Shisui glanced at the happy look on Hatake Satoru's face, raising an eyebrow in hesitation.
If Satoru hadn't clearly said it was his clan getting ready to act,
Shisui would've thought he was excited about a dessert sale next door.
"I know you've been looking forward to this."
"But to everyone else, this is a serious matter... I think."
So please wipe that huge smile off your face.
Shisui couldn't help but complain in his head.
"Really? Well, can't help it, weak people are such a pain."
Hatake Satoru stuck out his tongue at Shisui, then dropped his head onto the table like a lazy puddle.
"..."
Shisui almost snapped the hanger he was holding in half.
Shisui of the Body Flicker—
This was the first time someone had so confidently and openly called him weak.
He'd lived with Hatake Satoru for a while now.
At first, when they didn't know each other well, Shisui was still watching him from a distance.
But now, he could say one thing for sure:
This guy was absolutely not normal.
"If you can't fix the problem, then get rid of the people causing it!"
That was Hatake Satoru's answer to the conflict between the village and the Uchiha.
"Get rid... of the people causing it?"
That was the first time Shisui wondered if there was something wrong with Satoru's mouth—or his own ears.
"Yeah, if it's that much trouble, just take out both sides. Easy."
"…Do you even know what you're saying?"
Shisui frowned in disbelief. When Satoru first suggested that idea,
he had turned it down because he didn't want a regular person like Satoru to get dragged into the mess.
But now it looked like this guy was throwing himself in on purpose.
Satoru was standing right in the middle between the village and the Uchiha—completely neutral.
But he wasn't just neutral—he wanted to control the whole game.
"I know. Since I'm unbeatable, this kind of thing is no problem for me."
Hatake Satoru pointed at himself, full of confidence.
He was clearly strong, but his brain definitely didn't work like a normal person's.
Shisui stared at that black blindfold for a while.
Then sighed, a little helplessly.
"Alright, I'll help you."
There was no reason to say no.
Whether in the village or among the Uchiha, news of his death had already been taken as fact.
He wouldn't just sit by and do nothing until this whole coup was over, but he didn't really have a side to choose anymore.
When Shisui was alone, he'd sometimes wonder how much of this whole situation was already under Hatake Satoru's control.
Whether it was strength or brains, that man was terrifying.
Only someone like him could create a third path when there were only two options.
...
The next day, inside the Hokage's office.
"The Uchiha uprising is almost here. We have to strike first before they do."
"Stay near the Uchiha district. If anyone comes out, take them down right away."
Danzo sat behind his desk, giving orders to a row of masked people kneeling in front of him.
Without a word, they all vanished.
Danzo leaned back slightly, staring coldly at the floor.
Those people were mostly there to clean up bodies. As for the main job—killing all of the Uchiha—there was someone better suited for that. He would do it when night came.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared quietly out the bright window, holding his smoking pipe.
White puffs of smoke slowly faded into the air.
Hatake Satoru stood at the door, adjusting the mask on his face until it completely covered him.
It was the same cat-face mask he'd worn before, but now it had a pair of sunglasses drawn around the eyes with a marker.
It looked childish, but somehow it totally fit his style.
Shisui's voice came from behind him.
"If you can really get it, then your plan has no problem."
Hatake Satoru tilted his head and gave Shisui an "OK" gesture with his hand.
"There's no *if*. I'm definitely getting it."
As Hatake Satoru disappeared, the crow perched on Shisui's finger let out a loud cry and flew into the sky.
Wooden bridges layered over one another in midair, arranged in a tangled, complex way.
Like roots of a plant buried deep underground—one wrong step and you'd fall into endless darkness.
As soon as Hatake Satoru stepped on the bridge, he caught a strong, earthy smell in the air.
[Six Eyes]
Behind his blindfold, his eyes slowly closed—then suddenly snapped open.
A flash of bright blue light appeared, then faded right away.
Each person lit up like a point of light. Everyone inside the Root base became glowing stars to him.
In front of Hatake Satoru, it looked like a whole galaxy had opened up.
Whoa, looks like a lot of people are missing.
Guess they all went to the Uchiha district to wait for the bodies?
The corners of his mouth lifted behind the mask.
"Who's there? This is restricted—"
Hatake Satoru's figure at the entrance stood out like a sore thumb. The Root guard at the door spoke up as soon as he saw that weird mask.
But before he could finish, Hatake Satoru casually waved a hand and sent the man flying, slamming him into a hanging bridge nearby.
With a loud crash, wooden splinters flew everywhere.
Everyone on the bridge turned their eyes toward Hatake Satoru.
At the center of all that attention, a light, playful voice rang out with a grin:
"Not really breaking in—I'm just here to find someone!"
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