Chapter 219: Grounded

Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Grounded

For some reason, when faced with Itachi’s sincere gaze, Shisui simply couldn’t bring himself to lie.

But he had only just promised Hyuga Kagami that he wouldn’t admit to anyone that he was Kamigami’s "Homura," only to turn around and confess it to Itachi almost immediately.

Naturally, Shisui couldn’t help feeling somewhat uneasy—and a little regretful.

Just as Shisui was at a loss for what to say, Itachi suddenly bowed deeply to him.

Shisui asked in confusion, "Itachi, what are you...?"

Still maintaining his deep bow, Itachi said, "Brother Shisui, please promise me this. No matter what happens, you must not admit that you’re Kamigami’s ’Homura’ when we get to the clan head’s residence!"

Shisui stepped forward and helped Itachi straighten up.

"You don’t hate me? I attacked members of our own clan."

Itachi shook his head.

"Brother Shisui, I’ve always admired you. Not only did you find a way to stop the clan from rebelling, you even had the courage to put it into action. You truly deserve to be called the Uchiha clan’s number one genius!"

Shisui scratched his head awkwardly.

"You figured all that out?"

Itachi nodded.

"It wasn’t difficult to guess. Hideki and Ryota, the two people attacked by Kamigami, are both well-known hardliners within the clan. So, Brother Shisui, you must have joined Kamigami because you wanted to use its power to strike at the clan’s radical faction and prevent the rebellion."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"And what happened with Sasuke last time... you must have been protecting him too, right? Otherwise, there’s no way Sasuke could have survived!"

"What happened with Sasuke really was an accident. We never expected him to show up there."

After briefly explaining, Shisui curiously asked, "How did you determine that the village wasn’t behind all of this?"

Itachi replied naturally, "The village had no reason to attack the chief envoy of the Kumogakure delegation, so I concluded that Kamigami and the village aren’t on the same side. Speaking of which, I’m actually rather curious about what kind of organization Kamigami really is!"

Shisui said, "I can’t tell you anything about Kamigami for the time being. But you can rest assured that Kamigami bears no ill will toward either the village or the Uchiha clan."

Itachi nodded, then said, "Let’s go. Father is probably getting impatient."

Before long, Shisui and Itachi arrived at the Uchiha clan head’s residence together.

Seated upright in the main hall, Fugaku glanced at Itachi, who had accompanied Shisui, and said in a deep voice, "Itachi, leave us. There are some things I need to discuss with Shisui alone!"

Itachi said nothing more and quietly withdrew from the hall.

Once there was no one else in the room, Fugaku stared fixedly at Shisui.

"You’ve heard the rumors spreading through the village, I presume."

"Mm."

Fugaku’s gaze sharpened.

"Don’t you have anything you want to explain?"

Shisui gently shook his head.

In an instant, Fugaku’s dark eyes transformed into the crimson Mangekyō Sharingan.

And almost at the exact moment Fugaku activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui discovered that everything around him had once again turned into the same mottled world of black and white he had seen that night.

At that moment, two enormous Mangekyō Sharingan appeared in the black-and-white sky. Like the eyes of a god, they gazed coldly down at Shisui, who was trapped within the monochrome world.

Immediately afterward, a cold voice echoed from the heavens.

"Shisui, I need an explanation from you. The clan needs an explanation as well!"

Following Hyuga Kagami’s instructions, Shisui offered no resistance whatsoever against Fugaku’s Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu. He simply allowed the mottled black and white to seep into his body, gradually erasing his own colors one by one.

Shisui’s actions were clearly beyond Fugaku’s expectations.

"Why aren’t you resisting?"

Shisui replied, "Why should I resist? I trust that you won’t harm me, Clan Head."

Fugaku was momentarily left speechless.

Only after a long pause did he finally say, "From this moment onward, without my permission, you are forbidden from taking even a single step outside the clan grounds!"

Shisui frowned slightly.

"But I’m an ANBU directly under Lord Hokage."

Fugaku replied coldly, "You’re sick. Lord Hokage will understand!"

Left with no other choice, Shisui could only nod.

Fugaku dispelled his Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu, then waved Shisui away.

"You may leave."

Shisui bowed respectfully to Fugaku before quietly withdrawing from the hall.

Watching Shisui’s departing figure, Fugaku’s expression immediately darkened.

If, before this, he had only been ten percent convinced by those rumors, then after that little test just now...

He was already sixty percent convinced.

The reason was simple. Fugaku had always kept the fact that he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan a secret from Shisui.

Yet when Shisui had fallen under his Mangekyō Sharingan’s genjutsu just now, he hadn’t shown even the slightest hint of surprise.

That undoubtedly meant Shisui had seen this Mangekyō Sharingan ability before.

And the very first time Fugaku had ever used his Mangekyō Sharingan in actual combat, his opponent had been none other than Kamigami’s "Homura."

Therefore, even though Shisui hadn’t engaged him in a contest of ocular power this time, Fugaku had already begun to suspect that Shisui was Kamigami’s "Homura."

He simply lacked concrete evidence.

The only thing Fugaku still couldn’t figure out was exactly what Kamigami was trying to accomplish.

First, they had attacked the chief envoy of the Kumogakure delegation. Then, they had attacked members of the Uchiha clan.

Kamigami’s actions—offending the village leadership on one hand while threatening the Uchiha on the other—left Fugaku completely unable to make sense of their motives.

...

Before long, news of Shisui’s "illness" reached Danzo’s ears.

Naturally, Danzo could tell at a glance that this so-called illness was nothing more than a clumsy excuse. The Uchiha clan’s actions clearly showed that they intended to restrict Shisui’s movements.

But that put Danzo in an awkward position.

According to his original plan, once the rumors had spread throughout the village, the Uchiha clan would inevitably step forward to clear Shisui’s name.

Then, using his authority as commander of the operation to eradicate Kamigami, Danzo would demand that Shisui submit to questioning.

And once Shisui was in his hands, he would seize the opportunity to take control of him and snatch away his Mangekyō Sharingan in one fell swoop—

bringing the long-coveted Kotoamatsukami into his grasp.

Yet contrary to his expectations, the rumors had barely begun to spread before the Uchiha clan placed Shisui under house arrest.

Now, Danzo had no opening to make his move.

"Hmph. Only those Uchiha fools could come up with such a pathetic excuse."

Because of this, Danzo didn’t suspect that Shisui was actually "Homura."

Accustomed as he was to manipulating schemes from the shadows, he instead suspected that the Uchiha clan had seen through his plan and was using this method to protect Shisui.

...

Outside the Uchiha clan grounds.

Guy shook his head helplessly and said to Kakashi and Hyuga Kagami, "Sigh, the Uchiha still won’t let us go in and visit Shisui."

Hyuga Kagami had already expected as much.

"In that case, let’s just go."

Kakashi nodded as well.

Considering the rumors that had been spreading like wildfire throughout the village recently, the perceptive Kakashi immediately sensed that something wasn’t quite right.

Still, as long as Shisui remained within the Uchiha clan grounds, there presumably wouldn’t be any issue with his safety.

Before leaving, Hyuga Kagami cast one final glance toward the Uchiha compound.

That night, neither Hyuga Kagami nor Shisui had anticipated that Fugaku would personally lead the Uchiha elites in joining the pursuit.

So, from the moment Shisui exchanged blows with Fugaku, he had already left behind a flaw that was extremely difficult to cover up.

As long as everyone remained trapped within their blind spot and never thought to suspect Shisui, everything would be fine.

But the moment someone raised the possibility...

It would become extremely difficult for Shisui to hide the truth any longer.