Chapter 35 Yata Mirror
"Lord Hokage! The library has been breached—the classified archives have been stolen!"
The sudden report from an Anbu drove the stern expression on Sarutobi Hiruzen's face even deeper.
"What? At this time? Who could dare…" His mind raced.
His eyes instinctively shifted toward the Uchiha gathered outside the compound gates, those who had not entered through the main avenue. His teeth clenched hard.
Could it be the Uchiha clan? Nearly all their active Sharingan users had already gathered here tonight for what was clearly a secret meeting—a gathering that smelled of a coup. Could one faction of the clan have slipped away to raid the archives?
Or… Danzo?
Hiruzen almost scoffed at his own thought. Absurd. Even if Danzo desired information from the village archives, he possessed clearance as a village elder and commander of Root—he had no reason to "steal" it in the midst of a battle with Shisui. And judging from his current half-crippled state, it was obvious Danzo had already recalled most of his Root operatives to contain the situation here.
If not Uchiha… if not Danzo… then who? A hidden Chūnin biding his time? Or someone from outside the village who had slipped past Konoha's defenses during the confusion?
Hiruzen had no luxury to dwell further. He had to return immediately. The library contained mission dossiers, shinobi registries, intelligence files, and most dangerously—sealed scrolls containing forbidden techniques. If even one of those fell into the wrong hands, the consequences would be catastrophic.
Meanwhile, within the crowd of Uchiha, one man exhaled in relief. Watching Itachi vanish with the unconscious Shisui on his back, Uchiha Makoto—whose clone had been lingering in the shadows—felt tension leave his body.
"If only I were stronger…" he thought bitterly. "Then I wouldn't need to sneak behind others' backs. When Shisui fell from the sky, I wished it were me who caught him."
His eyes hardened as they cut toward Danzo. That hateful elder—the heart behind the Uchiha clan's looming destruction. Makoto's fingers twitched with the urge to drive a blade through his throat in the dark. But surrounded as Danzo was by Root shinobi, he could do nothing.
With a faint shimmer, his shadow clone dispelled, its memories flooding back into his true self. Makoto's Sharingan spun, its single tomoe revolving slowly.
He had underestimated Shisui. He'd thought even the Kotoamatsukami, terrifying as it was, could not stand against overwhelming numbers. But tonight, Shisui's Mangekyō had shown otherwise—manifesting a colossal spectral warrior, Susanoo itself, reducing Root operatives to dust with a single strike.
"So this is the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan… Susanoo."
But the display came at a cost. Shisui had collapsed into a coma, his chakra utterly drained. Clearly, the technique demanded a steep price.
Even knowing this, Makoto felt envy burn in his chest. He too yearned for such overwhelming might. Time would not wait—Shisui's survival was uncertain, and Itachi himself was a dangerous rival. In the original course of history, Itachi would become the clan's executioner. Could Makoto really afford to move slowly?
Closing his eyes, he glanced at the strange system that bound him.
Name: Uchiha Makoto
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan (single tomoe)
Ability: Susanoo (incomplete)
World Shift Rate: 4% (changing)
Spiritual Tools: Totsuka Blade (?), Yata Mirror
Rank: Genin
Techniques: Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Claw, Fire Release: Phoenix Fire Jutsu, Fire Release: Great Fireball, Sharingan Genjutsu, Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing, Shadow Clone, Clone Technique, Transformation Technique, Substitution Jutsu, Coir Raincoat Concealment, Shurikenjutsu.
Makoto stared. "So much has changed already… Shisui's power really did alter the flow of events. Even the Yata Mirror has appeared among my spiritual tools."
Images from his fragmented memories resurfaced. The Yata Mirror, one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Shinto legend, said to embody invincible defense. The Totsuka Blade, another, a sealing sword. Two artifacts already revealed—could it be fate that he would gather all three?
A soft glow shimmered in his palm, and a round, simple mirror materialized.
"What is this…?"
From a distance, Hyūga Neji's Byakugan caught the anomaly. His pupils contracted as he saw a tool materialize in Makoto's hand.
Where had it come from? No chakra flow preceded its appearance. The mystery only deepened. Yet rather than suspicion, Neji felt satisfaction. The more secrets Uchiha Makoto carried, the greater his strength—and the more secure their alliance would become.
He did not ask questions. He would wait, knowing time would eventually reveal all.
Together, Makoto and Neji moved in secret through the rain-slick streets, heading toward the Hokage's office. If the Scroll of Seals was not secured in the archives, then it would either be within Hokage's personal possession—or in the office itself.
And if it truly had been stolen, then someone was now holding techniques capable of changing the world.
So now he could only lie to Neji, pretending he knew where the sealed scrolls were hidden.
A new spiritual tool would be ideal. Maybe he wouldn't need the scrolls or Shisui if he could rely on the mirror's power—use genjutsu to sway the Hyūga leadership and have them undo Neji's cursed seal.
Like the Kusanagi-like sword he called the Amazono Cloud Sword, the Yata Mirror also held multiple legendary properties.
The mystical mirror could reflect ninjutsu to a degree and amplify the power of its wielder's illusions. The physical mirror's defensive trait was less useful directly in battle, but as a vessel it could act like a sealing chest—able to store many things, even forbidden scrolls.
Makoto smiled inwardly. What he needed most now was exactly that—storage and concealment, like the dimensional rings in the otherworld novels he once read.
But this space felt vast—far larger than a simple pocket. He sensed, intuitively, the cavity might be as large as Konoha itself. Could it hold living things? Could its volume expand?
If so, he could slip stolen documents and jutsu into the Yata Mirror and carry them without fear of discovery.
"Neji, any change in your Byakugan range?" he asked quietly.
"Nothing within my sight. The village forces have gone outside the walls. This is our chance to act." Neji's voice trembled with a mix of fear and excitement.
"What if Hokage or the jōnin return unexpectedly?" Neji pressed. Even as a branch-family Hyūga resisting fate, he felt the pull of the danger—and the thrill of breaking free.
"We need to finish quickly," Makoto said. "Move fast and be silent."
Neji's Byakugan picked out two figures posted at the library doorway. "There are two—probably chūnin—standing guard at the library entrance." He looked to Makoto. "Can you handle them alone?"
Uncertainty flickered across Neji's face. Makoto might be powerful, but this was bigger than any academy prank.
Makoto hadn't expected this—two guards at the library. What to do? Transform into Hiruzen? Impossible.
They needed a stealthy ingress: slip inside, locate the sealed scrolls, and be gone before a single alarm sounded. No blood. No fanfare. Absolute silence.
He could not stop now; his footsteps could not falter.