It's normal to get a kaleidoscope as a first deposit of six yuan, right?

Listening to the cacophony of voices around him, Fugaku felt a jumble of emotions.

Outside the Uchiha clan meeting, Itachi Uchiha sat alone on the steps, clutching his ninja sword, feeling quite agitated. However, when he wanted to go to Shisui to listen to his friend's advice, he found that Shisui was not present at the meeting.

The area outside the Hokage Building...

Danzo, with his back to Shisui, looked past the Hokage Building toward the Hokage Rock.

"Lord Danzo, is there a mission you need me to complete?" Shisui's expression remained unchanged. Although he didn't have a good impression of Danzo because of the Shisui incident, Danzo was still an elder of Konoha, so he had to give him some face.

"It's not really a mission, I just wanted to see the Will of Fire in your heart," Danzo said in a deep voice, glancing at Shisui behind him.

"The Will of Fire?"

Chapter 71, Danzo's Move

At home, Zhixue tied an apron around her neck and looked at herself in the mirror, who had a strange contrast between shyness and innocence and maturity. She twirled the spatula in her hand.

She didn't celebrate Zhishui's birthday properly yesterday, so she's making it up to him today.

She bought a whole three-tiered cake today.

After turning off the living room lights, Zhixue packed the cake in a cardboard box, leaving a few candles on the table to create a warm and romantic atmosphere. Then, humming a song of blessings from a past life, she went into the kitchen.

Forget the Uchiha clan's coup, forget the perilous Konoha, they all have to obediently line up for my birthday. Let's leave those headaches for later. Now it's time to prepare the birthday dinner!

Zhixue felt a surge of happiness as she recalled the scene yesterday when Zhishui stuffed the dumpling into her little mouth.

"It feels so good to have family..." Zhi Xue covered the cooked rice, rested her chin on her hands, looked out the window at the sky, and her thoughts began to drift to distant places.

……

"The Will of Fire?" Shisui was taken aback upon hearing this.

"That's right. What do you think the Will of Fire of Konoha is like?"

"Where the leaves dance, the fire will never cease. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout. This is the concept proposed by the First Generation, which means that the older generation uses their hands to protect the tender shoots of the next generation so that they can grow quickly, protect what they want to protect, and pass it down from generation to generation."

"Hmm, that's a good explanation. Do you think you possess the Will of Fire?" Danzo nodded slightly and asked Shisui.

Shisui nodded without wavering.

"What I want to protect is exactly what I hope for in my heart: protecting the village, protecting the family, and... protecting Zhixue."

"It seems you are indeed a qualified inheritor of the Will of Fire, but things often turn out very differently from what you expect. Take the village and the Uchiha clan, for example. As the link between the two, whose will of fire will you choose?" Danzo asked Shisui, a cold glint in his eyes.

"Of course I'll keep both of them; they're both places I love..."

"Alright..." Danzo interrupted Shisui's speech.

"Stop having such naive ideas. The current situation is beyond what you imagine. If the Uchiha clan is about to launch a coup, what will you do then?"

“At that time…” A hint of hesitation flashed across Shisui’s face before he finally sighed and said.

"If that time really comes, I will use my eye technique to control the clan leader and prevent a coup from happening."

Danzo's face darkened upon hearing Shisui's reply.

"Your clan leader is one of the best in the Uchiha clan. You all have the three-tomoe jade. What makes you think you can control him? Besides, wouldn't the other Uchiha clan members see through him?"

Upon hearing Danzo's aggressive words, Shisui took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the three tomoe in his pupils had transformed into eerie, shuriken-shaped eyes.

"This is..." Danzo was slightly shocked, but it was also within his expectations. It seemed that this was his last resort.

"This is the Mangekyou Sharingan. Every Uchiha clan member receives a special eye technique after awakening it, and my Mangekyou Sharingan technique is Kotoamatsukami. This is also the last means that I was able to stop the coup."

"Kotoamatsukami?" A hint of surprise flashed across Danzo's eyes.

"It is an ultimate illusion technique that can modify the will of others without their knowledge. Even the Three-Tomoe Clan members with their profound eye power cannot resist this power."

"Forced modification of will?" Danzo's pupils shrank, and at the same time, a huge wave of emotions surged in his heart.

"If this is used against Sarutobi, or even against me, then it will be the end of Konoha..." Shimura Danzo's resolve grew stronger.

This dangerous ability must never be allowed to circulate within Konoha.

"You possess formidable power here, but if you still cannot stop the Uchiha from launching a coup, will you also use the Kotoamatsukami technique on the Hokage or even on me?"

Danzo closed his eyes, moved closer to Shisui, and asked.

"I……"

"No need to say anything, I'll accept your Sharingan!" Danzo suddenly sprang up, his large, withered hand reaching for Shisui's eye socket.

hum!

A red light flashed in Shisui's eyes, and Danzo collapsed to the ground.

Shisui felt a deep sense of loss as he grasped Danzo's outstretched arm.

"Sorry, it's just a normal illusion. He'll wake up soon." Shisui released Danzo, letting him fall to the ground, and then prepared to leave.

But just a few steps after Shisui took his first step, Danzo, who was lying on the spot, suddenly vanished like a phantom. At the same time, a tremendous force struck Shisui's abdomen. The sudden, intense pain gave Shisui no chance to react before he felt a heavy blow to the head. His head spun, and then he felt a sharp pain in his left eye.

Shisui quickly composed himself, used the Body Flicker Technique to get ten meters away, and touched the blood sliding down his cheek.

Danzo removed the bandage from his left eye, revealing a Sharingan that had lost its color on his pale cheek.

