After leaving the Forest of Death, Shisui returned to Konohagakure.
Standing atop the Hokage Rock, overlooking the peaceful and serene village below, he felt a wave of emotion rise in his heart.
Once, he had believed that the village was everything—that life outside of it would be impossible.
But after being betrayed by the village and having "died" once, he now saw the Hidden Leaf as small and narrow. It was he who had limited his thinking to this single village, unwilling to step beyond it.
No matter how powerful Kotoamatsukami was, it was still a technique born of his own eyes, and ultimately constrained by the limits of his own perspective.
Letting out a light sigh, Shisui donned a long cloak to conceal his identity and put on a crow-shaped mask. Before he met with Uchiha Itachi, he had no intention of revealing who he truly was.
Having lost his Mangekyō Sharingan, he was still stronger than most jonin, but only marginally so.
With just a Three Tomoe Sharingan, his ocular power could barely sustain genjutsu; awakening Susanoo was a pipe dream, and casting Izanagi would exact too steep a price. He didn't want to waste the eyes of the clan's ancestors.
After entering the Uchiha compound, Shisui used a transformation jutsu to disguise himself as an ordinary Uchiha chunin, and made his way toward the police headquarters.
Before meeting with Itachi, he had another priority—to root out the spy hidden within the clan. Without a mole, there was no way Danzo could have such a precise understanding of internal Uchiha affairs.
After all, Shisui had only ever informed the Hokage about the coup.
But judging from Danzo's reaction at the time, it was clear he wasn't concerned about the coup at all. He had attacked Shisui without hesitation.
If Shisui wanted to lead his clan in fleeing the village, he would first have to eliminate the traitor. And he already had a good idea of who that person was.
Inside the police headquarters, Shisui greeted his fellow clansmen with a smile. His disguised identity was well-liked within the clan, and for someone not skilled in social interaction, this was a new and unfamiliar experience.
Soon after, a squad captain pulled him into a street patrol, and Shisui worked as a police officer for the better part of the day.
One of his teammates even gave him a demonstration of "violent enforcement." After resolving a conflict between villagers, the teammate grumbled, "It's so tiring to keep a stern face all the time. Can't these villagers behave for once?"
Shisui asked curiously, "Aren't we strict with them because we need to vent our frustrations?"
The other Uchiha gave him a look and replied, "That's part of it, sure—but mostly it's because this approach works best. It actually reduces the crime rate. Otherwise, who would want to get into fights while risking price hikes at the vegetable stand?"
Shisui fell silent. It seemed he had misunderstood his clan all along.
The other Uchiha continued, "Still, compared to the civilian ninja out there risking their lives on missions, the police force isn't too bad. People might resent us, but it's relatively safe."
"Since life's not so bad, why does the clan still want to stage a coup?"
At those words, the chunin's expression shifted slightly. "Because it's unfair. Why do the Sarutobi, Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans get the better departments, while we're stuck with the police force?"
"During the last Great Ninja War, we were the ones who—along with the Hyuga—stopped the Mist Village's invasion."
"After the Fourth Hokage died, we've been targeted ever since. Just because the Nine-Tails broke free? Sure, the Sharingan can control the Nine-Tails, but who in our clan actually can do that? And the order to confine the police force to the clan district—that came from the village leadership. Why should that be our fault?"
As he spoke, the Uchiha chunin became agitated, even activating his Sharingan. Shisui calmly placed a hand on his shoulder, and he slowly settled down.
After a brief rest, Shisui spoke earnestly: "If that's how you feel, have you ever thought about leaving the village? If the village has betrayed the Uchiha, then the Uchiha have no reason to stay."
The chunin looked at him and shook his head. "Leave? Even if the village would allow it—which they won't—the clan elders would never agree. They want a coup. They want to take over and make one of us Hokage."
Shisui said firmly, "And it's because they want a coup that we need to leave. We don't need to be buried along with their ambitions. I'm sure there are others in the clan, besides you, who don't want any part of this."
The chunin gave Shisui a suspicious look. But then, seeing his Sharingan, he relaxed. "When did you awaken the Three Tomoe Sharingan, Riho?"
"Just recently," Shisui replied casually. "I realized that staying in the Leaf has no real meaning for us anymore. All our past glory amounts to nothing now. It's better to think about how we'll survive in this power struggle."
The chunin hesitated. He wasn't the only one in the clan being swept up in this tide of ambition.
But the Uchiha bloodline, which became more extreme as the Sharingan evolved, left little room for the voices of ordinary members.
After a moment's pause, he said reluctantly, "I don't want to be part of the coup—but can we really hide our plans from both the village and the clan?"
"That's why we need more people," Shisui explained patiently. "We need to prepare in advance."
Still, the chunin seemed unsure. Seeing this, Shisui said gently, "Don't worry. There are plenty of jonin who think like I do. And you can trust in my strength."
As he spoke, Shisui activated his Sharingan and cast a genjutsu, silently bringing the chunin under his control.
When the illusion ended, the chunin looked up, panting. His eyes were filled with hope as he gazed at Shisui. With ocular power like his, Shisui would surely have a voice at the clan assembly. Maybe—just maybe—he could change the clan's future.
Shisui, too, was deeply affected.
This chunin, who had always been a hardliner at clan meetings, had harbored thoughts of escape all along. Compared to the jonin, it was the chunin and genin who made up the majority of the clan.
Maybe… most Uchiha didn't actually want a coup. Maybe they just used the clan meetings as a place to vent.
Over the next few weeks, Shisui continued working as a regular member of the police force. In his spare time, he quietly gathered intel—trying to understand what the Uchiha truly thought and wanted.
Soon, his probing revealed a clear pattern: most of the clan wanted peace. A plan began to take shape in Shisui's mind.
As for the traitor hidden within the clan—he had already found him.
It was a chunin responsible for logistics. Interestingly, two different ninja would take turns impersonating this individual, so that even when reporting to Danzo, they wouldn't raise suspicion.
When he captured them, had he not used genjutsu immediately, they might have escaped.
As for how Danzo would react to the mole's disappearance, Shisui didn't give it much thought. The Uchiha and the village leadership were already in open opposition—no one would bother questioning it.
And so, Shisui quietly gathered a faction of "escape-minded" Uchiha, forming a significant but invisible presence within the clan.
As for meeting with Itachi, he had indefinitely postponed it.
Partly because he hadn't figured out how to explain his disappearance.
But also to test Itachi.
If Itachi was sharp enough, he should have sensed the shifts within the clan. Yet, he seemed to pay no attention to the common people—only to the radical leaders.
Just like Shisui had once done—prideful and shortsighted.
In addition, Shisui discovered that while Itachi was active, a mysterious masked man had also been spotted within the Uchiha district.
Judging from his space-time abilities, this wasn't the same fringe ninja who had saved Shisui earlier. This was someone else entirely, with an unknown agenda for approaching Itachi.
With all these variables at play, Shisui gave up on contacting Itachi for now.
He no longer had the Mangekyō Sharingan, nor the power he once wielded. Every step he took had to be carefully calculated.
(End of Chapter)
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