Fugaku had many suspects, but the first person he suspected was his own son—Uchiha Itachi.
Itachi had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and should have been able to succeed Fugaku as the next clan leader. Yet, he wavered between loyalty to the clan and the village, and had been reluctant to share any intelligence about the Anbu with him.
He certainly had the ability to steal the Sharingan from the secret vault.
However, Itachi likely didn't know about the existence of Izanagi and Izanami, and had no reason to commit theft.
Could it be one of the Uchiha who were close to the Hokage's faction?
Fugaku was puzzled, but in the end, he left the Naka Shrine without informing anyone about the stolen Sharingan.
The theft of the Sharingan was a matter that could shake the morale of the clan. Even worse, someone had managed to infiltrate the inner sanctum of the Naka Shrine. If the clan found out someone could come and go so freely, it might shake their resolve to carry out the coup.
For a moment, Fugaku even considered reporting the incident to the Hokage's office.
But the tension between the Uchiha and the village had already reached a breaking point—there was no room for compromise anymore.
Either they succeeded in taking over the Hokage's seat through a coup, or they failed and faced annihilation. Dragging things out any longer would only wear down their strength, until even the police force couldn't be preserved.
...
On the way back to the Forest of Death—
Shisui tightly gripped the summoning scroll that stored the stolen Sharingan, occasionally glancing at Naruto beside him.
To Shisui, stealing the Sharingan was a high-stakes gamble. Not only did it risk being discovered by the clan, but there was always the danger of losing the stolen Sharingan to someone else.
His companion had the more advanced Mangekyō Sharingan.
On the black market, it was second in value only to the Byakugan—an extremely rare and prized kekkei genkai.
Yet, throughout their journey, Naruto had neither attacked this shadow clone of his nor asked too many questions about the Sharingan's purpose. It seemed he truly was—as he said—only hoping to see change, with little real interest in the Sharingan itself.
But if he had no desire for power, why had he taken Kotoamatsukami?
Upon safely arriving at their hidden base in the Forest of Death and seeing his original body, Shisui's clone let out a sigh of relief. He then willingly handed over the summoning scroll containing the Sharingan to Naruto.
As a prisoner, he had no right to refuse.
Naruto glanced at Shisui, who had offered up the Sharingan, and snorted, "I thought you'd try to make a move, or at least leave a signal back in the clan grounds… Not even the slightest resistance—how boring."
Shisui looked slightly embarrassed and replied, "I still need your help with the eye transplant."
Naruto was momentarily surprised, but quickly understood. Even if Shisui escaped, he had no one else who could perform the surgery—and there was always the risk of the eyes falling into Danzo's hands.
Without wasting time, Naruto began the transplant procedure.
Unlike last time, when the eyes were still warm, these Sharingan had been stored for a long time and were ice-cold. The low cellular activity made the surgery significantly more difficult.
The procedure took several hours and consumed an unknown amount of Yang Release chakra.
Eventually, the transplantation of a Three Tomoe Sharingan was complete. After a two-to-three-day adjustment period, the eye would be fully functional.
However, the immune rejection Shisui experienced during surgery was beyond Naruto's expectations.
Despite being an elite Uchiha jonin, the rejection was intense. No wonder no one besides Kakashi and Danzo had ever undergone a Sharingan transplant.
By comparison, Naruto's own Kotoamatsukami transplant had been practically plug-and-play.
Then again, body constitutions vary. Naruto was a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, with both the Nine-Tails and Asura's chakra within him—immune rejection barely made a ripple.
Pulling his drifting thoughts back, Naruto looked at the unconscious Shisui and then at the remaining Sharingan.
Single and double Tomoe Sharingan held little value to him. Even the Three Tomoe version was only mildly useful—a nice bonus, nothing more.
As for the Uchiha's secret techniques, Izanami and Izanagi—
The former was a specialized genjutsu targeting other Uchiha, with extremely restrictive activation conditions. The latter could alter reality, but only within certain limits.
If a Jinchūriki had the Tailed Beast extracted using Izanagi, the jutsu likely couldn't rewrite that fatal reality.
Still, not one to leave empty-handed, Naruto took another pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan. Then, activating the Body Flicker Technique, he dispersed Shisui's clone with a precise strike.
He left the underground base before the shadow clone fully dissolved.
From intercepting Kotoamatsukami to securing another pair of Three Tomoe Sharingan, nearly half a year had passed. With everything in place, it was time to part ways with Shisui.
But before leaving, Naruto left behind a scroll full of information—something Shisui might need one day.
Unexpectedly, Shisui woke up earlier than Naruto had predicted.
At around dawn the next day, he regained consciousness on the surgical table. Dizzy and sore, he quickly noticed the scroll on the table—and Naruto's absence.
Opening the scroll, he found some simple farewell notes.
At the bottom were a few lines of fine print, covered with a sealing technique. Forcing it open would destroy the scroll entirely.
Suppressing his curiosity, Shisui found the summoning scroll that stored the Sharingan.
Counting carefully, he realized two pairs were missing—one had been implanted in him, and the other likely taken by the mysterious ninja. Still, this was within the bounds of what Shisui had anticipated.
In his plan, even if all the Sharingan were taken, it wouldn't be a total loss.
At least the theft would serve as a wake-up call to the clan, making them aware of internal traitors and external threats—hopefully delaying the coup.
That would buy him time to craft a careful escape plan and lead the clan out of Konoha.
As for the mysterious person who had appeared out of nowhere, stolen Kotoamatsukami, and indirectly provided a blueprint for escape—Shisui had no time to ponder the motive.
Compared to the clan's looming destruction, Kotoamatsukami and a pair of Sharingan weren't that important.
The loss of both Kotoamatsukami and the other Sharingan served as a constant reminder: never trust others too easily, and never act too soft or weak. That kind of kindness would only doom himself—and the clan.
Once the aching in his new eye subsided, Shisui took one last look at the underground base he had lived in for nearly six months. Forming hand seals, he summoned a fire dragon that surged into the underground passage.
It triggered the explosive tags placed around the tunnel, setting off a sizeable explosion.
With that done, Shisui flickered away and disappeared into the Forest of Death.
(End of Chapter)
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