Seeing this scene, Shisui was even more shocked, as if his heart was in turmoil.

"Is this the Sharingan?"

"I'll take your eye. It will replace this broken eye and make greater contributions to Konoha. Your death will also bring peace to the Uchiha clan... Wait, what?" A dozen Root members surrounded Shisui, but Danzo's pupils dilated when he saw the warm, blood-stained Sharingan in his hand disappear like ashes.

When Danzo looked in Shisui's direction again, he saw that the Mangekyou Sharingan he had just plucked out was now in the socket of Shisui's left eye, and even the blood on the ground had disappeared.

Shisui was also somewhat surprised by the fullness he felt while covering his left eye. Then he recalled the transcription seal that Shisui had given him before. Could this be the thing hidden inside the seal?

"Grab him, don't let him get away!" Danzo, seeing that Shisui was still unharmed, decided to give up and gave orders to the surrounding Roots.

As Shisui looked at the roots of the swords that were swinging at him from all around, he felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Water Release: Water Chaos Waves!

After Shisui's Fire Release and Root's Water Release canceled each other out, a large amount of steam was generated that blocked the view, but it was quickly swept away by Danzo's Wind Release.

"Quick, chase after them! We can't let Uchiha Shisui get away!" Danzo shouted angrily, pointing at Shisui who was escaping in the distance using the Body Flicker Technique.

"Yes, Lord Danzo!"

Chapter 72, The Confused Still Water

"Itachi, didn't Shisui come to the clan meeting?" While the clan members were still arguing fiercely, Fugaku walked to the meeting room door and asked Itachi, who was still looking at the stars outside.

Itachi silently shook his head.

"Then go find him. With such a big matter at hand, he's one of the pillars of the Uchiha clan," Fugaku said with a sigh.

Itachi nodded. To be honest, when faced with such an extreme situation, he instinctively wanted to talk to Shisui about what to do.

Itachi's figure vanished instantly. Fugaku pulled out a photo of Mikoto, Sasuke, Itachi, and his family. This was during the most stable period of the Uchiha clan, when Sasuke had just been born. The Fourth Hokage personally visited them and established a friendly and harmonious relationship. He even personally found the right angle to take this photo.

But I never imagined that things would turn out this way in just 5 or 6 years...

.........

On a quiet path in Konoha, Kakashi had just finished get off work, and there was still a strange look on his face.

He even suspected that Tianzang had taken the wrong medicine recently, as he said a bunch of inexplicable things to him.

Kakashi took his wallet out of his pocket, counted the money, and sighed.

"I still need 60 to pay back Zhixue. Looks like I'll just have instant noodles tonight. Besides, things aren't looking good with the Uchiha clan lately. Hopefully, nothing bad will happen." Kakashi scratched his head, looking troubled.

Da da da……

A series of rapid stomping sounds on the rubble caught Kakashi's attention.

A barely visible dark shadow darted over the houses, followed closely by more than a dozen Root ninjas. Kakashi, witnessing this, was startled; the fleeing figure... appeared to be dressed as an Anbu member.

"What happened?"

…………

Just then, a table full of dishes was cooked, and Zhixue, who was almost asleep while waiting, suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Hmm...did that idiot brother forget his keys again?" Zhi Xue slumped up from the chair, yawned, and opened the door, but it wasn't the person she wanted to see.

"One against seven?"

Itachi, standing at the door, nodded to Shiki, then used his height advantage to look at the decorations and cakes in the living room.

Is this a belated birthday celebration for Shisui?

"You're here to see your brother!?" Seeing Itachi looking around, Zhixue's heart skipped a beat. Had Shisui not gone to the clan meeting?

"Is Shisui not at home?" Itachi looked somewhat surprised.

"Oh no, has it already happened?" Zhi Xue's heart skipped a beat. She then took off her apron, passed by Itachi, and ran outside.

*Ding!* A key historical event has been triggered—Shisui's death. Option 1: Let Shisui commit suicide. Reward: Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, Title: The Cursed World. Option 2: Save Shisui. Reward: Genjutsu Mastery Lv. 3, Title: We Are Family.

Seeing Shisuke's reaction, Itachi seemed to realize that something was wrong and hurriedly followed.

…………

After Danzo temporarily gathered several teams from Root, one group went to the vicinity of the Uchiha clan to prepare to surround Shisui, while the other group, led by Danzo himself, chased after the clues left by Root. However, when they followed the clues to a dead end, they found that the ninjas who had previously chased Shisui were lying scattered in the alley.

A Root ninja stepped forward, removed the Root ninja's mask, examined him, and said, "Lord Danzo, you've fallen under a genjutsu."

"Damn it..." Danzo, panting heavily, slammed his cane into the floor, leaving a few cracks.

If we allow Uchiha Shisui, such an extremely dangerous individual, to remain in Konoha, the situation will likely worsen. Moreover, because of Kotoamatsukami, he is hesitant to confront Shisui directly. This guy is truly a troublesome individual.

After hesitating for a moment, Danzo turned to the nearby Root members and ordered, "Team Two, change course, infiltrate the Uchiha clan, and capture Uchiha Shiyuki. Last time, it was just a mysterious force and Kakashi causing trouble; this time, we absolutely cannot fail!"

"Yes, Lord Danzo..."

……

At this moment, Shisui did not go to the Uchiha clan, nor did he go to the Hokage Building to report to Hiruzen Sarutobi. Instead, he went alone to the small pond where he had trained with Shisui before, washed his face with clean water, and forced himself to calm down.

Seeing her reflection in the pool, Zhi Shui's face was filled with sorrow.