Night, in the forest on the outskirts of Konoha. Cold moonlight pierced through the gaps in the trees, casting fragmented shadows on the cliff's edge. Below, a stream murmured, its sound particularly clear in the silent night.
On the cliff, two figures stood in silent opposition.
Both wore the standard uniform of the Konoha ANBU, a short sword strapped to their backs. The young man standing in front had a handsome face, his dango nose adding a touch of boyishness. But at this moment, his expression was terribly grim.
Shisui Uchiha.
His right eye was closed, and blood trickled down his cheek. His left eye, unstained by blood, held a deep weariness and resolve.
And standing opposite him was a black-haired, black-eyed girl.
Itachi Uchiha.
The girl had delicate features, her eyes holding a calmness far beyond her years. The only thing that marred this beauty were the two tear troughs that extended from the corners of her eyes to her jaw, giving her an imposing air even when her face was expressionless.
"Shisui... your eye..."
Itachi's voice was soft, yet it seemed to be frozen by the night wind. She stared at Shisui's closed right eye.
Shisui gave a bitter smile. "Itachi... I had planned to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha hawks' plan. But I failed completely."
"Danzo... he didn't trust me at all."
"He took one of my eyes, but he won't stop there," Shisui said, raising a hand, his fingertips gently touching his closed right eye. "Before he makes his next move... I want to entrust my remaining eye to you."
The night wind suddenly died, and the air seemed to freeze.
"Please..." Shisui's voice was almost a plea. "You must stop the hawks' plan."
His gaze went past Itachi to the lights of Konoha in the distance, a faint hope in his eyes.
"Just wait for your sister... and the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails to grow up... then, the Uchiha's fate in Konoha... will be rewritten."
Itachi Uchiha stared at her dear friend's empty right eye. Blood was still slowly dripping, staining his collar. Her knuckles whitened as her fists clenched, her nails digging deep into her palms.
Why?
The Uchiha had already been given a chance to prove their loyalty. Satsuki, her own sister, was now inseparable from Konoha's jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails.
If they just waited a few more years, for them to grow up, the Uchiha's position in Konoha would surely change. Clan head Fugaku had been using this to appease the radical faction—in the future, the fate of the Uchiha would be completely rewritten by the next generation.
But... those hawk faction clan members were unwilling to wait even that long.
When they learned that the clan head's daughter was so close to Konoha's "ultimate weapon," they hadn't felt relieved. Instead, they had secretly brewed an even more insane plan—since Satsuki can get close to the jinchuriki... why not use that?
Logically, the Konoha leadership would never allow an Uchiha clan member to get close to the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails. But now, Satsuki was able to interact closely with Naruto right under Konoha's nose. That being the case...
They just had to induce Satsuki to bring Naruto back to the Uchiha compound and then control the Nine-Tails with the Sharingan.
With the power of the Nine-Tails, the Uchiha's coup would be unstoppable. Why wait for a vague future? They could seize the position of Hokage now!
This idea was quietly spreading among the hawks.
The night wind moaned. Loose stones at the edge of the cliff shifted under Shisui's feet and tumbled into the dark abyss, their faint echoes returning after a long time.
Shisui Uchiha looked at Itachi with his remaining left eye—the girl who had followed him and trained with him since she was little was now able to stand on her own.
His gaze lingered on her face for a moment, a hint of an imperceptible reluctance in the depths of his eyes. But soon, that softness was replaced by resolve.
He slowly raised his hand, his fingertips touching his left eye.
"I can only... ask this of you."
Blood seeped from between his fingers, but he didn't even frown. With a very soft tearing sound, he removed his remaining Mangekyo Sharingan and held it out to Itachi.
"Protect the village, and the Uchiha's name. You must not... let them get close to the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails."
A sudden gust of wind swept up a few dead leaves. Just then, a pitch-black crow silently flew across the night sky and landed steadily on Itachi's shoulder—it was her summoning animal. The crow's blood-red eyes swiveled, quietly observing the blood-stained Mangekyo Sharingan in Shisui's palm, then it gently bent down and took it in its beak.
