Time entered Konoha Year 58.
Late April, night.
Makoto, who had been training inside the dōjō, opened his eyes and temporarily released the protective barrier outside.
A little while later, a beautiful small white snake slipped into his bedroom.
The white snake was very pretty. Its scales were like white porcelain, and its cold vertical pupils shone with lively intelligence.
After seeing Makoto, the white snake opened its mouth wide and spat out a scroll. Then curiosity appeared in its eyes, as if it wanted to see how Makoto would take it.
The scroll was covered in a layer of wet, sticky fluid.
Orochimaru had done it on purpose. He knew perfectly well that Makoto disliked this kind of thing, yet he insisted on doing it anyway.
Makoto crooked a finger, and the scroll floated by itself in front of him. A gust of scorching air blew over it, drying the mucus instantly. Then the scroll unfurled on its own, revealing the contents inside.
The little white snake failed to achieve its goal and looked somewhat disappointed.
All that could be said was that Orochimaru did not understand the current Makoto.
These days, if Makoto wanted to do something, he did not need to move his hands. A single thought was enough.
Beckoning, lifting a finger, or clapping both hands together were all just for the sense of ceremony.
Everything served style.
Makoto had always kept in contact with Orochimaru. The other party was his outside informant. There was no helping it; that snake was also very interested in his training system and regarded it as a backup path for himself.
More importantly, if Orochimaru died at someone else's hands, there was still a chance he could revive. But if he died at Makoto's hands, then he would truly be dead. Even his soul would be crushed into dregs.
The intelligence in the scroll was quite interesting.
Orochimaru had obtained an experimental subject who rejected almost no bloodline or organ transplant. Using that subject, he had cultivated a Wood Release arm for Danzō.
Danzō and the legendary Uchiha Madara had also struck some kind of deal. Somehow, the other party had actually taken out several three-tomoe Sharingan to suppress the overly violent Wood Release cells in the arm.
Only a few minor adjustments remained. The related experiment was expected to be completed by the end of May.
Of course, in the scroll, Orochimaru also stated that he did not believe that person was truly Uchiha Madara, and that he was secretly investigating the man's real identity.
The remaining contents said that Orochimaru had accidentally discovered that the legendary Rinnegan was actually an advancement of the Sharingan. At present, he was searching ancient records all over the world, trying to explore the connection between the two dōjutsu.
After Makoto finished reading, he waved casually. The scroll shot out the window, and as it flew, a flash of pale-purple high-temperature air instantly carbonized it into ash. It fell into the forest and became fertilizer.
His use of chakra natures was smooth and effortless, fully under his control.
That mass of superheated air was similar to Sunagakure's Scorch Release, but the color was different, and the temperature was higher.
"I've received the intelligence. You can go back. Once Orochimaru finishes the Wood Release arm, notify me again."
Hearing this, the little white snake nodded its head in a very human-like manner, ended the summoning, and disappeared.
Makoto's contact with the other party was never written down on paper. He did not care about leaving evidence, but fewer problems were always better.
From Orochimaru's intelligence, it could be seen that Danzō still had not given up on his dream of becoming Hokage.
What a persistent old man.
It was almost a shame he did not go on Ninja's Got Talent and sell his tragic backstory.
For Hiruzen's sake, he and Minato had originally not planned to pursue the things Danzō had done in the past. But if Danzō insisted on seeking death, then there was nothing to be done.
Also, ever since Orochimaru failed to invite Makoto to raid the Rinnegan dungeon last time, he had indeed encountered the true owner of the Rinnegan the following year.
Then Orochimaru charged in and nearly got a game over.
After that, he joined the Akatsuki, becoming one of the nail-polish squad's members and also its head of biological research.
Makoto felt that Orochimaru's so-called accidental discovery of the relationship between the Rinnegan and the Sharingan might not have been an accident at all. It was probably the result of Black Zetsu secretly guiding him.
Over the past thousand-plus years, that most filial of sons, Black Zetsu, had likely failed countless times in his efforts to retrieve his mother.
This time was the closest he had ever come to success, but perhaps he had also prepared for failure.
Orochimaru might be the fallback he had reserved for that failure, to be used later if needed.
Makoto believed Black Zetsu had probably done this sort of thing many times throughout history.
It was just that the shinobi world had begun entering the technological age, and Black Zetsu might also have seen the potential of biotechnology and decided to pay more attention to it.
...
Time, late June.
Deep night.
Uchiha Sōsuke quietly left home and departed the village from the edge of Konoha.
Itachi, who had been monitoring him in secret, followed him outside the village and immediately dispelled his shadow clone.
The main body resting at home received the news, got up, and went to inform Shisui.
Itachi had joined the ANBU at the beginning of last year, when he was eleven.
