"How do you know the Uchiha Clan's forbidden technique?!"
Uchiha Shisui's voice was sharp with disbelief. The jutsu Danzo had just used—Izanagi—was a forbidden ocular technique passed down only among the elite Uchiha. Very few even among the clan's Jonin could wield it. Danzo clearly wasn't one of them.
There was no doubt now: Danzo had stolen it.
And with that realization, everything clicked into place for Shisui. Danzo's schemes against the Uchiha had been long in motion. All his talk of peace and loyalty to Konoha—nothing but lies to mask a much darker ambition.
"Shisui, it's over! There's no point in resisting anymore!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
A barrage of compressed wind bullets erupted from Danzo's mouth, screaming toward Shisui.
Shisui vanished with the Body Flicker Technique, weaving hand seals mid-motion as lightning surged into his palm—Chidori crackling in his grasp.
Wind Release counters Lightning Release, but that wasn't his goal. Shisui used the blast's turbulence to slip through the Root agents' encirclement and escape into the woods. As he passed a dense patch of trees, he subtly left behind a secret signal.
"After him! Don't let him get away!"
Danzo's command was cold and decisive. Shisui had seen too much—he couldn't be allowed to escape.
At once, the surrounding Root shinobi dissolved into shadows and launched after him.
Meanwhile, far away, Naruto's eyes snapped open. His Kagura's Mind Eye had sensed it—a violent clash of chakra, dark and twisted like a storm. He recognized that chakra signature.
"Root… Is this where Shisui loses his eye?"
Without hesitation, Naruto created a Shadow Clone to stay behind, while his real body activated Earth Release: Mole Subterranean Voyage, diving underground and speeding toward the battlefield.
Back in the forest, Shisui had been caught.
"You're not getting away this time, Shisui."
Danzo's cold voice cut through the trees. His right arm—wrapped in bandages—now glowed with numerous Sharingan, each one a stolen legacy of the Uchiha Clan.
"Danzo… Does the Hokage even know what you've done? These eyes—they belonged to my clan! They didn't die in battle. They were murdered… by their own comrades. By you."
Shisui's voice trembled—not with fear, but with fury and grief. Each eye on Danzo's arm was a silent accusation.
He felt his chakra dwindling. Surrounded by elite operatives and facing a seasoned adversary, escape seemed impossible.
He couldn't let Danzo have his last eye.
Then—his chakra flared violently.
A green skeletal figure of chakra erupted around him, towering over the forest.
Susanoo.
The ultimate defense of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Danzo's expression darkened. "He can still summon that?"
"Attack! He's low on chakra!" Danzo barked.
The Root shinobi, emboldened, closed in. But even the first stage of Susanoo was formidable. Shisui's ethereal warrior launched counterstrikes.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
Green spinning chakra orbs shot out like artillery. Every hit sent Root ninja flying, and even a graze left men critically injured or dead. Some hesitated. Others, indoctrinated into soulless weapons, pushed forward, their only mission to wear him down.
Shisui's chakra burned rapidly.
The initial form of Susanoo didn't fully shield his body. As Root closed in, a tear of blood trickled from his lone eye. Fueled by desperation and resolve, his Susanoo roared and evolved—muscles formed, armor wrapped around its frame.
Stage Three Susanoo.
The very air trembled at the sheer force it exuded.
Danzo's face paled slightly. He activated Izanagi, willing himself into a state where death could be denied—but even so, against this evolved Susanoo, he was restricted and wary.
"Gokai!"
Danzo suddenly shouted.
A Root ninja darted forward, unnoticed in the chaos. Shisui struck him back—but not before he felt something sting his arm.
"…Poison?"
His vision blurred. A trap—the earlier attacks were meant to distract. Gokai had delivered the real strike.
Shisui clenched his teeth. He had to escape—now.
With a final sweep, his Yasaka Magatama exploded into a dazzling blast of green light and smoke.
When the haze cleared—Shisui was gone.
Danzo stepped forward but raised his hand. "Don't bother. He's been poisoned. Unless Lady Tsunade treats him herself… he's already a dead man."
He glanced around at the fallen Root operatives—shinobi he'd raised and molded for years. Dozens lost in a single operation.
