In the dark forest.
Sensing Shisui's weakened condition, Naruto deliberately led him toward the Naka River.
To ambush Shisui—who was practically half-crippled at this point—Naruto had squatted around this area for half a month, mapping out every inch of terrain around Konoha like a paranoid raccoon.
The reason was simple.
Kotoamatsukami.
That eye technique was way too damn dangerous.
Danzō couldn't tolerate it.
The Third Hokage couldn't tolerate it.
And Naruto sure as hell couldn't tolerate a pair of eyeballs that could rewrite his brain like bad fanfiction.
Shisui might not have any reason to attack him…
But Danzō and Uchiha Itachi were a different story.
What if someone casually said, "Hey Naruto, how about becoming my puppet?"
Yeah. No thanks.
Better to hold your fate in your own hands.
To deceive Shisui—whose Sharingan perception was sharp as hell—Naruto didn't transform directly into Itachi. That would be too obvious.
Instead, he disguised himself as a random Uchiha nobody, then imitated Itachi's movements and the clan's Body Flicker style as closely as possible.
Fake it till you make it.
Before reaching the Naka River, Naruto stopped and turned to Shisui with a complicated expression.
"Shisui… did your mission fail?"
Shisui nodded.
"I wanted to control Captain Fugaku and stop the coup. But Danzō didn't trust the Uchiha. He took my right eye… and plans to stop the coup his own way."
Naruto avoided eye contact on purpose.
"So… what are you going to do now?"
Shisui sighed softly.
"I can't control Fugaku anymore. I plan to commit suicide and end this myself. After I die, my Mangekyō and my ideals… I'll entrust them to you."
As he spoke, Shisui reached for his left eye, clearly intending to dig it out.
Naruto: …This guy really treats his eyeballs like spare batteries.
Then Shisui suddenly paused.
"By the way… do you remember our agreement?"
"Of course," Naruto said as he quietly stepped closer, chakra already gathering in his palm.
At that moment, Shisui's instincts screamed.
He jumped back.
"No. You're not Itachi. He would never use a Transformation Jutsu in front of me. Who are you?!"
Naruto didn't answer.
A Rasengan had already formed.
Boom.
It slammed straight into Shisui's chest.
Already exhausted and half-dead, Shisui couldn't resist. He crashed to the ground, vision going black. His remaining left eye was instantly taken.
Naruto canceled the transformation, looked down at him, and calmly sealed his tenketsu with Gentle Fist strikes.
"I never said I was Itachi," Naruto said lazily.
"You just assumed. Not my problem."
After a pause, he stuffed the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan into a glass bottle.
Then he added with a grin,
"But honestly… you're way too easy to trick. Fooled twice in one day. Both Mangekyō gone. That's just tragic."
Shisui, blind and chakra-blocked, felt a chill run down his spine.
"Who… are you…?"
That chakra-blocking method…
It was clearly Hyūga Gentle Fist.
And the skill level wasn't any lower than the Hyūga elites he had fought before.
Naruto ignored him and began searching Shisui's body.
Soon, he found the prepared suicide note.
He skimmed it and laughed.
"You even wrote a suicide letter? Wow. Even if I didn't kill you, you were planning to kill yourself anyway. That saves me paperwork."
Shisui stayed silent, heart filled with regret.
If he still had his sight, he could at least destroy Kotoamatsukami.
No one understood better than him how terrifying that technique was.
Meanwhile, Naruto happily counted the loot.
"As expected of an Uchiha elite…"
Weapons. Tools. Equipment.
And several thousand ryō.
Enough money to survive until graduation without begging the Third Hokage for allowance.
Nice.
Kyūbi couldn't watch anymore.
"Kid… the Uchiha over there is still alive. At least maintain some Jinchūriki dignity."
Naruto glanced at him suspiciously.
"…Are you telling me to finish him off?"
"No comment."
Some things were better left unsaid.
Like why Naruto knew Shisui would be here.
Or why he ambushed him so precisely.
Let's just call it "genius-level intuition."
Sure.
Totally normal.
After packing everything, Naruto grinned.
"With this money, I'm eating barbecue tonight. Hey, Nine-Tails, can you even eat real food?"
Kyūbi crossed his arms.
"Probably. The old man once ate humans."
"…What?"
"And then got eaten back."
"…You tailed beasts are weird as hell."
"What exactly is chakra anyway?" Naruto muttered.
"Chakra is chakra," Kyūbi replied lazily.
Naruto smiled.
Yeah. Sure. Very helpful.
Returning to reality, Naruto tied Shisui up like a sack of potatoes.
Then he slung him over his shoulder and ran toward the Forest of Death, where he had secretly dug a temporary base.
Until he squeezed every last bit of value out of Shisui…
There was no way he was letting him die.
After arriving, Naruto tossed him inside casually, left a shadow clone on guard, and hurried back to the village.
After all—
Even if you defeat a Kage-level ninja…
You still have to go to ninja school the next day.
Life is cruel like that.
At the same time, near the cliff by the Naka River.
Uchiha Itachi waited for a long time.
But Shisui never showed up.
An uneasy feeling crept into his chest.
The clan meeting was tonight.
If Shisui didn't appear… the coup might truly happen.
If war broke out between the clan and the village, nobody would win.
Other villages would jump in immediately.
Konoha would be finished.
Just then, Itachi noticed something floating in the river below.
He looked closer.
His pupils shrank.
A headless corpse wearing a Konoha flak jacket drifted in the water. Its build looked similar to Shisui's.
Itachi's heart nearly stopped.
He jumped down and retrieved the body.
After examining it carefully, he exhaled.
Not Shisui.
The body shape was similar, but the details didn't match.
Still…
Shisui hadn't appeared.
It was as if he had vanished from the world.
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