The next second, the crow's body suddenly disintegrated, turning into countless feathers that scattered in the night wind.
"I accept," her voice was so calm it was almost cold. "So then... what do you plan to do?"
Shisui didn't answer immediately but took two steps back.
His heels were now hanging over the edge of the cliff, loose stones crumbling and falling.
"If I die... perhaps it can buy some more time."
"I have to make it look like I've gone missing... the clan must not know that it was Danzo who attacked me."
The night wind whipped at his clothes. "Otherwise... even more clan members will support that insane plan."
Itachi's pupils suddenly contracted. What is he saying?
The mask of composure she had been wearing finally cracked, and panic flooded her eyes.
"Wait! Shisui—!"
She took a sharp step forward, reaching out to grab him.
"Don't stop me, Itachi!"
Shisui shouted. "Right now, because of the [JIN] organization's warning, the great nations don't dare to make any rash moves... The hawks know very well that even if they start a civil war, the other great nations won't take the opportunity to invade."
A bitter smile appeared on his lips. "So... if the coup happens now, it will be a war... with no worries."
The Uchiha's madness would be completely unrestrained.
The wind on the cliff's edge suddenly died down.
Shisui, with his scarred body, slowly took another step forward. His blood-stained fingers rose slightly and gently adjusted the braid at the back of Itachi's head—just as he had done countless times before.
"...And Danzo's men... the Aburame clan's poisonous insects are already inside my body."
"Even if I don't do this..." Shisui's voice grew weaker. "I'm already done for."
Under the moonlight, the young man with both eyes closed, blood continuously flowing from his empty eye sockets, suddenly smiled. That smile contained so many things—reluctance, nostalgia, attachment, but in the end, it all turned into acceptance.
Then, he fell backward.
Goodbye... Itachi.
"SHISUI!!!"
Itachi could no longer maintain her composure. She lunged towards the edge of the cliff, her fingers grasping at the empty air, only catching a few wisps of the night wind. A dull thump sounded from below, and the rushing stream instantly swallowed her dear friend's figure.
"Shisui..."
Itachi collapsed at the edge of the cliff, her hands gripping the rock. Her chest felt as if it had been torn apart, and an emotion heavier and darker than grief was growing wildly inside her.
"Ugh..."
She suddenly doubled over in pain, her hands covering her eyes. A warm liquid seeped from between her fingers—it wasn't tears, but blood. Bright red tears of blood rolled down her pale cheeks and dripped onto the rock.
When Itachi looked up again, her eyes had changed. The original three-tomoe Sharingan was gone, replaced by a complex pattern slowly rotating, shaped like a shuriken—the Mangekyo Sharingan.
On the cliff, only the howling wind and the girl's suppressed sobs remained.
The rushing stream, with its biting cold, washed over Shisui's broken body. His skin, from excessive blood loss, had turned a pale blue-white. Every weak breath brought up a froth of blood, which bloomed a faint red in the cold river water.
So this is... my end...
The darkness of having no eyes. The numbness of having no pain. Death was near, and his consciousness was like a candle in the wind, about to be extinguished at any moment.
Just as his consciousness was about to fade completely.
"Found you."
A strange voice suddenly pierced his eardrums. "The sacrificial lamb of idealism."
The moonlight pierced the water's surface, casting a distorted shadow in his blurred vision. Shisui's fading consciousness barely caught an outline.
...Who?
Above the stream, a figure in a fox mask was looking down at him. The current suddenly slowed, and Shisui felt a hand grab his collar, yanking him out of the water.
"Cough—!"
The cold air filled his lungs, making him cough violently, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The masked man held him with one hand, and with the other, he casually pressed it against his chest.
A strange chakra fluctuation spread out. Space began to twist, and the next moment, the two figures vanished from above the cold stream.
-------
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