Shisui drew a slow breath and issued his command.
"Go. Change them from 'we must annihilate the Uchiha' to 'we must reconcile with the Uchiha and atone for the past.'"
His voice was calm, but it brooked no disobedience.
"What I seek isn't peace born of fear," Shinju had said, "but repentance from the heart."
Shisui understood. What Shinju-sama wanted was not mere submission, but a fundamental correction at the root of their thinking. And that was exactly what these eyes excelled at.
"Yes, Shinju-sama."
Shisui straightened, no longer sparing a glance for anyone present. He closed his eyes and gathered every drop of his spiritual power.
When he opened them again, the three tomoe spun, linking into the unique four-bladed windmill of his Mangekyo Sharingan.
An invisible force—beyond the limits of any perception—burst from his gaze, pierced the bedrock beneath the shrine, crossed the distance in an instant, and locked precisely onto—
—Konoha's heart, the brightly lit Hokage's office.
Every Uchiha present felt a shiver that rose from the soul.
They could not see the path of that ocular power, but they could feel it clearly: a force capable of rewriting the rules of the world had just been unleashed from Shisui's eyes.
At the same time, in the Hokage's office—
The air was suffocating.
Hiruzen sat behind the desk, smoking in silence. Before him stood three newly appointed Hokage advisers—veterans of Hiruzen's era, conservative and hardline to the core.
"We can't wait any longer, Hiruzen," said Enji, tapping his cane on the floor. "The Uchiha hawks are completely out of control. According to ANBU intelligence, tonight's assembly is to set the final timing for a coup!"
Kirishima nodded. "Exactly. That kid from the Namikaze house actually went alone to the Naka Shrine. That's too dangerous! If those Uchiha madmen touch him, Minato will intervene. Then Konoha will plunge into civil war!"
The third adviser, Masa—a steel-blooded jonin squad captain selected after Root was purged—added in a low, firm voice, "Hokage-sama, give the order. Before they're fully prepared, have ANBU move. Coordinate with what remains of Root and… remove the Uchiha clan completely. This is for Konoha's lasting peace—an inevitable sacrifice."
Extermination.
That icy word was once more placed on the table.
Hiruzen's brows tightened. Smoke coiled from his pipe, veiling his expression. He struggled inwardly. He did not want to go this far, yet the Uchiha's relentless steps seemed to be driving him to the cliff's edge.
He even hesitated over whether such a grave decision should be discussed in advance with the Namikaze family. But Minato rarely intervened; daily affairs were still entrusted to Hiruzen as regent. Turning it over in his mind brought no clarity. Even so—this was for the greater good, for the village's long peace and security. Surely they would not blame him… right?
Just as he was about to make that painful decision—
An anomaly occurred.
The three advisers, mid-argument, fell abruptly silent.
Hiruzen's hand, reaching for the pipe, froze in mid-air.
All four of them, in the same instant, showed a flicker of blankness in their eyes—as if time had been stolen for a heartbeat, their thoughts skipping over an imperceptible gap.
It lasted less than a tenth of a second.
When their eyes cleared, it seemed as though nothing had changed.
But something had been rewritten at the most fundamental level.
Enji lowered his cane. Deep remorse and pain surfaced on his face.
"What… what have we been doing…" His voice trembled. "The Uchiha are our comrades who built this village with us. They're Konoha's heroes, not its enemies."
Kirishima jolted as if suddenly waking, smacking his forehead hard. "It was Danzo! That bastard Danzo! He stoked the conflict between the Uchiha and the village! For his own ambition he persecuted them again and again, driving them to this brink!"
Masa stood up straight and bowed deeply to Hiruzen. "Hokage-sama! I was wrong! We were all wrong! We shouldn't be thinking of destroying them—we should be making amends! We must beg their forgiveness!"
The whiplash shift left Hiruzen stunned. He stared at his three colleagues—now reversed a full one-eighty—and for a moment could not react.
Yet from the depths of his own heart, a surge of guilt, heavier than ever, welled up. In the era of Hashirama, Uchiha Madara and the Uchiha had stood as founders of the village. They could have lived in peace. There was no need—unless absolutely necessary—to reach the point of life and death.
Yes…
We were wrong.
Danzo's death had never washed away their sins. Their debt to the Uchiha was far too great.
Hiruzen slammed his palm on the desk and rose to his feet. His pipe fell and shattered on the floor, but he no longer cared.
His voice rang with pain and resolve unlike any before.
"We were wrong! Our debt to the Uchiha is too great!"
"We must go to them at once and apologize! We must give them the respect and compensation they are due!"
"Summon all jonin immediately. I will lead the party myself to Naka Shrine, to face Chief Fugaku and every member of the Uchiha clan with our sincerest apology!"
The new advisory council snapped to agreement, nodding earnestly—as if the plan for extermination had never existed at all.
A meeting that should have decided the Uchiha's fate instead transformed—by means none of them could fathom—into a mobilization for confession and atonement.
Back at Naka Shrine.
The windmill pattern in Shisui's eyes slowed and returned to the ordinary three tomoe.
His face showed no change. There was no bleeding, not even a hint of fatigue.
At his peak, Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods) left almost no side effects. When Shinju-sama resurrected Shisui, he had tuned Shisui's body to its optimal state—stronger even than at his former peak.
Shisui calmly withdrew his ocular power and turned back to Shinju.
"Shinju-sama, it's done."
Shinju gave a small nod, unsurprised by the result.
Around them, the other Uchiha didn't know what had happened in that fleeting instant. Yet as they watched the Mangekyo fade back to three tomoe in Shisui's eyes, a chill of awe rippled from the depths of their souls.
They did not know that, just now, those eyes had silently reached across a thousand li to twist the will of the entire village—and save their clan.
But they were certain of one thing: Shisui, the legend returned from death, now stood at a level of power beyond their understanding—a realm fit for gods.
And this "god" knelt, humble and respectful, before another—far younger—true "god."
(End of Chapter)
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