Chapter 10: You Wouldn't Want Civil Unrest in Konoha, Would You?
Atop a cliff, fierce winds howled through the air.
Shisui stood with his back to his dearest friend, his remaining left eye surveying the vast forest below. His right eye socket was a hollow void, still trickling with fresh blood.
"Itachi... I'm sorry," Shisui sighed with resignation. "Danzo took my right eye. I can no longer use that technique."
The original plan had been clear and idealistic—use Kotoamatsukami to rewrite the thoughts of Fugaku and other clan members preparing for rebellion, eliminating the seeds of revolt at their source. Through gentle means, they would gradually resolve the rift between the Uchiha and Konoha.
But Danzo's ambush had shattered everything.
Itachi's fingertips trembled slightly, unable to look away from his friend's empty socket. "Father has already arranged for some clan members to evacuate... there must be another way."
These past days, they had walked a razor's edge, struggling to mediate between village and clan. Yet the situation only worsened. Nearly all the Uchiha remaining in Konoha had become hardliners. Hope for peace was slipping away with each passing moment.
"Should a ninja fight for his clan, or live for his village?" Shisui's voice scattered on the wind, unclear whether he was asking Itachi or questioning his own heart.
Itachi stood frozen, the simple question lodging in his throat like a bone.
Squelch—
The sound of flesh tearing rang out abruptly. Before Itachi could react, Shisui had gouged out his remaining left eye, blood spraying forth.
"Itachi..." Shisui placed the warm eyeball in his friend's palm, his bloodied face somehow showing a hint of peaceful relief. "No matter how dark the village becomes, no matter how many contradictions exist, I am and always will be Uchiha Shisui of Konoha. Please protect both the village and the Uchiha name... and I entrust my eyes to you as well."
His body tilted backward, robes fluttering like a bird with broken wings.
"Wait—!"
Itachi's scream was torn apart by the howling wind. He reached out desperately but could only watch helplessly as that figure grew smaller and smaller, finally swallowed by the rushing river below.
On the cliff, Itachi slowly fell to his knees. When he raised his head again, the three tomoe in his eyes had transformed into spinning, blood-red pinwheels.
"I will... inherit your will," he whispered as blood dripped through his fingers. "In the name of... the Uchiha."
This scene was witnessed in its entirety by a pair of eyes below the cliff.
Yu—specifically, Yu's shadow clone—had spent these past days having his clones tail Itachi and various ROOT operatives, hoping to track down Danzo through them.
Unfortunately, the old bastard had seemingly vanished into thin air, and the clones following other ROOT members had similarly come up empty.
The one who jumped must be Shisui. Though the distance made it hard to see clearly, Yu still recognized the Uchiha's greatest prodigy, possessor of the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Yu knew of Shisui mostly through his adoptive father's accounts—only that this young man had awakened the Mangekyo at an extraordinarily young age, excelled in taijutsu and genjutsu, was ANBU's ace operative, and was known for helping others. He had an excellent reputation within the clan.
"Looks like the kid couldn't handle the psychological pressure and jumped at the first sign of trouble," Yu mused, stroking his chin. "Well, since he's a good person, might as well save him."
Yu followed the river downstream and found Shisui's barely breathing form at a bend.
Using his magnetic field powers to assess Shisui's condition, Yu whistled low.
Good grief—blind in both eyes, multiple fractures throughout his body, massive blood loss. And somehow the guy still had a pulse.
After tearing some cloth from Shisui's clothes for makeshift first aid, Yu hoisted him onto his back and headed for the distant forest, where an old training cave he'd abandoned due to increasingly loud practice sessions would serve perfectly.
---
"If my death could make the clan members stop their advance... then the last scenery these eyes witnessed wouldn't be too terrible."
That had been his final thought before consciousness faded.
Now Shisui's head felt heavy and muddled, as if awakening from a long slumber.
Before him stretched an impenetrable darkness, surrounded by absolute silence.
"Am I dead?" Shisui murmured to himself.
"Not yet." An unexpected voice answered—young and oddly familiar.
"Who are you?"
"Uchiha Yu."
"Yu?" The boy's image slowly formed in Shisui's mind—Itachi's brother, often seen following Itachi's sister around, that quiet and refined young man.
"You saved me?" Shisui asked.
"Yeah, I was fishing by the river when I suddenly caught something big," Yu joked, then fixed his gaze on Shisui's tightly closed eyes. "What happened to your eyes?"
"Thank you, but I can't tell you about this," Shisui replied, feeling no need to drag this innocent boy into the conflict between clan and village.
After a brief silence, Yu's voice suddenly cut through the quiet.
"It's related to Danzo, isn't it?"
"You already know?" Shisui was startled.
"I guessed," Yu said calmly, "but I have a pretty good idea of what happened."
"To deal with the Uchiha, Danzo wouldn't spare the clan's greatest prodigy."
Shisui sighed. "So what do you plan to do? Tell the clan members about this and escalate the conflict between the village and the Uchiha?"
It was predictable—once the clan learned that their greatest talent had been attacked by Danzo without cause, rebellion would be almost inevitable.
"No," Yu said. "I have a more direct approach."
"What approach?" Shisui was curious about what solution this boy might have for a deadlock that he and Itachi had failed to resolve despite numerous attempts.
"I'm going to eliminate Danzo." A cold glint flashed in Yu's eyes.
"Too reckless! You don't understand what the consequences of such actions would be... cough cough" Shisui grew agitated, aggravating his injuries and sending waves of pain through his body.
"You want to say that killing doesn't solve conflicts, right?" Yu said indifferently.
Shisui calmed his emotions. "Since you understand that, then..."
Before Shisui could finish, Yu interrupted: "But it can solve the person creating the conflicts."
"Unlike you two, I won't choose between the Uchiha and the village."
"This was never a choice to begin with. I'm going to deal with the person who posed the question."
"Konoha's civilians are innocent, but aren't our ordinary Uchiha clan members just as innocent?"
"If you don't support my approach," Yu's tone shifted, "then fine—what was your method, and what were the results?"
"I..."
This time, Shisui was speechless, his mind replaying all the efforts he and Itachi had made—now seeming like mere bubbles.
"Why are you telling me all this?" Shisui suddenly grew alert. The previous demeanor had just been Yu's facade. If so, he wouldn't reveal these things without reason—Yu didn't seem like someone who enjoyed casual conversation.
"I want to know everything about you, Itachi, and Danzo."
"Uchiha Shisui, you wouldn't want civil unrest to break out in Konoha, would you?"