At this time, in the Hokage Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at his old friend before him with an unprecedentedly cold gaze, filled with killing intent.
He was furious.
This time... his killing intent was even more intense than after Danzo's previous assassination attempt on him, nearly overflowing from his eyes.
Silence filled the Room.
"Who gave you permission to act on your own? Who is the Hokage here?"
"The Uchiha Clan harbors ill intentions. Even if they are stable for now, they will repeat their mistakes next time. I wanted to settle it once and for all, and besides..."
Danzo's expression was serious. "A jutsu like Kotoamatsukami should be in our hands!"
"And did you succeed?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were fierce. "I said before that we should let Shisui try once. Regardless of the outcome, Shisui could have been useful to me, but you..."
"Short-sighted, foolish, and overestimating yourself. To lose a genius who could have helped us for the sake of a mere eye—are you satisfied with the current result?"
He stared at his old friend, his eyes filled with anger and disappointment.
Danzo remained silent.
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke, "Uchiha Shisui is an Uchiha; he would never truly help us."
"Do not use the word 'we'!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his fist onto the desk with a loud bang.
"Even Shisui knew to ask for my instructions before acting, yet you took matters into your own hands without my prior consent. You didn't put me or the Village's interests first at all!"
"So? Are you going to kill me?"
But in the next moment, Danzo's tone softened slightly, carrying a hint of submission.
"Hiruzen, things have come to this. The priority now isn't who's right or wrong, but... the person who rescued Shisui, and how to handle the aftermath."
"What arrangements have you made?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
What's done is done; regret is useless.
Truth be told, he was also at fault—
From the start, he shouldn't have expected Danzo to help!
Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze was cold. "What jutsu did this person use?"
"I couldn't tell. It looked like Water Transformation Jutsu, but I can't rule out the possibility of a disguise using Water Release or Transformation Jutsu."
Danzo replied, "I don't believe the Hōzuki Clan could infiltrate this far!"
"Whoever it is, to rescue someone right under your nose, their strength cannot be underestimated."
Hiruzen Sarutobi relit his pipe, smoke obscuring his eyes. "Strengthen border security, send your people out as well, and find out the Hidden Mist Village's movements."
He paused for a moment, his voice low. "I will clean up the Uchiha mess; don't interfere this time."
Neither mentioned what to do with Shisui; it was all left unsaid... At the usual spot by the Naka River.
Itachi was still waiting.
This day, he felt somewhat uneasy. It was only after going out for a patrol that he noticed something was wrong:
The Anbu were moving frequently.
Danzo's subordinates had almost entirely vanished.
Finally, he knew—
Something had happened to Shisui!
But, perhaps he wasn't dead.
Itachi sat in place, waiting quietly, but even until late at night, Uchiha Shisui still hadn't appeared.
He'll definitely be fine!
Itachi convinced himself once again.
However, before long... he was met by a circling flock of crows.
Itachi sensed something was wrong and immediately used Body Flicker to head there.
Soon, in the center of the circling crows, he found a corpse stuck between some submerged rocks in the river.
The body was charred and mangled beyond recognition.
The eye sockets were hollow, the eyes gone. The scorched Ninja Vest was hard to identify, but... he still saw something familiar.
It was a Miniature Shuriken, hanging from a necklace around the chest.
Itachi seemed to see the past—
"Thank you for the gift. For your next birthday, I'll give you something good too."
Now, it was blackened by fire, the engraving covered in ash.
One could vaguely make out... "Shisui."
Shisui had come to keep his promise!
Only, it wasn't as he had imagined—confident and smiling—but in this tragic state, silently telling his story.
Those hollow eye sockets made Itachi's heart race.
He clutched his chest and felt a stinging pain in his eyes. A chaotic mix of emotions surged through his mind like a flood.
Itachi gripped the pendant with one hand and covered his eyes with the other, tears streaming through his fingers.
"Aaaah!!!"
The crows took flight in alarm but continued to circle the corpse, as if mourning their master's death alongside him.
Itachi released his hands. The tomoe in his eyes spun frantically, eventually forming a unique pattern.
The Mangekyo bloomed in despair!
...In the outskirts, Masahiko, having returned to his planned training route, sighed softly after receiving feedback from his Shadow Clone.
He had gone to great lengths to obtain that relatively fresh corpse.
He had even offered an extra tribute, hoping the deceased would forgive him for borrowing it without asking.
He wasn't sure if Itachi would awaken his eyes, but... this was the best way to handle it.
Masahiko sighed:
"I really am a villain!"
Right then, a notification sound rang in his ear.
Following that—
[naruto: prequel Episode 8 filming complete!]
[Editing...]
[Production successful!]
[Total screen time: 7 minutes 53 seconds
Screen time ratio: 35.8%]
[System Prompt: ...]
Masahiko wasn't surprised.
In "The Death of Shisui," although he did many things behind the scenes, it was unlikely they would be edited in.
At most, a few dark silhouettes befitting a villain might appear.
The part taking up the most space would likely be his conversation with Shisui; the rest would only be a few brief shots.
But.
He could assert that this episode's popularity would not be low!
"I just don't know if the conversation with Shisui will be edited in completely..."
Lines like those about Naruto's parentage—if they were really edited in, Kishimoto in the other world would have a real headache.
But... what does that have to do with him!
Masahiko chuckled, brushed off his sleeves, and resumed his run.
But after thinking it over, he gave up on that thought.
Cooperating with Shisui was undoubtedly more in line with his current interests, and... with a broken, betrayed, and cornered Shisui, it wouldn't be too hard to bring him under his wing by utilizing his information advantage.
The facts were as he expected.
Shisui agreed to cooperate, and he even vaguely hinted at Obito's existence.
Even if Obito were to seek out Shisui later, with Shisui's intelligence and way of thinking, he would surely link the other party to the Night of the Nine-Tails after prolonged contact.
So... as long as his true identity wasn't revealed, if Shisui wanted to defeat Danzo and protect the Uchiha, Masahiko's path was the only option.
Of course.
Current Masahiko had no plan to save the Uchiha; he was simply taking it one step at a time.
How could he get involved in the Uchiha chaos without exposing himself?
Masahiko thought for a bit and had an idea—
Establish another set of combat tactics entirely different from his current ones, so that others wouldn't be able to link his future self with his present self.
In addition.
His current Water Release abilities must not be directly exposed; they must be slowly "improved" and demonstrated.
Especially the Chakra compression technique and Wave Riding Strike.
These two... must absolutely not be used in the short term.
.....
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