
A sickening, wet, dull sound rang!
Intense, soul-rending pain instantly exploded from his right eye, sweeping through his entire body!
Warm fluid, mixed with an indescribable sense of shattering, gushed down his cheek!
His vision was instantly swallowed by a viscous crimson and absolute darkness!
"Guh... Ah-!"
Shisui let out an extremely suppressed groan of pain. His body staggered backward due to the intense pain and loss of balance! He then quickly created distance.