Konoha will always have people who sacrifice themselves; if it's not the previous generation, then it's the next...
The boy in front of him, dripping with sweat and having just halted his Sword swing, was a perfect example of that... He was a descendant of Uchiha Kagami, one of the most representative among the many war orphans.
The difference was that most civilian Ninjas muddle through life doing nothing of note, amounting to very little in the end.
But Shisui was different, blessed with extraordinary talent. Never mind in the original story, where at such a young age he had already displayed remarkable ability and carved out the grand title of "Body Flicker Shisui."
Even now...
The boy swung once, and a flying slash shrouded in blazing flames tore through the air, slicing cleanly through several wooden stakes ten meters away in an instant; it already carried a hint of the brilliance he'd shown back when he first mastered [Water Breathing].
[Prompt: Detected your believer "Uchiha Shisui", "Flame Breathing" has reached Entry Level, "Power Of Faith" +10....]
Roy flicked his hand and tossed him a towel Mikoto had prepared in advance, saying blandly, "Got it."
With just a glance, following the causal thread between himself and Shisui, he split off a single [Mind Bug] and peered through it....
"Chii chii~" The Mind Bug wriggled its way deep into Shisui's heart and brought back an image... A Ninja wearing a cat-faced mask, black tight underclothes, a white harnessed vest on top, and two short Swords crossed on his back, was constantly talking to Shisui about something, repeatedly bringing up his own name, openly and covertly trying to draw information out of Shisui's mouth, and coaxing him to join them under the pretext of—"for Konoha"....
A faint flicker of sarcasm flashed through Roy's Gaze, almost imperceptible, as he recognized the man's identity——
Root, under Danzo's control, bearing the [Tongue Curse Root Seal]!
Exactly which member of Root he was didn't matter. There was no shortage of Root members who wielded twin short Swords; the most famous among them was undoubtedly Danzo's most relied-on and trusted aide—Aburame Torune!
Of course, who he was specifically wasn't important; what mattered was who had ordered him... Roy recalled his less-than-pleasant first meeting with a certain someone in the Hokage Ninjias office just now, then tilted his head toward Shisui and Itachi and said, "Behind the tallest tree fifty meters off to the right-front, there's a rat. Which of you is going to drag him out for me?"
Shisui and Itachi were stunned for a moment, then glanced at each other. In the next instant, they drew their Swords in unison and slashed toward the direction Roy had given!
"Zii-la~" Two clear arcs of Sword light ripped through the air, slashing straight toward the tall bushes beneath the tree's shade... In the bushes, a head poked out, the rest of the neck and body buried completely underground. Hearing Roy suddenly call him out, his face changed at once and he immediately tried to slip away... only he hadn't expected....
That Shisui and Itachi, at such a young age, would have Swordsmanship this sharp!
Especially [Shisui]—when his three-tomoe Sharingan spun open, and with overwhelming Pupil Power supporting him, a single flame-wreathed slash came down, fast and precise... brutally cutting off any thought he had of continuing to spy!
"Damn it! Since when did the Uchiha have two brat Swordmasters this strong?!"
He complained inwardly.
The heat wave washed over, and the Sword light arrived in a flash!
He simply stopped looking altogether.
His head snapped down and in an instant burrowed into the earth.
Only to hear a thunderous "Boom~".
Shisui's slash landed, blowing the dirt apart, forcibly tearing open the ground's surface and leaving behind a scorched furrow!
"Seventy meters to the west...."
'Didn't hit?' Obito's brows drew together as he heard Roy call out another set of coordinates.
In that brief moment of dazed surprise, Itachi brushed past his shoulder with his back foot and sprinted madly toward the west.
Obito hurriedly raised his Sword and followed. He and Itachi flanked left and right, chasing after the small bulging mound rolling along the surface...
"Shua shua~" Two more Swords stabbed into the earth, passing so close to White Zetsu's body they nearly grazed him, slicing off his ear. Scared out of his wits, he fled for his life, unable to stop himself from cursing in his heart: "Exactly who's the reconnaissance-type Ninja here, me or him?"
"Damn it, what the hell is wrong with this Uchiha Jin guy, how did he find me?!"
"Tup... tup... tup....." White Zetsu tunneled through the soil, while behind him, Shisui and Itachi swung their Swords again and again in hot pursuit.
What made it even more infuriating was that behind the two of them, Roy was constantly calling out coordinates, pinpointing his position... It was like the guy really had an extra eye hanging on him; whichever way he went east, he didn't dare go west. It was enough to drive someone to despair!
"Forty meters to the south...."
"He turned—thirty meters southeast...."
"Don't stop, stab deeper... he burrowed further down......"
"Shua shua~" A few more arcs of Sword light pierced into the earth, taking one of White Zetsu's feet with them!
It was Itachi's Sword!
The boy hadn't awakened his Sharingan, so his dynamic vision couldn't compare to Shisui's, and in terms of Speed he was a bit behind the three-years-older Shisui as well, but... what he did have was a fierce combat intuition!
Noticing the instant White Zetsu looped around and subtly started tunneling toward the northwest,
Itachi mustered his strength, and in his urgency simply treated the Sword in his hand like a shuriken and hurled it, preemptively predicting White Zetsu's escape route and slicing off one of his feet!
A shrill, drawn-out scream echoed out!
Shisui "whooshed" past Itachi's side, shouting, "Nice one!"
Then, seizing the opening Itachi had created, he caught the instant White Zetsu's body stalled from the agony of his wailing... and "Body Flicker Shisui" arrived!
In the span of a single Breath,
The boy had already rushed in close to White Zetsu, Sword in hand, unleashing [Flame Breathing · Third Form · Sense Flame All-Encompassing], from top to bottom, flames surging violently as it roared into the ground!
Another shrill scream rang out——
The ground churned wildly, and Shisui seized the opening again and again, stabbing down more than a dozen times in a frenzy until finally... everything went quiet....