Chapter 14: Obito and Zetsu
There was nothing he could do.
Just like Konoha White Fang back then.
No matter how tolerant or great he, the Most Powerful Hokage of All Time, was.
He could never tolerate the existence of something in Konoha that was beyond the Hokage's control.
This was a matter of principle.
He bore the heavy burden of all of Konoha.
Once Uchiha Shisui harbored ill intentions,
and turned him, the Hokage, into a puppet, the danger to Konoha would far exceed that of the Nine-Tailed.
Just as the Third Hokage was deep in thought, an Anbu Ninja urgently knocked on the door.
"Hokage-sama, something bad has happened."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips curled slightly; even through the door, he could sense the other party's urgency.
It seemed Danzo had succeeded.
"Come in."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was secretly delighted, but on the surface, he remained expressionless, instructing the Anbu Ninja to enter and speak.
Creak, the office door opened in response.
The Anbu Ninja quickly walked to the center of the room, knelt on one knee before Hiruzen Sarutobi, placed his right hand in a fist on the ground, and lowered his head slightly, only looking up when the Hokage spoke.
"What happened?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked softly, feigning ignorance.
The Anbu Ninja took a deep breath and reported the intelligence gathered from the Uchiha Clan Territory: "Hokage-sama, Uchiha Shisui... is dead."
Upon hearing this, a subtle hint of joy flashed in the depths of Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes.
But he still feigned a shocked expression, suddenly stood up, widened his eyes, and asked with feigned distress: "What?! Shisui is dead? What exactly happened?"
"Reporting, Hokage-sama, Uchiha Shisui is indeed dead. The Anbu Ninja responsible for surveillance personally saw Uchiha Shisui's body."
"It is said to be a suicide, and a suicide note was left behind. However, the cause of death is still under investigation."
Seeing this, the Anbu Ninja sighed in admiration for the Third Hokage's consideration for his subordinates, then organized his words slightly and reported all the information he currently had.
"However..."
Changing his tone, the Anbu Ninja suddenly said: "Uchiha Shisui's eyes seem to have been gouged out. And some people saw that he was called away by Danzo's Root Ninja today."
"Danzo..." Hearing this name, the Third Hokage's cloudy old eyes immediately deepened. It seemed his old friend had gained quite a lot.
However, he still needed to rein him in, lest he turn his ill intentions towards him.
At the same time.
Land of Water, Hidden Mist Village.
Uchiha Obito was controlling the Fourth Mizukage, systematically implementing the Bloody Mist Village plan to harm Kekkei Genkai Ninja.
To comfort Rin Nohara's soul in heaven.
Just as Obito was contemplating his next move, the combined form of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu emerged from the ground.
Black Zetsu said in a hoarse voice: "Obito, something big has happened in Konoha."
"How many times have I told you to call me Madara?" Obito's brow furrowed under his mask as he said coldly.
"Yes, Madara." Black Zetsu replied respectfully on the surface, but secretly disdained him in his heart.
Whether it's you or Uchiha Madara, you are both just pawns to revive Mother.
Hearing this, Obito's tone softened slightly, "Speak, what exactly happened?"
White Zetsu spoke first: "Uchiha Shisui, known as the Uchiha Clan's strongest Genjutsu Ninja, is dead."
"Uchiha Shisui is dead?" Obito was suddenly stunned, "When?"
If one were to ask, after the death of the Fourth Hokage, who did Obito fear the most in all of Konoha?
Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Danzo?
Uchiha Fugaku?
No, no, none of them. In front of his Kamui, they were all just mere weaklings.
It was Uchiha Shisui.
The reason was simple: he had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, and his ability was extremely strange and powerful.
Even he, who had also awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, dared not confront him directly.
How did such a powerful individual die?
"Yesterday. The Uchiha Clan is currently holding a funeral." Black Zetsu replied, his voice very hoarse, like rustling leaves in the wind, making it extremely uncomfortable to listen to.
White Zetsu added: "It is said he committed suicide."
"Do you believe such nonsense?" Obito said irritably.
Black Zetsu continued: "Uchiha Shisui did indeed commit suicide. The Uchiha Clan was on the verge of a coup, and Uchiha Shisui, to prevent civil war in Konoha, willingly committed suicide to crush the Uchiha Clan's morale and combat power.
However, before committing suicide, he seemed to have intended to use the power of his Mangekyo Sharingan to control Uchiha Fugaku, reorganize the Uchiha, and stop the coup.
But he failed.
He was ambushed by Danzo, who took his right eye."
"Hmph, a naive fellow. Someone with that level of eyes and strength actually fell into Danzo's hands in the end. Ridiculous." Obito snorted, his words full of disdain, "Is Shisui's eye with Danzo now?"
"No, Danzo does not seem to have obtained the Sharingan."
"According to the intelligence gathered by the Spore Clones from Root, Danzo not only failed to obtain Shisui's right eye, but at the moment he was taking Shisui's right eye, he had his left arm severed by a mysterious person who suddenly appeared and stole it."
Black Zetsu organized his thoughts and recounted all the information he had gathered using his White Zetsu clones.
White Zetsu gloated: "Now Danzo suspects you did it."
"Mysterious person? Interesting. It seems Konoha is not as simple as it appears on the surface." Obito repeated, then continued to ask: "What about the left eye?"
"I don't know. However..." Black Zetsu pondered for a moment, then added: "The first person to discover Uchiha Shisui's body was Uchiha Itachi."
"Uchiha Itachi is Uchiha Shisui's close friend. After Uchiha Shisui's death, he also awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. I think Shisui's left eye should be in his possession."
"Itachi, huh?" Obito's brow furrowed, "Another troublesome fellow."
"Madara, what do you plan to do?" Black Zetsu asked.
"Although the Uchiha coup was prevented this time, it's only a matter of time before it erupts again. After I finish things here, I'll go to Konoha and find an opportunity to recruit Itachi into the Akatsuki." Obito said, "An Uchiha with a Mangekyo Sharingan has that qualification; he will be a valuable asset for capturing Tailed Beasts in the future."
"And while you're at it, find a way to locate the person who stole Shisui's right eye. To snatch it from Danzo's grasp in Konoha, they must either be a Space-Time Ninjutsu user or an insider in Konoha."
"I understand." Black Zetsu respectfully agreed, his body slowly merging into the ground, eventually disappearing.
The next day, the news of the death of Uchiha Shisui, the Uchiha Clan's strongest Genjutsu Ninja, known as 'Shisui of the Body Flicker,' spread like wildfire.
The Uchiha Clan was severely affected by the loss of this strongest Mangekyo user.
Immediately, their morale plummeted, and even the hawkish elders quieted down, no longer mentioning the coup.
Konoha thus entered a brief period of peace once again.
Of course, this was merely the calm before the storm.
PS: Second update.