After the sound of footsteps, Shisui's face changed slightly. He hurriedly said,
"It should be the clan's jōnin. If they find us, the plan to take the Sharingan will be ruined."
As he spoke, Shisui pressed a hidden switch and quickly led Naruto into a secret passage.
Once inside, Naruto looked around with interest.
"I didn't expect a secret tunnel here. Looks like you planned to steal Sharingan a long time ago, huh?"
"It was Grandpa Kagami who told me…"
Shisui started explaining, but then he thought of Shimura Danzō again, and his expression darkened.
If Uchiha Kagami and Danzō hadn't once been friends, he never would have believed that old bastard's nonsense, never would have walked straight into Root like an idiot… and fallen into a trap.
Naruto grinned.
"Yeah. Some things only become clear after you die once."
Shisui: "…"
Dark. Way too dark.
Just as he was about to reply, voices came from outside. He immediately shut up.
Naruto also perked up his ears, shamelessly eavesdropping like a bored house cat.
...
Not many Uchiha had gathered in the underground chamber of the Naka Shrine.
Besides the clan head Fugaku, there were both radical and conservative jōnin.
Of course, the so-called conservatives weren't against a coup.
They were just scared the coup would fail.
Big difference.
As for Shisui, the only one who truly wanted peaceful coexistence with the Hokage…
He had been missing for half a year.
Officially dead.
Looking at everyone present, Fugaku nodded.
"Since everyone is here, we'll begin discussing the attack on the Hokage Building. Speak freely. Let's form the most perfect plan possible."
"My idea is to stabilize the other departments first, then attack the Hokage Building."
"No, that spreads our forces too thin. We should strike directly. The other ninja won't dare resist us."
"I think—"
The jōnin argued back and forth.
Shisui's face grew heavier.
Not because of the coup itself.
But because no matter how perfect their plan sounded…
The strength gap was hopeless.
It was like a bunch of cats planning to rob a tiger.
Naruto also frowned, feeling disappointed.
So this was the famous Uchiha master plan?
Their strategy was to deliberately release prisoners, let them distract the ANBU and village defenses, then storm the Hokage Building and capture the Third Hokage in a decapitation strike.
On paper, it sounded great.
In reality?
Pure suicide.
Forget the Third Hokage himself — behind him stood the Sarutobi, Shimura, and half the damn village.
Then Naruto suddenly heard his own name.
To increase their chances, they planned to capture him in advance, use the Nine-Tails' power…
And even send Sasuke to get close to him to improve "favorability."
Naruto: "…"
He nearly laughed.
So now he was some kind of collectible tailed-beast Pokémon?
Feeling bored, Naruto yawned and started reviewing his Fire Release memories instead.
Way more productive than listening to this nonsense.
About an hour later, the jōnin meeting finally ended.
Footsteps gradually faded as Fugaku and the others left.
After confirming they were gone, Naruto and Shisui stepped out of the secret passage.
Shisui's face was clouded.
Naruto deliberately poked him.
"So? What do you think of their genius coup plan? Maybe we'll get a Fifth Hokage early… assuming they can kill the Third first."
Shisui stayed silent.
He walked to the altar and carefully placed the Sharingan into special containers.
After packing everything away, he said quietly,
"You're right. If the clan continues like this, we'll only destroy ourselves. The only way out is to leave Konoha with everyone."
"These Sharingan shouldn't be wasted on a pointless coup. They should help us survive."
Naruto smiled faintly.
"So what now? Secretly contact your best friend? Or talk to the moderates and try convincing them nicely?"
Shisui's eyes hardened.
"The gentle Shisui is dead."
"Only the ruthless Shisui remains."
"Since we're all Uchiha… we'll talk with our fists."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
Ah.
So diplomacy had officially been replaced with beating people until they agreed.
Very Uchiha. Very efficient.
After packing the Sharingan, they prepared to leave the Naka Shrine.
Before going, Naruto stopped in front of the stone tablet that recorded the clan's secrets.
He stared at it for a while.
"Shisui… has the bottom part of this tablet always been blank?"
Shisui nodded.
"Yeah. The last section is empty. Seems like it was never finished."
Naruto sighed.
"What a waste. I really wanted spoilers. What if there's some world-shaking secret down there?"
Then he smirked.
"Though the stuff above is already insane. 'Kill the one you love to awaken the Mangekyō'? Damn, you Uchiha are brutal. Did nobody ever try staging an accident just to farm eyes?"
Shisui shook his head.
"Some tried. All failed."
"Anyone who awakens it that way wouldn't care about the clan anyway."
He was honestly afraid Naruto might get some crazy idea and try mass-producing Mangekyō like limited-edition trading cards.
That would turn into a full-blown family massacre real fast.
...
After Naruto and Shisui left, someone quietly returned to the underground chamber.
It was none other than the Uchiha clan head, Fugaku.
He glanced at the stone tablet at the entrance, narrowed his eyes, then walked toward the Sharingan storage room.
Looking at the containers, he fell into thought.
As clan head, he knew many forbidden Uchiha techniques.
Izanagi.
Izanami.
Seals that transferred dōjutsu power.
All of them came with a terrible price — permanent blindness.
Only a handful of people were allowed to know them.
He hesitated.
Should he teach these techniques to the clan's jōnin?
It would increase their coup success rate…
But once forbidden techniques spread, things could spiral out of control.
While thinking, he casually opened a container.
Empty.
He froze.
Opened another.
Also empty.
Fugaku's eyes widened.
The Sharingan… were gone.
His gaze swept the room sharply. No one.
Only a few people even knew this place existed.
Besides himself, only several retired elders.
So who took them?
An insider?
Or an outsider sneaking into the Naka Shrine?
But why steal Sharingan?
For non-Uchiha, these eyes were more burden than weapon.
Unless…
They knew the forbidden techniques.
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