Chapter 113: A Silent Clash

Chapter 113: Chapter 113: A Silent Clash

With his little brother on his back, Itachi made his way through the Uchiha compound, a somewhat lost expression on his face.

The Uchiha district was exceptionally noisy beneath the cover of night.

Children were crying, adults were arguing, and all around him, clansmen of every sort hurried to and fro.

Everything seemed to foreshadow that something terrible was about to happen.

Before he had even reached his family’s mansion, Itachi was surprised to discover that the entrance was already packed with fully armed clansmen.

At this moment, every one of them wore expressions filled with excitement and fervor.

Looking at them, unease rose in Itachi’s heart.

He lowered his younger brother, Sasuke, from his back, then took the hand of the little boy—barely over a year old—and circled around to the mansion’s side entrance.

After entering the residence, he discovered that the courtyard was also filled with clansmen.

However, those gathered here were different.

Every single one of them was either a jonin or a special jonin of the clan.

There wasn’t a single chunin or genin among them.

"Why have all the clan’s elites gathered at our house?"

Realizing that nearly all of the Uchiha clan’s elite ninja had assembled at his home, Itachi’s unease only grew stronger.

He vaguely sensed that something major must have happened.

Just then, the faint sound of an argument drifted over from the direction of the main hall...

Itachi immediately stopped in his tracks and listened carefully.

Inside the main hall.

Surrounded on all sides by his clansmen, Shisui wore a resolute expression as he declared, "You’ve all gone insane! I will never allow you to do this!"

One of the Uchiha clan’s elite jonin flew into a rage. "Shisui, are you planning to betray the clan?! Don’t forget who you are! You bear the name Uchiha too!"

"Precisely because I am an Uchiha, I can’t stand by and watch you destroy the Uchiha clan!"

After a brief pause, Shisui turned toward Clan Head Fugaku, who was seated cross-legged, and earnestly said, "Clan Head, have you considered the consequences of launching a rebellion? The moment the village falls into internal conflict, Kumogakure and Iwagakure will take advantage of the chaos. Even if we somehow manage to seize the position of Hokage, what will we use to resist Kumo and Iwa afterward?"

Before Fugaku could answer, another elite Uchiha jonin snorted coldly.

"As long as the Uchiha are here, Kumo and Iwa are nothing to fear!"

The surrounding Uchiha jonin immediately voiced their agreement.

"That’s right! As long as we can take control of the village, Kumo and Iwa won’t pose any threat at all!"

At this moment, Fugaku raised a hand, silencing everyone.

Then he looked at Shisui and said, "Shinichi has already rebelled. We no longer have a choice."

Shisui shook his head.

"No. We do have a choice!"

Fugaku stared at Shisui, waiting for him to explain.

Taking a deep breath, Shisui said, "What Shinichi is doing is nothing more than his personal revenge. It has nothing to do with the Uchiha clan. And before he made his move, he never informed the clan. That proves he had no intention of relying on the clan’s strength, nor did he want to drag the clan into this!"

One of the Uchiha jonin beside them immediately countered, "But Shinichi has awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. He is an invaluable fighting force for the Uchiha clan! Are we supposed to just stand here and watch as the village kills him?"

Before making his move, Shinichi had knocked out an Uchiha jonin who had been assigned to monitor him, revealing his Mangekyo Sharingan in the process. As a result, the upper ranks of the Uchiha clan were now all aware that Shinichi had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

This was also one of the reasons they were clamoring to launch a coup.

They firmly believed that the Mangekyo Sharingan was invincible.

Shisui bowed deeply to everyone.

"Please, believe in me. I’ll personally bring Shinichi back. When the time comes, I’ll persuade Lord Hokage and ask him to spare Shinichi’s life."

At present, Konoha was beset by troubles both within and without. Because of this, Shisui believed that as long as he could bring Shinichi back, the Third Hokage would very likely spare his life in order to preserve an important fighting force for the village.

After all, the threat from Kumogakure had yet to disappear.

Another great war could break out at any moment!

Fugaku, his arms crossed over his chest, glanced at Shisui and shook his head.

"You may not be his match anymore."

Fugaku understood the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan better than most.

Because he himself possessed those cursed eyes.

Thus, in his view, even though Shisui was the Uchiha clan’s number-one genius, without awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, he might no longer be a match for Shinichi, who already had.

Realizing that he could no longer keep it hidden, Shisui finally activated his own Mangekyo Sharingan.

Then, bowing once more to everyone, he said,

"Please, trust me this once. I promise I’ll bring Shinichi back safely."

At that moment, Shisui had already made up his mind.

He would use Kotoamatsukami.

"Shisui, you...!?"

Staring at Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan, every Uchiha present was stunned.

Even Clan Head Fugaku was no exception.

"A Uchiha possessing three pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan might actually have a chance to set their sights on the position of Hokage!"

At that very instant, such a thought suddenly flashed through Fugaku’s mind.

...

Inside the Root base.

Hyuga Kagami stared fixedly at Obito across from him, rapidly considering his options.

Obito’s strength had already been displayed to the fullest on the night of the Nine-Tails Incident.

He had been able to instantly wipe out the ANBU squad arranged by the Third Hokage.

With nothing more than a glance, he had brought the Nine-Tails under his control.

And when he fought the Fourth Hokage, he had taken a full-power Rasengan head-on. Yet not only had he survived, even his injuries hadn’t seemed particularly severe.

"Without Kakashi’s Mangekyo Sharingan, killing him is just too difficult!"

Kagami didn’t need any complicated analysis to reach his conclusion.

With his current strength, forcing Obito to retreat wouldn’t be difficult.

But actually killing him would be another matter entirely.

After all, as long as Obito was determined to escape, Kagami had no means whatsoever of interfering with the Kamui dimension.

That was also why Kagami hadn’t detected Obito when he had suddenly emerged from Kamui just moments ago.

Obito’s Kamui dimension was an alternate dimension that existed parallel to the shinobi world, and Kagami’s Byakugan did not possess the ability to see through parallel dimensions.

In this regard, even the Fourth Hokage—who had been proficient in space-time ninjutsu, sealing techniques, and all manner of forbidden techniques—had been forced to simply watch as Obito escaped, without any means of stopping him.

Clatter, clatter...

At that moment, Obito pulled out a length of iron chain.

With complete leisure, he fastened each end of the chain to one of his wrists. His movements were calm and unhurried, as though he didn’t take Hyuga Kagami particularly seriously at all.

Perhaps in Obito’s eyes, aside from the handful of renowned experts in the village, no one else was worth taking too seriously.

Watching this familiar scene unfold before him, Kagami couldn’t help feeling somewhat emotional.

At that moment, he suddenly found himself wondering—

Just what had been going through Obito’s mind when he faced the Fourth Hokage back then?

Whoosh!

In an instant, both of them moved at the same time!

Their figures blurred into afterimages as they charged toward each other at astonishing speed!

The iron chain whipped through the air, producing a continuous clattering sound.

The cold gleam of a kunai reflected the flickering candlelight, flashing through the silent underground base.

From beginning to end, the two men—both overflowing with killing intent—remained completely silent.

As though...

there was simply nothing that needed to be said.