But it was worth it. That Mangekyō power… it couldn't be allowed to exist.
Hidden nearby, Naruto had arrived. He hadn't intervened—yet. He watched as Shisui's chakra signature moved weakly through the forest, away from Danzo's squad.
Hang in there, Shisui…
Elsewhere in the village, Uchiha Itachi saw a sign carved into a tree—only he and one other person knew its meaning.
"The old spot."
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the hidden place only he and Shisui shared.
When he arrived, Shisui was already waiting—leaning weakly against a rock, breath shallow.
"Shisui!" Itachi ran forward. "You're hurt! What happened—?"
"I don't have much time, Itachi."
Shisui's voice was faint, but determined.
"The rift between the Uchiha and the village… it's already too deep. I tried to stop it… but I failed. From here on, I entrust everything to you."
He reached up, gouging out his remaining eye with trembling fingers.
"This… is my legacy. Use it. Protect the village, and the clan… in whatever way you believe is right."
Itachi's hands trembled as he accepted the blood-soaked eye.
"And one more thing… be careful of Danzo."
Shisui looked at the young man before him—so full of conviction, so determined to change the world. If there was one last thing he could do… it was to entrust his will to someone who still had a future.
Power is indispensable. That was the lesson etched deep into his soul by this battle.
Without hesitation, Shisui turned and let himself fall backward—into the rushing river behind him.
"Shisui…"
Itachi's voice trembled.
A wave of darkness surged in his heart, followed by an overwhelming sorrow that consumed him. His Sharingan twisted, spinning rapidly. The familiar Three Tomoe pattern began to shift—morphing into a new shape, one resembling a shuriken.
Blood streamed from his eyes.
His Mangekyō Sharingan had awakened.
"I will inherit your will," Itachi murmured, voice hoarse. He gazed long and hard at the churning waters below, knowing full well that Shisui's body could not be left behind—not in the hands of someone like Danzo.
Far downstream, hidden beneath the surface, Naruto had already arrived.
Utilizing his modified Water Release: Nuclear Submarine technique, he moved undetected through the riverbed. The moment Shisui's body floated near, he reached up and pulled him to safety.
But Shisui was barely clinging to life.
He was unconscious, his breathing shallow. The toxin coursing through his veins was eating away at him from the inside.
Naruto's face tightened in urgency.
"Kurama! Help me! If we want to change the world—we need people like him!"
Within his mindscape, the bars of the seal stood tall as ever. From the shadows, the Nine-Tailed Fox stirred, its deep voice echoing like a growl through Naruto's soul.
"Tch… You're too noisy, brat."
"Please!" Naruto pleaded again. His tone held no arrogance—only sincerity and desperation. "I can't do this alone."
There was a moment of silence.
Then, slowly, chakra surged from within. Warm, golden energy began to flow through Naruto, coursing into Shisui's broken body.
The effects were immediate.
Shisui's breathing steadied. The toxin was eradicated at the cellular level. The flesh that had begun to decay regenerated. His internal injuries mended.
Kurama—the Yang Half of the Nine-Tails—possessed vast healing power. Though not on the level of the Six Paths Sage Mode, it was still powerful enough to purge poisons and restore physical vitality.
In the original timeline, Naruto had helped save Might Guy, whose body had been pushed to the brink of death. But that feat had required the power of the Six Paths. Now, with just Kurama's Yang chakra, it was enough to save Shisui—because the damage, though serious, had not yet crossed that final threshold.
"…Thank you, Kurama," Naruto whispered, smiling faintly.
The fox huffed.
"Don't misunderstand me, kid. I'm only helping because if you drop dead or mess up now, I'll be stuck in this prison even longer."
Naruto grinned. Kurama always denied it, but lately… it had started helping him more and more. It no longer interrupted his training, and would even replenish his stamina on occasion—just enough to keep him going.
Kurama claimed it was only to speed up its own release.
But Naruto had already made a promise: In ten years, he would set the Nine-Tails free.
Ten years—for a Tailed Beast—was little more than a blink. A single nap.
Kurama said it didn't care.
But deep down… it was starting to believe in him.