Crack!
Shisui instantly crushed the wooden armrest of his wheelchair.
He jerked his head up toward Jin's direction, fury appearing on his handsome yet gloomy face for the first time.
"Jin! How can you desecrate the bodies of our clansmen?!"
Bang!
"Desecrate?"
Hearing that, Jin looked as if he'd heard the greatest joke in the world. He slammed a palm down on the broken wheelchair and shot back,
"You say I'm desecrating the clan?"
"You're not unaware of what happens to the Uchiha after the clan is wiped out, are you?"
"Danzō has coveted the Sharingan for so long—do you really expect that old monkey who never shuts up about the Will of Fire to stop him?"
"Or do you expect the 'close friend' you entrusted everything to, to help preserve the bodies of our clansmen?"
"Oh—almost forgot. Maybe that so-called close friend of yours would be the real culprit behind desecrating Uchiha corpses!"
Crack!
Perhaps Jin had put too much strength into it—the wooden wheelchair quickly fell apart.
Splintered pieces scattered everywhere.
Only Shisui remained, thrown onto the cold floor, utterly at a loss.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Between the two of them, even the sound of breathing seemed to vanish.
Only the soft drip of dew outside the doorway could be heard.
After a long while, Shisui seemed to lose all strength. Slumping, he said weakly,
"I understand… I'll think about it…"
"No."
Jin reached out again, tapping his forehead.
"You don't have the right to think. You can only—let me arrange things."
He flipped his hand and tossed the eye in his palm over.
"Put it in. And don't let Danzō snatch it away again this time."
"And hurry up and recover. For certain reasons, the village probably won't wait much longer."
With that, he turned and walked out.
Behind him, Shisui paused, puzzled.
"Why?"
Logically speaking, with the coup delayed and him injured, the village should restrain itself.
Even if they were going to act, they should wait a bit longer.
"Because… of me! Hahaha!"
Hearing this, Jin turned back and slowly bared his teeth in a grin.
In his palm, crimson, demonic chakra burst forth, completely driving away the darkness!
No one could have imagined that just as the Uchiha clan grounds were about to be swallowed by night, an eerie crimson glow would force its way out!
Of course, Shisui couldn't see it.
He could only vaguely sense an overwhelmingly powerful force.
Moments later, as he touched the eye now connected to flesh and blood, the dead calm in his heart gradually became restless.
To die and return, to lose and regain—
the buffs were fully stacked.
After a long time, a soft sigh echoed in the deep night:
"This guy… if he was going to give me the eye, he could've just done that. Why did he have to break my wheelchair too…"
"Such a damn tsundere…"
Naka Riverbank.
"Lord Danzō!"
Kakashi felt his heart sink and immediately stood to salute.
Beside him, Yamato struggled a few times but couldn't get up.
Even with the partial regenerative ability of First Hokage cells, he was still far too weak.
The injuries inflicted by Jin's Nine-Tails chakra were simply too severe.
So he could only lie there and weakly say, "Lord Danzō…"
"Kakashi, you're here too."
Danzō stroked the bandages on his right arm, then turned sideways to look at Yamato, speaking in a deep voice,
"Kin… your mission failed."
Thump.
Both of their hearts jumped.
Was this—an inquisition?
But Danzō suddenly changed the subject.
"What did you mean just now by the Nine-Tails' power? Could it be that the two of you were injured by that Nine-Tails brat?"
As he spoke, the single eye hidden in shadow lit up with excitement.
It flickered uncontrollably.
Could it be that the Nine-Tails brat had acted up?
Good!
Wonderful!
After so long, he'd finally caught an opportunity!
As long as he seized the kid before that monkey did, the power of the Nine-Tails would be his!
At this moment, Danzō felt exceptionally spirited.
Even the scar on his chin seemed smoother.
"Sorry, Lord Danzō. This matter… can't be disclosed to you for now."
After hesitating, Kakashi spoke.
He intended to conceal the fact that Jin carried the Nine-Tails' power.
This matter was far too serious.
Serious enough to completely reshape Konoha's balance of power.
Unfortunately, Danzō didn't believe him at all.
He waved his hand.
Instantly, a group of Root operatives wearing multicolored masks surrounded them.
Blades in hand, they stared down at the two in the pit.
With a contemptuous smile, Danzō said,
"Tell me—or you both die here."
"Kakashi, that eye of yours should be returned to my dear friend's clan as well."
With that, he gave the order to attack.
Danzō's aged eye rolled slowly, greed flashing through it.
He coveted Kakashi's eye as well.
And Yamato's Wood Release too.
Using his own Wood Release cost him an eye each time—an unacceptable price.
Collecting these eyes was simply too difficult.
Tap.
Tap tap tap.
But just as greed filled Danzō's gaze, denser footsteps suddenly sounded from outside the pit.
"Stop, Danzō!"
The Third Hokage arrived at last, leading a large contingent of ANBU.
Seeing that Kakashi and Yamato were still alive, he let out a small sigh of relief.
Then he turned to Danzō, his face instantly darkening.
"Danzō! They are both pillars of the village—how could you do this?!"
From the very first words, it was outright condemnation.
Danzō was stunned.
He raised his cane, pointing at his own nose.
"Huh? Me?"
"If not you, then who?! Look at the state they're in!"
"Do you even have me, the Hokage, in your eyes anymore?!"
This time, the Third Hokage was truly furious.
If he'd arrived any later, Kakashi would've been ruined by this bastard.
"No, I didn't attack them. I just—"
Danzō was even more speechless, trying to explain.
But the things he'd done couldn't be brought into the open.
Was he supposed to say he'd planned to kidnap the Uchiha clan's second young master to provoke the Uchiha?
Suffocating.
Utterly suffocating.
And somehow… this situation felt oddly familiar.
As if it had happened not long ago.
"Explain? Danzō, I told you—you need to behave yourself for a while!"
Another round of scolding followed.
Anyone could see that the Hokage's anger was blazing.
So much so that he had to light his pipe several times before it caught.
After being chewed out relentlessly, Danzō's eyes suddenly shifted as he seized on a key phrase.
"The Nine-Tails' power! I sent people because I detected leakage of the Nine-Tails' power!"
Thump.
Leakage of the Nine-Tails' power?
That single sentence extinguished the Third Hokage's pipe.
"The Nine-Tails' power leaked?" he forced his eyes wide open.
But on his deeply wrinkled face, his eyes seemed to only be that big.
He couldn't open them any wider.
"About the Nine-Tails' power, I—"
Just as Danzō was about to continue, he was cut off by the Third Hokage.
"Kakashi. You tell me."
Danzō: "???"
Good you, monkey. Now you don't even trust me anymore?!
His expression darkened noticeably.
Uncomfortable.
Like he'd been betrayed.
But he was also curious—what exactly were these two hiding?
When Kin hadn't returned for so long, he'd thought the man had defected, which was why he'd brought people to capture him.
But he hadn't expected to stumble upon a secret like this.
Whoosh!
In an instant, dozens of gazes fell on Kakashi's face.
He fell silent.
If he spoke… Jin's situation would become truly—
At that moment, the fate of the clan seemed to be playing a cruelly familiar joke on him.
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