Chapter 156: Since Peaceful Coexistence Is Impossible, Let Us Flip the Table
Shisui's expression wavered, just for a moment, and Kenichi actually froze when he noticed it.
He had not expected Shisui to be swayed.
So talk no jutsu really was useful sometimes.
If you understood someone's background and what they truly wanted, words could be sharper than kunai.
Shisui's greatest dream was to find a way for Konoha and the Uchiha to live in harmony. For that, he was even willing to cooperate with Danzo and leak information about his own clan.
His intentions might have been good, but the outcome was cruel. He would lose his eyes, die, and still fail to stop the widening rift between the village and the Uchiha.
In the end, the Uchiha were wiped out, or rather, almost wiped out. Only Sasuke remained, and one person could hardly be called a clan.
Unless Sasuke turned into a womanizer who ran around having children everywhere, it would be extremely difficult for the Uchiha to ever become a true clan again.
Once Sasuke died without leaving any bloodline, the Uchiha would be completely gone.
"You're not stupid, are you?" Kenichi pressed while the opening was there. "Can't you see what state the Uchiha are in right now?"
He already had the captured Uchiha bound together. If he wanted, he could package them up and haul them away immediately.
More importantly, the battle inside the Uchiha district was growing more violent by the second. Kenichi knew he had to leave fast, or he would be surrounded again by Konoha's ANBU and Root.
Retreating was not hard for him.
Losing these readily available supplies, however, would be annoying.
"So what do you plan to do?" Shisui asked.
He clearly thought the stranger claiming to be the Uchiha's ancestor was trying to trick him, yet he still could not stop himself from asking.
Shisui had seen the rift with his own eyes. He had tried to change it, but it was too difficult. Without someone powerful speaking for the clan, nothing would shift.
And inside the clan, there were indeed arrogant people who damaged the Uchiha's reputation. Their existence stained everyone.
Sometimes, Shisui heard villagers cursing them as red eyed black dogs, saying it would be better if all of them died. Every time, it left him hollow.
That was why his early enthusiasm had faded into exhaustion. He understood how low the chances were.
Even so, Danzo's bait still made him move.
"It's simple," Kenichi said, shrugging. "Leave Konoha."
In truth, Kenichi could think of an even better method. He could have Shisui use Kotoamatsukami to change Danzo and the Third Hokage's minds.
If those two changed, the Uchiha problem would shift from an urgent crisis to a persistent nuisance. Still troublesome, but no longer immediate, giving room for gradual correction.
But what benefit would that bring Kenichi?
If Konoha and the Uchiha truly reconciled and the clan genuinely fixed its internal problems, it would be good for both sides.
The Uchiha would become true members of the village. An Uchiha Hokage might even appear one day. Konoha would remove a destabilizing factor and gain tremendous fighting power.
None of that helped Kenichi.
He had already defected. Returning was impossible.
Konoha growing stronger would only interfere with his future plans.
So for Kenichi, the best outcome was persuading Shisui to leave Konoha.
If he could take a large number of Uchiha with him, even better.
Konoha would not sit still. If war broke out, he could collect supplies by the cartload.
There was even a perfect ending. Some Uchiha might follow Shisui out, giving Kenichi a large workforce and letting him treat the opposition as resources.
And with Shisui as a powerful fighter, Kenichi was genuinely curious what would happen if Shisui used Kotoamatsukami on Black Zetsu and rewrote his will.
"Leave Konoha…" Shisui hesitated.
He had never truly considered it. His dream was coexistence, not exile.
"If you really want to talk, we can talk outside," Kenichi said, impatience rising. "Do you think this is an anime where time stops when someone starts a speech? It doesn't."
His shadow clones were about to be destroyed. If he dragged this out any longer, he would have to abandon the supplies he had worked so hard to seize.
So Kenichi acted.
He dragged the captives with him and leapt out of Konoha.
At the same time, he used Sage Mode and blasted open Konoha's defensive barrier.
To his surprise, the barrier was far stronger than before. It took several attempts before he finally broke through.
"It seems we really can't underestimate the foundation of the number one village," Kenichi muttered with a sigh. "At this rate, their barrier is going to evolve into something ridiculous. An arms race, huh?"
The moment he cleared Konoha, he sensed someone pursuing him.
Shisui.
Kenichi's lips curved.
Shisui catching up meant the fish had bitten.
For Shisui, that wish had become a demon in his heart, the thing he cared about more than anything. In battle, you could build a special genjutsu around that desire and show him a perfect dream where the village and the clan lived in harmony, or a nightmare where the village slaughtered his family, and either one could shake him.
"You say you're a senior of the Uchiha," Shisui said as he followed behind, "so why do you only have three tomoe?"
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
That was an excellent question.
It was basically, Senior, why are you so weak?
He answered without hesitation, as if he had prepared it long ago.
"Don't you know what it takes to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?" Kenichi said calmly. "I refuse to gain those eyes through tragedy. I don't want to witness that kind of evil."
Shisui's doubts eased slightly.
