Konoha Village.
The residence of Mitokado Homura, former Hokage Advisor.
At this moment, three infamous elders—once called the 'Three Admirals' of Konoha—sat together under one roof.
Shimura Danzo, former head of Root, now reduced to a fugitive plotting from the shadows.
Mitokado Homura, former Hokage advisor, whose reputation was infamously whitewashed in the Land of Lao, known mockingly as the "White Dragon."
Utatane Koharu, the former adviser, sarcastically hailed as "Aunt Chun" of Konoha, famed for her bizarre vanity despite her age, once adored by minor clans but now scorned.
Now, they shared bitter tea and remnants of former authority, the air thick with delusion and desperation.
Danzo sat at the head of the table, his expression calm, yet his mind stirred with suppressed excitement.
He felt it—last night's uproar across the village had shaken Uchiha Bai Ye.
He had heard Bai Ye's restrained fury echo through the Guard's secure line.
The plan had unfolded as intended. The next stage was clear: public pressure, discredit Bai Ye, break his influence.
The Uchiha compound was sealed. Panic and confusion had spread. The sight of Itachi slaughtering their kin still haunted the minds of many.
"As expected of you, Danzo. Ruthless and precise," Mitokado Homura praised, a faint hint of envy hidden beneath his admiration.
Utatane Koharu nodded with zeal, a loyal follower seeking a return to relevance.
These two, long abandoned after Tsunade rose to power three years ago, had been ousted from the political scene.
The Uchiha Guard had confiscated their ill-gotten wealth during routine anti-corruption raids. Stripped of status and coin, they had become irrelevant.
Minor clans once aligned to them now flocked to new power centers: the Guard, the Senju revival, and Bai Ye.
Face? Influence? It was all gone.
Now, Danzo's reappearance offered them a flicker of hope.
Surely, Bai Ye's forces would be thrown into disarray. The Uchiha clan's status tarnished, perhaps even dismantled.
To them, this was classic Danzo: soft words, hard fists.
"The next move should be to inform Sarutobi Hiruzen. He must rise again, if not for us, then for Konoha," Homura said solemnly, though bitterness still laced his tone.
He remembered how his own machinations—fueled by grief over his sons' deaths—had turned against Sarutobi. He'd manipulated Koharu into seducing the old man, hoping to trap him in scandal.
But Sarutobi's sins ran deeper than expected. The trial had exposed corruption, negligence, and cowardice. He hadn't just lost power; he'd lost his mind.
Danzo shook his head, solemnly sipping his tea.
"I visited Sarutobi before his sentencing. He was... not the man we knew. He couldn't recognize me. He mumbled nonsense and cried at shadows. Madness took him. He even ordered the execution of captured rebels from his own clan... It broke him."
He sighed.
"But the plan worked. Tsunade is destabilized. Once she falls, someone must take the mantle. And I... I will stand as Hokage."
Homura and Koharu nodded knowingly.
They had already been briefed: this was merely phase one.
The Uchiha downfall would be followed by targeted political disruptions across major clans.
When Konoha turned chaotic, Danzo would present himself as the last pillar of order—backed by the threat of Uchiha Madara, or at least his legacy, as a ghost of fear.
And even if this path failed…
Danzo's fingers brushed against the bandages covering his eye.
Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.
A weapon stolen in blood, a tool now perfected in secret.
Uchiha Shisui had offered it to him, albeit unwillingly—and now, Danzo wielded Kotoamatsukami, the most subtle and powerful genjutsu.
As the three elders toasted their twisted future, a sudden boom shattered the calm.
The reinforced door of Homura's estate blasted open.
Out in the street, villagers turned heads. Among them, Hyuga Hiashi and his daughter Hinata, enjoying a quiet walk, now stood frozen as the chaos unfolded.
From the dust and splinters emerged a boy—not tall, but with overwhelming presence.
"Sasuke," muttered Koharu, recognizing the youth.
Clad in modified Guard uniform, Uchiha Sasuke stepped in.
He raised a walkie-talkie and reported with calm detachment: "Target located. Danzo confirmed at Homura's residence."
The voice of Itachi responded: "One minute."
Unlike three years ago, Konoha's infrastructure had evolved. Thanks to Orochimaru's enforced technological push, the roads were wider, and the Guard was swift.
Civilians' sheep-powered carts had no place in this new order—the middle road belonged to the police motorcycles alone.
True enough, before anyone could react—
A flash of chakra-infused speed and the roar of a reinforced engine: Uchiha Itachi, vice-captain of Guard Team Three, arrived astride a sleek bike, flanked by Shisui, reborn.
Mitokado Homura's jaw dropped.
Danzo paled.
Sasuke tossed three pairs of handcuffs at their feet and said coolly, mimicking his idol, Brother Cong:
"Shimura Danzo, you are under arrest."
A beat of stunned silence.
"The old man was... arrested again?" Danzo muttered in disbelief.
"I was just released... and again?!"
Sasuke ignored him, gazing into the horizon.
Sure enough, Itachi and Shisui dismounted, handcuffs glinting in the sunlight.
Itachi's pair was etched with chakra-suppressing seals, built for high-risk targets.
"Danzo. Your crimes demand judgment," Itachi declared coldly.
Shisui, now bald and proudly mustached for reasons only he understood, dropped beside him.
"Death penalty's likely," he added, his Sharingan spinning.
Danzo's breath froze.
Shisui was alive.
Itachi had come himself.
Their plan… had utterly failed.
Danzo's eyes narrowed. He had one option left.
Kotoamatsukami.
He swiftly tore away his bandage, revealing Shisui's stolen eye. It glowed with suppressed power, spinning fast.
"I command you—obey me!"
The genjutsu fired.
Even with Mangekyō, the eye's influence was overwhelming. Itachi paused, his eyes dimmed.
A chilling silence.
Then, he stepped forward—and blocked Sasuke and Shisui.
"No way," Sasuke said with a dramatic sigh. "I told you. Nissan is hopeless. Let him lead the Uchiha, and we're done."
Shisui's face fell.
Barbecue was over. This was now an emergency.
Only one thing to do—override with his own eye.
The fate of Konoha had once again come down to a clash of two eyes… belonging to the same man.
Shisui stared at Itachi and muttered:
"It's always me who has to clean up."
And he began the counter-command.
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