"So it's actually Susanoo? And not even its initial form… At his age…"
"He's far stronger and far more dangerous than I imagined, Shisui Uchiha."
At this moment, hidden within a corner no one noticed, a masked man silently observed everything unfolding before him through the crimson Sharingan concealed beneath his mask.
Shisui's performance had genuinely shocked him.
Konohagakure was protected year-round by an enormous barrier. Any outsider entering or leaving the village would immediately be detected.
But it had no effect on him.
Because he was originally a true citizen of Konoha—
One who had already "died."
Naturally, neither the village barrier nor the sensory division hidden throughout Konoha could detect him.
He came and went freely.
Just like the last time he had entered Konoha.
Back then, he had secretly tailed Itachi Uchiha's team during a mission and personally killed Itachi's teammate, forcing the boy to awaken the Uchiha clan's bloodline power—
The Sharingan.
He held certain expectations toward the Uchiha clan.
Those expectations stemmed from the origin of Konoha's Uchiha—
Madara Uchiha.
The Uchiha were a clan overflowing with geniuses.
Could another among them possess the power necessary to walk with him toward the new world?
But this time, his return to Konoha had been unexpected.
According to his original plans, he should have already secured his position within Kirigakure by now.
Instead, he had encountered unforeseen resistance there.
By all accounts, the opposing side shouldn't have possessed enough power to threaten him.
Yet reality proved otherwise.
The force they unleashed had vastly exceeded what he could currently handle.
Had it not been for the unique space-time ability of his Sharingan, he might have fallen there entirely.
In short, due to a chain of unexpected developments, his plans had failed.
And so he came to Konoha seeking an ally who could help him.
For example—
Danzo Shimura.
A man overflowing with ambition.
As long as certain interesting developments within Kirigakure were revealed to Danzo, even without showing himself, Danzo would undoubtedly create incidents capable of plunging the Hidden Mist into complete chaos.
Unexpectedly, he had arrived just in time to witness this scene.
Still, he did not approach too closely.
Root possessed sensory-type shinobi.
If he were discovered, things would become troublesome.
"What… what is that?!"
The Root shinobi stared at Shisui's enormous Susanoo in utter shock.
As human beings, the fear and terror they had spent their lives suppressing now surged uncontrollably through their hearts.
But they weren't given time to remain stunned.
The Susanoo attacked instantly.
BOOM!
The gigantic skeletal hand slammed downward.
Several Root shinobi who had been forming seals or attempting close combat were crushed into pulp on the spot!
"Run!"
The surviving Root members immediately made their decision.
But it was already too late.
The moment the thought of escape appeared in their minds—
Shisui's Body Flicker arrived before them.
Along with the divine figure of Susanoo itself.
Only one fate awaited them.
Death.
Meanwhile, Itachi had already arrived at the agreed meeting place.
So anxious was he during his rush here that he hadn't even paid attention to whether Shisui had left any signs along the way.
That damaged crow…
The moment he recognized it, panic had gripped his heart.
It was one of Shisui's techniques.
A signal they had once discussed.
And Shisui would only ever use that signal under one circumstance—
His life was in danger.
"Whoosh."
As the final Root operative collapsed unconscious to the ground, Shisui clutched his eye painfully and gasped for breath.
Maintaining Susanoo had pushed him beyond his limit.
The Root shinobi were far more capable than he had expected.
Even Susanoo's overwhelming power had failed to eliminate them all immediately.
The final operative had nearly dragged the exhausted Shisui down with him.
This realization only deepened Shisui's understanding.
The true power hidden within the village ran far deeper than anyone imagined.
Should civil war break out, the fighting would never end.
And it wasn't just the Uchiha clan—
Even Shisui himself, as one of the Third Hokage's trusted subordinates, had never known Root possessed so many hidden forces.
At this moment, he finally realized—
Danzo himself was one of the instigators behind the coming disaster.
If war erupted, Root would never side with either faction.
Instead, they would join the chaos as a third force.
"What exactly is Danzo after…?"
"Konoha itself?"
"Or perhaps…"
Shisui suppressed the thoughts rising in his mind.
As a shinobi of Konoha, only one obsession remained within him now—
Complete his mission.
His figure vanished once more.
Only after he disappeared did the masked man observing nearby finally emerge.
Space around him distorted strangely.
One by one, the corpses and bloodstains littering the battlefield were sucked away into the spiraling distortion until nothing remained.
Looking toward the direction Shisui had vanished, his eyes revealed both caution and anticipation.
But he did not dare pursue him.
Because he knew nothing about the true abilities of Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Even during the battle against Root, Shisui had never used its actual power.
And no one understood better than him just how terrifying and unpredictable Mangekyō abilities could be.
"Shisui?"
When Shisui finally staggered before Itachi in his near-exhausted state, Itachi immediately rushed forward to support him.
The moment he noticed the blood endlessly pouring from Shisui's eye socket, panic appeared across his face.
"What happened?!"
But Shisui didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked behind himself with extreme vigilance, his gaze constantly shifting up and down as if searching for something.
Seeing this behavior, Itachi activated his three-tomoe Sharingan without hesitation and searched alongside him for hidden enemies.
Yet no matter where he looked, he found nothing unusual.
Not even a small animal that could be used for surveillance through substitution techniques.
Still, Itachi never doubted Shisui's judgment.
He understood Shisui's personality.
His expression grew increasingly grim as he continued searching with his Sharingan active.
After confirming he truly could not detect anything, he stopped searching entirely, grabbed Shisui, and vanished from the area at once.
With the departure of the two Uchiha, the surroundings fell into absolute silence.
Even the faint sound of insects crawling through the grass seemed unbearably sharp.
A long while later—
"He's incredibly cautious."
Space twisted strangely within empty air.
The masked man's body slowly spiraled out from nothingness like a phantom.
Behind the mask, the crimson Sharingan shifted from its blade-like Mangekyō form back into an ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan as he spoke with slight helplessness in his tone.
"Even after I deliberately kept my distance, he still sensed me."
"I had no choice but to remain inside Kamui's dimension. There was no way to continue pursuing them."
"What a shame."
"If only I had brought Zetsu with me…"
"Konoha's barrier prevents him from sneaking inside silently on his own. I nearly missed something this interesting."
"But if I stay any longer, I might finally be discovered…"
"It seems now isn't the time to focus on the jinchūriki or those fools."
The masked man glanced toward the distant forest.
Through the gaps between the trees, the red rooftops of Konoha could vaguely be seen.
And farther away—
The Hokage's office.
"Hokage…"
"Hmph."
A mocking laugh escaped from behind the mask.
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