Someone who could speak so directly about the Mangekyo likely knew what it was.
Still, Shisui could not help touching his eyes. The very act of awakening the Mangekyo made him uneasy. No wonder people said the Uchiha's eyes were cursed.
"Senior," Shisui said slowly, "do you have any other methods?"
He had caught the hidden meaning. Kenichi's words implied there might be other ways to obtain the Mangekyo.
"I have ideas," Kenichi admitted. "But we still need experiments."
He glanced at Shisui.
From what he had seen earlier, Shisui had indeed awakened the Mangekyo. He simply kept it hidden, maintaining three tomoe in public.
That made Shisui dangerous.
If Shisui insisted on becoming his enemy, dealing with him would not be easy at all. If Danzo had not used underhanded methods, Danzo would never have been qualified to beat Shisui.
It made Kenichi think.
How many powerful shinobi in this world died because someone else played dirty?
"An experiment…" Shisui frowned, then looked at the captured Uchiha and fell silent.
Did these experiments require using his own clansmen?
"Is there danger to my life?" Shisui asked, and even he seemed to think the question sounded foolish the moment it left his mouth.
"Yes," Kenichi replied without hesitation. "But if it succeeds, the Sharingan will no longer be a cursed eye."
There was no point hiding that. Better to say it cleanly and wear the honesty like armor.
As expected, Shisui's emotions grew even more complicated.
Kenichi kept moving, and before long, he reached a place that felt strangely familiar.
The Valley of the End.
He glanced at the towering statues of Hashirama and Madara, hands locked in the Reconciliation Seal, and a strange nostalgia rose in his chest.
This place had witnessed too many unforgettable moments. It had seen bloodlines reconcile, and it had seen two shinobi emerge who surpassed those who came before.
Kenichi stopped and turned to Shisui.
"What's your decision?" he asked. "Let me be clear. It's impossible to expect Konoha and the clan to reconcile."
They were far enough from Konoha now that using a hot air balloon would not be an issue. Kenichi already had the tools for it sealed inside a scroll. He could pull them out at any time.
Shisui's face tightened.
"Really not?" he asked quietly, forcing himself to look up.
"No," Kenichi said, cutting through the hope without mercy. "The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, is Tobirama Senju's disciple. He inherited Tobirama's hostility toward the Uchiha. It's impossible for the clan to be entrusted with real authority under him. Danzo was also Tobirama's student."
Shisui fell silent again.
His head lowered. His thoughts churned.
Kenichi did not interrupt him.
When a man goes silent, struggles internally, then finally raises his head again, it means a decision has been made, one that can change his entire life.
"If we leave Konoha," Shisui asked at last, "where do we go?"
Kenichi smiled faintly, the roar of the waterfall echoing around them.
"To establish a new village," he said. "A new shinobi village."
Shisui's eyes widened slightly, as if a piece of the puzzle finally clicked into place.
It was exactly what he had expected.
If they joined another village, the outcome might not be better than Konoha. As outsiders, they would face hostility and division. Building a new village avoided that trap.
The question was where to build it, and how to avoid Konoha discovering it.
"Will you join me?" Kenichi asked, extending his hand. "Let's build a new shinobi village and establish a new order in the shinobi world."
Shisui stared at the hand.
A new order.
The man in front of him was clearly not satisfied with a quiet life.
Shisui did not know if the decision was right.
But it had to be better than staying in Konoha.
"Hm."
Shisui reached out and clasped Kenichi's hand.
Kenichi smiled.
Talk no jutsu really was effective.
"Then go back first," Kenichi said seriously. "Win over the clansmen you think will join us. Be careful. Do not expose our purpose."
Shisui was still technically pursuing an intruder. If he did not return, he would become a rogue ninja. And if he became a rogue, how would he bring the Uchiha over?
So Shisui had to return to Konoha, rally supporters, and build their strength as much as possible.
As for the stubborn hardliners, there was no need to win them over.
The new village and the new order had no tickets for those people.
"And one more thing," Kenichi added, voice sharp. "Be careful of Danzo. That old man has no good intentions toward the Uchiha. Do not let him see your eyes."
Shisui paused.
He had always kept his Sharingan at three tomoe and never exposed the Mangekyo. No one else knew.
Yet this man knew.
That surprised him.
Even so, Shisui took the warning seriously.
Now that he had chosen to leave Konoha and build something new, he had to be wary of Konoha, and especially of Danzo.
In the end, Shisui lacked life experience, but he had seen enough cruelty to understand what must never be done.
"Good," Kenichi said with satisfaction. "I'll give you three months. In three months, I'll return here and wait for you."
Shisui nodded, then vanished into the distance.
Kenichi watched him go, then let out a quiet breath.
One fresh, living consumable after another was about to walk right into his hands.
Wonderful.
With this many test subjects, Kenichi refused to believe he would not uncover the Sharingan's secrets.
The only issue left was the Mangekyo Sharingan's mysterious consumption of ocular power.
That problem, he would solve too.
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