Chapter 218: Admission

Chapter 218: Chapter 218: Admission

The more Hyuga Kagami thought about it, the stranger the whole situation seemed.

If their positions were reversed—if Kagami were the Third Hokage, and he had evidence in his hands proving that Shisui was Homura of the Kamigami—then he would undoubtedly choose to summon Shisui in secret.

Once Shisui arrived, Danzo, Jiraiya, and the others could be lying in ambush beforehand. The moment he stepped into the trap, they could all move at once and take him down at the lowest possible cost.

At that point, whether they chose to interrogate him or simply imprison him, they could take their time deciding.

But right now, Shisui hadn’t even been brought under control, yet the news had already spread throughout the entire village.

No matter how Kagami looked at it, this wasn’t the Third Hokage’s style.

After pondering for a moment, Kagami said with certainty, "The village higher-ups definitely don’t have any evidence!"

Having recovered from his initial panic, Shisui had also calmed down. "Yeah. It seems like someone deliberately spread this rumor."

Following that line of thought, Kagami said, "The person spreading the rumor is obviously targeting you. They might not have any evidence, but for something like this... they don’t actually need any."

Judging from the current situation, whoever had spread the rumor was clearly trying to stir the grass and startle the snake, waiting for the ’snake’ to expose itself.

As for how the other party had somehow stumbled upon the truth and guessed that Shisui really was Homura of the Kamigami, that wasn’t particularly difficult to explain either.

After all, among those in the shinobi world publicly known to possess the Mangekyo Sharingan, there were only two when all was said and done.

Pinning the identity of Homura on Shisui might very well have been nothing more than a casual guess on the other party’s part.

Kagami had even more or less guessed who was behind it.

Within Konoha, the Uchiha Clan wouldn’t deliberately throw dirt on Shisui’s name, while the Third Hokage’s current approach was primarily focused on winning Shisui over.

The only person who had truly racked his brains trying to deal with Shisui—and who coveted Shisui’s Mangekyo Sharingan—was Danzo.

And aside from the ANBU, the only organization capable of spreading a rumor throughout the entire village in such a short period of time was Root, which was firmly under Danzo’s control.

Danzo had both the motive and the means.

So Kagami hardly needed to think about it to figure out who was manipulating and spreading the rumor.

With that thought, Kagami hurriedly said, "Go over everything carefully right now. See if you’ve left any openings!"

Shisui carefully recalled every operation he had carried out under his identity as Homura, then said, "The only opening I can think of is that I once had a contest of ocular power with the Clan Head. If the Clan Head becomes suspicious and tests my ocular power again, I’m afraid..."

Just like scent, every person’s chakra possessed subtle differences unique to them.

Ocular power, which was rooted in chakra, was no exception.

Shisui had once engaged Fugaku in a direct contest of ocular power while acting as Homura of the Kamigami.

During that confrontation, although Shisui had concealed the pattern of his Mangekyo Sharingan and had refrained from using any ocular technique unique to his Mangekyo Sharingan, his ocular power had genuinely clashed head-on with Fugaku’s.

As long as Fugaku never became suspicious, there wouldn’t be a problem.

But if the rumors spreading throughout the village caused Fugaku to suspect Shisui, then all he needed to do was engage Shisui in another deep contest of ocular power.

The moment that happened, Shisui’s identity would be exposed.

Kagami habitually rubbed his chin and casually asked, "Do you think your Clan Head would actually believe the rumors enough to test you?"

Shisui shook his head. "I don’t know."

Kagami’s expression darkened.

During the chaotic battle that night, Kagami and Shisui had served as each other’s alibis. If Shisui was confirmed to be Homura of the Kamigami, then Kagami himself would have a hard time escaping suspicion.

At that point, the entire Kamigami would be caught in one fell swoop.

Kagami silently pondered, "How am I supposed to deal with this mess?"

The best way to clear Shisui of suspicion would be to find another Mangekyo Sharingan wielder and have them disguise themselves as Homura of the Kamigami.

But where was he supposed to find a Mangekyo Sharingan wielder so easily?

In the entire shinobi world, even counting Obito and Kakashi, there were only five people who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Call Shinichi over?"

The thought had barely surfaced before Kagami shook his head.

In their previous communication, Shinichi had already informed Kagami that every member of the Akatsuki had been ordered by their leader to withdraw from the Land of Fire. At a time like this, it would be extremely difficult for Shinichi to secretly infiltrate the Land of Fire again.

Secondly, once Shinichi became involved, he would learn the truth behind the Kamigami.

The consequences of that would be impossible to predict.

Finally, when Shinichi had previously caused havoc in the village, he had fought against many people in Konoha. Because of that, he might not be able to convincingly play the role of Homura.

And if the disguise was exposed, allowing the Akatsuki to discover that Shinichi had appeared in Konoha under the identity of Homura of the Kamigami, then his career as a spy within the Akatsuki would immediately come to an end.

Worse still, the Akatsuki would inevitably hunt him down afterward.

"Looks like I’ll have to speed up the stimulation experiments. If I’m lucky enough to obtain a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, then none of these problems will be problems anymore."

Kagami held this hope mainly because Uchiha Ryota was an exceptionally talented member of the Uchiha Clan.

Among the Uchiha Clan, anyone capable of awakening the Sharingan could broadly be considered an elite.

Unlike the Hyuga Clan, there were many ordinary members of the Uchiha Clan who could never awaken the Sharingan at all.

And among all those elite Uchiha who had successfully awakened the Sharingan, Uchiha Ryota was one of the most outstanding.

So purely in terms of talent, he was absolutely qualified to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Having made up his mind, Kagami instructed Shisui, "Remember this—no matter who asks, never admit that you’re Homura of the Kamigami. If your Clan Head tests you, don’t resist. I can’t say for certain how anyone else would react, but with your Clan Head’s indecisive personality, as long as he doesn’t have irrefutable evidence, he’ll never do anything drastic to you!"

Shisui nodded. "I understand!"

As though suddenly remembering something, Kagami added another warning. "And one more thing. Whatever you do, don’t meet Danzo alone. If he summons you, there’s a good chance he’s planning to make a move against you!"

Shisui frowned. "Would he really go that far?"

"It never hurts to be careful." Kagami smiled and reassured him, "Don’t worry too much. I still have a backup plan. I just need some time to put it into action, so until then, make sure you don’t make any mistakes."

After bidding farewell to Kagami, Shisui soon received a message from the Uchiha Clan ordering him to return to the clan compound immediately.

Shisui knew there was no avoiding this hurdle.

So without hesitation, he immediately headed toward the Uchiha compound.

Whoosh...

Just as Shisui was passing through a small grove and was about to enter the Uchiha compound, a figure descended from above and landed directly in front of him.

Shisui asked curiously, "Itachi, what are you doing here?"

Itachi stared at Shisui and asked sincerely, "Brother Shisui... are you Homura?"

Looking into Itachi’s earnest eyes, Shisui—who simply couldn’t bring himself to lie—let out a soft sigh.

Then...

He nodded.