Yunchuan Hyuga tossed the box to him while lowering his head to deal with the body. "Inside are Explosive Tags and techniques to erase traces. Do not let your identity be discovered."
"Relax," Wujie Kohinata said with a smile as he caught the box. "Then I will leave my wife and child in your care."
As his words ended, his figure vanished from the spot, and Yunchuan Hyuga straightened up.
Click.
Looking at the corpse wrapped all over with Explosive Tags, Yunchuan Hyuga flicked a lighter and tossed it over. At the same time, the eye on the hilt of 'Greed' at his waist slowly closed, and Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha, trapped in the illusion, woke almost at the same moment.
Itachi Uchiha's memory stopped at the instant when Wujie Kohinata lit the Explosive Tags to die together, while Shisui Uchiha's memory stopped at the moment Yunchuan Hyuga threw the lighter after gouging out an eye. What lay before them now was fire.
Boom!!
The explosion swallowed the corpse in fire and light, and both of them reacted by instinct. Their tense bodies moved without hesitation as they used Shunshin to pull away and put distance between themselves and the blast.
Shisui Uchiha looked at the remains that had been completely destroyed, then glanced at Yunchuan Hyuga in the distance as his expression shifted slightly. His heart began to pound.
"As expected, Yunchuan Hyuga did not notice that I broke his Genjutsu. He never imagined I would see the whole process of him digging out the Byakugan and then destroying the body to erase all traces."
"What a waste."
While he was thinking, he heard a murmur beside him. Shisui turned his head and saw fear and regret written clearly on Itachi's face.
"What did Itachi see in the illusion?" Shisui made a quick guess. "Most likely that Wujie ignited the Explosive Tag himself and tried to die together with us."
At this moment, Yunchuan Hyuga also turned around with a regretful look on his face.
"It's a pity we couldn't keep the body. Otherwise, we might have dug out some intelligence," he said with a sigh.
Watching his slightly exaggerated performance, Shisui Uchiha twitched the corner of his eye, convinced he had seen through everything. Even so, he cooperated and said, "Everyone's alive. As long as the mission is complete, that's enough."
Itachi Uchiha frowned at Yunchuan Hyuga as if he wanted to say something, but when he noticed Shisui's gaze, he swallowed the complaint that was about to leave his mouth. He had originally wanted to question why Yunchuan Hyuga did not step in earlier.
"Yes, this is all we can do. Take the body back."
Yunchuan Hyuga put out the remaining flames, retrieved the charred corpse, sealed it into a Scroll, and tossed it to Shisui. With a helpless tone, he added, "I didn't help much this time. I'll report it to the Third Hokage."
With that, his figure vanished first. Shisui Uchiha and Itachi exchanged a glance and followed in silence.
By evening, the three finally returned to Konoha. After a few polite words, Yunchuan Hyuga parted ways with the other two and headed toward the Hokage Building to make his report.
After he left, Shisui and the other arrived at the Nanga River. The river flowed quietly under the darkening sky, reflecting broken fragments of moonlight as the surroundings grew silent.
"Shisui, what exactly is going on?" Itachi Uchiha asked urgently.
"Don't rush," Shisui Uchiha said as he shook his head. "First, repeat everything that happened during the fight between the two of us and Wujie Kohinata."
Although confused, Itachi Uchiha still recounted everything he experienced. He spoke carefully, retracing each moment from start to finish.
"So that's how it is."
After listening, Shisui Uchiha's gaze flickered as he scanned the deep darkness around them, as if confirming whether unseen dangers had truly withdrawn.
"Yunchuan Hyuga concealed his own Genjutsu."
After making sure no one was nearby, he spoke directly. "Everything you saw earlier was a Genjutsu. The real few minutes were replaced, and he actually dug out Wujie's Byakugan."
As soon as these words fell, Itachi Uchiha froze. His pupils shrank sharply, and a chill ran through his entire body like an electric shock.
Everything he saw had been Genjutsu?
If these words had come from anyone else, Itachi Uchiha would not have believed them so easily. As a genius of the Uchiha, being placed under Genjutsu by someone from the Hyuga Clan without noticing sounded like a bad joke.
But since it came from Shisui, he had no choice but to believe it.
"Why would Yunchuan Hyuga hide this ability?" Itachi Uchiha asked, unease rising in his chest.
He took a deep breath and looked at Shisui with a serious expression. "This must be reported to the Third Hokage."
He turned to leave, but Shisui suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Wait, Itachi."
"Shisui, we have to hurry. That guy…"
Itachi Uchiha was about to continue, but the moment he turned back to look at Shisui, his expression changed sharply. His heart felt as if it were seized by an invisible hand.
"Your eyes…" he blurted out.
In Shisui Uchiha's crimson pupils, three Tomoe spun rapidly, twisting and merging until they formed a pattern he had never seen before. The sight carried a cold and unsettling presence.
A shudder born from deep within his bloodline instantly gripped Itachi.
"These eyes are called Mangekyo Sharingan."
Shisui's voice was calm, but his gaze was unfathomably deep. "Do you know why the Sharingan is called the Eye that Reflects the Heart?"
"Why?" Itachi asked hoarsely, his mind in a daze.
"Because once a member of the Uchiha awakens Mangekyo Sharingan, they awaken a unique eye technique based on what lies in their heart."
Shisui Uchiha continued in a low voice. "After awakening these eyes, I gained a technique called Kotoamatsukami."
"This technique allows me to directly invade an enemy's mind and permanently alter their will without them noticing."
Alter will?
Those words struck Itachi's heart like a heavy hammer, and an even deeper chill surged through him.
Even the Genjutsu used by Yunchuan Hyuga only trapped them in illusions he designed. But Shisui's technique could alter will itself.
That meant…
"Impossible."
As if seeing through his thoughts, Shisui Uchiha shook his head. "Once this technique is used, it takes a very long time before it can be used again. I have not used it even once so far."
"However, that is the effect of the left eye's Kotoamatsukami. The right eye's Kotoamatsukami is continuous."
"Although it cannot rewrite will in one instant like the left eye, it can interfere with Chakra and gradually control a person's will. It does not require much time and can be used repeatedly."
As Shisui explained his eye techniques, Itachi Uchiha slowly calmed down. Combining what had happened earlier with these abilities, a bold guess suddenly surfaced in Itachi's mind.
He raised his head abruptly and met those eerie eyes. In a low voice, he asked, "Shisui, are you planning to…"
"Yes. That was inspired by Yunchuan Hyuga." Shisui nodded. "If I use Kotoamatsukami, even Fugaku Uchiha, known for his fierce eyes, will be unable to resist."
"As long as I plant the will of 'loyalty to the village and abandoning the coup,' he will actively end the coup. And he will sincerely believe this was his own decision."
"This is the most perfect solution I can think of."
He paused and lowered his voice. "However, because Fugaku Uchiha is your father, that is the one thing that makes me hesitate."
"No."