At the same time—
Danzo, stationed near the Uchiha district, was still waiting for Shisui's Sharingan.
But instead of receiving the eye, he was met by a member of the Hokage-led Anbu.
Hatake Kakashi.
"Kakashi?"
The moment he saw him, a flicker of surprise passed through Danzo's eyes.
Kakashi had only found Danzo thanks to Hiruzen's Telescope Technique. As Danzo's longtime friend, Hiruzen was extremely familiar with his chakra signature. Just a brief observation through the Telescope Technique was enough to pinpoint his location.
"Lord Danzo," Kakashi said in his usual calm tone. "The Third Hokage has something important to discuss with you. It concerns Shisui."
Although Danzo's killing of Shisui had caught Hiruzen off guard, considering Konoha's current situation, he didn't want the incident to spiral out of control. This was his way of subtly warning Danzo.
And the moment Danzo heard Shisui's name, he understood instantly.
"Hiruzen, that old fool…"
If Hiruzen had sent Kakashi to find him and mentioned Shisui, it clearly meant he already knew about the eye theft.
On top of that, the Root ninja Danzo had dispatched hadn't returned. Things were clearly beginning to spiral out of control.
Still, Danzo felt no fear.
Everything he had done, he believed, was for the good of the village.
His conscience was clear—he had nothing to fear.
With that, Danzo and Kakashi disappeared from the scene and headed toward the Hokage Building.
After sprinting for more than ten minutes, the two arrived at their destination.
However, Kakashi didn't take Danzo directly to the Hokage's office. Instead, he brought him to another room.
"Please wait here, Lord Danzo. I'll inform the Hokage," Kakashi said coldly.
Seeing this, Danzo casually sat down in a chair, allowing Kakashi to leave without complaint.
For a few minutes, the room remained completely silent.
Then, the door opened.
Hiruzen, now dressed in his Hokage robes, entered the room alone and instructed the Anbu behind him to guard the area—no one else was to come close.
"Danzo," Hiruzen greeted with a stern tone.
"Old friend," Danzo replied.
Hiruzen's face was grim, his voice sharp with restrained anger.
He couldn't believe Danzo had gone so far as to target Shisui.
"What you did this time went too far," Hiruzen said, voice low and fists clenched.
Anyone could see the anger written plainly on his face.
"Too far?" Danzo smirked slightly. "Everything I did was for the village."
"Fugaku, Shisui, Itachi… and now that Kaze boy who's been making waves. The Uchiha clan has far too many prodigies."
"If they were ever to join forces and attempt a coup, the consequences would be unimaginable."
Sitting confidently, Danzo met Hiruzen's gaze without a trace of regret.
"I know what you're going to say, Hiruzen."
"You're going to say Shisui inherited Kagami's will, that he carried the Will of Fire in his heart."
Danzo's tone remained firm.
"But he didn't even fully report the existence of Susanoo to us."
"If Shisui ever stopped being loyal, if he sided with Fugaku…"
"The very foundations of Konoha would be shaken."
"As the Root of this village, I will never allow that to happen!"
Danzo's words rang out loud and clear.
Danzo's words weren't an attempt to justify himself—they reflected his genuine belief that the power of the Uchiha clan needed to be limited.
It needed to be restrained.
In fact, Danzo even felt…If Shisui truly cared about the bigger picture, he should have supported him.He should have willingly offered his Mangekyō Sharingan to Danzo.
"That's your reason for killing Shisui?"
Hiruzen hadn't expected Danzo to sound so righteous, yet he still couldn't agree with his actions.
But those words caused a flicker of surprise on Danzo's face.
Shisui…Was dead?
Danzo had indeed instructed the Root agents he sent out to retrieve Shisui's left eye at any cost, but hearing that Shisui had actually died still caught him off guard.
In truth, Danzo hadn't originally intended to kill Shisui.
If Shisui had willingly offered his Mangekyō, Danzo would've even considered giving him a new pair of Sharingan.After all, he had some spares.
"You even took both of his eyes," Hiruzen continued.
"Both eyes?" Danzo instinctively furrowed his brows.
Hiruzen had said both eyes—not just the right one.
Which meant…
The Root agents he sent must have succeeded.
Thinking it over, it made sense. If Shisui was dead, then of course his left eye would have ended up in Root's hands.
And at the same time, Danzo realized—
The reason those agents never returned was because Hiruzen had them detained!
"That's right," Danzo nodded, now choosing to be straightforward. "Hiruzen, we've known each other for years. You know what kind of person I am."
"A power like Susanoo should be in our hands."
"With that kind of strength, not only can we suppress the Uchiha clan, we can even unify the entire shinobi world!"
"Hiruzen!"
Danzo's voice rose with conviction as he stood abruptly from his chair. "If you understood the full picture, you would hand Shisui's left eye over to me!"
As he spoke, he extended a hand toward Hiruzen, expecting him to give it up.
"That power must never return to the Uchiha."
Hiruzen: "???"
Danzo's statement left Hiruzen dumbfounded, a black line appearing on his forehead as a series of question marks seemed to float above his head.
What did he mean, "hand over the left eye"?
Wasn't the left eye already in Danzo's possession?
Wasn't he the one who killed Shisui and took both eyes?
"What are you talking about?"
In that moment, Hiruzen felt something wasn't right. "You mean… Shisui's left eye isn't with you?"
"Huh?"
Danzo was stunned, but quickly understood—
His loyal subordinates must not have told Hiruzen everything, which led him to believe both eyes were with Danzo.
"Shisui's eye is with the agents you captured," Danzo said after thinking it over. He decided to come clean—after all, he believed he had done nothing wrong.
But the moment those words left his mouth, Hiruzen's expression changed drastically.
Fugaku had already arrived at the Hokage Building and reported everything that had happened near the Uchiha compound in full detail.
Including the fact that those Root ninja had committed suicide.
And most importantly—Fugaku had emphasized multiple times that both of Shisui's eyes had been removed.
But now, one eye was mysteriously missing.
"I'll ask you again," Hiruzen said coldly. "You only have Shisui's right eye?"
"You don't have his left eye?"
(T/N: Well, Well, Well, The plot is getting twisted I see. Anyway hope you all enjoyed this chapter.)