Chapter 181: Mini Nine Tailed Fox Figurine
"You are not a shinobi from our Uchiha clan, are you?" Shisui suddenly asked.
Kenichi raised an eyebrow, but he did not answer right away. Shisui noticing something was off was completely normal. Shisui was not an idiot. And since Kenichi had never shown him his true face, suspicion was inevitable.
"Why do you think that?" Kenichi asked instead.
He wanted to know what Shisui was thinking. Shisui's attitude mattered. If Shisui led those Uchiha away and then decided to scatter elsewhere, tracking down more than a hundred people would become a headache.
"Because I checked the clan genealogy," Shisui said without hesitation. "It records the fate of every missing Uchiha shinobi. None of the missing ones match you."
Kenichi nodded slowly.
He had overlooked something obvious. The Uchiha clan had a genealogy, and the most outrageous part was that it even recorded whether each member was dead or missing.
"Then let me ask you something," Kenichi said with a faint smile. "How is Uchiha Madara listed in that genealogy?"
Shisui paused. His expression turned strange. He looked at Kenichi as if he wanted to peel him apart with his eyes and see what was underneath.
"…Dead," Shisui answered.
Kenichi understood. And Shisui's answer was technically correct. Nagato already had the Rinnegan, and Madara was indeed dead, his soul resting in the Pure Land.
Besides, Madara was too dangerous. Even if someone wanted to use Edo Tensei, resurrecting Madara would be asking for trouble. Kenichi had never even considered it.
Shisui's gaze sharpened. "You are not about to tell me you are Uchiha Madara, right?"
"If I were that foolish, I would not have lived this long," Kenichi said immediately, shaking his head. "Madara was absurdly strong."
What kind of joke was that?
If Shisui grew suspicious and demanded proof, like opening a Mangekyo Sharingan, it would be a disaster.
Kenichi waved a hand, cutting the conversation short. "Stop digging into my identity. All you need to know is this. I have no ill intent toward the Uchiha, and I genuinely want to find a way out for them. If you do not believe me, you are free to walk away and end this cooperation."
Shisui's eyes did not soften.
He was clearly holding back more questions, but Kenichi did not have the patience to spend the whole day playing identity games.
This was not about curiosity. This involved a clan, and more than 170 people. Shisui could not afford to be careless.
"If you are unwilling to reveal who you are," Shisui said, voice steady, "then our cooperation ends here."
He was serious.
If it were only his own life, he could gamble. But now so many people trusted him, and he had to take responsibility for them.
On top of that, Fugaku had entrusted Itachi and Sasuke to him. That decision still puzzled Shisui. In his eyes, the clan head had better options. Why place such a heavy bet on a plan this uncertain?
Rather than pinning everything on the outside, it would make more sense to rely on Fugaku himself.
Shisui did not fully understand it, but the task had been placed in his hands, and he intended to carry it to the end.
Kenichi paused.
Then he lifted a hand and dispelled the face disguise, peeling it away with the Disguise Technique and revealing his true appearance.
Shisui was not bluffing. Without an explanation, their cooperation would collapse. And since Shisui had already suspected Kenichi's identity was abnormal yet still came this far, it proved Shisui truly wanted an escape route for the clan.
"Kenichi…" Shisui recognized him instantly, and his eyes widened in shock. "Amamiya Kenichi?"
This also explained a lot. During their last meeting, Kenichi had been able to speak clearly about ROOT and Konoha's stance toward the Uchiha. Information like that could easily have come from Orochimaru.
Still, one thing bothered Shisui.
Why could those three tomoe Sharingan activate and deactivate at will?
Shisui's eyes turned dangerous. "You are not planning to take us out as test subjects, are you?"
He remembered clearly. Last time, this man had taken several Uchiha away.
With the infamous reputations of both Kenichi and Orochimaru, it was hard not to doubt what would happen next.