However, unlike the original timeline, Minato was the Hokage in this world, so naturally he would not install the new technological devices that had appeared in recent years—surveillance cameras—inside and outside the Uchiha compound.
Itachi also did not become a double agent.
Instead of being assigned to monitor his own clan, he served under Kakashi, carrying out missions no different from the rest of the ANBU.
At present, he was the most highly regarded junior within the Fourth Hokage's ANBU—bar none.
As for monitoring the hawkish faction within the clan, that had been his and Shisui's idea. The two of them took turns using shadow clones to keep watch, preventing the other side from causing any trouble inside Konoha.
At Shisui's home, Itachi said, "Just now, Sōsuke-senpai left the village alone and headed due east. He's probably going to meet someone."
Shisui had already finished equipping himself at high speed. "Got it. Thanks for your hard work, Itachi. Leave the rest to me."
"Shisui-nii, I'll go with you."
"No need. I can handle it alone. Just wait here for me."
There was absolute confidence in Shisui's voice.
It was the confidence brought by the Mangekyō, and at the same time, it gave him a trace of pride that even he himself had not noticed.
Itachi did not object. He knew that after awakening the Mangekyō, Shisui's strength had undergone a qualitative leap—far beyond what he could match.
However, after waiting for a while, he still felt a faint unease in his heart. So he decided to head to the back-mountain dōjō and inform Makoto of the matter.
...
Outside Konoha, Shisui easily caught up to Sōsuke and quietly followed behind him.
After both of them advanced at full speed for a while, Sōsuke reached the location and met with a familiar figure.
"It's Danzō."
Shisui's heart jolted. 'Makoto was right… they really are working together.'
He remained calm on the surface, quietly concealing himself in a nearby patch of grass, intending to eavesdrop on their conversation.
The night was clear, and the moonlight was bright enough.
The two spoke in very low voices. Although Shisui could not hear what they were saying, the extraordinary vision granted by the Mangekyō allowed him to read their lips.
Lip-reading was a basic skill for an excellent ninja.
From their exchange, Shisui realized that Sōsuke did not seem to trust Danzō, demanding that he first show sincerity through action.
Action? What action? Were they really planning something harmful to Konoha?
Even now, Shisui could not understand it. Was the Uchiha's current situation truly that bad? Why would Sōsuke-senpai, for the sake of his so-called clan, rather cooperate with the detestable Danzō and destroy the hard-won peace of Konoha?
At that moment, a faint pat sound came from beside him.
He lowered his head and saw that it was a toad that had jumped out of the grass—and then remained motionless.
Something was wrong.
Shisui's heart skipped a beat.
The toad was dead. Poisoned.
The air in this area was toxic.
He had fallen into a trap.
Immediately afterward, he felt it become difficult to mobilize the chakra throughout his body, as if its flow had been restricted.
Danzō: "Oh? You noticed?"
Before Shisui could retreat, Danzō and Sōsuke appeared in front of him, along with two other Root shinobi.
After the four of them surrounded him, they immediately launched their attack, unleashing a barrage of kunai straight at him.
From all directions—no way to dodge.
At the same time, Danzō and the others closed in with their weapons, following up with the next wave of attacks.
Shisui gritted his teeth and activated the second form of Susanoo to shield himself. Then, with a swing of its green left arm, he knocked Sōsuke and the two Root shinobi away.
He himself leapt in front of Danzō, and the spiral blade carried by Susanoo's right hand thrust forward like lightning, piercing the old man clean through before he could evade.
"Makoto was right. Someone like you doesn't understand how to value the mercy of the Third and Fourth Hokage. So today, you'll die here."
"Oh? Is that so? Then what about you? How much longer can you last under this specially formulated poison?"
Danzō's expression did not change, as if the one who had just been impaled was not him at all.
Shisui responded by coughing up a large mouthful of foul, black blood. His body dropped to one knee as Susanoo was interrupted and dissipated, exposing him.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I can kill you, it's worth it."
"Then I'm afraid that won't be possible."
After saying that, the Danzō lying on the ground closed his eyes—but then his corpse vanished in a bizarre manner.
"Damn it!"
Shisui's heart jolted. He twisted his head desperately to dodge, but he still felt a piercing pain in his right eye.
"Got it!"
Danzō gripped Shisui's right eyeball and hurriedly shoved it into his own eye socket.
He was ecstatic.
This was the legendary Mangekyō.
"Izanagi? Sōsuke-senpai, you even handed over the clan's ultimate dōjutsu… is this what you call Uchiha pride?"
Sōsuke: "…"
Not me. I didn't. Don't pin this on me.
How would I know this old bastard knew Izanagi? Who knows where he learned it?
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---