Kenichi did not dodge it. He answered frankly. "The previous ones were for experiments. You are not."
Shisui's feelings twisted into something complicated. For a moment, he did not even know what to say. Kenichi was… honest, in a way that was almost uncomfortable.
Kenichi continued calmly. "After the clan leaves, all they need to do is take missions and earn money. They will not be assigned to an operating table."
Right now, he had no intention of dragging the Uchiha onto a surgical bench. If he wanted to, he could have kept hiding his identity, or simply abducted people from Konoha directly.
He could even push Danzo toward accelerating the plan for the night of extermination, because Kenichi understood Danzo's thinking well. With the current situation, it would not be surprising if Danzo acted sooner rather than later.
Shisui frowned. "Are you sure?"
Kenichi found it amusing. "You are not naive enough to think a single promise makes the world safe, are you? No wonder Danzo played you like a flute. I have given you another option. Whether you take it or not is your choice."
Kenichi almost laughed.
In the adult world, what was a guarantee worth?
Words like I promise, I swear, trust me only worked on people who cared about integrity, and even then, only when fear and greed were not involved.
If Shisui could be comforted by a simple assurance, that peace of mind would be far too cheap.
Shisui let out a long sigh. He had felt a flicker of relief earlier, and it almost made him relax. But Kenichi's bluntness snapped him back to reality.
And strangely, that bluntness also made Shisui feel more secure. Kenichi was not trying to hypnotize him with comforting words.
Their cooperation continued like this.
Kenichi noticed Shisui looked desolate, almost lonely, as if he were carrying a weight he could not share. Kenichi did not ask. He had enough problems of his own.
One hundred and seventy two people were far too many for a normal hot air balloon. It would be much simpler to build an airship. A large one could carry all 172 away in a single trip.
"Shisui is still a kid," Kenichi thought, exhaling slowly as he rubbed his face. "It is normal for him to be a little naive."
At least today's confrontation had cleared the air. It reduced the chance of future misunderstandings turning into disasters.
Better to solve problems early than let them rot.
"I calculated it. There is less than a week left until the agreed time," Kenichi murmured. "If I go back to the Land of Rice Fields now, it will be tight."
But not going back was not an option.
To pick up the Uchiha that Shisui gathered, Kenichi needed preparation. Even if Shisui seemed willing, a last minute change of heart would be a nightmare.
And Kenichi also needed to modify the airship.
So he found a hot air balloon, took off from a secluded spot, and used Wind Release to push himself back toward the Land of Rice Fields at high speed.
As he approached the laboratory area, he saw smoke rising in the distance.
Kenichi's lips twitched. "This is interesting."
Was Sasori exploding again?
When Kenichi landed, he found parts scattered everywhere, and the surrounding terrain had been blasted into a hill, as if someone had tried to sculpt a mountain using pure spite.
"Sasori," Kenichi said, unable to hold back, "have you considered changing your research direction?"
In just a few days, the flat land had been turned into a mound several meters high.
Sasori wiped dust off his face and grabbed Kenichi excitedly, dragging him forward. "I feel like I am almost there."
Kenichi looked around.
It did look more successful than before.
The parts that used to be scattered everywhere were now gathered inside the valley. Sasori's persistence in carving out a crater through repeated explosions was, in its own deranged way, admirable.
"Look," Sasori said, carefully pulling out something small from his body. "This is what I made."
Kenichi leaned in, curious.
Sasori was holding a tiny object, something like an ultra miniature Nine Tailed Fox figurine.
Kenichi stared.
"…?"
So his breakthrough was making a Nine Tailed Fox figure?
Then Kenichi heard a faint, strange clicking sound.
He looked down and saw the miniature fox start to move.
It took a few stiff steps on the ground, its nine tails twitching awkwardly as if each one had its own opinion.
Kenichi was genuinely impressed.
It had hands, feet, and nine tails, yet it still managed to walk like it had been cursed with a tremor.
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